This year, I gave myself a goal of reading 12 books and since I received so many amazing book recommendations, I ended up reading 35!
Check out the 35 books that I read (in the order that I read them) and let me know what books to add to my 2024 list!
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
So well written that I literally fell in love with a horse. The descriptions of all of the races are so good that I’m literally on the edge of my seat trying to read faster to find out who wins. Highly recommend, now it’s time to watch the movie!
Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions by Todd Rose
There were some good nuggets in the book but it was not the best thing I’ve ever read. I would recommend borrowing it from the library before purchasing.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I LOVED this book! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I didn’t read the summary but I loved it from beginning to end. I thought I knew how it would end but the author surprised me in the best way. So powerful and emotional and so well written that I truly felt I knew the characters. Highly recommend!
Serendipity: A History of Accidental Culinary Discoveries by Oscar Farinetti and Barbara McGilvray (Translator)
I enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Italian dishes and their place in history. I recommend this book to anyone traveling to Italy or anyone curious about food!
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
I LOVED this book! So well written, thought provoking and I love how Libertie continued to surprise me. The ending was more than I could have hoped for. Adding this to my list of favorite books!
Finding Me by Viola Davis
AMAZING book. This is hands down the best memoir I’ve ever read and it’s due to her being so honest and open but also because her childhood was so difficult.
I cried, I laughed and I cheered for her as I read about her journey in life and in acting. I loved and respected her before but now I see her in a brand new light.
I am so happy to see she found success. Highly recommend!
Boys Come First by Aaron Foley
This was a nice quick read. I enjoyed it! I learned a lot about Detroit and it was nice to read a story about queer love.
Employee Resource Group Excellence: Grow High Performing ERGs to Enhance Diversity, Equality, Belonging, and Business Impact by Robert Rodríguez
If you’re leading or want to lead an ERG, then I highly recommend this book. Or if you’re also interested in learning more about ERGs.
I learned so much!
The first 75% of the book was really interesting with great info. The last 25% was more practical info but given in a textbook-like way.
How to Love a Country by Richard Blanco
I loved the collection of poems, I loved how some poems were political and others deeply personal. A lot of the reviews I read mentioned this book is for people who think poetry is inaccessible and I agree.
It’s a shorter book so I think anyone who is barely getting into poetry will like it. Some of the political poems are heavy so just be prepared.
I recommend!
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This was a great read! It’s about an ordinary woman who gets mixed up in a bad situation. It’s inspired by the political situation in Mexico in the 1970s.
I loved that there were 2 perspectives to the story. I recommend!
Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf
I read this book for one of my book clubs and honestly if it wasn’t for it being a book club pick, I would’ve stopped reading it about 1/3 of the way in.
There was some good info but the majority of it was slow, convoluted and a little boring.
If you’re super into learning why reading is important for kids and the future of reading with print and digital mediums, then you might like it.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Oh my goodness. I finished this book in one day, it was very heavy and really sad in many parts but I kept reading because I was secretly hoping she would turn out okay.
I liked that she wrote each chapter with the same point of view from each part of her life, she didn’t tell us what she knows now…and it helped when reading to know exactly how she felt at that moment.
The book is raw, powerful, and 100% honest. I admire Jennette for writing her truth.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
I loved this book! I didn’t think it’d be a love story when I read the synopsis but it most definitely is. It made me appreciate what I have and all the choices I’ve made to be where I am. There’s a big theme of regret that I really enjoyed diving into.
If you’ve ever seen the movie Bliss or the show You, it’s kind of a mash up of that but then add a lot of darkness. Definitely recommend!
Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler
What a delightful book! I really enjoyed this book and once I got halfway through, I couldn’t put it down!
I loved all of the LGBTQ+ representation and the mystery at the heart of the story.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
I read this book because a friend gifted it to me and I recognized the author’s name from a Ted talk I had watched several years ago.
The book has some good analogies and interesting anecdotes but a lot of it was repetitive. I’m walking away with some good nuggets about leadership but I think this book could have just been an article.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
A friend gave me this book and told me there were some weird and creepy scenes so that’s what I walked into the book with.
After reading the book and then going on to read the two bonus chapters, I still give this book 2 stars.
