Books I Read in 2024!

2024 has been an incredible year for reading in an unexpected way. For years, I’ve had the leisure to read according to my desires. This year, I developed so many new classes that almost all of my reading was dedicated to reading-to-teach. Below is a list of my 2024 books read for teaching various courses at Thales College , followed by books chosen for fun. All together, they total 60. Not bad for the year!

1. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undsset - This was an incredible trilogy of novels. I loved the historical elements of this collection, and the way the author’s life story and faith journey both connected to her writing. Kristin Lavransdatter was perhaps my favorite new fiction read in 2024.?Shoutout to Jim Ranieri for the recommendation!
2. A History of Histories, by John Burrows - It’s easy to think of history as always having existed in the academic frame in which most history is written today. Burrows shows that the craft of history is itself contextual, and when reading various historians it is helpful to know their own moment in time.?
3. The Whig Interpretation of History, by Herbert Butterfield - I reread this excellent slim volume first for teaching a summer course, and then for a paper I presented at Intercollegiate Studies Institute 's American Politics and Government Summit in beautiful Wilmington, DE. Butterfield provides the best foundation for a generalist approach to teaching, studying, and writing history.?
4. Great Essays in Science, edited by Martin Gardner - After watching Oppenheimer, it was fun to read Oppenheimer’s thoughts about the nature and use of science. Also, Asimov!?
5. A Student’s Guide to Natural Science, by Stephen Barr - Barr is an excellent historian of science, and he tells the story of physics with an eye towards the strange and bizarre elements that make scientists fascinating. I learned about Tycho Brahe’s drunken moose.?
6. Beauty for Truth’s Sake, by Stratford Caldecott - In this disenchanted world, there are still a few Platonist-Pythagoreans who write, and Stratford Caldecott is one. He sincerely advocates for a symbolic meaning of number, and the real presence of ideas in the world. Reading Caldecott is a great step towards restoring a true re-enchantment. I wonder what Rod Dreher thinks of this one??
7. Unbinding Prometheus, by Donald Cowan - Cowan’s view of science is directly tied to myth: the myth a scientist believes works itself out in significant ways. Cowan also includes a fascinating reading of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.?
8. Only the Lover Sings, by Josef Pieper - This collection of essays was a delightful introduction to aesthetics and the relationships love, perceiving beauty, and creating art. Pieper is amazing.?
9. Beauty: A Very Short Introduction, by Sir Roger Scruton - returning to this book for a third time was richly rewarding. Scruton’s Kantian understanding of beauty and wide range of artistic knowledge emerges in this readable volume of aesthetic philosophy. The first episode of Season 7 of the podcast began with a discussion of this book!
10. A History of Symmetry, by Ian Stewart - This history of the mathematical concept of symmetry was illuminating but disappointing. Stewart does reveal the meaning of symmetry to the humanist reader, and he conveys an awareness of the complexity of reality. But he does not know why reality is amazing; he leaves the reader frustrated and longing for a theological justification for mathematical truth.?
11. Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil - This collection of aphorisms was trippy. I want to like Simone Weil - her essay on the Iliad is wonderful, and her linking of prayer and attention in schools changed how I view academic work. But this one is just weird. Weil mixes existential reflection with many topics. But her thoughts are always interesting.?
12. Norms and Nobility, by David Hicks - Every time I read this one, I see more into what Hicks is trying to do. His articulation of the connections between norms, mythology, logos, and education is superb. I don’t think it can be practically worked out - I’m still waiting on Matthew Bianco to prove me wrong.?
13. Leisure: The Basis of Culture, by Josef Pieper - Pieper communicates a beautiful vision of liberal education, the value of contemplation, and the dignity of academic work. Pieper looks to Aristotle to argue that we are “unleisurely so that we might have leisure.” What use ought me make of our leisure? Pieper wrote long before AI and the Internet; his argument resonates more than ever in 2024.?
14. A Philosophy of Education, by Charlotte Mason - This volume was the first Mason I’ve read; I’ve heard her disciples praise her for years. She merits the praise. Educating the whole child as a person, the mind feeds on ideas, and the role of narration in forming the mind through memory and connection—these ideas pair beautifully with classical education.?
15. The Crisis of Western Education, by Christopher Dawson - Dawson published this volume in 1961. His focus on the centrality of religion for cultural survival still resonates Catholic education was stronger in 1961, and Dawson thinks that Catholic education could be the kernel from which a renewed West springs. His work is a bit dated—he clearly wrote before the Christian Classical movement began. But he remains undefeated in the articulation of cultural analysis.?
16. Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill - I had read selections of this pamphlet in prior years, but this year I read the whole thing. Mill’s argument is interesting, but it fails to provide a robust answer to key questions. Mill wants a Christian-influenced society where everyone just realizes that Christian ethics bring about the greatest good, but he doesn’t want God, Jesus, the Bible, or that pesky thing termed “religion” to actually bind anyone. In a very real sense, we live in the aftermath of Mill’s vision coming to life.?
17. Groundwork for a Metaphysics of Morals, by Immanuel Kant - This remains my favorite ethical treatise. Kant lays out a clear articulation of his Categorical Imperative thought experiment, and gives enough examples to show that it is not a consequentialist ethic. HIs project, of deriving traditional morality by reason alone, remains insufficient, but it is a great mental exercise to try to read and comprehend Kant.?
18. The Apologia of Socrates, by Plato - Why did Socrates’ die? Did he in fact corrupt the youth of Athens? Is truth worth dying for? Should he drink the hemlock? Socrates does not provide many answers, but he provokes great conversation.
19. The Crito, by Plato - I read this one twice this year, once with college students, and once with adults. In both cases, Socrates worked his magic. Are we individuals first, blessed with complete autonomy? Or are we contingent beings who owe a debt of gratitude to the wider community or parents, nation, etc? What if that community requires our death? Great conversation starter!
20. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith - This coming-of-age novel about an Irish-German immigrant family in Brooklyn communicates timeless truths about the immigrant experience, the nature of the American dream, and what economic progress really looks like. It is not a “great book,” but it definitely fits the category of a “good book.”?
21. Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift - such a great satire of modernity! Swift’s humor resonates still; our scientists, politicians, and leaders have not really changed since the 18th century. DOGE should read about the wasteful use of governmental funds by scientists.?
22. Tom Jones, A Foundling, by Henry Fielding - Love this story. Funny, well constructed, and witty as all get out. A bit formulaic in places, but the conclusion was worth it.?
23. White Fang, by Jack London - This book is a boy’s story. The cold Yukon, survival, and movement from savagery into the soft civilized south.?
24. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad - I’d never read Conrad before; this short story or novella did not disappoint. Conrad brought a strong doctrine of sin into his story.?
25. Till We Have Faces, by C. S. Lewis - My student loved this novel more than everything else we read; Lewis is a genius at controlling the reader’s information, showing the modern contrast with antiquity’s way of perceiving reality. Lewis called this one his greatest novel. ?
26. Tolkien’s Modern Reading, by Holly Ordway - I read this one to oversee an independent study writing on Tolkien bridging the gap between medievalism and modernism. Ordway does a wonderful job merging scholarship and a genuine love of Tolkien’s legendarium.?
27. Virtuous Leadership, by Alexandre Havard - this slim book does a greta job conveying Catholic social teaching on the virtues and applying them to a leadership context. Written near the end of the Cold War, the biographical stories are mostly focused on real world communist resistance.?
28. King Lear, by William Shakespeare - Lear tells the tragedy of a man who abdicates his authority yet wants to to retains the trappings of kingship. As such, it made for great discussion of leadership vs. management, authority vs. tyranny, and the role of active leadership causing human flourishing. It’s also a beautiful piece of literature.?
29. The Prince, by Nicolo Machiavelli - Once upon a time, Aristotle argued that the politician, as a student of the highest art, ought to be the most virtuous person so that he could lead the polis towards virtue. Machiavelli popped that dream, arguing instead that the most important thing a leader (prince) can do is retain power. The true politician will use virtue as one of many tools to help him hold and extend power.?
30. The Lives of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchii, by Plutarch - For centuries, Rome has functioned as a teaching ground for people to see another world, to see choices enacted in another world. It helps that this time the other world is historical. Such remains the the case; seeing the appeals to populism, the fickleness of the people, and the effectiveness of rhetoric, and the temptations of power is all the morse possible when removed from the present. Plutarch was a genius biographer, and his stories remain timeless classics.?
31. The Western Heritage Reader, by the History Faculty of Hillsdale College - I taught Western Civilization I in the fall term, and that afforded the chance to return to Hillsdale’s excellent primary source reader, not as a student but as a professor. This is such a great collection of primary sources spanning Babylon, Israel, Greece, Rome, Medieval Christendom, the Renaissance, and the Reformation.?
32. Confessions, by Augustine of Hippo, translated by Anthony Esolen - Read this one to review for the Acton Institute , and I was shocked at how well Esolen brought Augustine’s voice into the present. It as a great reminder that while we might have smart devices, we’ve got nothing on the philsoophical verve of the ancients.?
