My Top Books of 2024

These are not books that were necessarily published in 2024 but books that I have read over the last year. This was a very difficult list to put together as I had a great year of reading and exploring different genres. 

Historical Fiction

The Book Lover's Library by Madeline Martin

• Brief Summary: A heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of the books that bring them together.
• First published September 3, 2024
• 432 pages 

Thriller

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

• Brief Summary: Lucy is found covered in her best friend's blood with no recollection of what happened, after many years she returns to her hometown and the scene of the crime to uncover what she can't remember through the help of a true crime podcaster. 
• First published March 5, 2024
• 336 pages

Psychological Thriller

Every Last Secret by A. R. Torre

• Brief Summary: New neighbors move in next door and the wives begin to battle for the queen bee of the neighborhood. What is uncovered will truly shock you as to what lengths a woman will go to in order to protect her marriage. 
• First published December 1, 2020
• 293 pages

Mystery

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

• Brief Summary: A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.
• First published May 10, 2022
• 372 pages

Horror

Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine

• Brief Summary: The Push meets The Silent Patient in a gripping thriller that follows a woman convinced a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens—while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says.
• First published August 1, 2023
• 432 pages

Romance

Reckless (#4 in Chestnut Springs Series) by Elsie Silver 

• Brief Summary: A grumpy sunshine western romance where he melts her icy heart and helps her become the woman and mother she could only ever dream of being. 
• First published June 9, 2023
• 466 pages

Dark Romance

Lights Out (#1 in Into Darkness Series) by Navessa Allen

• Brief Summary: A kinky dark romance where masks bring two people together into a meaningful relationship. Unfortunately, an accidental murder causes their relationship to take a turn. 
• First published February 14, 2024
• 454 pages

Runner Up: The Ritual by Shantel Tessier

Feminine Rage

The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby

• Brief Summary: This series is five novellas smooshed together where one woman is determined to get her revenge against her small town that tortured her and her family. She becomes the ultimate revenge serial killer and falls in love with the FBI agent that is actively hunting her. 
• First published December 10, 2016
• 638 pages

Disability Awareness

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

• Brief Summary: Sally is 'strange' and unfortunately her father's passing causes a stir when she simply listened to her father when he told her to just throw him away when he dies. This is a heartwarming thriller that I could not put down. 
• First published July 18, 2023
• 384 pages

Runner Up: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

Coming-Of-Age

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

• Brief Summary: The main character, Luke, is outstandingly relatable while managing to be wildly annoying and angsty. He finds himself in another land where we follow him through his high school years and the new creatures he befriends.
• First published August 15, 2017
• 441 pages

Runner Up: They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

Fantasy

A Fig For All The Devils by C.S. Fritz

• Brief Summary: An abused, grief-stricken, and impoverished Sonny has all but given up on life. That is, until he meets death, by way of the Grim Reaper. The Reaper, a junk food loving, poetry reading, cigarette-addicted entity, has no time to waste as he searches for a suitable successor who would become "Death" for the next millennium.
• First published October 31, 2021
• 260 pages

Memoir

Too Pretty To Be Good by Lindsay Byron

• Brief Summary: Journey across sweat-soaked stages dotted with wadded dollars and the dreams of a thousand women, to the hallowed halls of the ivory tower where florescent lights and tenured dinosaurs reign, to find out how one woman straddling worlds learns to love herself, despite all odds
• Published January 11, 2021
• 211 pages

I finished my first draft, now what?

    I finished the first draft of my novel last night and there are a few things that happen now. 

• I'm going to put my book away for the next 4-6 weeks. 
• Meaning, I am not going to read, write, revise, or ANYTHING for the next few weeks.
• I'm going to write an aspirational book review of my book. 
• This is going to be a short synopsis of a potential reader who loved and understood the book. 
• It's going to be just a few sentences
• It will be what I hope a reader felt, understood, and learned from my book.
• It will touch on the main theme or purpose of my story.
• Manuscript swap
• I can work with another author and we can swap books and review each other's work. 
• This way I can still feel productive without breaking my book break.
• Celebrate!
• I just wrote a FREAKING BOOK - I should enjoy that and be proud of myself for accomplishing something I wasn't sure I could.
• Avoid Self Doubt / Pep-talk
• I am important and what I have to say is meaningful, I'm not less than because I didn't write the next Great American Novel, but I did write something, and that's amazing in itself. 
• It's okay if I do get a bit of imposer syndrome here, but it is important to remind myself that I did something really cool. I haven't even read it yet, how do I know if it's bad or not? I don't - so I'm going to try to relax. 

Those are my plans for the book for now and my tips on how to stay sane in this waiting period. More to come!

Welcome and Introduction

 Welcome to Liz Logan's Library Blog!

I'm Liz Logan and I'm honored that you decided to come visit my blog. 

For my first post, I think a little introduction is in order!

I'm originally for New Jersey, I know, no need to laugh. However, I've moved to Atlanta five years ago this past September and couldn't be happier. I was pretty lost when I first arrived and found myself in a spiral. After getting sober and being successful for the past 2.5 years (sobriety date: 2/2/22), I am glad to say me life is no longer out of control. 

When I got sober, I had no idea what to do with my time so I found some new passions and hobbies. I became a stand up comedian, an avid reader, and I can knit a blanket insanely fast. 

Unfortunately, I had to take a huge step back from comedy because I got very sick a little over a year ago and have only recently been able to focus on getting my stamina back. Since being out and about on stage with many people is out of the question, as I have a compromised immune system, I've turned further into books. Can you say escapism? Since this huge shift in my life, I've not only been reading like it's my second full time job, but I've been reviewing the books on various social media platforms. 

Tiktok    |    Instagram    |    Youtube

I've also started writing my own book. I am in the writing phase and hoping to complete my draft by mid-November. Revisions to come in December after I've taken a break so I can do a dry read of my work. I am not sure what is going to come of this book, if anything, but it's nice to dream about. It's also been insanely healing to write and express through these characters. 

This blog is going to be my little hub for bookish things

• Book Reviews
• Bookstore Adventures
• Author Updates
• Bookish Crafts
• And so much more!

Mini Book Summary | Working Title: Flipside

Five teenagers meet in a psych wards and become friends. After they're released they're faced with the very issues that put them there in the first place. It's exploring the idea of 'will people change' not 'can people change'. I find this to be even more interesting in the context of a child because they have no control over their own environment so change looks very different.