*sigh*
I mean, I don't want to depress myself any further, but is there anything good to say about 2024?
Really, did anything even remotely positive happen in this impossible, insane abyss of a year?
Nothing feels real anymore. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality has become a dystopian nightmare. Everything has turned upside down; into a disgusting, evil, sick joke, where no one is laughing.
Except the monsters. And everyone seems to have become a monster. Or they've always been monsters and we didn't know. Or care. We still don't care. We need to care. We need to care a great deal.
Is anyone a decent person anymore?
What has happened to us?
Are we so thoroughly brainwashed?
Please, please never stop caring. Never stop thinking. Never lose your sense of what's right and wrong. Never lose your humanity. Never grow numb over these things. They are not normal. None of this is normal. None of what is happening is normal.
I have to restrain myself from swearing up a storm, because I want to set at least a sliver of a positive example regarding 2024 - the year all morality, laws, and caring and progress died? Where humanity gave up? And gave in to evil and self-destruction due to apathy, jadedness, social media's influence and power over us and its enabling of narcissism and entitlement, the persistent normalisation of abuse and corruption, and the rise of manufactured hate, the desperate-and-pathetic-yet-succeeding resurrection of the dying, decaying corpse of the white supremacist patriarchy that will not let go and die already, and late stage capitalism?
I hate rich people so much. Rich straight white men (and women, tragically) are the scum of the earth, literally destroying us all. And they have the money and power to win every time. They don't care. They don't care about anything. They are and always have been only out for themselves. They want to keep their power and money at any cost. They know no limits. No morals. They are corrupt, sick, warped, twisted, and dangerous.
Have we in fact all been in hell for the past eight years? Or since 2012? Did the Mayan prophecy come true and we didn't realise it?
As if my own personal depression and anxiety were not bad enough.
But like how I refuse to believe that my processing a personal trauma a couple years ago has irreparably damaged my brain chemistry, I refuse to give up hope.
If I ever gave up faith and hope that things can and will get better, I might not survive.
I refuse to believe that humanity is hopeless; that it is not so determined to hate, for the sake of hating. That people don't love to hate, to the point of becoming monsters with no hearts or brains or consciences. Baseless, consistent hatred is not normal or natural. It cannot last. Hate cannot make lasting change.
But love can.
Love is fulfilling, overflowing. Love is happiness, and peace, both internal and external. We can always do better by loving one another. There is nothing wrong, naïve, foolish or weak about that. It's simple progress; no one can stop us from bettering ourselves, from growing, developing, moving forward, and loving, supporting, and caring for ourselves and others, for our own sakes and for the sake of future generations, who will be the most effected by our wrongheaded, backwards mistakes, caused by ignorance, callousness, hatemongering and fearmongering.
Be better than the monsters who think they hold the power and influence over us.
Say no to hate. Hate can never truly win, or else we won't survive. It is unsustainable. It can't last forever.
Say yes to love, every time. You'll find you'll be happier, healthier, and safer that way.
If you are worried and scared, it's okay.
You are not helpless.
You are not alone.
You are loved.
There is hope. One way or another, things will get better.
Oh, oh, no more. If I dwell on everything any further, I may well go completely insane. I will not go down that rabbit hole. Not again.
Righteo. Now on to my end of year book lists.
It turns out I read... 383 books in 2024!
383 books!
Is that a record? It must be a new record for me!
No one is as shocked by this as I am. After last year when I said I was going to be reading a lot less due to my depression. But it looks like escaping from horrible, horrifying reality every chance I get has helped me somewhat. Most of the books I've read are graphic novels, manga, and picture books, but still.
383 books!
I am a reader at heart. Always have been, and it looks like I always will be. I haven't changed as much as I feared.
I am stronger, braver, than I was in 2023.
That can only be a good thing.
I certainly feel happier and more positive than in 2023.
Never stop reading. Everyone.
On that note, let's start the countdown of my first end of year list: the Top Worst Books I have read in 2024. Worst goes first. And there is a whole rubbish landfill of them. 74 of them, to be exact.
Yeah, the main thing I noticed when combing through the number of books I read is: I read a hell of a lot more than I thought I would, and a hell of a lot of them were crap.
I read a lot of crap this year.
Time to expel a sewer's worth of negativity!
Let's get on with the Worst list, shall we? The countdown to crap. From the least bad to the absolute worst of the worst:
(And as with every year, I won't be including rereads, nor books I didn't finish reading.)
