My Favorite Reads of 2024

2025-01-04

I read a lot of books in 2024 (at least a lot for me that is). Reading was a big part of my year as I strived to replace much of my media consumption with books. Here, in no particular order, are my 5 favorite fiction and non-fiction books I read this year.

Non-Fiction

Educated - Tara Westover

This book is one wild fucking ride that touches on mental illness, education, the role of government and so much more. Told brilliantly through Tara’s eyes, it’s hard to believe this is the life of a real person. I can’t recommend this book enough especially in light of America’s growing distaste of formal education and seeming desire to get rid of our public education system. This is the story of what can happen when society doesn’t have norms for educating its populace.

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki

I’m not sure the root of it but money has always been a difficult subject for me psychologically. Perhaps it’s because I never learned how to manage it or what the heck to do with it beyond spend it. I’m very much like Poor Dad in that way. This book opened my eyes to a completely different way to think about money. It’s so good that I bought a copy for my son for Christmas this year.

Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris

This book is a bit of tome and not my normal read. Generally speaking I don’t love biographies. But goddamn is Teddy Roosevelt an interesting person. The man just made time for EVERYTHING and it’s impossible to read about all his accomplishments and not feel inspired to do more with your life. The book is written to keep you turning pages which is good because there are a lot of them.

The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

Such a simple little book with 4 simple rules to live by:

Be impeccable with your word

Don’t take anything personally

Never make assumptions

Always do your best

For me personally the second two really resonate with me and I’ve been falling back on them whenever I’m having difficulty communicating in any relationship in my life.

The Courage To Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

Another Simple little book that packed a powerful punch for me this year. The super simplified distillation is: All problems are interpersonal problems and being truly free is simply the courage to be disliked by others. In other words, being 100% yourself. For someone who has struggled with codependency in their lives like myself, this book provided me with a mindset on how to approach relationships without losing myself.

… forming good interpersonal relationships requires a certain degree of distance. When the distance gets too small and people become stuck together, it becomes impossible to even speak to each other.

Fiction

Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver

I read recently that one of the best ways to get better at understanding people is to read fiction because you’re exposed to not only someone’s external choices but also the internal reasoning for why they made those choices and it can really help you see the world through another person’s eyes. This was never more true than while reading Demon Copperhead. So many times I would shake my head and say to myself: “Oh, Demon…No.” So much of Demons story resonated with me in some way even though his life was very different than mine. I just goes to show how much we actually have in common internally even when we may be worlds apart externally.

Beyond just having a protagonist who you are rooting for the entire time, Kingsolver weaves such a beautiful thrashing of the socio-economic forces holding these people down that you can’t help but feel angry for them while at the same time appreciating their choices and why it is so hard for them to leave.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Are you a father? You need to read The Road.

The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

More than anything this book is just beautifully written. The story itself is tragic and, at least from my point of view, a story about generational trauma compounded by being black in America. It’s a story of how beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what happens when the beholder is yourself and all you see is ugliness.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Homeland/Exile/Sojourn - R.A. Salvatore

Three books that I’m counting as one since I devoured them in no time. I’ve loved fantasy ever since I read The Hobbit in 5th grade. I love D&D. These books fit me like a glove. Drizzt is far from a fantasy trope and his frequent moral dilemmas keep the stories from feeling too generic. Just great fantasy writing.

The Wild Robot - Peter Brown

This is the second time I’ve read The Wild Robot. First with my now 16-year-old daughter and now with my 7-year-old. We read it before seeing the movie and in my opinion the book, as is often the case, is superior (although the movie is quite good as well). Through the eyes of Roz we learn what it means to observe without judgement, how to communicate effectively, how to be a true friend, how to be a parent and everything it entails, and maybe most importantly, how to be Wild.