Based on the fact that books from The Dandelion Dynasty series took the top three spots on my favorite reads list, you could say 2024 was the year of The Dandelion Dynasty. After reading the first book in 2023, I completed the series in 2024, and it has become one of my favorite series of all time.
Now, on to the list...
1. Speaking
Bones - Ken Liu
It was difficult to choose the top book in The Dandelion
Dynasty because they were all great, but I gave the nod to Speaking Bones, the conclusion to the
series. The final book wrapped up all of the story lines in a
satisfactory, if not exactly happy, ending. As with the other books in the series,
this one took me on an emotional roller coaster. Every time I thought
something was going well for the characters I rooted for, they suffered a
setback, and every time things looked grim, Ken Liu gave them a ray of
hope. As with the other books in the series, Speaking Bones was full of thought-provoking insights and philosophical
nuggets that I wrote down, which is
something I rarely ever do when I read.
2. The Wall of Storms - Ken Liu
The
Wall of Storms is the second book in the Dandelion Dynasty. Among all
the books in the series, this one sent me to highs and lows more than
the others. I was a wreck while reading this. The invasion by the Lyucu
changed the tone of the book from what I was used to in The Grace of
Kings, and Ken Liu didn't take his
foot off the pedal from there.
3. The Veiled Throne - Ken Liu
One
of the books in the Dandelion Dynasty series had to come in last, and
for me, if was The Veiled Throne, the third book. Don't get me wrong,
this was still a great book, and there's a reason it's on my list of
top reads of 2024. Even when he takes a detour from the main story to
spend a couple hundred pages on a competition between restaurants, Ken
Liu's storytelling skills amaze me. The only reason this book doesn't
rank as high as the others is because the third and fourth books were
meant to be read together, so The Veiled Throne left me longing for the
finale.
4. Still
See You Everywhere - Lisa Gardner
Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite
authors, and Still See You Everywhere is my favorite book in her Frankie
Elkin series so far. This book captures the best thriller elements of
her D.D. Warren series (I still miss D.D. and hope Lisa Gardner will
write more books in that series in the future) on a remote tropical
island. The setting played a major role in the story, and the choice of
placing the events on an island heightened the stakes and made
everything more interesting for me. I was excited when I learned that
there'd be a new Lisa Gardner book last year, and Still See You Everywhere
lived up to my expectations and more.
5. Starter
Villain - John Scalzi
I've read two other John Scalzi novels
(Redshirts and The Kaiju Preservation Society), and I've liked them
both, but Starter Villain is my favorite of the bunch. This 2023 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Science Fiction
was such a fun book to read. Some aspects of the novel required more
suspension of disbelief (e.g., unionized dolphins), but the overall
story was entertaining. If you're a fan of James Bond and parodies
of evil organizations, Starter Villain will be right up your
alley.
6. The Housemaid - Freida McFadden
If you're a fan of psychological thrillers like Gone Girl and The Wife
Between Us, this 2022 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Mystery
& Thriller is for you. I've read a lot of books in the genre, and
this is one of the better ones. It was the type of book that sucked me
in and kept me engaged, making it easy to devour in just a couple of
days. Because I've read a lot of thrillers, I could guess what the big
twist was, but The Housemaid was still an entertaining ride, and I recommend
it whether or not you're a fan of the genre.
7. Defiant - Brandon
Sanderson
What would a yearly top ten list be without a book by Brandon
Sanderson? I only read two Sanderson books in 2024 (I haven't read Wind and Truth yet), and while I rated
both as 5 stars, Defiant made my top ten list of favorite reads. I
wasn't sure what to expect from this last book in the Skyward series
since each book after the first one got worse for me, but Defiant turned
things around in a big way. I got vibes like when I read the first book
in the series, and Defiant may be my favorite in the series now.
8. The
Ferryman - Justin Cronin
I've seen the plot and themes of The
Ferryman told several times before. While this book doesn't add anything
new to the trope, I happen to enjoy this type of story, and I liked how
this book told the story. I don't want to spoil what happens (although
some of you may be able to guess before the reveal, like I did), so it's
difficult to say more. The first two-thirds of the book was a fairly
standard something-is-wrong-with-society story, and I appreciated the
way the protagonist's eyes slowly opened to reality. I would've enjoyed
the book even without the later reveal.
9. The
End of Men -
Christina Sweeney-Baird
I'm afraid that any book about diseases will
bring to mind the COVID pandemic for me. While most of this book was
written
before COVID (based on the author's note), reading the first hundred
pages gave me an eerily similar feeling to the first year of the
pandemic. But The End of Men is much more than a pandemic novel. The
reason I liked it so much was the way it spun its story across a diverse
cast of characters and how the book was able to make me care about so
many of them, even the ones that appear in short vignettes and aren't
seen from again. The commentary on gender was also powerful without
being in-your-face. What would the world be like if 90% of men are gone?
Read The End of Men and find out!
10.
The
Future - Naomi Alderman
This book paints a frightening future for the
world that is eerily similar to today's reality. I connected with this
book because it echoes many of my own concerns with technology, social
media, climate change, and other problems plaguing our world today. The
story itself was also structured and paced well, which made it
entertaining for those who are looking for a good read without having to
worry about the future of the world. That said, I was satisfied with
the ending and the kind of world that emerged on the other side.