74. Roaming by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki
73. Locked Out Lily by Nick Lake
72. Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Outlaw by Tom King (Writer), Daniel Sampere (Artist), Tomeu Morey (Colourist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)
71. Hawkgirl: Once Upon a Galaxy by Jadzia Axelrod (Writer), Amancay Nahuelpan (Artist)
70. Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg
69. The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson (Writer), Joel Stewart (Illustrator)
68. The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea by Leigh Hodgkinson
67. Marvel-Verse: Ironheart by Various
66. Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell
65. King & King by Linda de Haan, Stern Nijland
64. Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko
63. The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents by Nicki Pau Preto
62. Ava and the Acorn by Lu Fraser (Writer), Paddy Donnelly (Illustrator)
61. Lila and the Secret of Rain by David Conway (Writer), Jude Daly (Illustrator)
60. Ella's Big Chance: A Fairy Tale Retold by Shirley Hughes
59. The Princess Who Had No Kingdom by Ursula Jones (Writer), Sarah Gibb (Illustrator)
58. Beatrix Potter & the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig by Deborah Hopkinson (Writer), Charlotte Voake (Illustrator)
57. Ella Bella Ballerina and the Sleeping Beauty by James Mayhew
56. Unicorn Prince by Saviour Pirotta (Writer), Jane Ray (Illustrator)
55. Two of Everything by Babette Cole
54. Squire by Nadia Shammas (Writer), Sara Alfageeh (Artist)
53. Brooms by Jasmine Walls (Writer), Teo Duvall (Artist)
52. Witch Life in a Micro Room, Vol. 1 by Akitaka
51. A Witch's Guide to Burning by Aminder Dhaliwal
50. Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh, James Lucas Jones
49. Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by Jaime Hernández, Mario Hernández, Gilbert Hernández
48. Disney Manga: Beauty and the Beast - Belle's Tale by Mallory Reaves, Gabriella Sinopoli (Artist), Studio Dice (Artist)
47. The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella by Sabrina Moyle (Writer), Eunice Moyle (Artist)
46. #Goldilocks: A Hashtag Cautionary Tale by Jeanne Willis (Writer), Tony Ross (Illustrator)
45. Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux
44. Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith (Writer, Artist), Boulet (Artist)
43. The Last Love Song by Kalie Holford
42. Our Tower by Joseph Coelho (Writer), Richard Johnson (Illustrator)
41. Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm by Siobhan McDermott
40. Ghost Roast by Shawnelle Gibbs (Writer), Emily Cannon (Artist)
39. Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana by Jordie Bellaire (Writer), Paulina Gaunucheau (Artist)
38. Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna - review link here.
37. Grand Slam Romance by Ollie Hicks (Writer), Emma Oosterhous (Artist)
36. Girl Juice by Benji Nate
35. Lockett & Wilde's Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries: The Ghosts of the Manor by Lucy Strange (Writer), Pam Smy (Illustrator)
34. Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue
33. Waffles and Pancake:Planetary-YUM by Drew Brockington
32. Disney Manga: Tangled by Shiori Kanaki
31. Disney Manga: The Princess and the Frog by Nao Kodaka
30. My Gently Raised Beast, Vol. 1 by Yeoseulki (Artist), JunJun Kim (Adaptor), Teava (Adaptor), Early Flower (Original author)
29. The Girl with a Brave Heart by Rita Jahanforuz (Writer), Vali Mintzi (Illustrator)
28. Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
27. Rosalind and the Little Deer by Elsa Beskow, Kristina Turner (Translator)
26. Cornelia and the Jungle Machine by Nora Brech
25. Medea by Blandine Le Callet (Writer), Nancy Peña (Artist), Montana Kane (Translator)
24. How to Live Forever by Colin Thompson
23. Solanin by Inio Asano
22. Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
21. Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
20. Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood - review link here.
19. Nothing Special, Vol. 1: Through the Elder Woods by Katie Cook - review link here.
18. Mink, Vol. 1 by Megumi Tachikawa
17. Sorceline by Sylvia Douyé (Writer), Paola Antista (Artist), Ivanka Hahnenberger (Translator)
16. There's a Witch in Your Book by Tom Fletcher (Writer), Greg Abbott (Illustrator)
15. Lover Birds by Leanne Egan
14. Milkyway Hitchhiking, Vol. 1 by Sirial
13. Phantom Hearts by Rosie Talbot (Writer), Sarah Maxwell (Illustrator)
12. Baba Yaga and the Stolen Baby by Alison Lurie (Writer), Jessica Souhami (Illustrator)
11. The Marvellous Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty by Beatrice Alemagna
10. Maids by Katie Skelly
9. Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For by Sara Pascoe (technically I didn't finish this, and I didn't rate it, but I'm including it here anyway, because holy shit this book is terrible in every conceivable way. And it has a 4.30 rating on Goodreads! It shows up on so many of my recommendations on Goodreads! I can't escape it! I have practically been pushed and bullied into finally reading it, and I tried, but it is not worth it. To call it self-published rubbish is an insult to self-published works, and I've read far better independent books. Avoid this like the scary, undeserved popular disease it is)
8. Ms. Marvel Team-Up by Eve L. Ewing, Clint McElroy, Joey Vazquez (Artist), Ig Guara (Artist), Moy R. (Artist), Anna Rud (Artist), Eduard Petrovich (Artist)
7. The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora
6. Little Witches: Magic in Concord by Leigh Dragoon
5. Black Orchid (urgh!) by Neil Gaiman (URGH!!!!!) (Writer), Dave McKean (Artist)
4. Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders Vol. 1 by Jordie Bellaire (Writer), Koi Carreon (Artist), Cy Vendivil (Inker), Sarah Davidson (Colourist) - review link here.
3. Beauty and the Beast by Ursula Jones (Writer), Sarah Gibb (Illustrator)
2. Sleeping Beauty: The Graphic Novel by Martin Powell (Writer), Sean Dietrich (Artist)
1. Generation Witch Vol. 1 by Isaki Uta
Next 2024 book list - my Most Disappointing 3-Star Books list - is coming soon.
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