My goodness 2024 has been tough going. Despite the fact that I don\u2019t believe that adding 5 instead of 4 to the end of the year will make any difference, I am so glad to leave 2024 behind from today. I won\u2019t bore you with all the details, but I confess I\u2019ve struggled rather.<\/p>\n However, in amongst all the horrors of the world and the personal difficulties in 2024, one constant has been books and bookish events (even if a bout of Covid prevented me from being part of the local literary festival so that I missed interviewing and introducing Sara-Jade Virtue, Carol Atherton, Anne Fletcher, Julia Jarman, Suk Pannu, Jack Jordan, Fiona Cummins, Clare Mackintosh, Ajay Tegela and Lev Parikian).<\/p>\n Goodreads tells me I have achieved my reading goal at the time of writing this post\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 but Goodreads knows nothing! I\u2019ve read books that are not on Goodreads, books I\u2019ve quietly forgotten because I didn\u2019t enjoy them and books that I will be featuring in 2025 here on the blog, on My Weekly<\/a><\/em> and in (or occasionally on) The People\u2019s Friend<\/a><\/em> in my monthly paperback column, that are not out until next year, so I haven\u2019t included them. Indeed, I actually loathe all the various reading challenges as I think reading should be a pleasure, not a challenge. I also really don\u2019t like awarding stars either as it\u2019s such an imprecise science and I ignore those who say my reviews are invalid because I only have positive things to say. Why would I post a negative review? I\u2019m a blogger, not a scalpel sharp critic. I could quite easily eviscerate a book I don\u2019t like or that isn\u2019t well written, but someone else might love it and quite honestly, there\u2019s enough unkindness in the world with me adding to it!<\/p>\n As ever, I am aware that, as I blog about the books I\u2019ve enjoyed the most this year, there will be authors who never appear on anyone\u2019s lists, feel deflated, unseen and lost. Let me say to you that yours might just be the book I\u2019d enjoy most in my life, but I haven\u2019t discovered it yet, that my list is not of the \u2018best books\u2019 out there, but is my personal choice from those I\u2019ve actually got round to reading in the last 12 months. There are many hundreds more on my shelves that would be my favourite reads if only I\u2019d had time to reach for them.<\/p>\n As ever, an explanation of how I choose the books featured here is that I keep a spreadsheet of the books I read and as soon as I have finished reading a book I award it a \u2018gut reaction\u2019 mark out of 100. Anything 95+\/100 is a book of the year for me. This means that there might be no books of the year or dozens! You may already have seen my most favourite 7 reads of the year over on My Weekly<\/a>, and all these achieved 97+\/100 on my personal gut-reaction-o-meter.<\/p>\n Previous favourite books can be found by clicking on the year \u2013 2023<\/a>, 2022<\/a>, 2021<\/a>, 2020<\/a>, 2019<\/a>, 2018<\/a>, 2017<\/a>, 2016<\/a> and 2015<\/a>. Take a look. You might just find a book you love too.<\/p>\n Today I\u2019m going to feature all<\/em> the books I enjoyed that I scored 95+\/100 in 2024. Books that made me laugh or cry, terrified or entertained me completely or books that simply swept me up in glorious storytelling. They are presented in the order I read them. Click on the titles to read my full reviews and for full book details.<\/p>\n The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne by Freya North<\/a><\/p>\n Figgles and Flo by Antonia Blackmore, illustrated by Sarah P. Sharpe<\/a><\/p>\n So there they are \u2013 non-fiction and crime stories, thrillers and children\u2019s books, coming of age stories and romances, historical fiction and even a bit of fantasy and horror woven in. But one book has stood out for me the most and I awarded it 100\/100. Those who follow me on social media or here on Linda\u2019s Book Bag<\/em> will know already that my favourite read of all in 2024, and possibly ever is:<\/p>\n A missing persons mystery, a<\/span>\u00a0serial killer thriller, and an epic<\/span>\u00a0love story \u2013 with a unique twist on each\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n * * * * *<\/p>\n Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph \u2018Patch\u2019 Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.<\/p>\n But when she does: it will break her heart.<\/span><\/p>\n Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room \u2013 until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.<\/p>\n But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.<\/span><\/p>\n Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories \u2013 and charts an epic search to find her.<\/p>\n As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey \u2013 on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them \u2013 and set free the only boy she ever loved.<\/p>\n Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve loved everything of Chris\u2019s that I\u2019ve read including Tall Oaks<\/a><\/strong> , All The Wicked Girls<\/a><\/strong>, We Begin At The End<\/a><\/strong>, The Forevers<\/a><\/strong>, and of course, All The Colours of the Dark<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Although I don\u2019t bother to look much at my blog stats \u2013 reading is not a competition \u2013\u00a0 but it gives me great pleasure that, at the time of writing this post, my review of All The Colours Of The Dark<\/strong> has had 14,468 views since I blogged it in July. I hope some of those folk have gone on to love the book just as much as I did.<\/p>\n ****<\/p>\n So, that was 2024. On 5th February 2025 I will have been blogging for exactly a decade. I wonder what books I\u2019ll discover in my tenth year of Linda\u2019s Book Bag<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2025 brings you good health and happiness, and of course, books!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My goodness 2024 has been tough going. Despite the fact that I don\u2019t believe that adding 5 instead of 4 to the end of the year will make any difference, I am so glad to leave 2024 behind from today. I won\u2019t bore you with all the details, but I confess I\u2019ve struggled rather. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[541,2268,1983,5697,4548],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-6044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-bag","tag-book","tag-favourite","tag-lindas","tag-reads"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lindasbookbag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/top-2024-reads.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBooks Read<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNot on a list?<\/h3>\n
Choosing a \u2018Book of the Year\u2019<\/h3>\n
Previous Years<\/h3>\n
My Favourite Reads of 2024<\/h2>\n
The Memory Library by Kate Storey<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFrank and Red by Matt Coyne<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Lifeline by Tom Ellen<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Memory of Us by Dani Atkins<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nI Promise It Won\u2019t Always Hurt Like This by Clare Mackintosh<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMake Art With Nature by Pippa Pixley<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSeven Summers by Paige Toon<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nReading Lessons by Carol Atherton<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAll The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nOne Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nThe Black Loch by Peter May<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nEdith Holler by Edward Carey<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Good Liars by Anita Frank<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nIce Town by Will Dean<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAll I Want For Christmas by Karen Swan<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nA Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMy Favourite Book of 2025<\/h2>\n
All The Colours Of The Dark\u00a0by Chris Whitaker<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nHappy New Year<\/h3>\n