Last year, I went over my book goal of 35 and ended with 37, so this year, I set 37 as my goal in hopes to crush it again. In the first quarter of 2024, I have already read 16 books!!
I am going to talk about those 16 books and give my rating, the dates read, and a brief description of what I liked about the book. I tried my best to give a spoiler warning for any descriptions I felt really gave parts of the book away. I have also included links to buy any of the books.
Let me know if you have read any of these or want to discuss more! I have added some paid Amazon links to all of these books if you are interested in getting any yourself. You can always add me on GoodReads too at @c.pathofgrace . I might be setting a new goal if I keep up this pace!
Into the Water, Paula Hawkins
Dates read: January 2 – 4
Stars: 4
I had been meaning to read this book since I first jumped into my reading resurgence in August of 2022. This book was on my shelf for a while, so I was so excited to finally start reading it!
This was such an interesting story. I loved all the suspense, and even though I sort of predicted where the story was going, it was still pretty difficult to predict everything. The reason I gave this four starts and not five was just because I felt like there were too many loose ends and threads that didn’t get pulled. The end twist was enjoyable and made the whole story that much more sinister. I found that the things I didn’t like about House Across the Lake (still loved) were the same that I didn’t like about this too.
I am not usually a fan of books with a ton of perspectives, and this was no exception. I personally feel like anything over 3 different POVs is too much for me to keep track of and takes me too long to get a handle on. Still a really enjoyable thriller/mystery!
The Overnight Guest, Heather Gudenkauf
Dates read: January 6 – 9
Stars: 5
This was a really great read. The multiple perspectives actually worked for me in this one (three is the magic number!) so it did not feel overwhelming. I think that type of storytelling is a really great way to put a whole puzzle of a mystery thriller together.
I found that I had a hard time predicting how this was going to go, to some extent. I was really able to visualize the whole story and setting, which is one of my favorite things about writing. I find it is sometimes difficult to really put myself into a story, but this book did a great job of that. Highly recommend it!
Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui
Dates read: November 13, 2023 – January 9, 2024
Stars: 4
I purchased this book in summer of 2019 when I was in the thick of my life as a swim instructor, and thought that would be the start of my real life long career. I finally got a chance to read this, despite aquatics no longer being my life and career, and it really made me happy to reflect and reminisce on that chapter of my life. I really enjoyed this look into why we as human beings are so drawn to the water for a myriad of different reasons, be it healing, competition, curiosity, and more.
I loved the author’s ability to tell a whole investigative story in each of the book’s five parts and really overlap and compare similarities, more than differences, between all of our relationships with the water. Very glad to have finally read this book.
First Lie Wins, Ashley Elston
Dates read: January 14 – 21
Stars: 5
This year, I decided I want to commit to Reese’s Book Club and read along each month with her picks. This was the first read and boy…it did NOT disappoint!
This kept me on my toes the entire time, and I had a really hard time even guessing where the plot was going. The red herrings and twisty reveals were so smart and I can totally see why Reese picked this. I will be watching the screen adaptation when the time comes! I love stories with a smart and savvy female lead. I felt like it had a bit of a slow start, or maybe I was just in a slump, but once it picked up, I finished half the book in one sitting.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Dates read: January 23 – 27
Stars: 4
Despite having a mountain of books on my TBR, I realized I had not properly reread this book series since I first read it when I was seven. I have the whole box set and books 6 and 7 on my shelf, and they have traveled with me every time I moved. I wanted to sit down and read through them, and decided this was the year! They are a great change of pace from the mystery/thrillers I usually find myself reading, so it has made it really easy to read more than one book at a time.
As to be expected, the books are better than the movies. There is so much more characterization, story development, and depth versus watching the movie. I understand why some changes were made for screen adaptations, and felt that the things cut or changed made perfect sense. Obviously, we will never be able to go back and read these, having seen the movies and expect that the versions we created in our heads have remained the same.
However, I did find it cool that my brain was able to fill in the gaps when reading parts that were not in the movie. My brain could fill in the setting and characters just fine.
