I read 232 Books, these are the 10 best

[@rororeads]

Some delicious reading treats on your list! Can’t believe a magical realism novel made your list…up is down, down is up!

[@BookishTexan]

Two SciFi novels and a novel with magical realism in your top 10!?! Who even are you?

[@OliviasCatastrophe]

A magical realism on your favourites list?! I am SHOOK. I have been hearing such good things about the safekeep... considering it. (Oh my goodness what does it mean when fruit is on the cover??) I only know what it means when it is specific types of fruit 😅 I seriously want to read I who have never known men. It sounds amazing and like the perfect read for me. Not surprised to see abi dare on your list!! I am kicking myself for not having read her yet. Anniebot is on my tbr wishlist as well. The concept intrigues me a lot and I really liked what I saw about it from the people who do like to read sci-fi. Very happy to see two sci-fi novels making it to your list 😉 I did like Penance by Eliza Clark last year and it was incredibly clever and disturbing. I wasn't sure whether to read more of her books or not. But you've got me thinking I just might with boy parts!! What a list, I hope you have a great reading year in 2025. And a moment for the fact that you read 232 books?? UNBELIEVABLE.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Here's to 2025, I hope you get some great reads.

[@GemofBooks]

I’ve been so excited for this video!! And shamefully I’ve only read 3 of the 10!!

[@eyesonindie]

I love this list, and what I love most of all is how certain you are of them! I feel like every other top books of the year list, we all start out by saying, "there are so many books that could have made this list!" Thanks for sharing, and Happy New Year!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

I went into the making the video thinking, it could be a top 10, but it could be a top 12 or 7, whatever makes the most sense to me. That took away all the anxiety of picking favourites, just a coincident it came out as 10.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

Your enthusiasm for these books is so infectious Scott. I feel like I should read all of them and I have only read one!

[@tealorturquoise]

Same. I had to stop myself from adding everyone to my tbr. lol

[@WelcomeToNicheCorner]

Boy Parts is one of my favourite books ever, it's so fantastic to hear it get more praise, just the combination horror and the humour in it is such a hard needle to thread and it was just perfect for me in this book

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

She is such a genius, that is such an incredible book.

[@camillodimaria3288]

Love your channel. Such diverse recommendations. Thank you. & among my favorites of ‘24: Prophet Song, The Known World, James (Of course), Shuggie Baine, Piranesi, & some more.

[@BookishAdventuresInWellbeing]

Happy new year Scot 🥳

[@CharlieBrookReads]

I have read 3 of these and have The Door on my kindle so need to prioritise that. I knew Annie Bot would be high on here ❤Great list Scott 📚😊

[@curioushmm9027]

thanks and happy new year scott.

[@NaeOnYT]

You gave me some great stuff to add to my TBR. Thanks so much!

[@MsPixieD]

Well done, Scott! I logged 217, and even with the small handful I failed to log, you've got me beat -- but I don't feel beaten. I feel blessed to have found your channel, which is always a delight to watch. And vindicated by your living proof that an increase in the number of books read does not necessarily lead to a decrease in the quality of the reading (and rating) experience. So glad to be in the same ballpark numbers-wise 😄 I've just started watching this video and had to jump on to recommend your original review video of Anita de Monte to anyone who hasn't seen it. Your perfectly attuned outrage when recapping the story of those real life artists was an eye opener, and it definitely influenced me to read that book as soon as it became available. Okay, back to the video!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

200+ is an amazing effort, 15 books is noise at that volume. Thank you for your kind words about my original review of Anita De Monte.

[@hasteyebooks]

Some fab reads! The Great Undoing sounds amazing and I'm gutted it hasn't come out in the UK yet! Glad to hear Abi Daré's second book is also amazing! I loved Girl with the Louding Voice and have some big hopes for this sequel too now! I've just rejected that Persaud book from my final 16 Womens Prize predictions and now I'm regretting that haha Oh you've convinced me to try Annie Bot - my library app keeps recommending it to me and every time I see the sex robot thing it worries me haha but it sounds so good!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Wow, you've just woken me up to the proximity of the women's prize, I thought we had ages.

[@rachelm24]

2 of our top tens matched! Annie Bot and The Safekeep. Thanks for being awesome 👍

[@onourpath]

My favorite book this year is I Who Have Never Known Men, followed by The Safekeep, at #3. Both of those books secretly sliced their way into my heart while I was looking the other direction. Annie Bot is one of my favorites as well. I don't think any booktubers have mentioned my #2 read, Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky, which was so stunning, I finished it and immediately started it again. I would love it if some booktubers gave it a try!

[@muddywatersbookshelf7758]

I have Annie Bot on my tbr! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!!

[@StephanieP1901]

Tiananmen Square must be read. I see nothing supplanted Boy Parts. That’s fair. I should have put it in my top 10. Now I’m mad at myself. Great video, my friend. Your intellect is completely aglow, and I’m here for it. You know what my top book was, I’m sure. My list also included The Borrowed Hills, Enter Ghost, The Maiden, Ordinary Human Failings, Girl,Woman, Other, and Your Dazzling Death. Oh, and The Fertile Earth, which I might swap out if I were to do the list today. Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what GFP has in store for us this year!

