Each link below leads to RRPL’s catalog which allows you to further read about each title or place a hold.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames
The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
How RRPL Librarians and Staff are breaking into their own TBR lists and suggestions for you:
Most used TBR trackers & list makers:
To DNF or not to DNF:
Whatever your reading style may be this year we encourage an overabundance of holds and checkouts from your local library!!
I’m so excited to share my favorite books of 2024!✨ This collection of stories inspired, entertained, and stayed with me throughout the year.
Check it out, and let me know which ones you’ve read—or what’s on your must-read list for next year! 📖❤️ Let’s keep the love for great books going strong. ✨
📚📚📚
Populated by unforgettable, complex characters, a novel about three generations of strong-willed women shaped by the secrets buried in their family’s past is a portrait of family, marriage, ambition, power, the stories we inherit and the lies we tell to become the people we believe we’re meant to be.
Best Interest Attorney, Stella Hudson, takes on the case of an 8-year-old girl who witnessed the death of her nanny amid her parents’ ugly divorce and realizes that everyone is a suspect.
Spending the summer in Turkey with her family, Ada begins to imagine a different future for her mother after a mysterious man from her past returns and must come to terms with her own attraction to him.
Sweeping across centuries, and stretching from Mesopotamia to London, this stunning novel follows a trio of characters living in the shadows of one of the greatest epic poems of all time. Nineveh and its Remains as they become entwined by a single drop of water.
Reconceiving our understanding of the ancient world by emphasizing women’s roles within it, from Cleopatra to Boudica, Sappho to Fulvia, and countless others, an award-winning classicist documents how women of antiquity are undeniably woven through the fabric of history, and in this monumental work, finally take center stage.
Describes how Frances Perkins met a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt in turn-of-the-century New York and, despite initially not getting along, the pair formed a historic partnership that led them both to the White House.
Investigator Steve Wheeler comes out of retirement when his daughter-in-law, Amy, needs help finding out who left a dead body on a remote island with a huge bag of money.
Describes the events of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the eyes of the enslaved Jim, who decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island after learning he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans.
Returning to Nantucket to help her younger sister with the grand opening of her gift shop, Eddie Grant must face all she left behind: her father’s increased eccentricities; her sister’s resentment of her leaving; and a past love connection, discovering a long-buried family secret that will change them all forever.
STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL BY THE SEA
Even though literature teacher Maggie Adair loves her life at the prestigious Downey House boarding school on the gloriously sunny, windy English coast, lately she’s been feeling restless, lured by the promise of a different life back in her Scottish hometown.
~SEMANUR
Are you as exhausted by 2024 as I am? How about a book to help soothe the soul, or make you laugh, or give you a reason to read more on a topic? Here are twenty options that made my list (and more available upon request- heh heh!):
Actual Facts (aka Nonfiction)
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
This is a beautifully crafted book, both the art work and the sharing of the author’s life experience in monthly chapters. If you’re looking for a gift for a nature loving friend -this might be worth checking out.
Generations by Jean Twenge
This book plus The Coddling of the American Mind have answered a lot of questions for me I didn’t know I had.
Something Cozy
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
Short in length, long on happiness impact. Take an afternoon and enjoy!
A New Lease On Death by Olivia Blacke
Looking for a cozy mystery? Here you go!
How to Age Disgracefully by Claire Pooley
Zesty characters and a cute dog. Do I need to say more?
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
Welcome back to Patrick O’Hara -everyone’s favorite Guncle!
Something a Little Different
Tilda is Visible by Jane Tara
What if you felt invisible because you’re a woman who’s getting older, and then your physical body actually started disappearing? And the medical community even had a name for the phenomenon?!
The Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
If you’re willing to read a fantasy book in which charming characters have magical gifts, this is also a locked room mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.
The Failures by Benjamin Liar
A chonky science fiction story with multiple storylines that come together in a pretty satisfying way to end the first in a trilogy.
After Annie by Anna Quindlen
When Annie unexpectedly passes away, we are given the opportunity to know her better through the lives she touched.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Margo is used to people thinking she makes bad choices, the current bad choice would be sleeping with her married college professor. When she discovers she’s pregnant and decides to keep the baby, Margo feels overwhelmed and determined to succeed.
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
When a woman on a plane starts predicting when and how other passengers will die, the first response was to brush it off. After the first prediction comes true, the rest of the group begins to bond and a search begins to find the mysterious lady.
Something a Little Dark
Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond
First in a new series, this is another short in length but long on impact book. You’ll be amazed at the world building the author is able to accomplish in only 167 pages!
The Haters by Robyn Harding
Camryn Hart went from celebrating her first published book to trying to figure out who’s making damaging false accusations about her online. The longer the attacks go on, the less trust Camryn has in the people surrounding her. What a wild ride!
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
Creepy, creepy, creepy… So good!
Something Old (aka Historical)
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
Set in Oklahoma, with storylines in 1909 and 1990s, this book is filled with young women fighting for survival and for acceptance.
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
I had no idea who Martha Ballard was before reading this book and now I know why her legend lives on. Fascinating details on midwifery and all the additional jobs that were attached to that title.
