2024 Reading Round-Up

As we reach the end of the year (and I reach my reading goal!), I've been putting together some social-media-sized posts about my reading this year. I included some stats: 76 total! 39 middle grade novels! 12 adult nonfiction books! More audiobooks than digital and print! And I highlighted some favorites in each category. I had also made a graphic of all of my reads for the year, and I felt like that deserved a place, too. And that place is here! Read on to see the full compliment of my reading this year. 

So here they are! I've listed them as Title (Author): genre, in the order that they appear in the graphic. When I was looking over my books by the numbers, I was surprised to find that I'd listened to more books than I'd read in digital or paper copies (41-35). I really shouldn't be, though, because my commute is almost an hour each way, so I do a LOT of listening. That's also how I get almost all of my adult reading, especially adult nonfiction, which has been a gamechanger for me, since I struggle to get through nonfiction in print. On the other hand, I was utterly un-surprised to find that middle grade novels made up the greatest portion of all my reading. The large number of witchy/magical books was also typical for me. Less expected were three that featured stories at sea (The Last Mapmaker, The Secret Library, & The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea), and four with time travel (A Spoonful of Time, First State of Being, The Secret Library, & A Split Second). For more highlights and favorites, check out my Instagram! 

2024 Reads
Nothing Burns as Bright as You (Ashley Woodfolk): YA novel in verse
All Boys Aren’t Blue (George M. Johnson): YA memoir 
Shifting the Balance: Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom (Katie Cunningham, Jan Burkins, Kari Yates): professional
Family Lore (Elizabeth Acevedo): adult fiction
Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction (Gholdy Muhammad): professional
The Misfits: The Royal Conundrum (Lisa Yee, Dan Santat): middle grade novel
Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal (Bettina L. Love): adult nonfiction
The Labors of Hercules Beale (Gary Schmidt): middle grade novel
Me, Frida, and Secret of the Peacock Ring (Angela Cervantes): middle grade novel
Root Magic (Eden Royce): middle grade novel
Mexikid (Pedro Martin): middle grade graphic novel memoir
The Art of Coaching (Elena Aguilar): professional
Once Upon an Eid: Stories of hope and joy by 15 Muslim voices (ed. by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed): middle grade short story collection
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Robin Wall Kimmerer & Monique Gray Smith): YA nonfiction
A Spoonful of Time (Flora Ahn): middle grade novel
Ferris (Kate DiCamillo): middle grade novel
The Writing Revolution (Judith C. Hochman): professional 
Free Period (Ali Terese): middle grade novel
The Wild Robot (Peter Brown): middle grade novel
Drawing Deena (Hena Khan): middle grade novel
Grounded (Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi. Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & S.K. Ali): middle grade novel
We Still Belong (Christine Day): middle grade novel
All About Love (bell hooks): adult nonfiction
a first time for everything (Dan Santat): YA graphic novel memoir
Ruby Lost and Found (Christina Li): middle grade novel
Simon Sort of Says (Erin Bow): middle grade novel
Heartstopper Vol. 3 (Alice Oseman): YA graphic novel
First State of Being (Erin Entrada Kelly): middle grade novel
Spells for Lost Things (Jenna Evans Welch): YA novel
I Was Born for This (Alice Oseman): YA novel
School Trip (Jerry Craft): middle grade graphic novel
Simon B. Rhymin’ (Dwayne Reed): early middle grade novel
The Heart-Break Bakery (A. R. Capetta): YA novel
Speculation (Nisi Shawl): middle grade novel
Witchlings: The Golden Frog Games (Claribel A. Ortega): middle grade novel
Black Bird Oracle (Deborah Harkness): adult novel
The Mother of All Questions (Rebecca Solnit): adult nonfiction
The Night Diary (Veera Hiranandani): middle grade novel
The Chance to Fly (Ali Stroker & Stacy Davidowitz): middle grade novel
Brownstone (Samuel Teer & Mar Julia): YA graphic novel
Saving Sunshine (Saadia Faruqi): middle grade graphic novel
Chester Keene Cracks the Code (Kekla Magoon): middle grade novel
Hope in the Dark (Rebecca Solnit): adult nonfiction
The Ogress and the Orphans (Kelly Barnhill): middle grade novel
The Witch of Woodland (Laurel Snyder): middle grade novel
Orphan Island (Laurel Snyder): middle grade novel
Jay’s Gay Agenda (Jason June): YA novel
Heartstopper Vol. 2 (Alice Oseman): YA graphic novel
A Thousand Questions (Saadia Faruqi): middle grade novel
The Last Mapmaker (Christina Soontornvat): middle grade novel
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz): adult nonfiction
You Are Here: Connecting Flights (ed. Ellen Oh): middle grade short story collection
twenty-four second from now (Jason Reynolds): YA novel
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (Maggie Tokuda-Hall): YA Novel
The Witching Wind (Natalie Lloyd): middle grade novel
Shine On, Luz Veliz (Rebecca Balcarcel): middle grade novel
Not Quite a Ghost (Anne Ursu): middle grade novel
Dusk Night Dawn (Anne Lamott): adult nonfiction
Kyra, Just for Today (Sara Zarr): middle grade novel
Meet Me on Mercer Street (Booki Vivat): middle grade (graphic) novel
Heartstopper Vol. 5 (Alice Oseman): YA graphic novel
Ash’s Cabin (Jen Wang): YA graphic novel
Conjure Island (Eden Royce): middle grade novel
Unsettled (Reem Faruqi): middle grade novel
Jude Saves the World (Ronnie Riley): middle grade novel
Imogen, Obviously (Becky Albertalli): YA novel
The Secret Library (Kekla Magoon): middle grade novel
Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy (Gholdy Muhammad): professional
A Rover’s Story (Jasmine Warga): middle grade novel
Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories from BIPOC Authors (ed. Aida Salazar & Yamile Saied Méndez): middle grade short story collection
Good Different (Meg Eden Kuyatt): middle grade novel
Witches of Brooklyn (Sophie Escabasse): middle grade graphic novel
The Memory Thieves: A Conjurverse Novel (Dhonielle Clayton): middle grade novel
Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice (Elena Aguilar): professional
It’s All or Nothing, Vale (Andrea Beatriz Arango): middle grade novel in verse
A Split Second (Janae Marks): middle grade novel

Here's to a 2025 filled with more great books!