Dee Reads The Best of 2024

Like so many book resources; Amazon, Goodreads, and various bookstores Dee Reads is compiling a list of the best books of 2024.  That isn't to say they are new, bestsellers, book club recommendations or any particular favorite, they are just my most excellent reads of this year.   From a variety of genres, authors, and publication dates comes the Dee Reads Best of 2024.

Like many of you, I'm sure, I used a reading tracker this year to tally my total books read and their "star" rating (1-5).  Of the 106 books on that list, I have selected nine to make my "Best of 2024" list.

 

DEE READS BEST OF 2024

        The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee - 5 Stars

        Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens - 5 Stars (Appeared in a previous blog on 08/28/2024)

        Go as a River by Shelley Read - 5 Stars

        Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke - 4 Stars

        Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor - 4 Stars (Appeared in a previous blog dated 10/05/2024)

        The River by Peter Heller - 4 Stars

        While Idaho Slept by J. Reuben Appleman - 4 Stars

        Banyan Moon by Tao Thai - 4 Stars

        My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby - 4 Stars

Of the nine, not ten, didn't see another on my list that I had the same affection for.  Of the nine; one is historical fiction, one historical mystery, three are mystery/thriller, one adventure, one true crime and two literary fiction,  A nice little sampling, wouldn't you say? When I started my 2024 reading, one of my goals was to read a little more broadly.  I'm a super-fan of the mystery/thriller genre, but sometimes I find myself stuck in the quicksand of those books and have difficulty pulling myself out.  I'm gratified that I did stretch my wings into some other areas and authors this year. Please take a look at the blurbs of three of these great books.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

What, you might ask, could these three disparate books have in common?  Maybe not much, other than making the list of my favorites for the year ending.  Maybe it's the fact that they are so different that attracted me to, and held my interest with an iron grip  Let's take a deeper dive and see what we find!

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee is a top level work of historical fiction.  I've never read anything by either author before, but I follow Tosca on social media and have come to find she's an award-winning author and farmer's wife.  Being a farmer's daughter, I find a lot in common with her.  This book, which Marcus wrote and Tosca contributed to, has prompted a lot of well-deserved social media buzz. Here's a bit from their book, my #1 of 2024:

"Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire.

Life in the Philippines seems like paradise--until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as Japanese warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.

What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive."

Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens is nothing short of a five star thriller in my book.  I previously featured Allen and his work in a blog entitled The "Unsung" or "Little Sung" Heroes, on August 28, 2024.  As I said then, Allen has written many books, several of which I've read and is the recipient of some important awards, but I don't believe he gets the praise he deserves. Here's hoping this book and a two-time mention on Dee Reads garners a little more for Allen. From Nothing More Dangerous:

"In a small town where loyalty to family and to “your people” carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition.

After fifteen years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn’t being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him.

Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady’s life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins--a black family settling into a community where notions of “us” and “them” carry the weight of history--forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he’s taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle."

Go as a River, by Shelley Read may be number three on my list, but it's a top contender in my heart.  Shelley is a first-time novelist who I happened to hear speak at the Texas Book Festival of 2023.  What a find she was!  Shelley's talent is evident in her lyrical, almost poetic way of describing some tragic circumstances.  I loved this book, recommended it to my brother, and he doubled down on my feelings. It's not to be missed.  Here's a tidbit from Go as a River:

"On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family's farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a disheveled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerizing story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life forever.

Perhaps you will consider one or two of these wonderful books as you set your reading goals and compile your own TBR's for 2025. Happy reading!  See you in January!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR