I wanted to write more about each book, but 2025 is nearly over and I haven't published my post of 2024 books. As the time passes after reading, it's harder to capture my thoughts and feelings to share adequately or properly. All that to say, here follows the books I read in 2024.
I nearly finished Paul Stanley's book before the end of the year. I really enjoyed reading his story. His is yet another musician's autobiography that I see how I understand and think like a musician.
Julie Mulhern is a Kansas City native who writes the Country Club Mystery series set in Kansas City, Missouri in the 1970's. My friend who is a former teacher and part-time librarian recommended them to me. If you can't tell, I adore them! The audio books are my favorite both because I can listen to them on my commute to work and because I can't see the typos some proofreader apparently missed.
A very interesting autobiography of one of the members of the Monkees and his other involvements in the music and entertainment business, including the concept for what would become MTV!
February
While I was waiting on the next Country Club Mystery, I decided to try the other series by Julie Mulhern. It's more of a spy series and I ended up adoring it, too.
March
I watched the Phryne Fisher Mystery series on Hoopla, so I thought I would give the book series, that the TV series originated from, a try.
April
A fantasy Native American book written by a Native American. Not my usual read, but I really enjoyed the story!
June
A fantasy story about faeries and a university professor who studies them. I have now read all the books that have been published in the series.
Not my typical choice and I don't remember how I came across it, but it had a mystery and I kept reading to see how it turned out.
I spotted The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley at the actual library and was excited to find it available on the library. It was right up my Pollyanna Alley. I highly recommend!
Forever Strong was an interesting book written by a doctor. It actually just confirmed to me that Trim Healthy Mama is good stuff & backed by science. And I really like Serene & Pearl's sister talk in their books and their podcast.
July
Camper Van's, Cooking and Corpses turned out to be such an enjoyable story and interesting mystery! It's written by a British author and is the start of a series that my library (at last check) doesn't have the rest of...which is so sad. Hopefully that will change in the future!
I read Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries because I couldn't read anymore of the Camper Van series above. It was cute, but not as good as the Camper Van book. I couldn't bring myself to read anymore of this series.
This is the first in a series that I have continued to read. They are about a fox who is an investigative reporter and she goes around solving murder mysteries. There's a lot more to them. If you can suspend any troubling thoughts about the characters being woodland animals, they are quite fun!
August
I decided to buy Self-Care for People with ADHD to have and to hold. I need to add tabs & mark it up so I can do the self-care.
September
This is a super fun Manga that my daughter introduced me to. A former gangster turned house husband. He actually has useful housekeeping tips mixed into the funny adventures, too!
This was not super memorable. Not sure if I took anything away from it except that ADHD folks should not ever expect their house to look like that of a neurotypical.
So far, Pat Benatar is the most non-wild rock star whose autobiography i have read. The real life love story of her & her guitar player husband was very sweet, it actually reminded me a bit of the teen romance novels i used to read (although they were in their twenties). The stories of her daughters and how they reacted to being on tour and on stage were really cute and obviously people who were at concerts would have seen the cuteness in person. Pat, as well as so many other rock stars I have read about, helped those coming after her, which I think is really cool! I had to read this with my eyes, so it took me a long time to finish, but it was worth the time for me. (Most of my books are audio so that I can listen on my work commute.)
Very interesting story about Jackson's life and how he came to know some much about cats and one of his own cats in particular who helped him learn. Also, really good information for those of us who have a cat to care for ourselves.
This was a very good book by an Australian who was not diagnosed with ADHD until adulthood. I could relate to many aspects of her story and learning some useful strategies. The book was just enjoyable to listen to also & read by the author.
October
Another book about ADHD... not a high reccommendation from my recollection.
November
This series was another recommendation from my teacher/librarian friend.
Another rock star biography... she led an exciting (and kind of scary, at times) life!
Fun comic about a villain who is not your typical villain!
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Warning ⚠️: The Perfect Crimes of Marion Hays looks like an innocent book by its cover. Do NOT judge this book by its cover. It is a fun, fast paced and interesting story, but includes descriptive "bedroom scenes." ⚠️ I almost excluded it from my published list, but I read it and here is the record that I read it.
See the Warning above for The Perfect Crimes of Marion Hays.
December
Some childrens books caught my eye at the library...
