Best books of 2024

This year was a great year for books for me especially as I regained the ability to physically read books again. I used to love settling into a book but as my cognitive function declined I lost the ability to read. I read some advice by Hannah Hodgson on getting into reading and I began with reading some graphic novels as well as poetry; I really enjoyed reading Hannah’s own work. I then progressed onto reading books. I did have a time this year when I did lose the ability to read again but thankfully I’m back reading again.

Now onto my best books of 2024 - these were all the books I rated 5/5 and some memorable 4/5 books in my bullet journal list of books for 2024. I’ve listed them in order of reading.

* Spoilers may be revealed *

‘The Silence Between Us’ by Alison Gervais

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This has to be my top book this year I absolutely loved it. It’s a YA novel and it follows the main character Maya who is Deaf who moves to a new part of the USA and so has to start attending a hearing school. She became Deaf a few years ago after falling ill with meningitis. At her new school she has an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter as ASL is now her primary language. 

The book brakes down barriers such as how d/Deaf people like Maya can still speak but choose to sign instead, and the difficulties of lip reading and wearing hearing aids. The author also brings into the story whether d/Deafness is a disability of not and also the division in the d/Deaf community over cochlear implants. The book also covers relationships between d/Deaf and hearing people. Another topic the book covers is the lack of support and how few interpreters there are in education for d/Deaf students especially when Maya was looking at going away to college.

In the book one of Maya’s classmates who initially didn’t understand d/Deafness learnt ASL so he could communicate with Maya in her language. I liked the acknowledgment that he was particularly stepping into her world. This proved useful at one point in the book when Maya had to take her brother to the hospital and her mum was away on business and the hospital’s electronic service for ASL interpreters was down so her friend stepped in to help interpret.

The storyline follows Maya settling into her new school, getting ready for college, making friends and also developing a relationship. A classic Young Adult coming of age novel.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable book and I loved the storyline, it was really well put together and it made a really good listen (or a read). I’d highly recommend this book!

‘A Litter of Bones’ by JD Kirk

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This was a Crime Mystery novel which I read.

It was set in Scotland in the Highlands and followed a child going missing, for DCI Logan the case reminds him of a case he’d work on in the past.

I really enjoyed this book and it was quite memorable, I’d be interested to read more in the series either reading or audio as I liked the style of writing and the characters in the book too. (I did find myself reading it in a Scottish accent in my head!) It was very realistic as some police crime novels are a little unrealistic on how the characters operate as police officers, this was very true to life I found, or as I imagined policing to be like. The storyline in the book was very good and well thought out too. 

If you’re looking for a new crime novel series then I’d recommend reading this one.

‘One’ by Sarah Crossan

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This was a book that I got for Christmas that I read. I head about this book from one of Hannah’s book reviews on her YouTube channel* (I often find good books there).

I thought this book would be a good book to get be back into reading as it’s written in prose so a bit different and a style I’d never read before.

The book follows the lives of conjoined twins; what it’s like to live as conjoined twins the two different personalities of Grace and Tippi. In the prose you can see the two different personalities.

The book follows as Grace and Tippi start a new school after always being homeschooled and how each of them adapts to going to school and making friends and also relationships and also life changing decisions.

They are two different people but one body at the same time.

This is another Young Adult coming of age book. This is another book that I’d highly recommend and don’t be put off by it being written in prose you will love this book and feel a rollercoaster of emotions especially at the end.

 

‘A Danger to Herself and Others’ by Alyssa Sheinmel

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I sort of stumbled across this book but I’m so glad I did as I really enjoyed it and it was a fantastic book (I listened to this book).

This book genre of this book is Young Adult Fiction.
It follows the story of Hannah who is wrongly put in a mental health unit and the story unravels from there. There were lots of twists and turns and things I wasn’t expecting to happen.

It was really really well written and the ending was just not what I was expecting at all. I’d definitely love to see if this author has any other books.

The only thing I would say about this book is that it does have a few trigger warnings around mental illness subjects.

Other than the trigger warnings if this book is okay for you to read then this is another great book that I’d highly recommend and is well worth reading or listening to.

‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ by Holly Jackson 

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This is the first book in a trilogy; I much preferred this first book to the following two books in the series and I gave them a lower rating.

It’s a Young Adult crime/mystery novel.

The book is about Pip who is doing an Extended Project at her sixth form college. For her project she decides to invest a local murder for who she believes the wrong killer was wrongly accused and she sets out to find the true killer.

The book is full of twists and turns and things you do and don’t expect to happen.

