Today's TTT prompt is: Top Ten Oldest (earliest published) Books On My TBR List, but I don't have many older titles on mine, so I went rogue. Since we're getting to the end of the year (2024 has whizzed by!), I thought I'd look at my favorite reads of the year. So far, I've read 195 books. I marked about 35 of them as favorites. Because there are so many, I'm going to make two lists, actually. This week, I'll look at adult titles; next week I'll talk about children's books. (To keep things simple, I'm not going to include rereads on either list.)

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. 

1. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman—I loved this hilarious murder mystery, the first in a planned series. It's funny, energetic, engrossing, and all sorts of entertaining. 

2. I Know Who You Are: How An Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter—I'm a genealogist, so these types of books always appeal to me. In it, Rae-Venter discusses how she went from digging into her own family history to taking down a notorious serial killer with her mad research and analytical skills.

3. The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose—I adored The Maid and I really enjoyed this sequel as well. It's not quite as good as its predecessor, but it's still a fun mystery starring a quirky, lovable heroine with a unique view on life. Its bookish themes make it even more appealing.

4. The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King—This is a warm, uplifting biography of a wonderful man. I enjoyed learning about his life, his career, his philosophy, and especially the kind, compassionate way he treated everyone around him. Very inspiring.

5. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson—Another quirky murder mystery, this series opener is clever, funny, and twisty. It's also got a surprising amount of depth and poignancy.

6. Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James—Historical mysteries with gothic undertones are my jam, so I enjoyed this older novel by one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors. It's about a young woman in need of a fresh start who poses as a nurse to get a job at a remote asylum for World War I veterans dealing with shell shock. It's a strange place where eerie things happen and secrets abound... 

7. Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda—After being disappointed by Miranda's last book (The Only Survivors), I was thrilled by her newest which is tense, twisty, and compelling. It's about a woman who returns to her hometown when she inherits her childhood home after her father's death. A drought has dried up the area, exposing secrets about the town and her family that refuse to stay hidden.

8. A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey—I love the Maeve Kerrigan series, which just keeps getting better. This newest book is the 11th in the series. It has DS Kerrigan and her partner (and almost lover) DI Josh Derwent investigating the murders of a couple whose young daughter disappeared from her bedroom sixteen years ago. Are the two cases linked? As the duo work the case, they're also forced to confront their complicated feelings for one another. 

9. Homecoming by Kate Morton—Morton is one of my favorite all-time authors, so it's no surprise that her newest is one of my favorite reads of the year (although I actually didn't love her last book, The Clockmaker's Daughter). This one features a London journalist who returns to her native Australia after her beloved grandmother falls down her attic steps. The tumble leaves the elderly woman confused. Her granddaughter is likewise puzzled. What was her frail grandmother doing in the forbidden attic? When the reporter discovers a true crime book in her grandmother's bedroom, it leads her on a journey into the depths of her own family history.

10.  Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong—Armstrong writes some great mystery/thriller books. I especially enjoy her Rip Through Time series, which stars Mallory Atkinson, a modern-day homicide detective who wakes up in Victorian Edinburgh after she is assaulted in her own time. Although she remembers everything about herself, Mallory is now inhabiting the body of a scrappy young housemaid who works in the home of a handsome surgeon who moonlights as a medical examiner. While Mallory tries to figure out how to get home, she can't keep herself from using her knowledge and expertise to help her employer solve the murder cases that come into his home. By this third book, Dr. Gray knows who Mallory really is. Together, they look into a murder that occurred during the unwrapping of an ancient Egyptian mummy.

There you go, ten of my favorite books of 2024. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What are the books you've most enjoyed this year? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours. I also try to reply to comments left here (although I'm failing miserably at the moment).

Happy Tuesday, everyone. How's your summer shaping up so far? Not surprisingly, given that I live in the Phoenix area, mine is scorching hot! The high today was 111. Ugh. I've mostly spent the day inside with the air conditioner on high. Our backyard swimming pool has become a very popular place for family, neighbors, and friends. I'll definitely be taking a dip before the day's over. I hope you are staying cool while enjoying your summer activities. 

This week's TTT prompt is a popular, bi-annual one that I always skip: Top Ten Bookish Wishes. Basically, you're supposed to post a list of books on your Amazon wishlist and then, as people hop around to different blogs, they can grant your bookish wishes by purchasing them for you.  I already own more books than I can read in two lifetimes and, even if I didn't, I can't imagine asking my readers/blog friends to buy me books, so...time to go rogue. My creative juices aren't flowing very well today (dried up by the heat, no doubt), but I have some evergreen topics that I pull out for weeks like this. In anticipation of Cybils judging to come (fingers crossed that I get to be a middle grade fiction judge again) and the need to fulfill certain prompts for reading challenges, these are the ten books I have on hold at the library right now. Except for #1 and #11, I'm planning to pick them up this afternoon.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (available June 18, 2024)—I'm #31 on the waitlist for Sager's newest, so hopefully, it won't be too long before I have it in my hot little hands. 