Since I have had these books since literally 2005 with my grandpa’s notes to me on the cover page, I will never be able to part with them. However, I still think it is important to try to separate the art from the artist, so I will only be giving the series four stars while reading.
Zero Days, Ruth Ware
Dates read: January 23 – 29
Stars: 4
The first Ruth Ware book I read was The Woman in Cabin 10, which I really really enjoyed. That book was one of my first intros to thrillers, and my first intro to Ruth Ware. I really liked the plot of this book. I found myself really rooting for the main protagonist, Jack, but I felt like I couldn’t relate to her as much as I typically do. I don’t think this has anything to do with similarities to the character, as I don’t typically have many to any protagonist I read.
I still felt like I was turning pages like a woman possessed. I just wanted to learn the truth!! I do think that the plot seemed to be rushing around a lot to different places and such, but it was not enough to distract me from the story or ruin my reading experience. Definitely worth the read, I could totally see this being a limited series or movie!
The Guest List, Lucy Foley *mild spoilers*
Dates read: February 2 – 11
Stars: 4
My third Lucy Foley, the first I loved (The Hunting Party), the second I felt meh about (The Paris Apartment), and now the third. I think I liked this less than The Hunting Party, but more than The Paris Apartment. My real review was a 3.5 while my Goodreads was a 4. I think this comes from the fact I was super annoyed with how this book was paced.
I specifically jotted down a note about halfway through that I was rolling my eyes about how little the story seemed to progress. I realize it took place in the span of about 24 hours, but it still felt painfully dragged out. Nearly half of the book’s chapters ended with some variation of the line “no one knows the real truth yet…but they will soon” which was so frustrating to hear from five different character chapters. Then, in what seemed like the last 10 pages, there are five different people with motive and boom, there’s the killer and the book is over.
I think the story was really great and I was turning pages like crazy, very invested. I had so many shocked and gasp moments and really loved how everything tied together. I just wish the pacing was better, but I couldn’t put it down regardless!
The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
Dates read: February 15 – 16
Stars: 5
What a twist!! This book reminded me so much of Shutter Island, which I read and watched and loved both. I feel like I will end up rereading this again just to see if I can catch details I missed, which is not something I ever say about thrillers.
This was so well told and a really interesting story. In addition to reminding me of Shutter Island, it reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest too. I really highly recommend this and can’t believe it took me so long to finally read it!
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Dates read: February 3 – 16
Stars: 4
Once again, so so glad I have decided to reread this series. So much more character expiration and dialogue that really adds to who each of these characters are. Everything that the movie altered (some key events) made a ton of sense for a movie screenplay. I felt like some of the timelines of scenes or events were changed for the movie, but I don’t think it took much, if anything, away from the story.
In some ways, the movies gave more agency to some characters, while taking it away from others, which I thought was interesting. I love that the books talk about the Weasley’s as a family more than just having them be side characters in the movies.
Book of Knives, Lise Haines
Dates read: February 17 – 18
Stars: 1
My first ever one star read. The only reason it was a DNF is because I was really holding out hope that it would turn around. Unfortunately, it did not. This book made absolutely no sense to me. It felt like watching Cats. One of the Goodreads reviews I read summed it up perfectly. They said that it felt like this book was written in English, Google Translated to another language, then Google Translated back into English and deleted half of the paragraph. I either missed part of the plot, or just had no ability to understand the words on the page.
I held out til the end because the story was great, but ultimately felt like they fumbled a great story with so much potential. This could have gone in so many interesting directions, but ended up just being so disappointed. This one is a skip.
One Step Too Far, Lisa Gardner
Dates read: February 20 – 27
Stars: 4
My real rating on this is a 4.5. I loved the first Frankie Elkin mystery I read (Before She Disappeared) and was excited to read the next. This plot was great as it takes place in Wyoming in the woods. I read Wild by Cheryl Strayed last year and it was a favorite of mine for 2023, so the concept of this book was really appealing and reminded me of that read.
The only reason I did not give this a full five stars is because some of the moments of intense planning that the characters do in the book was a little too technical for me. That is clearly a me thing (lol) but it made those parts of the plot seem really clunky and hard to follow.
I am super excited for the third Frankie Elkin book that just came out this March!