33. Pro-Child Politics, edited by Katy Faust - This collection of 19 essays applies Faust’s thesis: most of the problems in the world today are not caused by partisanship, but rather by adults putting their desires above the interests of children. Each essay explores a complex area and shows that valuing them before us (the adults) can be the basis of a rigorous bipartisan effort.
34. Enemies of the Permanent Things, by Russell Kirk - Kirk wrote this book in COld War, and the central chapters demonstrate that focus. At the same time, it is his clearest writing on the nature of norms and the role of education in conveying those norms. I reviewed this one for Principia this year; it’s well worth reading!
35. The Wizard of Mecosta, by Camilo Peralta - It’s exciting when friends get their dissertations published. I was at Mecosta with Camilo when he was working on this book, and getting to read and contemplate it was delightful. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s a great addition to Kirk scholarship.?
36. Bad Therapy, by Abigail Shrier - Shrier was recently the subject of an editorial at The Free Press , which sung her praises for her first book, Irreversible Damage. She brings the same critical spirit and journalistic argumentation to this book. TLDR: parents should parent, and stop outsourcing parenting to “professionals.” Shrier is one of several folks sounding the alarm on a misplaced professionalism.?
37. Babel, by R.F. Kuang - This book was so promising, but it really disappointed. It’s a great example of how the woke mind virus corrupts good storytelling. Kuang is a gifted storyteller, but this one is a story of destroying human civilization in the name of post-colonial theory. She deconstructs, and deconstructs, and leaves her readers in the ruins.?
38. Raising Conservative Kids in a Woke City, by Katy Faust and Stacy Manning - It’s great to be a conservative in the South, but what about families that live in Blue states? Faust and Manning layout a blueprint for how parents, through active, intentional parenting, can raise their children to perceive truth and live according to it. They clearly define what it means to be a “conservative kid,” and show how parents can develop a strategy for cultivating those traits in their children. Written by two warrior moms in the trenches, this one is worth reading!
39. Hannah’s Children, by Catherine Pakaluk - This economics book, written as a qualitative study, was my unexpected favorite serious book to read this year. Pakaluk wanted to study women who choose to have 5+ children, and find out why. She takes her economics seriously; this is a question of values and human choices, not a question of policy nudges. Concerned about the #birthdearth? Get this book!
40. ?Reflections on the Revolution in France, by Edmund Burke - Who knew that the most insightful book about the 2024 election was written in 1791? Seriously - Burke explains just why so many normies and moderates voted for Trump. The Left has been moving against the ordinary experience of human beings since its inception in the French Revolution. Trying to figure out how to navigate change in 2025? Read Burke.?
41. The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis - This slim volume contains three lecture Lewis gave during WWII. In those three lectures, he diagnoses the evils of modernity and highlights a way forward. Everything worthwhile in Foucault and Derrida is here in Lewis, but without the poison of deconstruction. If you’re trying to make sense of the late modern world, Abolition of Man is the best starting point.?
42. Pretties, by Scott Westerfield - I read this one after watching Netflix’s adaptation of Uglies. As far as a YA trilogy goes, not bad. The conceit of an effective prettifying surgery works well, and Westerfield tells an enjoyable story.?
43. Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice - I’ve seen Rice’s novel for years, and finally read her first as part of a writing project for Modern Age (not yet published). I don’t know how to describe this novel except by calling it weird, and definitely a first novel. Rice is figuring out a lot of writing craft here. This novel launched an empire of books, shows, and movies, all infused with a strangely directed eroticism. Definitely the strangest book I read this year.?
44. The Wolf Den, by Elodie Harper - This is the kind of book I sometimes wish I could assign to those who over-glorfiy the Roman empire. Harper centers this book, the first in a now completed trilogy, on the story of prostitute brothel-worker in Pompeii. She effectively shows the pre-Christian sexual ethic, and what a woman’s life looks like absent the imago dei. Her story is well written.?
45. Vacuum Flowers, by Michael Swanwick - I adore Swanwick’s prose. He’s mostly out of print, so I play a game hunting for his books in used bookstores. This volume I acquired at Powells in Portland. It’s ‘80s techno-cyberpunk with bioengineering body swapping. Such fun.?
46. My wife wanted me to get in on @Brandsanderson’s Kickstarter, and I didn’t want to spend the money. So, instead I spent the money on the mainstream publication versions of his four self-published novels. Sanderson may have changed the publishing game with this experiment - time will tell. But I loved reading:
47. Tress of the Emerald Sea - Beautiful, adventure bildusgroman, with (as always) an impeccably worked out unique magic system. The female protagonist is delightful and believable.?
48. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England - What would happen if a great fantasy novelist began writing cheesy add copy? In what story-verse would such a ploy work? Sanderson is playing with a lot in this novel, and it works.?
49. The Sunlit Man: A Cosmere Novel - I read it, but in hindsight I don’t remember anything about it. Cleary I need to reread - but also, not Sanderson’s best work. Normally, I don’t have trouble recalling the basic plot. This has something to do with a man in disguise on a planet that gets hot??
50. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - so much fun! Sanderson’s magic style but playing with painting, electricity, and technological development. I did not expect the twist.
51. A World out of Time, by Larry Niven - Niven is one of the classic hard sci-fi authors I’ve always seen on the shelves, but never tried to read. This one played with a variety of time factors, and worked in a mostly-unecessary sex plot. Very 1970s SF.?
52. Immortal Longings, by Chloe Gong - I picked it up hoping for a Hunger Games-style story; instead, I got a social commentary about class warfare paired with an intense surveillance state. The story telling was fine, but I don’t plan on reading the sequel.?
53. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman - I returned to this classic sci-fi/war novel because it is my favorite “take” on the Vietnam War. Haldeman captures the sense of transformation happening in America between the beginning and end of the Vietnam War; he also plays with Nietzsche’s Ubermensch arriving. Such a fun read.
54. The Inferno, by Winston Brady - I don’t love American history or American literature, but if you do, then check out Winston's novel. He gives his answer to the philosophical problem of evil, and places America’s presidents in various levels of hell. Definitely worth a read!
55. Levaiathan Falls, by James S.A. Corey - I read through all nine of the Expanse novels, and found this one a satisfying conclusion. Even though the two authors who publish together as James S.A. Corey learned much of their craft from George R.R. Martin, they seem to have retained a solid understanding of real humanity and the spiritual element. By no means a Christian series, it is a Christianity-friendly series of excellently written sci-fi novels that explores the future on a vast horizon. Read the books; don’t watch the Amazon adaptation.?
56. Disquiet Gods, by Christopher Roucchio - Book Six of the Sun Eater did not dissapoint. I met Rouchio several years ago when he was an editor for Baen Books, and had just written book 1. He lives in Raleigh, and it’s been rather fun to keep up with him as an author and friend. I am looking forward to Hadrian Marlowe’s story concluding in Book 7!
57. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig - I bought this one as a airport read, and loved it. There is a sub-genre of library based novels, and this one is fascinating. It uses the library as a means to explore both purgatory and “what might life have been like?” well worth reading.?
58. Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros - My wife loves dragon stories, and we both devoured these novels. Strong storytelling paired with graphic violence and and edgy level of sex. Fun reads. Nothing terribly serious in terms of ideas. But an enjoyable set of novels. Hopefully the concluding novel comes out in 2025.?
59. The City and Its Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami. This novel took me by surprise; I thought I understood it. I was wrong. Definitely will need to reread this one.
60. Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson - I read this 1329-page tome in two days. Great plot control, character development, and moral imagination passages. It took Sanderson 4 years to finish this one, and it was worth the wait.?I’ve published an academic essay about Brandon Sanderson and Orson Scott Card as Mormon authors whose faith shapes their storytelling; true to form, Sanderson follows the pattern of divinizing the hero. At the same time, this fifth volume in the Stormlight Archive moves in so many directions. It may be a long wait for volumes 6-10; Lord willing, Sanderson will live a long life and finish all the stories he has begun.

Looking ahead to 2025, I’ll be teaching a class called Great Texts in Children’s Literature. For that class, I’ll be reading A.A. Milne, Norton Juster, Beatrix Potter, Mother Goose, Kenneth Grahame, and a few others. Another class entitled Writing Across the Disciplines will have me reading Charlotte Mason, G.K. Chesterton, George Orwell, C.S. Lewis, Hilaire Belloc and a few other excellent essayists. I’ve got writing projects coming up that will determine my reading: one chapter I owe a friend comparing G.K. Chesterton and Jean Jacques Rousseu, another chapter exploring C.S. Lewis’s literary theory, and a paper on the goodness inherent in the limitations of masculinity and femininity. I am confident there will be great new books out in 2025 that beg to read and reviewed, and that I’ll reread some old favorites. 2024 has been a big year for reading, and I hope that next year includes as much if not more. Last week, my wife and I play Trivia Pursuit: Lord of the Rings Edition, and it may be time to reread The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. I’m also hoping that a summer course I’m offering in Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy makes - if so, that will give me a great excuse to reread Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Stregnth.?

Here’s to 2024 - and many good books read!?If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!