[@Ihearbooks]

Great list. My favorite books of the year were the Door and the Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch. Also loved The Safekeep. The Great Undoing went right on my TBR. Sounds like something I would love. Anxious for Robbie Arnott's new book but it will be months before its released in the U,.S. and even then it will be a challenge to find. Best to you in 2025 Scott. Hope to keep seeing your videos

[@cherylynlarking191]

Great views expressed which has interested me in sourcing some of them. Thanks.

[@bookswithden]

I loved the mystery and complexity that The Safekeep built around Isabel's relationship with her siblings. Speaking of possession, I also considered certain people to be a symbol of possession in the book. It's a fantastic book! Ironically, it didn't make my top 10. Now I'm wondering how that was possible. Thank you for putting Annie Bot on my radar! Cheers!

[@SilverDingo]

Ooh definitely have to add some of these to my TBR. My favourite book of 2024 was Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai!

[@jaimee-kate]

Ahhhh I can't believe I haven't gotten to Boy Parts yet! Need to fix that immediately

[@savagereads]

Anita de Monte was a 5 star read for me right after reading it until I looked into it a little more. It was so based on the real life of Ana Mendieta but was not ever properly credited and against her family's wishes. For a book that was so focused on consent and representation it felt off when there wasn't even an authors note explaining whose story was being shared. But it is also really fun to look at the art of Ana Mendieta after reading the book because all the art that was described was exactly what Ana made in life. Tiananmen Square and So I Roar are going on my TBR right now.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

I read about the Ana Mendieta stuff too, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't think the family automatically has the right of consent here, they're not Ana - but that doesn't mean their concerns are not valid and should be ignored. I don't know why Gonzalez continued with the book without their consent, I don't know why she even asked for it to begin with, it's certainly not standard and I don't know the details of the family's concern around representation. I just don't feel like I'm in a position to make a judgement and I'm likely to never be. I agree that's a concern and it doesn't feel nice, but I want to reserve judgement until I have a bit more clarity. I loved discovering Ana Mendieta after I read this book, it's a real shame we don't have another 20+ years of her art to make us feel things.

[@savagereads]

@@GunpowderFictionPlot I think a lot of my concerns would have been assuaged with an authors note explaining where she got the inspiration and directing us towards Ana Mendieta. It didn't seem as transparent as I would have hoped especially based on the themes that are in the book.

[@tealorturquoise]

Thanks for sharing this info. Now I remember why I didn't initially add it to my tbr, which I thought odd because it sounds modeled on Ana Mandieta/Carl Andre and the art world and that is absolutely my wheelhouse. Ana Mandieta is one of my favorite artists, I will mull this over.

[@katiejlumsden]

Have you read Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein? Another book with an Indian-Trinidadian perspective, and it’s great.

[@janethansen9612]

I have read only two of your top ten. I read 100 books in 2024 which is less than I would usually read but it made it easy to do some quick percentage stats. I need to read more in translation this coming year, and a couple more classics.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

100 books is impressive, only on booktube does that seem like a quiet year. Anybody I work with would love to read that many... But yeah, it's hard to get the balance right, I am always failing on classics too.

[@mlrumph]

I got you by a few - 252! Many were your recommendations like Anita de Monte Laughs Last, The Safekeep, The Door, Annie Bot AND I purchased all the others one you mentioned just haven’t read them yet!!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Well done! 252 is impressive, especially as I know you read Infinite Jest and a few other chunkers.

[@LouiseReader]

I just started Eliza Clark's Penance yesterday, have you read that? It's extraordinary so far, about a third in.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

I have read it, it's amazing too. She's become a must read author for me this year.

[@TKTalksBooks]

The Door is truly phenomenal

[@tirarosaurioreads]

I'd love to read The Great Undoing.

[@myreadinglife8816]

Such an excellent list! I am going to check out Tiananmen Square for sure.

[@tealorturquoise]

No, I will not add anymore books to my tbr, well except for Tiananmen Square, and I Who Have Never Known Men, and I absolutely must read Anita de Monte Laughs Last. Nope, nothing else I think. Also, 👏on the review of Body Parts. Compelling.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Hahahaha, happy reading.

[@jackwalter5970]

How were you able to read an average of 1.5 books per day? It's got to take up a huge amount of your time.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

I think you got your maths upside down, I read about 2 books every 3 days. Reading is a massive part of my life, but the real answer is that I audiobook while doing "boring" tasks, gym, walking the dog, driving, getting ready for work, cooking, cleaning and so on, and I speed them up. It's not unusual for me to have my headphones on for 6+ hours on a day when I catch up on house work. It's probably 50 books with my eyes and 180 with my ears.

[@jackwalter5970]

@GunpowderFictionPlot sorry about the math! That's why I was an English major. Audiobooks don't seem to work for me, unfortunately.

[@jessemarkopoulos6116]

So you didn’t read 232 books

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

@@jessemarkopoulos6116 I bet you're fun to hang out with at a party.