Books of 2024- Installment #1

1. The Fossil Hunter (2022) by Tea Cooper and read by Sophie Loughran

2. System Collapse (2023) by Martha Wells


3. Scenes of the Crime (2023) by Jilly Gagnon and read by Eileen Stevens


4. One in Vermilion (2023) by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer


5. Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier and read by Alexandra O'Karma


6. There Should Have Been Eight (2023) by Nalini Singh and read by Saskia Maarleveld


7. Legendborn (2020) by Tracy Deonn and read by Joneice Abbott-Pratt

8. Doctor Who: Pest Control (2008) by Peter Anghelides and read by David Tennant
 

9. Spring's Arcana (2023) by Lilith Saintcrow and read by Barrie Kreinik

10. Shada: Doctor Who: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams (2012) by Gareth Roberts and read by Lalla Ward

The Trixie and the Moai Beautiful Book Cover Awards 2023

Narrowing it down to 5 amazing covers is hard, but I did it!!

Here are the honorees of this year's Trixie and the Moai Beautiful Cover Awards. I will say I feel bad covering up these incredible covers! My apologies!!

They are listed in the order that I read them this year! 

 

The Trixie and the Moai 2023 Awards

It is time to announce the winner's of the eighth annual Trixie and the Moai awards. So exciting!!

It's always hard to pick just 5 favorites from my year's reading. And this year I fudged it a little. I really had such a hard time narrowing it down to 5, that I decided to do 5 and a nonfiction, since I almost never (if ever!) have a nonfiction title on the list. Yeah, I cheated a bit- but to include more not less!!! Anyway, the winner is as always chosen based on the feeling I have of them at the end of the year. Did this book linger? Did this book burrow into my heart and psyche? With no further ado and in order of reading, the winners are: 

 

The Trixie and the Moai Beautiful Book Cover Awards 2023: Finalists

This year is the second celebration of beautiful book covers. As with last year, if a book is a winner of the Trixie and the Moai award, they cannot win the Beautiful Book Cover award. I'm still listing books here that I loved the cover of since the there are soooo many finalists in the Trixie and the Moai award. I feel like taking books of this list now is premature! At any rate, this award can go to a book later in a series, which is exciting!! A caveat before I list the finalists. Beauty as we know is in the eye of the beholder but I want to be clear, this term is being applied to covers that impress me, that make me want to look at them again and again! 

So here are my finalists for the first annual Trixie and the Moai Beautiful Book Cover awards!

 

The Trixie and the Moai Finalist for 2023

Every year I try to pick my favorite book of the year and give them an award. It means nothing to anyone but me and yet here we are! 

This year I have an embarrassment of riches! I read over 175 books this year and as a result I had over 50 definite favorites! That's amazing!! And kind of a lot! So instead of my normal inclusion of pictures, I've decided just to list them here. One little caveat for my Trixie and the Moai Award- I only ever list the first book in a series I love since anyone looking for recommendations might not realize they're looking at book 2 or 14 in a series. So with no more fanfare, here are my favorite books of the year (listed alphabetically)!!

1. Adult Assembly Required (2022)
2. Atlas of the Heart (2021)
3. Babel (2022)
4. The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks (2022)
5. Beastly Bones (2015)
6. A Beautiful Rival (2023)
7. Bellwether (1996)
8. Book Lovers (2022)
9. Book of Living Secrets (2023)
10. Cassandra in Reverse (2023)
11. The Centre (2023)
12. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015)
13. Dark Orbit (2015)
14. Drunk on All Your Strange New Words (2022)
15. The Future of Another Timeline (2019)
16. Ghostly Echoes (2017)
17. The Girl Who Drew Butterflies (2019)
18. Going Dark (2023)
19. The Golden Spoon (2023)
20. A Half-Built Garden (2022)
21. Hazards of Time Travel (2018)
22. Herland (1915)
23. A House with Good Bones (2023)
24. I Have Some Questions for You (2023)
25. I'm Not Done with You Yet (2023)
26. The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna (2019)
27. The Infinite Miles (2023)
28. Jackaby (2014)
29. Last One Alive (2022)
30. Lavender's Blue (2023)
31. The Lonely Hearts Book Club (2023)
32. A Long Stretch of Bad Days (2023)
33. Love and Saffron (2022)
34. Mend! (2020)
35. Midnight at the Houdini (2023)
36. Midnight Strikes (2023)
37. The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone (2023)
38. Mister Magic (2023)
39. Monsters (2023)
40. Mother Daughter Murder Night (2023)
41. Odder (2022)
42. The Only Purple House in Town (2023)
43. Posthumous Education(2022)
44. Pretty as a Picture (2020)
45. Qualityland (2017)
46. Reckless Girls (2022)
47. Road to Roswell (2023)
48. Run Time (2022)
49. Scattered Showers (2022)
50. Seven Percent of Ro Devereux (2023)
51. The Sun Down Motel (2020)
52. Thank You for Listening (2022)
53. To Shape a Dragon's Breath (2023)
54. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (2023)
55. The Verifiers (2022)
56. The Villa (2023)
57. The Wishing Game (2023)
58. The Writing Retreat (2023)
59. Yellowface (2023)

Books of 2023- Installment #19

181. Lone Women (2023) by Victor LaValle and read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt


182. A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself (2023) by Katherine Howe and read by Petrea Burchard
 

183. A Council of Dolls (2023) by Mona Susan Power and read by Isabella Star LaBlanc

184. Against the Current (2023) by Olivia Matthews and read by Janina Edwards

 185. Comfort Me with Apples (2021) by Catherynne M. Valente and read by Karis Campbell

 

186. The Accomplice (2022) by Lisa Lutz and read by Lisa Flanagan