I have just spent a leisurely two hours trawling through my phone for screenshots of all the books that caught my eye on social media over the last year. It was a very fruitful activity and I now have the BEST To Be Read list for the upcoming months. I seem to be in a cosy mystery/magical realism/contemporary fiction mood this year and these genres are all on my TBR list. Oh, and I am more than a little obsessed with all things cottagecore so there is also a non-fiction about the cottagecore, slow living life.
In Australia, we are still deep in the winter months, so the cosy mysteries are a perfect fit. I’m looking forward to delving into the magical fiction for Halloween, and then heading into summer, I plan to shift to some contemporary fiction. The titles on this TBR are mostly recent releases from 2023 and 2024, except for The Rules of Magic, a book that I have wanted to read forever.
Anyway, enough talking about it – here’s the 2024 TBR List that you will love reading!
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Six Minutes, Petronella McGovern (2019)
Six Minutes is the only book remotely resembling a thriller on my list. I usually stay well clear of stories about missing children because they get inside my head, but this one made its way onto my TBR after I came across an interview with Petronella McGovern on The Grown-Up Girls Report. My interest is well and truly piqued and now I have to read the book and find out what happens.
The story is about Lexie and her 3-year-old daughter Bella who goes missing while at their local playgroup. As it unfolds, we learn more about the other mothers and key players in the story and uncover what happened to Bella. If I am brave enough to read it, I will report back.
Image from Goodreads.
COSY MYSTERY
The Tea Ladies, Amanda Hampson (2023)
The biggest appeal of The Tea Ladies is that it is set in 1960s Sydney, Australia and this is one of my favourite eras. I’m imagining the Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries TV show (a spin-off from Kerry Greenwood’s Phyrne Fisher book series), although if you’re not Australian, these references may be unhelpful. Either way, a group of women banding together to solve mysteries in a 1960s setting sounds like an absolute winner.
The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (2020)
Residents of a retirement home meet for Murder Club every Thursday and put their sleuthing skills to work on solving cold cases. Things take a turn when a real murder happens at the nursing home, and the club pulls together to uncover what happened. I am very curious to see where this goes.
Lenny Marks gets Away with Murder, Kerryn Mayne (2023)
This one looks more like my style. It gives me Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine vibes; or maybe more The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth. I think it’s the sort of story where the protagonist is living with childhood trauma and we meet them at a point when everything that has been kept hidden emerges to the surface.
Image from Goodreads.
BOOKS TO READ DURING HALLOWEEN
The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman (2017)
It is most likely that everyone knows of The Rules of Magic even if they haven’t read it. In case you haven’t heard of it, it is the prequel to Practical Magic, the 1995 book that led to the wonderful Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock movie. This has been on my TBR for quite some time and I’ve decided to read it during the Halloween season this year. The story surrounds the two aunts from Practical Magic in their youth and I am beyond excited to get to know these fabulous characters!
The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst (2024)
I don’t know who writes the GoodReads synopses for their books but their description of The Spellshop hooked me immediately. They tell us it is:
I’m in, sign me up!
Image from GoodReads.
This Spells Love, Kate Robb (2023)
This one may be a little on the light and fluffy side for my taste but if you are a fan of the lighthearted witchy romance genre, then I’m sure it will be a winner. It definitely reminds me of The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, which was the same sort of fun read. In This Spells Love, twenty-eight-year-old Gemma uses her witchy powers to cast a spell to heal her broken heart. Everything goes awry in unexpected ways and she must work out what it is she really wants. Let me know if you’ve read this and I will give it a crack.
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
The Faculty Lounge, Jennifer Mathieu (2024)
As the title suggests, this book follows the goings-on of teachers in the lounge of their high school workplace. This looks a little more lighthearted than some of the other books I have on my TBR but looks can be deceiving. Workplace settings for stories are underrated (I think) as they bring people together in such a forced and artificially constructed way. From what I can tell, we learn some of the darker goings on with the characters at the school and there may be a little mystery to solve. I’m looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
My Husband, by Maud Ventura (translated by Emma Ramadan) (2021)
Gosh, this one looks a little dark. I’m wondering if it might shift over into the thriller category but it’s hard to tell from the synopsis. The story follows the life of a forty-year-old woman and her obsession with her husband. By all accounts, they have a picture-perfect life but of course, there is more going on beneath the surface. Eek!
The Day Shelly Woodhouse Woke Up, Laura Pearson (2024)
I have always been fascinated with comas and what happens when people wake up after being absent from their own lives for a long period of time. My interest may stem from being glued to every of episode of Days of Our Lives during my early uni days where comas were more frequent than real life would have us believe. The Day Shelly Woodhouse Woke Up fits this unique genre as protagonist Shelly wakes from a coma believing her husband has tried to kill her. However, her memory is patchy so she begins to question what and who to believe. Ooh, it sounds so intriguing!
SUMMER READ
Bad Summer People, Emma Rosenblum (2023)
I saw Bad Summer People on one of Alexandra Roselyn’s YouTube recommendations and she made it sound like such a fun read! I can always trust Lexie’s suggestions so I’m all in. The book is marketed as a dark comedy and I can see myself reading this by a pool somewhere fancy with a cocktail in hand (I’m being optimistic, it may be in my backyard). From what Lexie said, the characters are awful people doing some awful things!
NON FICTION
The Cottagecore Handbook: Embracing a Simpler Way of Life, Karima Ameziani (2023)
Yes please GoodReads, I would very much like some rustic whimsy in my life. I adore beautiful books about cottagecore, hygge, rituals – all those things that touch on living life more intentionally and with a little magic. I think I’m going to enjoy this one.
Image from GoodReads.
Phew, so that’s my TBR. I love knowing I have so many stellar reads ahead of me and that I will report back here once I’ve read them. Please let me know what’s on your TBR or what you’ve loved reading lately.
See you next time!
