Is there a Literary Wrapped?

 Not to say that it should be a thing, but considering there are so many ‘Wrappeds’ at end-of-year, it would be cute–

Ahh, yes. I remember. There is. Goodreads does a ‘Wrapped’ for the books you read. Mmm. 

Anyways. 

I completed a bunch of books this year. I count 57. (It’s not an exhaustive list, but there are a couple I choose not to count.) If you’re looking to get into reading, or just love adding things to your growing pile of things to read, here are a few of my favourites this year that I’d recommend for your 2025 To-Be-Read list. 

1. The Enemy We Know, by Donna White Glaser

(Murder Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Comedy)

This book gives you no time to settle in. The main character—Letty—is assaulted right at the beginning of the book, and nah, it doesn’t let up. When I started reading, I had to fight the urge to close the book and choose another one. I’m glad I stuck with it. 

Letty’s a therapist, helping people navigate the trauma in their life. She has her own dark secret: she’s a recovering alcoholic. And she doesn’t need the added agony of being manhandled by the abusive boyfriend of one of her clients. Or the subsequent stalking by the aforementioned abusive boyfriend.

I felt all of Letty’s fear, and then some, when she was being ruthlessly stalked. I asked things. What does he want from her? Why does he keep doing it? Has he not got the point across enough already? What will he do next? It got me thinking how vulnerable people really are, because what’s to say that one day you could be walking and someone a little stronger than you could not just snatch you off the streets? Or break into your house and leave a doll with a knife plunged into it to drive home a message? Or slash the tires of your car and leave you stranded?

But stalker boy was not even the only mystery in this. It gets worse.

I loved this book. It was so raw, without being crude. Letty’s emotions jump off the page. Her fear. Her disappointment in self. Her guilt. Her sadness. I scolded her when she did something I didn’t think she should have. I understood her crumbling under the pressure. I laughed with her (ah, yes, she was very funny. Her boss said she uses humour to make her problems disappear). I looked over my shoulder for her.

And not a single f-bomb. 

2. Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

(Coming of Age, Literary Fiction)

A reread. Hehe. 

One word review? Adorable. Quick blurb: Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, siblings both advanced in age, are looking to adopt a little boy to help them around the house and such. Matthew goes to get the child and returns with...Anne Shirley. Who is…not a boy. Imagine our shock. Marilla wants to take her back, but Anne works her way into her heart.

It’s such a cute book. And so funny. And so adorable. And cute. Anne gets into all sorts of shenanigans. She has the most vivid imagination. She makes up a bunch of haunting tales about a place and believes them so much it drives fear into her to go through it. She accidentally gets her friend drunk. She accidentally bakes a cake with medicine in it. She writes dramatic stories supposed to make people cry but which make them laugh. She nurses babies through the night. She breaks a slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head when he teases her for having red hair. She will not forgive Gilbert Blythe even when he saves her when she’s near drowning. She competes with Gilbert Blythe for best student in class. She does not accept Gilbert Blythe’s candy.

Five out of five stars.

3. Shoot the Messenger, by Pippa DaCosta

(Fantasy, Science-fiction, Suspense, Thriller)

Kesh is a messenger, a sort of dystopian-future delivery girl. During a job, the person she’s delivering to is killed. People think she did it. But she finds out who really did it. And then everything goes south.

There were points in this book where I felt robbed. I just could never rest on the knowledge that ‘I’ve figured it out,’ because I hadn’t. Whenever I thought I knew, the author would pull this twist. From the beginning aaah till the end. 

The characters are fleshed out. The world building is amazing. There’s suspense. There’s not one dull moment. There’s magic, balancing and warring with tech. It contains some swearing, though, so, head’s up. 

4. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

(Literary Fiction, Romance)

Hehe. Another reread. Because why not?

If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice, and you are a big reader, um, read it. It is an exercise in discipline, I’ll be honest. Because like that one-star review on Goodreads said, it’s a lot about people just visiting other people.

However, it’s an absolute joy. Jane Austen introduced characters that have set a standard for romance, or, at the very least, have provided a clutch for socially awkward men. Blurb, of sorts: At a ball, (the famed) Mr Darcy, in private conversation with his friend Bingley, refuses to dance with Elizabeth because she’s ‘not handsome enough to tempt him.’ And then it’s just pages and pages of him realizing that yeah, she is handsome enough to tempt him. 

There is so much wit in the characters’ exchanges. Everyone plays a part, either to amuse you, or rile you. Mr Bennett is hilarious! Elizabeth is such a girl-boss. (Most of us girls grow up thinking we’re Elizabeth. We’re not. We’re Mr Darcy. We’re socially awkward and shy and shaking a little bit next to the people we’re catching feelings for.) Caroline Bingley, Mr Collins, Mrs Bennett, Lady Catherine... all of these became templates for modern characters.

Was it perfect? Um. It had some really long scenes. But it’s absolutely fabulous. How does Darcy declare his love? ‘In vain have I struggled. It will not do. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’ Of course, he immediately goes on a tirade about how beneath him her family is, and how telling her he loves her is against his better judgment. Who said romance was dead? 

5. Emma, by Jane Austen

(Literary Fiction, Romance, Comedy)

‘It’s Jane Austen’s world, and we’re just living in it.’

Jane Austen set out writing a main character whom only she would like. Emma’s a spoiled rich girl with a God complex. She fancies herself a master matchmaker, and interferes in people’s lives. It’s not very long before she realizes that she’s an idiot. And about to lose the one man she falls in love with, because of the works of her own hands.

The book has some laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed the witty conversations. I particularly loved—no, wait, love—Mr Knightley, the one person who called Emma out on her folly. (No lie, I considered legally changing my surname to Knightley after reading this book. 🙈) 

It’s freakishly long though. I enjoyed it, but I’m an avid reader. There were points I had to slog through to come to the punchline, and while those punchlines were worth it, the journey to them could’ve been shorter.

But the characters were delightful, and it had a good number of twists. (Twists I figured out, hehe.)

6. The Gertrude, Gumshoe series, by R E Merrill

(Comedy, Murder Mystery)

I found these audiobooks on YouTube. I first listened to Introducing Gertrude, Gumshoe, the first in the series, while I was washing my hair. (If you don’t have natural hair, or you have natural hair but you don’t wash it yourself, I'm happy for you. You could’ve picked any struggle in the world, and you didn’t choose this one.) I’ve listened to two more since. 

There are so many funny elements! People’s reactions to Gertrude, mostly dread, an utter lack of delight, and sarcasm. How easily the sarcasm goes over her head. Her ancient outlook on all things modern. Those she tries to rope into helping her solve the mystery. Her behaviour with the police. Her press conference. She’s an absolute character.

Alrighty. 

That’s a wrap for 2024. 

I have so many books I already need to finish reading by certain deadlines in 2025. So I’ll get to them. Have a really happy new year, and if you read nothing at all, at the very least, read the Bible. It’s the best book anyways. 

Photo Credit: Kelly Sikkema