For the last three years, one of my personal goals has been to read 52 booksâ1 book a week. I’ve yet to hit the target, but it’s always fun to get close. This year, I managed 39 books, my closest attempt yet. The secret? Giving myself permission to read anything that caught my eyeâeven genres I once felt a bit embarrassed to enjoy, like pop philosophy, self-help, or romantic comedies. Not only did this help me inch closer to my goal, but it was liberating.
So, without further ado, here is my mildly bucketted, mildly chronological, list of books I read in 2024.
1, 2 - The Song of Achilles and Circe
TSOA and Circe are modern retellings of Greek myths, enriched by deep dives into their viewpoint characters, Patroclus and Circe respectively. If you enjoy re-contextualized mythology (paging fans of Percy Jackson, Hadestown, or Epic the Musical), these books are worth a read. Their emotional intensity shines, portraying characters as deeply flawed and deeply human. However, the plots meanderâperhaps true to the source material? For me, that was a manageable hurdle, but your mileage may vary. Fans of The Song of Achilles also rave about its romance, which I found… fine. Good, but not earth-shattering.
3 - This is How You Lose the Time War
I first learned that I should read Lose the Time War through a meme, that started with this tweet.
Despite the fact that the tweet is from ‘bigolas dickolas’, the internet didnât lead me astray. I’ll keep this spoiler free: while the prose tries way too hard, the book offers a stunning collaboration between two authors creating something undeniably unique. Push through the flowery excess, and youâll find a truly beautiful story.
4 - 1984
Speaking of good fiction, this book has been in my blindspot for a while. Iâd tried 1984 a few times before but always abandoned it midway. This time, I persevered, and wowâthe last third absolutely blew me away. Itâs some of the most vivid, terrifying dystopian writing Iâve encountered, making the earlier sections entirely worth it. If itâs been sitting on your TBR or you last read it in high school, give it another shot. Thereâs a reason itâs the gold standard of dystopian literature.
5, 6, 7, 8 - Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, and Sourcery
h/t to Joe Gershenson for recommending Terry Pratchett and introducing me to the delightfully insane Discworld Reading Order Map:
The Watch novels (Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms, Feet of Clay) were a delight: dry humor, hijinks, and profound humanism all in one. Iâd suggest skipping Sourcery unless youâre a completionist â the Rincewind stories didnât quite click with me â but do stick with the Watch series through Feet of Clay. It gets shockingly good.
9, 10 - Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives And The Five People You Meet in Heaven
This year was one marked by loss, which got me thinking often about death. In many ways, the pop philosophy I read this year was to capture my own tangled emotions about it.
Sum is a collection of imagined afterlives, each one thought-provoking and strange. Each challenges you to contemplate what version of the afterlife feels truest to you and gives you the most peace. My favorite was the idea that the universe is one massive living creature (similar to the Gaia Hypothesis) and all living organisms function as a single, self-regulating system. We are as insignificant to the universe as a skin cell is to us – but conversely, we are as essential to the universe as each of our cells is to us, which captures the balance of humility and profundity I often feel about death.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven takes a narrative approach – once you die, the afterlife is comprised of five people who share their stories, and in doing so explain how they impacted you and you them. These stories explain who you became, and in turn, you get to be one of someone else’s five people. A simple, beautiful tale about the interconnectedness of human life, and the ripples we unknowingly create.
11 - The School of Life, An Emotional Education
This untraditional pop psychology book is about emotional intelligence. It’s a litte cringe, but I never claimed to be immune from how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-itis. It does stand out from the pack by providing its reader some real language and tools to navigate the complexity of adult life.
12 - The Slight Edge
A book about how consistent small efforts lead to big success. Itâs fine, but nothing groundbreaking. If youâve read Atomic Habits, you can skip this one.
13 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Written by Philip K. Dick in 1962 and set in the far off dystopian world of January 2021 (lmao), this book is better known as the basis for Blade Runner. Electric Sheep is set in a dystopia with life-like human and animal robots. Bleak, ambiguous and often uneasy, the book comes with compelling pace and beautiful writing. Controversial opinion: I think the movie is better. That said, sci-fi fans should still give the book a shot.
14, 15, 16 - Piranesi, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
h/t to Nayesha Gandotra, for all of these recommendations. Thank you for your contribution to the cause, Nayesha, and if you’re reading, you might want to look away now.
Piranesi is a novel about a kindly man living in a house unlike any others – this one has endless corridors, thousands of statues, where oceans flood the halls in seasons, and thunderstorms abound. But the house, and Piranesi, hold secrets that will unravel his life as he knows it. If you’re a fan of some pretty unique world-building, I think you’ll enjoy reading Piranesi. It didn’t end up fully grabbing me.