All-in-all it was an enjoyable read and it was well written. I listened to the audio version of the book which was partially dramatised, such as sound effects for when Pip was using her voice recorder for and when she was interviewing characters in the book on her voice recorder different people’s voices were used. So if you do listen to audiobooks I would recommend listening to the audio version of this book just for the effects.

The book has now been dramatised into a television series on BBC but I’m yet to watch it to compare it to the book.

‘Time After Time’ by Chris Atkins

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This book was a sequel to the author’s book ‘A Bit of a Stretch’ which documented Chris’ time in prison for tax crimes.

In this book Chris speaks with offenders themselves to explore why people reoffend. As the book came from the point of view from reoffenders themselves it gave a really unique and interesting perspective into why people reoffend and also what they as offenders feels needs to change to reduce reoffending rates, especially as reoffending rates are so high in the UK.

Some of the topics covered in the books was the probation service and how that needs to change to reduce reoffending, also other support for prisoners once they leave prison. Other issues around reoffending that the book covered included housing and homeless, finances and turning back to crime for money therefore they end up back in prison, education and employability was another issue, even individuals enjoying life in prison so they reoffend just to return to prison.

Chris writes in a really personable and relatable way. Though he hasn’t reoffended since leaving prison he has the experience of being in prison himself so you can tell that he really connected with the people he spoke with for this book.

I think this book also makes a great resource as we’re hearing from reoffenders themselves what the problems are that make them reoffend so it could be used to changes services like the probation service and other services that help those newly released from prison to try and reduce reoffending rates.

It was such an interesting book/audiobook to read/listen to. It really educated me and made me more aware. It’s a book I’d highly recommend.

‘Things The Eye Can’t See’ by Penny Joelson

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This is a Young Adult mystery novel.

In all of Penny Joelson’s books she has a main character with a disability or chronic illness. In this book Libby is visually impaired and has a guide dog called Samson.

What I like is the barriers Penny breaks down around disability, such as in this book the focus is around Libby’s disability. We learn that blind or visually impaired is a spectrum and most people still have some vision, even if you have a guide dog. Also Libby’s hobby is photography and her favourite subject is art, things visually impaired people can still enjoy, they just adapt to meet their needs. We also learn about ableist attitudes towards disability in the book and online hate. The book showed that Libby was just as capable she just needed help with guidance and a few other areas of support as well as using adaptations to be independent and capable and able.

The book follows Libby and a couple of her friends as she tries to find someone she knows who is in trouble and in danger.

Other issues the author brings up in the book is county lines and the dangers of it, including getting set up buy higher up the chain drug dealers to put people in debt. It also brings in another related issue which is cuckooing where a vulnerable person’s home is taken over by drug dealers and how they are exploited. The book also explains how people are drawn into county lines such as by being given money and being bought new mobile phones or trainers.

I think for a Young Adult book discussing disability awareness and also awareness about county lines is really important.

I really enjoyed reading this book and following Libby as she investigated her friends disappearance and as she searched for him concerned for his welfare.

‘Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas’ by Adam Kay

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This is my annual Christmas go-to that I never tire of and it’s wildly hilarious with a festive twist. The audiobook is read by the author and he’s a great narrator bringing the book to life. As well as being a doctor (who’s now hung up his stethoscope for writing) he’s a great comedian.

The book is in diary format following the various years he worked as a doctor over the festive period each year. In each year he recalls excerpts from his diary of different cases, often festive related cases. Amongst the hilarious cases he does also recall the more difficult cases in his career and also the downsides to working over the holidays such as the strain it put on his relationships.

If you’re looking for a festive laugh then this is the book for you.

Looking after your mental wellbeing over the holidays

The holidays can often be a difficult time, especially if you struggle with your physical and/or your mental health. Here are a list of things to help you look after your mental health over the holidays:

Plan something lovely for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve 

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve can be two days that are the most difficult. You may have a lot of anxiety on Christmas Eve about how Christmas Day will go and how you’ll cope. On New Year’s Eve you may be reflecting on the year that has been and the year ahead and be struggling with many mixed emotions.

Making a plan ahead to do something nice for either or both of these dates mights be an idea to help you cope and get through those days as well as having something to look forward to.

You might plan a whole day or just a small part of the day, it’s up to you and what other things you have going on on those days. - Always remember too that it’s okay to sit out of events over the holidays if you need to look out for your physical or mental wellbeing.

