What's Dawn Devouring Lately?
Favorites of 2024
As I reflect back on my first year of creating "What's Dawn Devouring Lately", I feel both gratitude and a sense of accomplishment. I found that creating this blog each month was more than a pastime- it was a journey of growth, discovery, and connection with myself. As I pondered a few times, "should I keep doing this?", someone would reach out and tell me how much they looked forward to reading it each month. So, it is with these positive comments that I am looking forward to continuing writing and sending out this blog in 2025. My hope is that it not only continues bringing me joy in creating it but that it continues to bring you joy going into the new year.
Upon further reflection, this month's issue focuses on my "Favorite Five" in each category for the year 2024. It was fun to look back at all that I read, watched, learned, listened to and loved this year. I hope you also find some time to reflect back on your year to decide what you want to keep and what you want to change in the new year. The new year is a fresh opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of stories, new ideas, and learning. I hope you join along with me. Happy New Year!
Until Next Month!
Happy Reading! 🤓📚
#5 = Funny Story By: Emily Henry
I’ve now read all of Emily Henry’s books and, I can honestly say, Funny Story is my new favorite! Not only does it take place in one of my favorite settings (Northern Michigan), but it also has one of my favorite romance tropes, opposites attract. I enjoyed reading about Daphne’s journey to self discovery along with the celebration of deep, meaningful friendships she discovers outside of romantic love. If you like books with laugh-out-loud banter, flawed characters with real issues, and happy endings, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
#4 = How to Read a Book By: Monica Wood
Wow! This book has all the feels! I devoured it in four days and gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the Dawn devour book scale. It’s told in three alternating voices that change from chapter to chapter. Violet is a 22 year-old from a rural city in Maine. She is being released from prison soon after serving time for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local teacher. Harriet is a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club and is dealing with her own issues. Frank is a retired mechanist who is coming to grips of the death of his wife, the one that Violet killed. When their lives all come together while meeting one day in a Portland bookstore, their lives drastically change as the three connect in surprising and transformative ways. If you like books about forgiveness, second chances, and reading how the power of books can change our lives, then this is a book for you.
# 3 = James By: Percival Everett
One of the many reasons I love reading is to get different perspectives on other people’s lives and way of living. In Percival Everett’s book, James, you hear the story of Huckleberry Finn told from the enslaved man Jim’s point of view. Throughout the book, you will feel like you are traveling alongside Jim and what he encounters and goes through to get his family back. If you like books that are filled with satire, amplify suppressed voices, and make you think about things even many days after, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
#2 = The Women By: Kristen Hannah
Wow! I can definitely see why so many people are devouring Kristin Hannah's newest book, The Women. If you haven't heard about it by now, it's a historical fiction book taking place during and after the Vietnam War. This story focuses on Frances, or Frankie, and her trials being a nurse during this war. As Kristin Hannah is known for, the description and details are amazing throughout the book and you feel like you are right there along with Frankie. One phrase that kept coming up that stuck with me was, "There were no women in the Vietnam War". This really had me thinking about the all the women that went to war as nurses and put their own lives in harms way. This is something I learned more about through this book. If you like learning about history, books with tight women friendships, and can handle graphic war descriptions, then this book is for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale and think this is a book everyone needs to read.
#1 = Same As It Ever Was By: Claire Lombardo
Well, this book took me a bit longer to devour as it is close to 500 pages, but I have to say it’s my favorite book read of 2024. The main character, Julie Ames, is a 57 year-old librarian, wife, and mother of two grown children. In the beginning of the book, Julia encounters Helen Russo, an older woman, at a grocery store. This single event sets off a chain of events that unravels hidden secrets from their pasts. The plot is told in two twisted strands, a double helix of past and present events. If you like books with well-developed characters that feel like your friends by the end, family drama thrown in, and relatable situations & secrets throughout, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
#5 = The Bear- Season 3 (Hulu)
A young chef from the fine dining world comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother's suicide. As Carmy fights to transform both the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveals itself as his chosen family. Watch Trailer Here
#4 = Emily in Paris -Season 4 (Netflix)
Emily in Paris follows Emily Cooper, an American college graduate in her late twenties with a Master's degree in communication who is from Chicago; she moves to Paris for an unexpected job opportunity. She is tasked with bringing an American point of view and social media presence to a venerable French marketing firm.
