Congratulations, you’ve made it to the final level of the holiday season: those in-between days — where time is meaningless, there is no routine, everyone’s in their pajamas, and chocolate is the meal of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This is also the time of year where we get our year-end roundups from our favourite apps. Spotify hits us with our top bangers, Instagram reminds us of all the posts we forgot existed, and my personal favourite — Goodreads — pops up with my year in books.
Goodreads is an app that tracks all your reading habits and lets you set a yearly challenge. For 2024, my goal was to read 40 books, and I am currently finishing my 47th: A Cat Café Christmas by Codi Gary. Yes, it’s as cheesy as it sounds and the only reason I bought it was because the cats on the cover art look just like mine.
I wish I could have read more this year. The problem is, I have so many books, just not enough time to read them all. You see, book reading and book collecting are two totally different hobbies (if you know, you know!), and I am lucky if I can make it through even a quarter of my TBR (To Be Read) pile every year.
Towards the end of December, Goodreads will send you your “Year in Books” report summarizing your reading stats like how many books and pages you read, and other nerdy tidbits about your reading habits.
Reading is the best. It’s the one activity that can take you so many places without ever leaving your house. You’ll rarely catch me without a book in my hand or listening to an audiobook in the car. I am part of two book clubs and volunteer with the Friends of the Library in town. I am a huge book nerd, and proud!
So, I am going to jump on the bandwagon and do my own year-end roundup list. In the interest of time and space, I will stick to 5 of my favourite reads this year—books that made me laugh, cry, or both.
5. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
I almost skipped this one because it was about video games, and they aren’t really my jam. But it was a book club pick, and I am glad we read it because this book isn’t just about gaming—it’s about friendship, creativity, and ambition. It follows two best friends who build a video game empire together, and the emotional twists and turns hit me right in the feels. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be glad you gave it a shot.
4. Holly by Stephen King
Shockingly, this was my first ever read by the king of horror fiction, and after reading it, I feel compelled to read all his other works. This creepy mystery-thriller centres around an elderly couple who capture and dine on their victims’ brains. Set during the COVID era, it’s dark, weird, and gory. Warning: Not for the faint of heart.
3. This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
I am a Carley Fortune fan, and have read her previous two books, Meet Me At the Lake and Every Summer After. Her books are perfect summer reads, with cozy romantic vibes. I love her books because they all take place in Canadian towns and cities and the descriptions make me feel like I am right there with the characters. In this novel, Lucy, a florist from Toronto unknowingly becomes enamoured with her best friend’s brother, Felix, a PEI local. The story goes back and forth between locations as we follow the pair’s inconspicuous romance and all its ups and downs. I am excited to read her next book, One Golden Summer, which hits shelves this spring!
2. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
This might not have been one of my favourite reads, but it was hands down one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking books I listened to this year. Honestly, it could easily sit on the shelf next to Stephen King—because Haidt’s description of our screen-obsessed society and the state of childhood today is terrifying.
Haidt dives into how modern childhood has been transformed by smartphones, hyper-sensitivity, and a lack of unstructured play. He paints a grim picture of the consequences: rising mental health issues among kids and teens. But it’s not all doom and gloom—he also offers practical solutions, calling on companies, governments, and parents to step up and make changes that can protect young minds.
1. Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell by Deryck Whibley
This was hands down my favourite read of the year. It was just released in October and as a huge Sum 41 fan, having listened to them throughout my youth, I had to grab a copy. Whibley is the lead singer of the Canadian punk band Sum 41, and in this tell-all memoir, he spills all the tea—from his marriage to Avril Lavigne, his struggles with addiction, and the highs and lows of life in the punk-rock spotlight The book has received a lot of press in recent months over Whibley’s allegations of sexual abuse against former band manager and lead singer of Treble Charger, Greig Nori. Nori has denied the claims and they have not been proven in court. The book is wild, heartbreaking, and weirdly uplifting and now, I’m even more hyped to see Sum 41’s farewell tour in Toronto next month. If you were a teen living in the pop-punk 2000s era, this is a good one to devour through a weekend.
And that’s a wrap on my top reads of 2024! If you’re on Goodreads, let’s be friends—find me under Natasha Philpott.
Here’s to a new year of page-turners, plot twists, and late-night reading sessions. Cheers to our 2025 Reading Challenge!