The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods
Using some factual happenings and some fictional characters, this is another story of women fighting to have control over their own lives.
The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore
Just when you think there’s nothing new to learn about World War II, you read a book like this. Also, I’m a little sorry I didn’t pay more attention in my Macro Economics course…
Hopefully one of these books is just what you were looking for, and I’m *always* interested in hearing what you thought after reading! []~(￣▽￣)~*
Enjoy!
Stacey
I whittled down my favorite reads of the year to present to you Linnea’s Top Ten Books of 2024! (In no particular order.)
Each title will link to the catalog to find the physical, ebook, and audiobook copies.
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Happy reading!
-Linnea
Greetings Readers! Another year, another Best Of list. I usually start these posts by lamenting how difficult it is to pick just ten titles and then going on to list 20 books I loved that year. Not this year, dear reader. This year I came nowhere near reaching my lofty reading goal and of the books I did manage to read, I only awarded five stars to 10 books. This could be the easiest Top Ten List of my life! Let’s go. Update: I picked 12 titles because the formatting was ugly with only 4 nonfiction titles. Update 2: There are 24 titles on my list…
Click on the photo to check availability!
FICTION
NONFICTION *1-4 were five-stars for me.
Well, that felt too easy, so here are few more titles I really enjoyed this year:
Now I am just showing off. Here are a few books I am looking forward to in 2025:
Happy reading!
~Megan
The 2024 Olympics begin today in Paris, France! The XXXIII Olympiad will be the sixth Olympic Games hosted by France and the third Olympic Games hosted in the “City of Love.” From cardboard beds to the launch of Olympic breakdancing, this Olympic Games is already full of stories. If you’re caught up in the quest for gold, here are a few Olympic-themed reads.
Fiction
Fast Girls by Elise Hooper
In the 1928 Olympics, Chicago’s Betty Robinson competes as a member of the first-ever women’s delegation in track and field. Destined for further glory, she returns home feted as America’s Golden Girl until a nearly-fatal airplane crash threatens to end everything.
The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon
For Sera Wheeler, the Olympics is the reason for everything. It’s why she trains thirty hours a week, starves herself to under 100 pounds, and pops Advil like Tic Tacs. For her mother, Charlene, hungry for glory she never had, it’s why she rises before dawn to drive Sera to practice in a different state, and why the family scrimps, saves, and fractures.
Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. 22-year-old Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t–a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way.
Don’t Tell Me You’re Afraid by Giuseppe Catozzella
At eight years of age, Samia lives to run. She shares her dream with her best friend and neighbor, Ali, who appoints himself her “professional coach.” Eight-year-old Ali trains her, times her, and pushes her to achieve her goals. For both children, Samia’s running is the bright spot in their tumultuous life in Somalia. She is talented, brave, and determined to represent her country in the Olympic Games.
Aquamarine by Carol Anshaw
Jesse Austin, a former Olympic swimmer who, at age 17, lost the gold medal in the Mexico City games–a loss that has haunted her ever since.
Head Over Heals by Hannah Orenstein
The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: after training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their controversial coach, Dimitri.
Nonfiction
Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles
Simone Biles’ entrance into the world of gymnastics may have started on a field trip in her hometown of Spring, Texas, but her God-given talent, along with drive to succeed no matter the obstacle, are what brought her to the national spotlight during the Olympic Games and have catapulted her ever since–including 25 World Championship medals.
Just Add Water by Katie Ledecky
Katie Ledecky has won more individual Olympic races than any female swimmer in history. She is a three-time Olympian, a seven-time gold medalist, a twenty-one-time world champion, eight-time NCAA Champion, and a world record-holder in individual swimming events. Time and again, the question is posed to her family, her coaches, and to her–what makes her a champion?
Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Growing up in New Jersey as the only African American Muslim at school, Ibtihaj Muhammad always had to find her own way. When she discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved for the wealthy, she had to defy expectations and make a place for herself in a sport she grew to love.
Happy reading!
-Melinda
Ninety-five years ago, the first Academy Awards ceremony took place in Hollywood! Vastly different from the awards show we know today, the ceremony only had 12 categories, lasted just 15 minutes, and it was the only Academy Awards to not be broadcast on television or radio. Tickets were $5 (about $90 in 2024), with plenty of fans in attendance with the celebrities.
While we might be out of awards season, brush up on your film knowledge for next year with some movie history books:
Best Pick: A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards by John Dorney
The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History by Gail Kinn
Movies (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated by Shea Serrano
Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman
50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars & Filmmakers on Their Career-Defining Wins by Dave Karger
-Linnea
Let’s celebrate Earth Day early with some nature-focused books to get us in the spirit! Especially as we start experiencing warmer days, it’s a good time to reflect on all the wonders that our Earth provides. And with these books, you’ll be ready for Earth Day, on April 22.
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
-Linnea
We’re two days into spring but it doesn’t quite feel like it yet. Daffodils had started to peek up, then were promptly covered by a dusting of snow. Sun warmed our faces, but now we’re back to grey.
If you’re eager for spring weather to come back and stick around, try some of these books to summon the season of renewal:
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eva Eger
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
-Linnea
Read it or Weep 