Welcome friend! Ariel and I read at least one book together every month in 2024! As the year closes, we wanted to highlight five of our top buddy reads.
2024 Top 5 Buddy Reads
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
Moods: Emotional, Serious, Tragic
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About the book: This debut novel by a Palestinian-American voice takes us inside the lives of a conservative Arab family living in America. In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.
The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao
Moods: Suspenseful, Emotional, Adventurous
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About the book: High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. Here, architects are revered deeply, with humanity’s survival reliant on a privileged few. If not for their abilities, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below. Charismatic and powerful, Iravan is one such architect. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his archeologist wife, they are a method to suppress non-architects. Their marriage is thorny and fraught—yet when a jungle expedition goes terribly wrong, jeopardizing their careers, Ahilya and Iravan must work together to save their reputations. But as their city begins to plummet, their discoveries threaten not only their marriage, but their entire civilization.
The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker
Goodreads | The Scarlet Alchemist #1
Moods: Suspenseful, dark, tense
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About the book: Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.
When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.
The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
Moods: Hopeful, Reflective, Nostalgic
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About the book: In post-climate disaster Alberta, a woman infected with a mysterious parasite must choose whether to pursue a rare opportunity far from home or stay and help rebuild her community.
The world is nothing like it once was: climate disasters have wracked the continent, causing food shortages, ending industry, and leaving little behind. Then came Cad, mysterious mind-altering fungi that invade the bodies of the now scattered citizenry. Reid, a young woman who carries this parasite, has been given a chance to get away – to move to one of the last remnants of pre-disaster society – but she can’t bring herself to abandon her mother and the community that relies on her.
When she’s offered a coveted place on a dangerous and profitable mission, she jumps at the opportunity to set her family up for life, but how can Reid ask people to put their trust in her when she can’t even trust her own mind?
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
Moods: Cozy, Lighthearted, Humorous
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About the book: Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…
Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.
Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.
List of all other discussions this year:
- Bookshops & Bonedust
- Goddess of the River
- The Mountain in the Sea
- On a Night of a Thousand Stars
- We Speak Through the Mountain
- The Scarlet Throne
A book we read but didn’t do a discussion post on: Daughter of Calamity
2025 Buddy Reading Aspirations
We keep a list of ‘Potential’ buddy reads and when we chatted on video a few weeks back, it was great to pick the ones we want to get to.
Series we will return to:
- The Scarlet Alchemist duology by Kylie Lee Baker – Book 2 – The Blood Orchid
- Rages trilogy by Kritika H. Rao – Book 2 – The Unrelenting Earth
Two new authors we plan to try:
We are looking forward to another year of great buddy reads and discussions! Thank you for following along in our journey 🙂
Have a wonderful new year and we will talk to you in 2025! 🙂
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