The House in the Cerulean Sea should’ve been a slam dunk. It came into my life at a time of a lot of angst around work, and as a book about finding passion away from work, I was excited to connect deeply. The House in the Curelean Sea chronicles the adventures of a youth case worker, who discovers an orphanage of unique children, their kind and passionate caretaker, and finds family in unlikely places. It is a heart-warming story, but I never found myself moved by what it had to say about community, connection, and ambition.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow chronicles the lifes of two friends and creative partners who make video games and stories together. TTT captures a nuanced, flawed portrait of human life and connection, but I never bridged the distance I felt to it. Like seeing a beautiful painting in a Museum of Modern Art but not really connecting with it, I never got pulled into the work.
17 - Annihilation
Rarely do I finish a book and feel no need to read its sequels, even though they exist. Annihilation stands perfectly on its own. A dead simple premise – in some part of the world, something is driving expeditions insane, and our characters go exploring to discover what. But this is molded into something haunting and personal. Also, the movie is excellent.
h/t to Jacob van Gogh for the recommendation!
18 - The Tao of Pooh
A simple book about how Winnie the Pooh captures the essence of Taoism. A very short and breezy read, I’d recommend this to anyone who tried (like me) to read the Tao Te Ching and got lost in the metaphors and poetry. As Pooh would say, it’s really not that complicated.
h/t to Anton Zabreyko for this recommendation!
19, 20 - Artemis and Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir will forever have my heart for The Martian. It was one of the first hard scifi books I’d ever read, and it was crass, funny, and gorunded. It made me want to be a researcher and a scientist. So, this year, I read two of Weir’s other books - Artemis and Project Hail Mary, neither of which capture the lightning in a bottle of the original, but still had their moments.
I definitely thought Artemis was the weaker of the two; it follows a resident on a lunar colony who uncovers and then combats systemic corruption. The story and the characters were not so compelling that they jumped off the page, and the setting, while interesting, didn’t add anything new to the classic colony with black markets and corruptions we’ve seen many times previous. Props for a rare brown protagonist, though!
I quite enjoyed Project Hail Mary– about a amnesiac astronaut, the lone survivor on his ship, who needs to uncover why he’s on the ship to begin with, and help combat an extinction level threat back home. While the science wasn’t quite as strong as the Marian, I really enjoyed some of the characters and its heart and inventiveness.
21 - Dark Matter
Blake Crouch, you absolute, mf-er, you got me again. Blake Crouch graced last year’s list as the author of Recursion, a tech sci-fi thriller about time travel, that I couldn’t help but enjoy (even though I found its emphasis on my hometown of Silicon Valley extremely off-putting).
This year, he’s back with Dark Matter, a story about a professor who finds himself jumping universes in a high-stakes race against time. As always, Crouch gets maximum juice out of the sci-fi setting and writes a compulsive page-turner. An absolute master at his specific craft, whose work would be elevated to great if only his characters got a bit less two-dimensional. Think Dan Brown but with quantum physics.
22 - Dungeon Crawler Carl
An absurd, deadpan fantasy about humanityâs survivors battling monsters in a game-show-like arena. Fans of absurd comedy and dungeons and dragons will love this read. Itâs funny and heartfelt, but I didn’t feel compelled to read the sequels.
23 - Mistborn, The Final Empire
Set in a universe where a god emperor rules over all of the planet, we follow the story of a street urchin who finds herself to be an extremely powerful Mistborn.
As expected of a Brandon Sanderson project, Mistborn has a rich, nuanced, beautiful and thought out universe. Each character has their own voice, perspectives, and deep history. Objectively, there is little to complain about. My complains are purely subjective – I wished I’d spent more time learning about the characters, connecting with them, and rooting for them. As it stands, I definitely recommend this book while having no intentions to lead the other two in the series. Sorry, Mr Sanderson!
24 - The Underwater Welder
The only graphic novel on the list, The Underwater Welder is about grappling with fatherhood, grief, and the crushing weight of legacy. Complemented by beautiful artwork, Welder quietly tells a story that’s deeply personal while being completely universal. I was left feeling the grief and catharsis of the characters, despite the work being all black and white and so damn unassuming. If you think graphic novels canât hit as hard as prose, this one will prove you wrong. Itâs not just a bookâitâs an experience, and itâll stay with you long after youâve turned the last page.
25 - Neverwhere
It pains me to say this, but Neverwhereâfrom a writer I usually adoreâleft me underwhelmed. The universe is intriguing in theory (a shadowy, fantastical London Below) but never quite comes alive. The characters, while serviceable, donât linger in memory. Probably still a fun read for die-hard Gaiman fans, but otherwise you can probably skip this one.