You could do something like have a cosy PJ evening and have your favourite meal and/or dessert. You could get a takeaway or cook something or buy in your favourite flavour of ice cream alternatively you could make a special hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and have this while you watch a box set or a film. You could also do your nails and have a go at some nail art. Or alternatively if you wanted to do something in the daytime you could go to somewhere special to you like a park or the beach and go for a walk or a ride (however you travel) out in the fresh air.

Plan some moments of ‘Me Time’

Self-care isn’t selfish; it’s important to spend time on yourself. Planning moments of ‘me time’, whether it be 5 minutes, a hour or a whole evening can really help with emotional wellbeing. 

Some things you could do are:

• Read a book or listen to an audiobook 
• Sit quietly with your favourite hot drink
• Spend time with a pet (if you have one)
• Have a DIY facial 
• Paint your nails
• Watch your favourite box set 
• Listen to music or a podcast 
• Do some crafting like colouring, card making, crochet, diamond art etc.
• Doing your makeup or a nice hairstyle 

Have some screen free time

These days we live with our hands attached to us and on average adults spend 6 hours and 40 on our phones a day with 2 hours and 20 minutes being the average time spent on social media. Research has shown that this time spent social media does have an impact on our physical and mental health.

I know from my own experience that the less time I spend on social media the better it is for my mental health and I don’t actually miss social media if I haven’t logged on for a few days. I personally would rather write a letter to a friend or message a friend if I had to use my phone. 

One way you could look after your mental wellbeing could be to have some screen free time away from either social media or your phone completely. Alternatively you could set up an app timer to limit time spent on social media or what I’ve done is delete the social media apps from my home screen. Especially over the holidays you could use your screen free time to do other things like making thank you cards to give out in the new year to everyone who has bought you a gift, or you could spend the time with your family doing things together such as playing a game or watching a film or you could get last minute jobs done like wrapping gifts.

Spend time outdoors 

Spending time outdoors does wonders for our mental health which research supports.

I know since I’ve got my Batec and being able to go out for a ride with it in the outdoors more often has really benefited my mental health.

Obviously the weather isn’t the greatest this time of year but wrapping up and going for a walk or a ride (if your a wheelchair or mobility scooter user) when the weather is nice even for 5 minutes as often as possible can really benefit your mental health.

If you struggle with the cold you can get thermal hat, scarves and gloves and thermal coats. For wheelchair users you can get wheelchair cosies (mine is very thermal and warm). You can also get reusable hand warmers.

Get plenty of sleep

Getting plenty of sleep is so important for our mental wellbeing. Often when you’re struggling with your mental health it has a negative impact on your sleep. You might struggle to get off to sleep instead you may lay awake worrying about things or just find you have insomnia. Alternatively you might have broken sleep or unrefreshed sleep where you’ll still feel tired when you wake up in the morning.

If you have physical health problems you might find you struggle to sleep because of symptoms like pain, or if you have limited energy and you’re very fatigued you might find it hard to sleep because your body doesn’t have enough energy to sleep. You also might have unrefreshed sleep too and wake up feeling tired too. This can impact on both your physical, cognitive and mental health.

Some things to do to help with sleep are:

• Avoiding screens before bed so doing an activity like reading or laying and listening to a book or podcast before bed
• Having a hot milky drink at bedtime 
• Having some sort of bedtime routine where you get ready for bed and then settle down at the same time and do your screen free activity until you’re tired and ready to sleep 
• Wake up at the same time each morning and have a small morning routine 
• Get ahead of your pain before it becomes your pain levels are really difficult 
• If you can’t sleep don’t fight sleep - if you can get out of bed do this for a short period of and do a screen free activity until you feel able to sleep - if you can’t get out of bed do something in bed until you feel ready to sleep
• If you just can’t sleep at all just laying in bed and doing something like listening to a book, podcast, music or the radio is still allowing your body to rest as often just laying with your thoughts can be difficult for your mental health 

Keep it in a journal

Journaling can really help with emotional wellbeing; instead of bottling feelings up you can write or draw in a journal how you are feeling an it can be a good emotional outlet. 

Writing or drawing (or both) in a journal can also help you work out your feelings and analyse them to make sense of them. You can put how you’re feeling into your journal and keep it in there almost like a container for how you’re feeling. Doing this is especially helpful as the holidays can be a more difficult time of year and can bring up a lot of difficult thoughts and feelings.

You can also make lists in your journal to help you organise what’s in your mind; this really helps if you struggle with anxiety.

My full-time job

Behind the scenes of my disability is my full-time job as it often feels. Outwardly you see me laid in bed listening to a book or going for a ride with my Batec but there is a lot more to living with chronic health conditions than people realise.

