The Book Bunnies review the books of 2024

For the last couple years, at the end of the year, we have been doing a New-Year-ish thing of talking about all the books we have read through that year. (You can find our recap of 2022 here, and here is our recap of 2023.) This year, we continue this new tradition and take a look at our reviews for 2024.

[2024 saw the bunnies read and review many books, both new and classic. You can find a full list here.]

Sprinkles: So maybe this year, we can start with Marshmallow.

Marshmallow: Sure. I have reviewed many, many books this year. I liked all of them, but there are a couple that I really, really, really liked. But maybe we can begin with the series I read and enjoyed.

S: Makes sense to me.

M: The first series I started this year was the famous Hunger Games series. Here are my reviews of the three main books:  The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. And here is my review of The Hunger Games: The Illustrated Edition. I had never read these books before and quickly learned exactly why they are so revered. I was also shocked by how deep some of the themes were (family and friendship of course, but also lessons about the impacts of war, greed, violence, trauma, and poverty). This is an amazing series (I love it!) I would recommend to all reasonably mature bunnies (maybe like 12 and up?)

S: Yes, I remember how much you were affected by those books.

S: What about the other series you started this year?

M: Another series I began to read this year was the Powerless series. Here is my review of the first book: Powerless. And here is my review of the second one: Reckless. Unfortunately, not all of the books are out yet, so I am looking forward to reading and reviewing the last (?) book of this series next year. This is hands-down my favorite YA fantasy-romance series. I generally find this genre to lean too much into romance, but this series maintains the perfect balance. I would 100% recommend this book to all interested readers (YA probably), especially those who have been wronged by the ridiculous amount of romance infiltrating the YA fantasy section.

S: I still have not gotten around to reading those books, but I know you have really enjoyed them. So maybe they should go on my 2025 reading list.

M: Maybe they should! The third series I have begun this year is the Enola Holmes series. I originally presumed these books to be easy and basic because the cover was not what I would characterize as a serious, intriguing mystery would look like. However, these books really take you to an entirely new time period, and the adventures of Enola Holmes never fail to excite, delight, and inspire.

S: You have only read and reviewed three of the books though, right?

M: Yes. So far, I have only read and reviewed The Case of the Missing Marquess, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, and The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets.

S: So you might be reading and reviewing a few more in 2025?

M: Yes, I sure hope so.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, maybe you can tell us a bit about your favorite series from this year.

Caramel: Why not? I read more Spy School books this year and finished that series. So I read Spy School Project X, Spy School Goes North, and the last one in the series, Spy School Goes Wild, which was published this year. I also read the graphic novel version of the third book: Evil Spy School: The Graphic Novel. And I loved them all!

S: That is neat! So you have continued with a well-loved series this year. But you also discovered and read a couple other series this year, too.

C: Yes, I read all the Artemis Fowl books! Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, and Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian.

S: I think you really enjoyed reading about this evil boy genius and his adventures!

C: Yes, but he is no longer evil, remember?

S: Oh, yes, I do remember that.

C: I also read the Tristan Strong books: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky,  Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching. I also read  the graphic novel adaptation of the first book.

S: I remember those.

C: But I think my most favorite recent series is the Nathan Hale books! I did not finish those. I only reviewed One Dead Spy, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, and The Underground Abductor. And I loved them all.

S: Because they put together a few things you like. History, graphic novel format, humor-

C: Yes, what is there not to like? But there are many more books in the series, and I really hope to continue with those in 2025. And of course you know that my all-time favorite series is still Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire?

S: How can I forget?

C: I got to read and review two books from that series too, this year. I reviewed the graphic novel version of Winter Turning (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) and Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World. And I am still hoping she will write more books for the series some day…

S: I know. One can only hope.

C: And let us not forget that I also read Narwhal’s Sweet Tooth by Ben Clanton this year. That is also a book from a series I love.

S: Yes, that is true. and you loved that one, too!