#3 = Bad Sisters - Season 1 (Apple TV+)
A delicious blend of both dark comedy and thriller, “Bad Sisters” follows the lives of the Garvey sisters, who are bound together by the premature death of their parents and a promise to always protect one another. The five Garvey sisters—Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi, and Becka—live in present-day Dublin. After Grace's abusive, controlling husband John Paul dies unexpectedly, the sisters find themselves at the centre of a life insurance investigation. The series flips between timelines—one before John Paul's death, in which Grace's sisters plot to murder their brother-in-law, and another after his death, in which a determined insurance agent tries to prove the sisters' malicious involvement in order to save his struggling business.
#2 = Lincoln Lawyer- Season 3 (Netflix)
Hotshot LA defense attorney Mickey Haller will do whatever it takes to win as he navigates the criminal justice system from his trademark Lincoln. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo returns as Mickey Haller in the legal drama with 10 new episodes based on The Gods of Guilt, the fifth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly.
“This season is very exciting,” Garcia-Rulfo tells Tudum. “We see Mickey struggling with so many things at the same time — with romance, with the wives, with the cases. You never expect what’s going to happen, who’s going to be bad, and who’s going to be guilty.” Watch Season 3 Trailer Here
#1 = Shrinking - Season 2 (Apple TV)
A grieving therapist starts to break the rules by telling his clients exactly what he thinks. Jimmy has lost his wife and wants to try a new approach to his loss, but it is unclear how this will help others. If you love Ted Lasso, this show has a similar vibe and deals with some of the same kinds of themes. Like, the importance of kindness and empathy and how setbacks can make us better people if we let them. New episodes out every Wednesday. Watch Season 2 Trailer Here
#5 = Letters to an American
Heather Cox Richardson's narrated newsletter about the history behind today's politics. From Heather,
"Historians are fond of saying that the past doesn’t repeat itself; it rhymes.To understand the present, we have to understand how we got here.That’s where this newsletter comes in.
I’m a professor of American history. This is a chronicle of today’s political landscape, but because you can’t get a grip on today’s politics without an outline of America’s Constitution, and laws, and the economy, and social customs, this newsletter explores what it means, and what it has meant, to be an American." Daily podcast can be found at Letters to an American
#4 = Mel Robbins
Not book related but I guarantee this podcast has something for everyone. In The Mel Robbins Podcast, Mel gets more personal than ever, welcoming you into her life and taking you behind the scenes in real time. Every episode is packed with deeply relatable topics, tactical advice, hilarious screwups, compelling conversations, and the tools and inspiration you need to create a better life. Link to the podcast here Mel Robbins
#3 = From the Front Porch
Welcome to From the Front Porch, a weekly conversational podcast on books, small business, and life in the South, produced by The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. Hi, this is Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf and host of From the Front Porch. Since 2014, From the Front Porch has been a bookish podcast for readers of all types. While we’re always about books, some episodes have guests, some are full of great book recommendations, and some have hot takes. Other episodes include silly moments, as well as serious book-reading therapy.
But in every episode they dive into the world of books, old and new, helping you find your next book and a readerly community. Join us every Thursday on From the Front Porch, your new podcast home for all your literary needs. Link to the podcast here From the Front Porch
#2 = Book Talk, Etc...
A conversational podcast about books and more from two Midwest mood readers who are easily distracted by new releases.I love listening to Hannah and Renee discuss their latest reads and what they are "loving lately" each Tuesday. They share a great variety of books and I feel like I am listening in on two of my friends share book recommendations. I also enjoy the beginning of each episode where they share one thing they are loving lately, which is usually not book related. This could be shows they are watching, makeup they are buying, or products they have bought (usually on Amazon) that they have found useful. Link to the podcast here Book Talk, Etc…
#1 = Get Literate
I'm a a book-loving, notebook-hoarding reader and writer on a mission to change lives one book and one notebook at a time. On this podcast, we explore the power of bookology and leading literate lives. We talk all things books and reading AND notebooks and writing mixed in with mindful practices and creativity to create lives we love. Get Lit(erate) Podcast link
