carson鈥檚 Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2024

88,998

pages read

290

books read

carson

The oval portrait (Edgar Allan Poe Collection n潞 3) by Edgar Allan Poe

Shortest Book

pages

Chestnut Springs 4-book Collection by Elsie Silver

Longest Book

1,700

pages

Average book length in 2024

306

pages

Most Shelved

4,517,665

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Least Shelved

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carson鈥檚 average rating for 2024

3.4

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

4.51 average

carson鈥檚 first review of the year

really liked it

Most people who know me know that I felt very meh about Done and Dusted. It was my controversial opinion of 2023. It was a beloved book and I seemingly didn't feel the same way most people were feeling about it. After reading Swift and Saddled, I now understand the hype. Swift and Saddled is MY Done and Dusted.

I had so much fun reading this. Lyla Sage has a very easy-to-read writing style that sucks you in and makes you read her books in one sitt Most people who know me know that I felt very meh about Done and Dusted. It was my controversial opinion of 2023. It was a beloved book and I seemingly didn't feel the same way most people were feeling about it. After reading Swift and Saddled, I now understand the hype. Swift and Saddled is MY Done and Dusted.

I had so much fun reading this. Lyla Sage has a very easy-to-read writing style that sucks you in and makes you read her books in one sitting (okay two, but who's counting?).

The dialogue on depression was especially relatable to me. A few quotes that I highlighted from Wes' POV:

"But depression wasn't a logical disease. It was an unexpected cold front in the middle of July. It was impossible to predict, which meant that I spent much of my time worrying about when the other shoe was going to drop. Not if, but when I would sink into another dark hole and have to decide to claw my way out of it."

"Honestly, it was exhausting. It took up so much of my brain even though I recognized that there wasn't very much I could do about it."

"That's what I meant when I said that my brain didn't feel like my own sometimes. It felt like it belonged to my mental illness instead."

I feel like anyone who has ever struggled with depression will relate to at least one of these quotes. I know that I did. This is what is so special about Lyla Sage's writing. She can speak to the experiences of living with mental illness so well. My friends with ADHD raved about how well the ADHD discussion was done in Done and Dusted. Well, I will rave about the depression representation in Swift and Saddled.

Pair this with Ada's struggles with female friendships and suddenly this book becomes everything I have ever talked to my therapist about. Ada is convinced she is unlovable and doesn't know how to navigate a world in which she is in close quarters with a bunch of women who desperately want to be her friend. She worries that she isn't enough, that she is unlikable, and that they will hate her. She also has struggles and trauma leftover from her relationship with her ex that struck a real cord within my soul.

This may sound all very serious, but the thing that Lyla Sage does so well is balancing these serious topics with humor and love between her main characters. There were multiple times when I busted out laughing because of something a character said. The love between Wes and Ada also bleeds off the page, I could feel it in my heart. At one point Wes says, "You are earnest, and talented, tenacious and funny. I would never insult you by calling you something as generic as nice." He also tells her that she was made for him and they refer to each other as their sun and moon... so yeah... romance is ruined for me forever...

Anyway, I genuinely loved this book and I can't wait for the next one. I know book #3 is Gus and Teddy, but I'm hoping book #4 is Cam and Dusty. ...more

颁础搁厂翱狈鈥橲 2024 BOOKS

really liked it