Books I Read in 2024
Two kids come for my reading habits
You’re reading From the Desk, a monthly newsletter about the arts, spirituality, and the good life. Thank you for being a reader. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I’ll write to you again in early January.
It’s back, year seven of this write-up about the books I read. Perhaps one day I’ll simply post a quick list and ranking, but this is a newsletter, darn it, and I have an obligation to you, faithful subscriber, to fill your inbox once a month. Plus any excuse to write about books is a welcome one.
Last year, I wrote:
It appears parenthood (maybe just adulthood) is finally starting to catch up with me…
In the past, I’ve wondered whether reading is any better entertainment than television (yes), or whether consumption steals time away from creation (often). Now, I’m pondering attention spans.
These days, I only get twenty free minutes at any given time. The temptation to pick up my phone proves almost irresistible, and even when I choose the better path and read, it’s hard to stay focused. And so I’m at war with my own psychology, the animal part of my brain begging for a quick digital fix, the rational part of my brain struggling to resist.
I didn’t know how apt a description that would provide for 2024, too. All the same problems exist, now coupled with another child in our family. The impact on my reading has been devastating.
In 2022, I read 45 books totaling roughly 4 million words. In 2023, my lowest year since I started tracking back in 2018, I read 37 books and just over 3 million words.
This year, I’ve completed 25 books, representing about 2.4 million words. In two years, my reading has been cut in half. Suffer the little children.
If I’m honest though, it wasn’t just the children that crippled me. I also spiraled into a new, dark line of thinking (dark at least for me), that reading fiction may not have much to offer, and I think there was maybe a month or two period where I barely read at all.
The only way out of this pit was to return to old favorites, a task I’m historically poor at. Desperate to remember the joys of fiction, I read, in succession, Blood Meridian, The Great Gatsby, and Watchmen. And predictably, the books sucked me in, the pages gave way to chapters, and the majesty of the English language blew me away for the thousandth time.
If there’s a silver lining to this year, it’s that my average rating is at an all-time high (4.3/5 this year compared to 4.2 and 4.1 in 2023 and 2022). I’m quicker to give up on novels than I’ve ever been. Sophie’s Choice and Fleishman Is In Trouble received the thumbs down after just a few pages. Last year, in my end-of-year review, I recommended “Skip It” to nine books. This year, I can’t think of a single one. I recommend the same strategy to you all. Life is too short for bad books.
I’m organizing the books into Good, Better, and Best, each with a one-sentence summary and quick review, starting with the best.
The Best
Fiction
Leviathan by Paul Auster
A man details the demise of his friend from celebrated author to crazed radical.
Were I to have the skills required to be a great fiction author, I want to think I’d write like Paul Auster. He’s a rare breed who writes character-rich, plot-driven literary fiction (Eleanor Catton and Donna Tartt are others). Leviathan is told in the first person and calls upon scenes, conversations, and memories to describe a friend’s tragic death and psychological demise. A quick, enjoyable read.
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
A hippy private investigator stumbles into a crime syndicate and a number of other related crimes, all set in the anxieties of 1960s Los Angeles.
My third attempt at Pynchon, and maybe my favorite so far. As far as plots go, it’s certifiably bananas, though somehow more linear than Pynchon’s other books. There are laugh-out-loud moments and remarkable sentences that remind you just how well Pynchon can write, even when he’s talking about a bunch of stoners. Hard to recommend to the general public for its adult themes and general absurdity, but a doozy nonetheless.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
If you haven’t read this I’m not going to supply your lazy bum with a summary.
I’m happy to acknowledge The Great Gatsby as my favorite novel, though I must say, reading it in my late 20s was different than previous reading experiences. All the characters are more detestable than I remember, even Gatsby, whom I had historically given the most romantic and charitable of interpretations. Still, the book reads like a dream, atmospheric and beautiful on every page.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
A gang of scalp-hunters turns to downright evil in the untamed West.
This was my third time reading Blood Meridian. Maybe I’m more sensitive, but the violence was even more brutal this reading. It wasn’t so much the Judge, that bald, giant, Nietchian nightmare of a man, but the simple lawlessness of the scalp-hunting gang. Of course, that all leads to the crux of the story, when the Judge tells the “kid”, the closest character we have to a protagonist, “You alone were mutinous. You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen.”