Firstly there is the management of my care, yes I use agencies to manage my PAs and also a care agency but if a PA is away I have to arrange alternative care myself. I also have the paperwork that comes with having Direct Payments to employ my own PAs and occasionally I have to call or email adult social care about my care. Sometimes there are also meetings with social workers or the finance department. I’m also trying to employ PAs so there is admin involved with that too including looking at CVs, arranging interviews, emails etc.

 Being prescribed medication is also far from straightforward. Recently for whatever reason I’ve had to move pharmacy a few times and that’s a total headache to sort out especially as my prescriptions are a bit complex plus I have them organised into medication trays made up by the pharmacy for me. Changing pharmacy means re-registering with the new pharmacy; informing my GP practice; getting my medication tray set up correctly, getting it delivered on time and more. Then once I’m with a pharmacy there are the phone calls to ensure my medication gets delivered to me on time especially if I have an appointment on my usual delivery day and asking for additional prescriptions such as antibiotics to be delivered to me as well as ensuring I don’t run out of medication. I also have to remember to order certain medications, some the pharmacy do for me but my ‘as needed’ medication I have to email my GP practice to order and I have to remember to do that before the medication runs out which isn’t always easy.

Managing my appointments can also be a task and a half. I have to either fit them into when my PA can take me, or alternatively book them after my PA has finished work depending on the appointment type. Appointments are also a challenge when you have an energy limiting illness as they’re exhausting and cause Post Exertion Malaise to develop as a result from doing the appointment. I try to just do one appointment a week to manage my PEM but that’s not always possible. I also have ways to manage the PEM around appointments such as resting before and after the appointment, using mobility aids like my wheelchair, taking notes, doing video or telephone appointments where possible instead and so on. Then there are appointments to make such as GP appointments, community nurse visits, therapy sessions to book and specialist referral appointments to chase up too as well as see where I am on waiting lists for appointments like community physio or neurology.

Then there’s my PIP (disability benefits to help cover the extra costs). I’m dreading when the time comes for that to be reassessed; filling in the paperwork; getting supporting evidence; the assessment. I have the same with my Universal Credit; occasionally having that assessed and trying to gain evidence that I need a telephone or home assessment and the rigour of the assessment process; trying to prove your disability and inability to work (when you desperately wish you were well enough to work) and the feelings of the stigma that comes with being out of work and on benefits. 

Then there’s managing the illnesses themselves. That in itself is a full-time job. Managing and staying on top of the symptoms which can often have a domino effect on each other. Treating symptoms when they occur. Looking out for warning signs like low blood pressure or tachycardia. Ensuring I get enough rest, sleep, hydration etc. Keeping my mental health in check. Remembering to take my medication; stay ahead of the pain. 

As well, doing all this work can exacerbate my symptoms and worsen my health. Like I mentioned going to appointments can cause Post Exertion Malaise but even the time spent talking or emailing can be just as challenging and can bring on PEM too especially if I’m already having a wobbly day or I don’t pace myself well enough with tasks but even with well managed pacing I can still be left exhausted and with exacerbated symptoms feeling flat out in bed. That’s one of the big challenges with having an energy limiting illness, you have to do all this work despite my lack of energy to do it.

Then there’s all the in between work of this full-time job. Such as ordering replacement disability aids; contacting places to get equipment fixed such as if there’s a fault with my mattress or Batec; making repairs to my wheelchair (if it’s something I can do), if not calling to get that fixed; finding a new cleaner (something I’m currently doing); ordering supplements; logging symptoms in my bullet journal; doing my catheter maintenance; ordering medical supplies; organising and putting away medical supplies; getting PPE for my PAs and any other miscellaneous emails or telephone calls that need making - the list goes on!

Now do you see how much of a full time job it is to be disabled or chronically ill? Plus amongst all that I have to find time for myself as well as do some house jobs (but most of house jobs I leave to my PAs/carers to do to save me some energy). 

Also if I’m having a bad day it’s almost impossible for me to get admin tasks done as I have to prioritise resting in bed as talking on the phone is often exhausting and I’m limited with what I can do and I have to reschedule appointments especially ones I have to leave the house for. This is why trying to rest before appointments and limiting the number of appointments is so important but I can’t schedule my bad days and with M.E. should I completely crash everything comes to a halt and there’s nothing I can do; all I can do is try to prevent myself from getting to a point where my body does crash so that I can do my unpaid full-time job. A job I never asked for or signed up to but one I must do.