The story concerns a man named Ethan Marsh who reluctantly returns to his quaint hometown to find the truth about the long-ago disappearance of his best friend. The boy vanished while he and Ethan were sleeping in a tent pitched in one of their backyards and has never been found. What happened to Billy? What sinister secrets lie beneath their idyllic neighborhood's pristine lawns and gentle facade?

2. Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell—When Halle and her mother both contract tuberculosis in 1935, they are sent to a remote hospital in upstate New York to be quarantined with others like them. Although she is cut off from the rest of the world, Halle is surprised to find friendship, healing, and strength in her isolated existence. When her mother takes a turn for the worse, however, the young TB patient worries if either one of them have a future at all, let alone one outside the walls of the hospital. 

3. Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris—In Jim Crow Mississippi, three men are savagely murdered after trying to help Black people register to vote. In the wake of the incident, a young Black woman is attacked. She fights back, killing the man who tried to hurt her. Knowing there's no way she'll be dealt a fair hand in Mississippi, she flees to Georgia to hide. Back in their hometown, the woman's older sister is also in dire straits. She takes to the road as well. As both sisters struggle to find safety, a man is secretly tracking them. What will happen when he catches up?

4. Deep Water by Jamie Sumer—This middle-grade verse novel centers on a young girl who is grieving the recent death of her mother. In an attempt to soothe her troubled soul, she decides to enter a 12-mile swimming race in Lake Tahoe. If she comes in first, she'll be the youngest person ever to win the competition. When she starts to struggle in the water, she'll have to call on every ounce of strength and fortitude she has in order to finish the race, let alone win it. 

5. Billie Starr's Book of Sorries by Deborah E. Kennedy—One of my IRL friends recommended this novel to me. It's about a single mother whose poor decision making has led to a chaotic life for her and her daughter. Now facing foreclosure on her house, the woman accepts a lucrative proposal. It doesn't take long for things to go awry. As she deals with her newest sticky situation, she finally begins to realize how life could be, if only she would learn to trust herself and take firm control of her own trajectory.

6. Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn—Simon is tired of constantly being on the move. Unlike his adventure-seeking family, he wants to put down roots in a forever home. When a troubling theft occurs in his new apartment building, Simon worries the incident will be enough to get his family moving again. Determined to solve the mystery and keep his family in their new home, he sets out to do some sleuthing. Whodunit? 

7. With Prejudice by Robin Peguero—I need to read a legal thriller for a reading challenge and this one sounds intriguing. Twelve jurors from varying walks of life come together to decide the fate of Gabriel Soto, a young man accused of killing kind, free-spirited Melina Mora. The evidence is complicated, the jurors are flummoxed, and everyone has their own agenda. What will these everyday people decide as they face one of the most important decisions of their lives?

8. The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly—With the Y2K crisis causing widespread panic, 12-year-old Michael Rosario is obsessing over two things: stockpiling supplies and wooing his crush, Gibby. When awkward Michael meets cool, confident Ridge—the first-ever time traveler—he gets a glimpse of what his future could look like. Ridge has a book that explains how to make it happen and Michael has to get it. No matter the consequences. How far will he go to get what he wants?

9. I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter—Everyone seems to be obsessed with true crime these days. I value my sleep and my sanity, so I tend to avoid the genre altogether. I am, however, fascinated with the implications of DNA testing for genealogical purposes and beyond, so I'm all in for this book. Fingers crossed it isn't too disturbing!

10. The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson—The titular heroine of this middle-grade historical novel is a French-Ojibwe girl who has just been orphaned by her sailor father's death at sea. With no one to care for her, she becomes the foster child of a mysterious Anishinaabe family of lighthouse keepers who care for a lighthouse in the middle of Lake Michigan. Although Lucy struggles with grief and fitting in, she's excited that she now lives very near the shipwreck (and treasure!) her dad spent his life looking for. If she can find what he always dreamed of unearthing, it will be sort of like having him back. When Lucy's future at the lighthouse becomes endangered, she grows even more determined to find the sunken treasure.

11. Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth—This thriller has been getting all kinds of buzz and it fits one of my reading challenge prompts for a book with "darling" in the title. Win-win. It's about three women who grew up together in a foster home with Miss Fairchild at the helm. Although it looked idyllic from the outside, their foster mother had strict rules and an unpredictable, no-nonsense approach to parenting. The trio escaped as soon as they could and have never looked back. When a dead body is found under the home where the girls lived, they reluctantly return to their hometown. Are they witnesses or suspects? I'm #11 on the waitlist for this one, so we'll see how long it takes to get it.

There you go, eleven books I have on hold at the library right now. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Are you a library user? What are the last books you put on hold? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.