Watchmen by Alan Moore
A dark superhero graphic novel about a group of aging heroes and a plot to pick them off one by one.
I think it was my third time through Watchmen, as well. A must-read for anyone who likes the conflicted superhero genre that’s so prevalent today. Watchman did it first, and did it best.
Non Fiction
The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama
A political philosophy theory questioning whether Democracy is the final state of society and whether mankind will be satisfied if that’s the case.
This book has been on my radar for years, and even though I picked up a copy in early 2023, I didn’t get to it until now. Fukuyama is a surprisingly engaging writer, and though the topic is dense (the history of nation-states and Hegelian philosophy), the book is enjoyable. Modern critics love to dump on Fukuyama because as is clearly evidenced, Democracy is not a given, and peace among nations is hard to come by. More interesting to me was the question at the root of the book, namely, whether after years of Master-Slave dynamics at play, would man, in a free and liberal democracy, find purpose in life? Or, was the struggle of the Slave (aka, all of us without great wealth, power, or influence) necessary to produce happiness?
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The title says it all…
This book corrected all my misunderstandings about Malcolm X. His story is remarkable; clearly an ambitious and dedicated person, he goes from a life of crime to one of conversion and education, eventually leading a movement empowering Black Americans. Most fascinating were the ways he changed as he narrated the book, slowing arriving at an understanding of race-relations far different than what he lays out early in the autobiography.
The Good Rain by Timothy Egan
A journalist surveys the Pacific Northwest, considering the people, landscapes, ecology, and culture that make it unique.
After our trip to Mount Rainier, I wanted to read more about the PNW, and came across Timothy Egan’s book. Exactly what I was looking for, it chronicled the different regions from British Columbia down to Mt Hood in Oregon. I particularly enjoyed the chapters about the lumber industry, National Parks, salmon, and shipwrecks.
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
After the death of his father, Bill Bryson revisits the sites of their childhood vacations.
Hard to say this is a great book, but it is hilarious. Bill Bryson holds no punches and can be absolutely brutal about the people and places he visits. Mickelle and I have seen a lot of the same little towns up and down the East Coast and Mountain West, so it was fun to hear his take. Bryson hardly stays long enough to really explore; every take is a gut reaction.
Better
Fiction
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A young, depressed kid wanders around New York trying to figure out life.
I hadn’t read The Catcher in the Rye since high school. I don’t recall my reaction to it except that I didn’t relate to Holden very much and found the scene with the prostitute more upsetting than it actually is. Reading it as an adult, I felt empathy for Holden and wished he had someone to talk to. He reminded me a lot of one of my cousins.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
After a bomb kills his mom in an art museum, a young man tries to protect a painting he took from the blast zone.
It took me three attempts to get into this novel, this final go requiring the help of an audiobook and a long drive to Spokane from Utah. It’s not as strong as Donna Tartt’s other novels, and the chapters in Las Vegas are utterly depressing. I’d call the book something of a meditation on the merits of beautiful objects, be it art, furniture, or anything else.
True Grit by William Portis
A young girl joins a Ranger to hunt down her father’s killer.
This may be the book I would recommend most to anyone reading this list. Narrated in the first person by a strict protestant girl with a lot of righteous spunk, it contains great dialogue and action. It’s a quick read. Be sure to check out the 2010 film adaptation by the Coen Brothers.
The Matriarch by Witi Ihimaera
A young man tries to remember the lessons he learned from his family Matriarch.
December rolled around and I realized I hadn’t read any books by a New Zealand author (I aim for one a year). The Matriarch is beefy and chock full of Maori language and history. Still, I think it’s the best writing by Ihimaera I’ve ever read. I’ve always admired his feats as an author (the first Maori to publish a novel) but found his writing to be too simple and nostalgic. The Matriarch jumps back and forth between the protagonist’s childhood as he learned from his grandmother, and the present day, as he deals with contemporary indigenous life.
Non Fiction
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
The story of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and their contributions to behavioral psychology.
I read Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow a few years ago and wanted a refresher on the ideas. Michael Lewis is one of the best at simplifying complex topics. The story is also one of jealousy, collaboration, and Israeli culture. Another one that I could broadly recommend.
