Our Under, Over, and Appropriately Hyped Books of 2024 | Book Talk, etc.

[@smileycindy]

What a fun podcast subject! 😁 I had the same reaction as Hannah to First Lie Wins. I also felt it was overhyped and I did not particularly care of it, even though I would be hard pressed to say why as I did not get bothered by specific elements of the story, and it was more than I did not feel particularly entertained. And thrillers are one of my favorite reading genres. Other 2024 reads that felt overhyped based on my own appreciation were Piranesi (Suzanna Clarke), The Woman in Me (Britney Spears), The Thursday Murder Club, The Wishing Game, Happy Place (Emily Henry), The Bandit Queens, Seven Days in June (Tia Williams) [sorry, Tina, I think you really enjoyed this one...], Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, The Teacher (Freida McFadden), Sociopath: A Memoir (Patric Gagne), Before the Coffee Gets Cold, The Midnight Library, The Power, The Midnight Feast (Lucy Foley), The No-Show (Beth O'Leary). 2024 reads I wish had more hype: The Measure, Everyone On This Train is a Suspect (Benjamin Stevenson), I Hope This Finds You Well, The Rachel Incident and Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend from M.J. Wassmer (this book is really entertaining and needs to get more love), plus a couple of French-Canadian books (Elle r'viendra pas Camille and Sans consentement). Deserving of the hype: Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir), Annie Bot (Sierra Greer), Razorblade Tears, How To Solve Your Own Murder, A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crow-Shy (Becky Chambers).