Everything I Read in November-December 2024
I finished reading 12 books in November and December, bringing my total for the year up to 55! Of the 12 books, 5 were another set of short stories, so I read a total of 16 short stories this year. The 7 regular books were split between 4 nonfiction books and 3 fiction books, and I listened to 5 on audio.
My 2024 reading goal on StoryGraph was to read 45 books and 13,000 pages. I read 55 books (including 26 audiobooks and 16 short stories) and just over 14,000 pages!
For 2025, I’m planning to read 50 books and…14,000 pages? 15,000? Not sure yet on the pages goal! I also might set an hours goal for audiobooks. If you’re also a reader, be sure to join the app and add me as a friend: my username is cottoncashmerecathair! And please share your favorite recent read(s) in the comments.
READ NEXT: Everything I Read in September-October 2024
Everything I Read in November-December 2024
Fiction
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
I finally read this book that was released ages ago! It was a past Bad on Paper podcast book club pick, and they raved about it, so I was excited to finally read it myself. It was a bit of a slow burn for me, but I ended up enjoying it overall, and then I watched the movie on Amazon Prime. This reads like romance, but there’s no happy ending, so I’m not sure it can be considered a romance (and Robinne doesn’t think so either, per the interview I listened to with her on Bad on Paper!). I liked the movie, too, but the book had a ton more “meat” that was fun to read and that the movie glossed over, I’m sure for time.
Nonfiction
Honest SEO by Jason Hennessy
I grabbed this book off of NetGalley back in 2023 and finally got around to reading it! This book was a lot more approachable than I had anticipated; that said, I also have a better understanding of SEO now than I did only a few years ago from being a blogger. I knew a lot of it already, but I also learned some new things and took lots of photos of my Kindle of things I wanted to remember to do for my own site! It’s a great crash course in SEO and a good book to keep on hand to reference.
Audiobooks
Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
This is the sequel to The Christmas Bookshop, which I read last Christmas! Like the first book, the sequel is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I think it was even more fun to listen to it after I visited Edinburgh earlier this year because I could picture all the places the author mentioned! The second book is narrated by the same Scottish woman.
Carmen is back and still working at McCredie’s bookshop in Edinburgh. After a production company filmed a Christmas movie with the bookshop as its backdrop, Carmen has to deal with a developer who wants to turn McCredie’s into a souvenir shop…all while trying to figure out her seemingly stifled love life. I love the author’s descriptive writing that makes you feel like you are right there on the streets of Edinburgh experiencing it all!
Consumed by Aja Barber
I decided to listen to this book the week before Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Good idea? I think so! I didn’t go crazy with my sale shopping. Turns out, I also started listening to the book the week that Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy was released on Netflix, which was inspired by Aja’s work, and of which she was not included in even though the producers reached out to her…so if you watched the show, be sure to also read Consumed!
Aja breaks down our rampant consumerism and how it has a domino effect through the supply chain, all the way down to the people working in sweatshops in terrible conditions for very little pay. A lot of it is due to the people in charge of these companies that willfully exploit these folks for profit, but we can also do our part to limit our own personal consumption. We buy a lot of items, and then we have to get rid of it all eventually. It ends up in landfills, or it’s donated to thrift stores who then may not be able to get rid of it and therefore it’s sent overseas to be a burden on less fortunate people. This book will make you rethink what you buy, because everything you own will eventually end up in the landfill and sit there—forever.
Calm the F*ck Down by Sarah Knight
I’ve been dealing with some anxiety issues (not diagnosed, but I’m hoping an official diagnosis will be coming soon), so I thought it could be good for my brain to listen to a book about calming down and dealing with anxiety. The audiobook is short…a lot shorter than the physical copy, which features an entire flow chart section at the end that isn’t shared in the audiobook (for obvious reasons; that would be a pain to describe). I thought it was a fun (and relatable) read but didn’t learn anything groundbreaking from listening to it.
So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen
I wanted to listen to one more holiday audiobook in December, and this one was the winner because it was one of the only audiobooks with a short wait on Libby. It’s a cute read! Finley returns to her hometown of Christmas, Oklahoma, during her holiday break from boarding school to find things turned upside down at home in so many ways. On top of all of it, one of the boys from her class is there because she had tricked him into believing her hometown was the perfect Christmas town. She then has to make sure he has a great time despite everything happening in her personal life. This book features the trifecta: family, friendships, and love!
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
This was my last audiobook of 2024! The holiday season felt like the right time to listen to this book written by the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s a short and sweet audiobook that is basically a crash course in hygge (pronounced “WHO-ga”), how to practice it, and what it means to live like the Danes, who are all about enjoying things that are comforting and making spaces that are cozy. Honestly, this book made me feel like I should be living in Denmark!
Under the Mistletoe Collection
As I mentioned at the start of the post, I also read a really cute series of five short stories set during the holiday season available via Amazon Prime Reading. Each steamy story was written by a different romance author, and each short story is a standalone, so you can read them in any order.
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood
Jamie needs to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner, so she heads to her childhood best friend’s home, where she is forced to interact with Marc, her brother and the one that got away (of her own doing). The blizzard outside forces her to stay over with Marc…and maybe that’s not so bad after all. This is the highest-rated of the five short stories, but it’s also the one most read. I recommend reading them all, some of the others might surprise you! Ranked 3/5
Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
Evie is starting her life over as a single mom and thrift shop owner in a small town in Oklahoma. A local farmer, Luke, stops in regularly looking for jeans…only he struggles to find anything that fits because of his stature. She resolves to make him his own custom jeans, and an unlikely romance brews. There were a lot of sweet elements that I enjoyed. I do realize the story is set in Oklahoma, but I still would have liked it more if Luke hadn’t been written like he “owns” Evie. Ranked 4/5
All by My Elf by Olivia Dade
Nina and William, adjunct professors working for the same university, are working a second job driving the Mincemobile around during the holiday season to make ends meet. When a snowstorm stops their journey in the middle of the interstate, they play an innocent game of Never Have I Ever…and secrets start pouring out. I liked the academic aspect of this story but I had a hard time getting into it at the start. Ranked 5/5
Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
Everleigh gets herself in trouble while taking care of loose ends at her late grandmother’s home…and every time, a hot firefighter, Brantley, is there to save her. She’s not into casual hookups, but can he convince her that he’s the real deal? While I wasn’t a huge fan of how up front Brantley was (it seemed a bit too unrealistic to me), this was my favorite until I read the final short story! Ranked 2/5
Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria
Evie has a tight deadline as a comic book illustrator, and when she literally runs into her hot neighbor on her way to pick up more takeout, she learns they’ll both be attending their other neighbor’s Santa-themed holiday party…where do they go from there?! I was pleasantly surprised by the final short story in the collection! The story had good pacing and felt a bit more believable than some of the others. Ranked 1/5