C: Yep.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you have read many other books this year. Maybe you can tell us about the highlights. Maybe we can begin with the fiction?

Marshmallow: Sure. I read a lot of fiction this year, as always. And some of the books I read were really good. I really liked Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, for example. I also really liked Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng though I think I still am taken more by Our Missing Hearts from the same author, which I had read last year. And I think the most impactful one for me was the classic, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

S: You have also read several graphic novels this year. What can you tell me about those?

M: I found Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman to be very compelling. It tells of a harrowing time in recent history, and the book is really impactful. I also read Evil Eyes Sea by Özge Samancı a few graphic novel adaptations of various myths, for example, The Iliad: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, The Odyssey: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, and Beowulf: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, all by Gareth Hinds. But I think besides Maus, the graphic novel I read this year that I liked most was Sapiens – A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen, and Daniel Casanave.

Sprinkles: So Caramel how about you? Which books of fiction did you enjoy reading most this year, other than those that belong to the series we talked about already?

Caramel: Well, we forgot to talk about The One and Only Ruby and The One and Only Family, both by Katherine Applegate. Those are good books I read and they belong to a series but maybe we can mention them now?

S: Sure. I agree. Those were lovely books.

C: I also really liked Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, James Sturm, and Joe Sutphin.

S: That was s more recent one, and I know you are still rereading that.

C: Yup. And I also read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and that was fun, too.

S: Yes, I think those books are really funny.

Sprinkles: You have also read many nonfiction books this year, right, Caramel?

Caramel: Yup. I read Warhammer 40000: Core Book and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook for example. And you know I liked them!

Sprinkles: Of course! And Marshmallow, how about you?

Marshmallow: Yes. I read Slow Productivity by Cal Newport, The Illustrated Happiness Trap by Russ Harris and Bev Aisbett, Guinness: World Records 2024, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, How to Speak Emoji by Fred Benenson, Philographics: Big Ideas in Simple Shapes by Genís Carreras, and An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi.

S: This might be the most nonfiction you have reviewed, Marshmallow!

M: True. And I have to say I appreciated all of them. I in particular enjoyed Slow Productivity, Guinness: World Records 2024, We Should All Be Feminists, and How to Speak Emoji.

Sprinkles: We also all read many books of, or about poetry. Right?

Marshmallow: Actually, I read only The Lost Words: A Spell Book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, but I really loved it. It is a beautiful book! And the poems in it are poignant and touching.

Caramel: I think I also only read one poetry book, and it was This is a Poem That Heals Fish by Jean-Pierre Siméon and Olivier Tallec. I did really like it though. But wait. I also read The Red Book by Barbara Lehman, which was kind of like poetry, except that it had no words!

S: You are right! Maybe I read more poetry this year, and that is what I was thinking. And among all those I read, I only reviewed one book, a family favorite: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and Tasha Tudor.

Sprinkles: I also read and reviewed several children’s books about puberty. There were so many and those were all split between girl books and boy books, that I needed to have two reviews for them.

Marshmallow: We read most of those books, too, but I am glad you were the one who ended up reviewing them.

Caramel: I did peek into some of them, but I agree with Marshmallow, that it was good that you were the one who had to review them.

S: But all in all, we all read quite a lot of good, fun, and informative books this year, right?

M: And thought-provoking!

C: Yep. And I think we will be reading a lot more books next year!

M: But first, we have our month off!

S: Yes, we will take the month of January off.

C: And we are all really happy about that!

S: Well, we will continue to read, and we will get back to reviewing them in a month. And till then we just take a short break.

C: We deserve it!

M: Everyone deserves a break. And we are lucky to get one!

S: True. Okay, so what do you want to tell our readers Marshmallow?

M: I want to say: Happy new year everyone! We wish you a happy hoppy new year in 2025!

S: With lots of good books and many friends, old and new!

C: Yes! And stay tuned for more book bunny reviews, coming to you in February 2025!