I also try to schedule mental health days every so often where I try to put my full-time job aside as much as possible and do things for myself. Or even if I’m just having a day where I’m doing a lot of work for myself job I try to schedule a moment to breathe by sitting with a hot drink and reading my book for a bit. This just gives me a break from being surrounded by illness as I live with my chronic illnesses and have to deal with them 24/7/365 and then on top of that I have my medical full-time job, so escaping into a book or craft project gives me some much needed respite.

What I’ve been reading lately…

‘Politics On The Edge: A Memoir From Within’ by Rory Stewart

★★★★☆ 4/5 rating

This book I listened to. It’s a autobiography/meomoir book.

It was a bit slow to initially get into this book; I did have to take a break and then return to it once I had more concentration.

The book follows the author’s 10 year career in politics; how he got into politics and became and MP and rose up over time to almost becoming the next Prime Minister. He shares how the party he initially believed in changed over time.

As I read about Rory’s career in government it gave me a really good insight; one I’d not really seen before into the inner workings of my government. When he was Foreign Minister he spent millions on projects in subsaharan Africa yet when he was Minsters for departments within our own country he often struggled to get funding for projects such as to install body scanners in prisons and improve probation services, or to plant more native trees. It seemed absurd how much are government was spending in foreign countries and then spending so little on our own country. I was also surprised to read about how debt our government is in too.

It was also interesting to learn how new Prime Ministers are chosen too.

I already know from my A-Level Sociology that government is an ‘old boys club’ and that proved true. Most key figures in government in the book where old Eton students and there were few women mentioned in the book that were in government too.

Towards the end of the books where it gets to more recent times I started to notice some people from politics today such such as Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

I also learnt things like MPs who are doctors can’t be Ministers for Health or something similar for say an MP who is a lawyer can’t be appointed Minister for Justice. MP’s also can’t choose where they are placed in government either they just go where they are sent but ultimately I learnt reading all MP’s want to become a Minister of some sort and work their way up.

Despite the book being difficult to get into at first once you break into it it gets more interesting and you learn a lot more and you gain more insight. Reading or listening to the book also helps you to form a more informed opinion about how the government works.

I gave it 4/5 rating because of how insightful the book was but because of how difficult it was to initially get into; I found it a bit dry at the start. There also didn’t seem to be much of an ending it just seemed to just cut off when he lost the running to become Prime Minister. That’s just what I found anyway.

‘Things The Eye Can’t See’ by Penny Joelson 

★★★☆☆ 3/5 rating

This book I read, it’s a Young Adult mystery novel - I still quite like YA books.

Like with all of the author’s books in which the main character has an illness or disability in this book the main character Libby is virtually impaired. I think it was clever of the author to have a visually impaired character especially one with a guide dog to educate people that visual impairments are a spectrum and some people with a visual impairment or who are blind have some level of vision.

At one point in the book Libby is harassed on verbally in the street then later on social media of the same incident when a photo is shared of her showing her stood with her guide dog Sampson looking at her phone [using accessibility settings]. People are commenting saying that she faking for benefits as she can see her phone and her guide dog is a prop. But she is also getting supportive comments from other visually impaired people. I think this was good of the author to put into the book to (a) show that visually impaired people can use technology and (b) the ableism disabled people face because of ignorance and lack of understanding and how rife harassment can be for the disabled community both in person and online - even I’ve experienced it.

The book explores the issue of county lines; how young people get caught up in drug dealing and how they are enticed into it by being bought new things like trainers and given money and are later set-up to be put into debt by and to the bigger drug dealers. It also covers the dangers of country lines including knife crime and murder. Another issue the book covers that goes along with this is cuckooing, where vulnerable people have their homes taken over by drug dealers for the purpose of county lines and the victim is taken advantage of in other ways such as financially such as having their benefits money taken off them.

I like how because this is a YA novel it highlights a current issue that’s affecting young people at the moment. I think this helps educate young people about county lines and the dangers of it and how you can easily get pulled into it without realising. I learnt a lot myself reading the book. I also like the disability awareness side of the book too. For example Libby is into photography and art even with her visual impairment; the book just shows the way around how she manages to do tasks and also how you should support someone with a visual impairment such as helping guide them or announcing the train approaching. The book demonstrated that Libby was just as capable even with her disability.

I rated it 3 stars as it was very insightful and informative and it was a good read but towards the end I did find it a bit unrealistic and also how Libby and her friends went off on their own to find Charlie without informing the police or their parents. In reality that wouldn’t have happened; it was a little too far fetched what happened but like I said it was a good book and it was well written and informative about country lines and accompanying issues as well as understanding more about disability. I would recommend this book and Penny Joelson’s others books if you like YA mystery novels.