Without spoiling anything, it was “entertaining” in the sense that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened and and I liked the plot twist at the end with the letter (at least it wasn’t a super cliche ending). That whole house and family was creepy and no guy no matter how attractive he was would make me stay so I don’t really understand the main character. I wish we knew more about her as she didn’t feel fully fleshed out. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever read but I don’t know if I’ll read anything else by this author.
Money Out Loud: All the Financial Stuff No One Taught Us by Berna Anat and Monique Sterling (Illustrator)
LOVED this book! Not only is there a lot of great information, it is easily digestible, the author is hilarious/empathetic and as a child of immigrants I definitely related to her experience.
There’s a few things I’ll be implementing so really thankful for this rec! Highly recommend this book!
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
That was such a fun read. Super entertaining, lots of cute moments and if you love reading and talking about books, this one’s for you!
La cabeza de mi padre by Alma Delia Murillo
Wow what an incredible book full of raw emotion, honesty and a poserful narrative on so many parts of life. This book was recommended by a podcast (Se Regalan Dudas) and I knew going in that it was a book based on a true story about a woman trying to find the father who abandoned her and her 7 siblings when she was young.
It was about that, and so much more. I loved the story and loved that it was full of complicated human emotions, it was real, it was messy. It had politics and talked about some triggering stuff so be warned. Highly recommend this book.
In the Woods by Tana French
I’m normally not a mystery book reader but this was recommended by a friend and I loved it! It was so well written and had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how it would end!
I love/hate the ending and definitely recommend. I will also be checking out the show!
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
The book is very long and at times can feel impossible to finish but it is so good!!! The writing is really good and it feels like you are immersed in the story.
I really like the way the author showed us what happened in the main story (the rowing competitions) and juxtaposed it with what is happening during the Hitler era.
If you liked Seabiscuit or like reading about historical events related to sports, you’ll like this book.
Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking by Jon Acuff
The first chapter had me worried this would be a “think positively and all your problems go away!” but I’m glad I kept reading. I enjoyed it. It was short, had some good practical tips, and I liked that he kept it simple. The ending was also awesome! I love Dolly Parton!! I recommend if you have anxiety, are stuck in a negative rut or if you are an over thinker.
Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Finished this book in 2 days because it was just that good!!!
There was so much gold in this story: mystery, tests of friendship, big life things, and poetic justice.
It’s a quick read and should definitely be a show or movie. This is the same author of the book “Me Before You” that became a movie.
Highly recommend!!
What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence edited by Michele Filgate
This one was recommended by a friend and I went in completely blind without knowing the premise. I LOVED it! There are 15 different essays and some are heartbreaking, others aren’t but they’re all written so beautifully and are so powerful.
I really resonated with two of the stories: one made me mad, the other made me really sad. Highly recommend but I will mention a trigger warning if you don’t have the best relationship with your mom. I’ve added a good chunk of these authors to my list of books to read!
Out There by Kate Folk
I was intrigued by the title and didn’t realize that this is actually a collection of short stories. I realized it once I finished the first story and it was so good I wanted to keep reading!!
This gives me “Black Mirror” vibes and every short story was so good that I’m definitely going to find other books by this author.
I highly recommend!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I loved this book! It was a really unique story and I loved the thrill, the history, the magic of it.
Highly recommend to anyone looking to get lost in a great book! It kept me on my toes because I had no idea how it would end but the ending was perfect!
Each Night Was Illuminated by Jodi Lynn Anderson
What an interesting read! It’s a really unique story with a really intriguing protagonist. I honestly had no idea how it would end but I was pleasantly surprised with the ending.
It’s a fun, quick read that makes you think. I recommend!
Wealth Warrior: 8 Steps for Communities of Color to Conquer the Stock Market by Linda Garcia
Wow!!! Just wow. I’ll admit I only bought this book because I wanted to support a Latina author but I was blown away. I wasn’t expecting to glean anything from this book but wow was I wrong.
I loved the deep dive into scarcity mindset, money wounds but especially the deep dive into the stock market. I was expecting a basic high level overview of what the stock market was but the author really took the time to explain it all! She provided context, detailed information, tips, but most importantly her own lessons learned and the mistakes she made along the way to make the road smoother for the reader.
I also really enjoyed the fact that she kept communities of color at the forefront. Highly recommend!
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
This is hands down one of the best and most powerful memoirs I’ve ever read. What a candid and raw story about a mother-daughter relationship that wasn’t always perfect.