The Woman in Me, Britney Spears
Dates read: March 1 – 4
Stars: 5
I absolutely LOVED this book. I was waiting in anticipation for it to come out the moment she announced it. I was so young, as was the internet, when this was all happening to Britney, so I think that the media and other people’s opinions 100% influenced how I viewed her situation. I am very glad to be able to read about her experience, from her perspective, as an adult woman myself.
Some parts of this were very hard to read, and I wouldn’t wish her experience on anyone. Not only about the conservatorship, but also how she was treated in the spotlight. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her stepping down from the music industry after how she was treated. This was such a great read, I highly recommend it.
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here, Jeneva Rose
Dates read: March 5 – 6
Stars: 3
I had so much hope for this! I liked the story a lot, but the twist at the end was somewhat lackluster. I completely did not see it coming, but it almost felt like the author was swinging a little too big. I am not someone who is a fan of the rom com-y books out there, so the dialogue in this was … .so cringe. It actually made me a little uncomfy with how bad it was. Yet, by the end, I kind of get why the characters talked the way they did but still??
I felt like there were so many other things going on that made the story a little more complicated than it had to be. I still think it’s worth the read, the twist was great, and I would be interested to hear what other people have to say on the ending.
Under the Influence, Noelle Crooks
Dates read: March 7 – 12
Stars: 4
I was super excited to read this one because it felt like a different type of book than I normally find myself reading. The description references The Devil Wears Prada, and that is entirely evident the entire way through. I didn’t hate it, because while it is a story we have heard before, it is actually a pretty common thing in real life.
We live in such an era of hustle culture, corporate jobs, and #girlbossing, so it didn’t seem that fictitious of a story. This is not to say I would EVER do these things for just a job, I totally understand how in some industries, especially the new age of the internet and influencers, that these things scale up really REALLY quickly, and it’s an adapt or starve world.
This book was a good read and an interesting story on the world of social media we live in. Personally, I didn’t love the ending, but the last few pages made it worth it. Worth the read!
None of This Is True, Lisa Jewell
Dates read: March 13 – 21
Stars: 4
I gave this a 4 on Goodreads, but my real rating was a 3.5. This book had so much hype on my Goodreads so I was pumped to read it.
I felt like the same things I didn’t like about the other Lisa Jewell book I’ve read (Then She Was Gone) rang true for this as well. I felt like the story was really compelling and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened, but it felt like the ending sort of fizzled for me. I couldn’t figure out which story was the truth (which was the point obviously) but it felt too like “oh everyone is lying” and no story stuck out as truthful.
I wish she had gone in more about the relationship between Josie and Walter, because I felt like most of the characters were too passive about this. I thought the style of storytelling was really cool and different and kept me compelled the whole time. I read most of this in a day!
This book reminded me of Girl on the Train a little bit and I think I would still watch this if it were a movie or limited series, but I just felt like it missed the mark and didn’t live up to the hype. Perhaps that’s on me lol. I would still recommend it as the plot was great.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban *mild spoilers*
Dates read: March 18 – 25
Stars: 4
Prisoner of Azkaban was one of my top two favorite HP stories growing up. I just felt like this book was the start of the much darker turn to the series. This held true in the book, where I noticed many more things were different than the movie. I think the movie capitalized on the scariness and action that was discussed in the book. For example, Lupin as a werewolf barely had any action in the book, but in the movie, it was a big plot point.
Again, I think these changes make sense for the sake of a movie, but it was just interesting what they chose to change.. I like getting to see a whole year of school play out in the books, I feel like the movies always seem to miss out on the “school” and teen parts of the story. Cannot wait to keep reading!
Up Next…
Here are the books I have upcoming in Q2 of 2024!
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Redwood Court by DeLana R.A Dameron, Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez, Bel Canto by Ann Patchet, Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick, Let That Sh*t Go by Kate Petriw and Nina Purewal, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum, November 9 by Colleen Hoover, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, and whatever the next 3 Reese’s Book Club picks for April, May, and June are!
I may need to update my book goal to 45 after this! Onto Q2!!
Caroline's Path of Grace 
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