2024 was the year I rediscovered my love for reading and really indulging to the point of probably binging several books. Here are the books I would whole heartedly recommend to anyone who loves the thriller, suspense, and hope genre. I have grouped them into somewhat similar categories or authors to make it a little easier to follow. 

1) Lisa Jewell

I discovered this author at my local charity bookshop and quickly realised I loved her style of writing and how she truly captivates you to the point where you are forced to read a book in 2 days. I first read 'The Family Remains' not knowing the first book 'The Family Upstairs' existed. Nonetheless, I personally do not think you need to read them in order to understand nor enjoy them properly. I equally enjoyed reading the first book after as I already had an idea as to what was about to transpire but did not know the entire story. After scouring my local charity shop for the rest of her books I came across 'Then She Was Gone' and 'The Night She Disappeared' both of which again I could not put down and would recommend to everyone. Lastly and most definitely my favourite 'None Of This Is True' was one I kept seeing recommended online and upon reading it I quickly understood why. The way this book was written truly does make you question what you are reading constantly. 

2) Freida McFadden 

Now I know this author has been popular for quite sometime especially with 'The Housemaid' and I was a little skeptical before reading some of her books but once again I simply fell in love with her style of writing. I think for me I definitely enjoyed reading 'The Inmate' and 'Never Lie' somewhat more than 'The Housemaid' simply because of the story line as well as the build up of suspense but irrespective I definitely would recommend all of them equally. Once more, I think it spent only a day or two reading them all because that is how engrossed I was in wanting to reach the end of each book. 

3) 'Hopeful' books 

This category of books steers away from thriller and suspense but it definitely has a fews nods to those genres. I have always wanted to read 'The Alchemist' and I did not realise how short of a book it was but this one probably took me the longest to read. I am unsure why it took me a while to get into this book but once I finished it I began to understand and really appreciate the message behind the book. 'The Kite Runner', another book on my always wanted to read list and this one truly broke me a little. I think I can speak for anyone else who has read this but it truly is a story filled with grief and so much hope. Now Clare Mackintosh is one of those authors I see recommended everywhere online and after reading 'After The End' I began to understand why. This one plays to your heartstrings once more but the style of writing is what truly engaged me. 

4) Authors I want to read more from 

If you are anything like me you have an entire note in your phone dedicated to a list of books from specific authors that are currently on your 'to read' list and both Steve Cavanagh and Chris Whittaker are on mine. 'Fifty Fifty' is probably up there with being one of my favourite reads from last year and I truly am looking forward to reading more books by this author. Now 'Tall Oaks' was a book that I did not particialrly reach for straightaway and that was a mistake because I did not anticipate it ending the way it did. 

I definitely want to continue my burning desire for reading more in 2025 because it truly is a great way to discover new genres and worlds. As someone who never really read anything other than non-fiction books I thought I would struggle to get into fiction books but instead I discovered it is one of the few things I enjoy the most especially in a world where everything is so digital. 

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