Told ya!

But the question kept coming. Responding turned out to be harder than we thought. A lot harder. In case you’re wondering, Cupcake. And even if you’re not. But not for the reason you may think. Like this:

Making the Cut

To make the “top ten” cut, a book had to include:

• Robust, three-dimensional characters
• Fresh, engaging plots
• Superlative story-telling
• Brisk pacing, strong writing, and a “didn’t want it to end” feeling at the final page.
• If non-fiction, it had to grab us from page one and not let go until the very end + highlight a timeless truth and/or transcendent theme.

We read some really lousy books last year. We’re talkin’ fish wrap here. We read a few outstanding books. Most were somewhere in between. Winnowing out the fish wrap was easy. Ditto the okay/average/good but-not-particularly great titles. But finding books that were a cut above? Truly PAWsome? That wasn’t easy.

There just weren’t that many. But we kept at it.

Drum Roll Please!

So. Here’s our totally subjective, 100% unscientific list of our Top 10 Titles of 2024, aka: The BEST Books We Read This Year. With links to our reviews.  In no particular order.

Big Love and War Horse – S.A. Chitwood

Grain of Hope – Melissa Cole

The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown

Help is Here – Max Lucado

A Father’s Dream – Heidi Ennis

Spencer’s Mountain – Earl Hamner, Jr.

Tales From a Rogue Ranger – Rosanne S. McHenry

Miri and the Honeybee – N.J. Lujan

Crown of Three – J.D. Rinehart

Monster – Frank Peretti

***

Honorable Mentions:

Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany – Donald L. Miller

The Good Shepherd – C.S. Forester

Rieden Reece and the Virtual Girl – Matt Guzman

 

How many have you read?

What were your top reads of 2024?