It’s beautifully written. I cried at various parts of the book but especially the end. We know what will happen but it still hurts even though I’ve never met the author or her mother.
Highly recommend but of course, trigger warning if you’ve lost a parent.
The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution by Juana Bordas
I read this book through my employer’s Hispanic resource group book club. It was a little tough to get through because the chapters didn’t really flow that well.
If it wasn’t for the book club, I probably would have stopped reading. I did learn about many Hispanic leaders from the last 50 years so I’m glad I read the book. I did appreciate that there was a section about younger leaders. Not my favorite book but also not the worst thing I’ve ever read.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
A friend recommended Verity by Colleen Hoover to me and I shared with friends that I was not a fan of the book or of Colleen Hoover’s writing style. Another friend told me that I should read It Ends With Us because that’s Colleen Hoover’s best and most popular book.
I started reading it and 20 pages in, I could already tell I was not going to be a fan. The dialogue she uses can be so ridiculous at times that it pulls you out of the story but I was determined to finish. I knew the book dealt with domestic violence but that’s all I knew going in. At the end (in the author’s note), we find out that the story is loosely based on the author’s mother and you’d think that with it being so personal, there would be some ‘real’ feelings and emotions in it, but there wasn’t. It’s almost like it’s written by someone who heard a story and is trying to re-tell it without taking the time to ask questions to get to the truth of the experience. This book could have been so much more impactful if the author took the time to truly understand what her mother went through.
So many people online and friends have told me that it’s their favorite book and after reading it, I truly don’t understand.
A lot of what happens in the book is so over the top that it ruins the flow because I kept thinking to myself ‘seriously?’. The characters are never fully developed and by the end of the book, I know almost the same amount about them as when I first started reading.
I definitely can see where the author was trying to take this book and the message she was trying to get across but it just falls flat to me. Every interaction, feeling, description feels so surface level. The main character is ‘sad’ or ‘feels bad’ when some pretty terrible stuff happens and the author doesn’t take the time to fully flesh out those feelings. The writing also felt pretty rushed to me (which in hindsight is probably a good thing as it made the book shorter). It also feels like there’s a lot of filler that doesn’t move the plot forward at all.
When the main character describes how much she loves the love interest, all that she describes about him are his physical characteristics….there’s nothing really there besides him being handsome and a neurosurgeon…and wearing scrubs.
For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez
This book easily is going on my list of favorite books. A friend recommended the book and I thought I’d like it based on the title alone but my goodness. What an excellent read.
A lot of what the author shares especially the part about being a minority in academia really resonated with me. I loved how unapologetic she was about who she is and I love that she didn’t filter any of it. I highly recommend especially to Latinas as you’ll relate to a lot of it.
Feel the Bern by Andrew Shaffer
What a fun read! It was short and entertaining and filled with lots of fun Bernie facts. I enjoyed it and would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery! One perk of buying the book is that the author includes Vermont recipes like apple cider donuts at the end that I will def be making!
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
A friend recommended this book and I’ll be honest I didn’t know what the book was about, I just started reading.
And wow was I hit with a difficult story because it was such a tragic situation and the author does not hold back or sugarcoat anything.
I loved the author’s writing style and the way she was completely honest about her situation when it would have been so easy to not be. I had to take a few breaks while reading because some of the events are so sad and the fact that it’s a memoir makes it even more heartbreaking.
I learned a lot about cancer, cancer treatment, and how strong people can be when that’s their only option.
Highly recommend, but if you have a loved one who’s had cancer, this might a little tough to read.
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker
I’ll preface this by saying I’m not the biggest true crime fan however the author does a good job of introducing us to the characters and giving us a lot of information about each of them.
The first 2/3 of the book was pretty interesting but then the last 1/3 kind of drags on. I personally didn’t like that it was an unsolved mystery but I looked it up and it looks like the killer was found and there’s a Netflix movie now so I’ll be checking that out.
If you like true crime, you might enjoy this book.
Feel free to comment below any other books you recommend for me! I do have a book club that is open to new members, so feel free to email me at [email protected] or comment on any of my social media accounts to get invited to our next meeting!
If you’d like more recommendations, check out my full list here!
Thank you all for reading, and stay enthusiastic!
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-Maira