As in the previous year I managed to read a lot of books in 2024, finishing just one short of matching last year’s 56 books. I did also manage to read at least 30 minutes a day every day in 2024, I originally set out to do that in 2023 but didn’t pull it off. Happy to now scratch that off my list of goals.
In terms of when I read, I discovered that there is a genre of non-fiction history that reads like page turner paperbacks, and I really like it. Books like The Art Thief, Tunnel 29, and Red Notice were among my favorites. If the author is good then can even pull it off with a subject you already know about. Walter Lord’s A Night To Remember being a good example.
On the subject of history King Leopold’s Ghost, about the atrocities committed by the king of Belgium in the African Congo will give you a slice of the history they don’t teach you in school.
As for fiction I read in 2024 … I think this year the clear winner is Mick Herron’s Slough House series. I have gone through at a relentless pace this fall reading 7 out of 8 books and three novellas that tie into the central story. I started the series because I enjoyed the TV adaption Slow Horses but I quickly discovered (as is often the case) that the books were much much better. Great humor and satire while managing to echo British politics and current affairs.
Bellow is the full list, books in bold are my favorites from last year:
- The River of Doubt – Candice Millard
- The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass – Fredrick Douglass
- The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival – John Valliant
- A Night To Remember – Walter Lord
- Children of Memory – Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Profiles in Courage – John F. Kennedy
- All Systems Red – Martha Wells
- Artificial Condition – Martha Wells
- A History Of God – Karen Armstrong
- Compulsory – Martha Wells
- Rogue Protocol – Martha Wells
- Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory – Martha Wells
- Exit Strategy – Martha Wells
- The Johnstown Flood – David McCullough
- Network Effect – Martha Wells
- Fugitive Telemetry – Martha Wells
- System Collapse – Martha Wells
- King Leopold’s Ghost – Adam Hochschild
- Photographing Men: Posing, Lighting, and Shooting Techniques for Portrait and Fashion Photography – Jeff Rojas
- Titanium Noir – Nick Harkaway
- Papillon – Henri Charrière
- Slash – Slash
- Photographing Women: Posing, Lighting, and Shooting Techniques for Portrait and Fashion Photography – Jeff Rojas
- Day Of Infamy – Walter Lord
- A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
- Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol
- Dark Matter – Blake Crouch
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World – Jack Weatherford
- Recursion – Blake Crouch
- Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
- Upgrade – Blake Crouch
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America – Erik Larson
- The Mercy of Gods – James S.A. Corey
- Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies – Brian Coleman
- The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene
- The Book Of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
- Dead Silence – S.A. Barnes
- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession – Michel Finkel
- Hard Rain Falling – Don Carpenter
- Slow Horses – Mick Heron
- Dead Lions – Mick Heron
- The List – Mick Heron
- Real Tigers – Mick Heron
- Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall – Helena Merriman
- Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road
- Spook Street – Mick Herron
- Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice – Bill Browder
- Livesuit – James S.A. Corey
- London Rules – Mich Herron
- The Drop – Mick Herron
- The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Expéry
- Joe Country – Mick Herron
- The Catch – Mick Herron
- The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
- Slough House – Mick Herron