American Nations by Colin Woodard
A history book detailing the founding of the American Continent as a group of small, culturally unique nations.
My favorite part of this book was the front half where the founding stories of the various American colonies are laid out. You learn history that’s too often glanced over in favor of the simple narrative taught in school about America’s united quest for freedom against Britain. In the latter chapters talking about our culture today, I think his thesis is less relevant and that he doesn’t acknowledge modern immigration or our media/pop-culture as a flattening effect to regional differences.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Philosophy from the mind of one of Rome’s great emperors.
Definitely worth the read, even if it does get a bit repetitive the longer you go on. Meditations was more a discourse in applied Stoicism than Stoicism itself. The ideas are repeated frequently in other literature and modern society, but you have to admire the discipline Aurelius seems to demonstrate. I would probably reread the first section again. Not sure if I’d reread the whole thing.
Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
An unbiased, engaglingly written primer on basic economic topics.
Another reread (what happened to me this year?) from my Econ 101 class. I got a C but enjoyed this book all the same. Wheelan is a lucid writer who makes economics interesting, even if the back-half of the book gets a little dry.
The Spokane River edited by Paul Lindholdt
A collection of essays ranging from ecological, cultural, and historical about the Spokane River.
In my quest to learn more about my new town, this book on the Spokane river has been a favorite. Featuring poems, news articles, academic essays, and personal narratives about the river, it also does well to illuminate life in the Inland Northwest.
Good
Fiction
Democracy by Joan Didion
The wife of a senator has an affair with an intelligence officer.
The fact that I don’t remember all that much about this book eight months after reading it qualifies it for the “good” section of this post. I did enjoy the writing style even if the plot was a bit underwhelming. This makes two fiction books I’ve read by Didion and both pale dramatically to her non-fiction.
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
A single day in the life of a professor who recently lost his partner.
This short novel goes from sun up to sun down as a professor starts his day, teaches class, has dinner with friends, and swims in the ocean, all while remembering his partner/lover who has died a few months earlier. There’s a good twist at the end that makes me want to reread at some point.
Apierogon by Colum McCann
The fictional retelling of the true story about two men, a Palestinian and an Israeli man, who lost children in the occupation.
This was a great book to read this year in light of everything going on in the Middle East. It’s a true human interest story, giving just enough of the history but focusing on the emotional impacts on the lives of those involved. Frankly, it’s about 250 pages too long, and it jumps around like crazy.
Non Fiction
Comedy Book by Jesse David Fox
A mix of history and analysis about comedy and the comedy scene.
I had higher hopes for this book. The best parts are when the author analyzes different bits and showcases how comedians build and structure jokes. Of course, some of the fun of comedy is lost when you have to explain the joke. I also think comedy has gone in a weird direction in the early 2020s (call it woke if you want), and I think Fox tries to reconcile how it can still be funny. It feels like comedy is swinging back the other way with the likes of Shane Gillis and others in the Joe Rogan universe.
Joe Gould’s Secret by Joseph Mitchell
Joseph Mitchell’s New Yorker reporting on Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village bum.
Another that fell a little flat of my expectations. I can imagine at the time that this book/lengthy article was fairly unique in the way it honestly reported on a single individual. Joe Gould claims to be writing a magnificent history book, but basically he’s just living off the good graces of NYC bohemians. Probably wouldn’t recommend unless you’re into old NYC history.
The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway
A personal finance book with some behavioral advice strewn in.
Galloway’s books are usually quick reads, so I figured I’d give this one a go. If you listen to his podcast, there wasn’t too much here that felt revolutionary. It was a good reminder of some basic personal finance principles, and what he feels are the habits and disciplines that lead to smart investing, risk-taking, saving, etc.
Harvest Poems by Carl Sandburg
Collected poems and samples of longer poems from one of the Midwest’s/Chicago’s most renowned poets.
Wanting to read more poetry without the investment a 500-page collected work, I picked up Harvest Poems. Sandburg writes with any rhyme or meter, a style I don’t often enjoy. Some of the poems felt long and indulgent. Others were punchy and raw. He has a fascination with human progress and machinery. Not many individual poems I’d read again, but still nice to be exposed to something different.