The Best Book I Read in 2024

Since I shared a review of the best book I read in 2023 exactly a year ago today, I thought I'd share the best book I read in 2024 to celebrate reading.

In early 2024, I set a goal to increase the number of books I read from 50 in 2023 to 60 in 2024, and not only did I reach that goal, but I surpassed it! I read 74! The majority of the books were fiction, and some were leadership non-fiction, but all captured my attention.

Since 2024 turned out to be such an important political year in the United States, I read five books that featured the American political landscape as an important theme. Two works of fiction were "Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win" by Jo Piazza and "Behind Every Good Man" by Sara Goodman Confino. Two works of non-fiction were "Attack from Within, How Disinformation is Sabotaging America" by Barbara McQuade and "Inclusion on Purpose, An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work" by Ruchika Tulshyan Malhotra. The fifth book was a work of fiction, and my favorite read during 2024: "LULA DEAN'S LITTLE LIBRARY OF BANNED BOOKS" by Kirsten Miller.

I don't want to give away too much, but the gist of the story is that a closed-minded lady in a small Southern town wants to ban books that she personally thinks are inappropriate. So, after removing a myriad of books from the local library, she places what she thinks are appropriate books in a small lending library display outside her house for anyone to borrow - books that most people would not be interested in, such as, how Southern ladies behave. But what she doesn't know is that two members of the community placed the banned books from the library inside the book covers outside her house.

On a side note, have you ever wondered how important book covers are on hard-back books, also referred to as first editions? After you finish this book, you might spend more time thinking about the cost and design that publishers allocate to book covers. And swing by my blog on February 26th to read my post on this topic.

Anyhow, back to our book, for example, the book cover for "The Diary of Anne Frank" did not match the content, and the book cover for "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." did not match the content. Imagine people's surprise when they opened those books and many others!

To quote K.E. Creighton, "This novel touches on the impact books have on us as human beings, how and why we crave them, how they connect us, and how they can literally change our lives for the better. It reminded me of why we all read, why I read, why we need to read, and how reading and talking about what we read with others is as essential to survival as breathing in a lot of ways...This novel also reminds us that books, especially banned books, never make people do anything, as no book can do that. A book can only allow you to see and understand yourself or another human being a little more fully, but it cannot cause someone to be gay, commit a crime, or start a feminist revolution."

So, if you have not yet read this book, add it to the top of your MUST-READ LIST. You'll be glad you did!

SHARE THIS: Fiction helps us to understand the world around us better. ~@JosephLalonde #Reading #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SHARE THIS: If you give a person a book, you give him the world. ~@KristinHarmel #TheParisDaughter #Reading #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SHARE THIS: Reading fiction or watching a film that portrays a life very different from ours can help build empathy. ~@rtulshyan #ReadingOpensMinds #Leadership #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Image Credit: Instagram.

Check out my review of my fave book from 2023: Remarkably Bright Creatures:

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/02/the-best-book-i-read-in-2023.html

Three Cheers for National Book Lover's Day!

If you always carry a book wherever you go, or slip a book quote into every conversation, or have a bookcase that resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa due to the large number of books causing the shelves to lean, then you know why today is a special day. If you're like me, since today is National Book Lover's Day, you describe yourself as a bibliophile!

Last year, I read 50 books - most were fiction, and a few non-fiction books were sprinkled into the mix. This year, thanks to the Goodreads hashtag, #GoodreadsChallenge, I have set a goal of 60 books, and I am well past the half-way mark.

Thanks to the Leaders Who Fiction virtual book club led by Melanie Bell in Texas (you can learn more about the group and the monthly selections by visiting @LeadersWhoFiction on Instagram), I have been inspired by many books this year including American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby, and The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore. My fave book of 2023 was part of the Leaders Who Fiction book club, and I highly recommend that everyone read it: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

Share this: Fellow bibliophiles, let's celebrate by buying more books and celebrating authors because it's National Book Day! #DebbieLaskeysBlog #NationalBookLoversDay

This year's goal is definitely within reach because I recently purchased a new bookcase to hold my book overflow. Thanks to Amazon's recommendations, I had purchased approximately 50 works of fiction plus another dozen non-fiction (leadership and marketing) books.

So, tune in at the end of the year for a recap of my 2024 most memorable books as well as my fave book of the year.

Share this: What's your fave book of all time? Mine is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. #DebbieLaskeysBlog #NationalBookLoversDay

Watch this Ted talk featuring Lisa Bu: How books can open your mind:

https://www.ted.com/dubbing/lisa_bu_how_books_can_open_your_mind

Meet Lisa Bu: https://www.ted.com/speakers/lisa_bu

Here are some amazing quotes about reading:

Books are a uniquely portable magic. ~Stephen King

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. ~Dr. Seuss

Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage. ~Roald Dahl

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. ~Walt Disney

If you give a person a book, you give him the world. ~Kristin Harmel

For you unlock magic that is hidden within, and opening the cover is how you begin. Oh, all the worlds and the places you'll see; when you hold a book, you hold the key. ~Caroline Derlatka

Image Credits: Debbie Laskey's Library and Funny Feet Socks.

Read other posts on my blog capturing the magic of books:

The Best Book I Read in 2023 (February 2024)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/02/the-best-book-i-read-in-2023.html

Introducing the 2023 "Fall Back to Reading Series" (September 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/09/introducing-2023-fall-back-to-reading.html

Let's Celebrate Global Company Culture Day! (September 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/09/lets-celebrate-global-company-culture.html

Inspiring Reading As We Approach Women's Equality Day (August 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/08/inspiring-reading-as-we-approach-womens.html

Happy National Book Lovers Day! (August 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/08/happy-national-book-lovers-day.html

The Best Book I Read in 2023

Did you read a lot of books last year? I recently reviewed the list of books I purchased from Amazon and local bookstores and realized I read 50 works of fiction during 2023. This means that, during 2024, I have set a goal of more than 50. And Goodreads has made it easy by providing a hashtag for the project #GoodreadsChallenge.

Before I look through my "must-read" books - both fiction and nonfiction - and my "it would be nice to read" list, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on my favorite book of 2023.

I may have been late to the adventure, but I read REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES in late-2023. Simply put, it was a wonderful book, but before I dive in with my reasons, I would like to extend a shout-out of gratitude to Melanie Bell and her Leaders Who Fiction book club for the recommendation to read the book and the virtual discussion that took place in late-November.

I don't want to provide any spoilers because I believe everyone should read the book, so I will share a brief overview: An elderly lady meets an octopus, makes friends with an octopus, and meets her extended family.

Naturally, there is much, much more to the story, but I don't want to slip up and give away any of the exciting layers. And the title has an interesting twist too. Suffice it to say that this story will remain with me for a very long time.

According to an article in The New York Times, "Shelby Van Pelt, a former financial consultant, first had the idea that morphed into the novel in 2013, when she took a fiction writing workshop at Emory University in Atlanta. One of the assignments was to write a short story from an unusual perspective, and she came up with an acerbic octopus who was bored and frustrated by his confinement in an aquarium. Her teacher pulled her aside and suggested she build something larger around the character, and she began writing vignettes about the octopus."

So, if you have not yet read this book, add it to the top of your MUST READ LIST. You'll be glad you did!


Article in The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/books/remarkably-bright-creatures-shelby-van-pelt.html

Interview with the LA Public Library:
https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/interview-author-shelby-van-pelt

If you'd like to join the next Leaders Who Fiction virtual book club meeting, check out @LeadersWhoFiction on Instagram for details.


Image Credit: Amazon.