26 - Why Greatness Cannot be Planned, The Myth of the Objective
Written by two machine learning researchers, this book dives into the interplay between objectives and greatness, making a compelling case for curiosity and exploration as the true drivers of success. It’s an interesting and challenging premise, but the book can feel a bit labored. I also worry that you have, in reading this paragraph, read quite a bit of the book itself. Still, if this question is something you think about, give it a shot!
27 - The Little Book of Contentment
This book is a lot more about what you need to hear than what you need to read, and I admittedly did need to hear some of what’s in this book. Nonetheless - here’s a summary for those who don’t want to read it – you discontent is caused by fantasies you’re holding on to, unhappiness with who you are, lack of confidence in yourself, or seeking happiness externally. There, now you’ve read it. If any of this resonated with you, go read it further.
28, 29, 30, 31, 32 - One Last Stop, The Charm Offensive, Kiss Her Once for Me, Red White and Royal Blue, The Falling in Love Montage
FINE everybody, gather round, letâs talk about how I burned through a good chunk of my reading budget on queer romcoms this year. Donât judge. Theyâre simply delightful! As a lifelong romcom fan who grew up on Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, and Love Actually, discovering LGBTQ-friendly storiesâwith Gen Z humor thrown into the mixâfelt like finding money in an old coat pocket.
If youâre in need of recs, I implore you to read (and please, for the love of all things holy, donât watch the movie first) Red, White & Royal Blue, which charts a charming romance between the Prince of Britain and the First Son of the United States. I also recommend Kiss Her Once for Me, especially if youâre reading this while itâs still winterâthink cozy vibes, family drama, and a healthy dose of failure and redemption.
But honestly, any of the above will let you bask in a perfect world where family gatherings are full of witty one-liners, thereâs only ever one bed to share, and true love always gets the last page.
33, 34, 35 - Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and The Second Foundation
Yes, I finally got around to reading Isaac Asimov, after avoiding it for a while for being “too classic sci-fi”. What a silly complain! The Foundation series is really exceptional for its sheer scope and vision. About a scientific society meant to be preserved through the fall of a Galactic empire, the books walk us through centuries of adventures for the Foundation. While I wish we hadn’t spent so much time bouncing all across the centuries and various characters, I’d rather be on the side of admiring this classic work than criticizing it. I’m mostly in awe. If you’re a sci-fi fan, it is indeed (as everyone used to insist upon me) a must read.
36 - Lock In
You know I love me some buddy comedies, so when you mix that with a sci-fi setting, throw in a murder mystery, and layer it all with a compelling exploration of disability rights and culture, youâve got a recipe for one of my favorite books of 2024. Lock In, by John Scalzi, was released in 2014, and promptly slipped under the radar, which feels criminal because, to me, it’s a modern classic. The universe is fascinating, the characters are engaging, and the story keeps you hooked from start to finish. Honestly, it almost feels too well-thought-out for just one murder mystery.
But if my biggest complaint is that I wanted more, well, thatâs not really a complaint at all, is it?
37, 38, 39 - Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, Klara and The Sun
h/t to Jacob van Gogh, for absolutely crushing the ReccBowl, and recommending my favorite books of 2024. Letâs preface this by saying that even Ishiguroâs âmehâ work still measure with many authorsâ best. Now, letâs break these down in reverse likability order:
Klara and The Sun centers on a naive character (I have a soft spot for them) and themes of faith. The characters and stories are compelling, but the universe and story didn’t reach the beauty and nuance I’ve come to expect from Ishiguro. It’s solid, but certainly the least of these three of his works.
Never Let Me Go is a poignant tale about friends growing up in a British boarding school, gradually uncovering the harsh truths of their world. The universe Ishiguro builds is haunting and unforgettable, and the relationships are achingly human, capturing the bittersweet naivete of childhood. Scenes from this lingered in my imagination long after I’d closed the book.
Remains of the Day is a revelation. On the surface, itâs about a butler taking a car ride to visit an ex-colleague. But this is one of those rare works that transforms how you think about storytelling altogether. Ishiguroâs prose is breathtaking, immersing you so deeply in the butlerâs perspective that he feels utterly real.
I usually dislike âitâs about the journey, not the destinationâ stories, but Remains of the Day floored me. Itâs a once-in-a-lifetime reading experience, the kind that redefines what a genreâor a mediumâis even capable of. Iâve only had a handful of these moments (Daytripper the graphic novel, Hadestown the musical), and this book joined their ranks.
I give Remains of the Day my highest recommendation. If you read nothing else this year, make it this one.