My favorite Books of 2024

Last year I published my first reading year-end review and my best books list from what I read in 2023. It was a fun process and I enjoyed the conversations that came from it, so I am repeating the exercise for my 2024 reads.

Another year of wonderful adventures in reading, I completed a total of 77 books, down 14% from the previous year, but equally fulfilling. If you want to learn about my general reading philosophy check out last year’s review or this post on how I read so much (it's a recent phenomenon).

Even though I read fewer books overall, I gave more books a 5-star rating. Either I enjoyed more books more, I was an easier grader, or both. Additionally, I may be getting better at selecting books. My number one tip for those looking to read more has been and will always be: read what you enjoy. With reading, selection bias is your friend.

Here is the rating distribution of the 77 books I read provided by Goodreads (thanks Amazon).

In addition to more 5-star books, I had 40% fewer 1 and 2-star books. For an explanation of my grading system, scroll to the middle of last year’s article. The variation in personal rating systems for books is fascinating, as evidenced by these various posts on the Goodreads rating scales (3 examples) Goodreads discussion forum, Goodreads Reddit, and this post from the literary hub. For the record, mine is closest to what was proposed on the Goodreads forum, and the highest upvoted one on Reddit. I find the literary hub one (#4 on Google results for “Goodreads rating systems”) rather bizarre even though it claims to be "THE definitive rating scale." A good reminder that search results aren’t everything, and can be manipulated. ??

You and I might also enjoy very different books or the same book differently, and that’s ok! Part of recommending a good book is knowing the person you’re recommending the book to, and understanding their unique experience and the context with which they will read it. Sometimes when I recommend and send a physical book, I insert a card with a quick note and explanation of why I enjoyed it.

This is my annual reminder and request to discuss or share book recommendations with me at any time, in whatever method you see fit (I picked up this tradition from Glenn Stout , series editor, Best American Sports Writing - my favorite anthology series, although my submission requirements are much more flexible). ?

If you’re trying to send me a cold message and stalking my LinkedIn, please note that I will always reply to a thoughtful book recommendation. I have yet to see this tactic in practice, but I’m hopeful this is the year! I have also served as an advanced reader, so if you or someone you know would like me to review your book, feel free to send it to me.

Now to the books!

This year I wanted to highlight some of my favorites in a few key theme areas. You can find a full list of my best books list (4-star and 5-star rated and who else may enjoy them here).

Fiction

In 2024 I read proportionately way more fiction and history books than I had in prior years. Fiction has been challenging for me, so I focused on some highly acclaimed titles like To Kill a Mockingbird, All the Light We Cannot See, and The Bluest Eye. I am embarrassed that I hadn’t read those brilliant works earlier. Tom Hank’s Uncommon Type is a compelling collection of stories with typewriters shifted into all of them. ?

History

Many of the books I read focused on WWII and the Cold War. I thoroughly enjoyed Day of Infamy, about the attack of Pearl Harbor, Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall, Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage, Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II and Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II. Day of Infamy, Road to Surrender and Facing the Mountain go really well together, I read Facing the Mountain first, but you could go any way. Similarly, Tunnel 29 and Wise Gals are a nice pairing.

Outside of those conflicts, The Indifferent Stars Above on the Donner Party (what a beautiful and fitting title) and A Night to Remember about the Titanic were some of my favorites. Rising Tide: the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America was also fascinating, but given how long it is, I hesitate to recommend it broadly and wonder how much of my interest came from my civil engineering background (note: you must read this book if you are a civil engineer or are interested in how Mississippi and the river came to be). The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook was a thrilling telling of the leadership and consequences of Cook’s voyages. I listened to the audiobook, much of it while sailing and experiencing the doldrums of light wind, which likely enhanced my enjoyment. For the complex counterfactual, and would-have-beens, check out Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History.

Other books engineers will love

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World is sure to cause contention among city planners and transportation engineers. The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team is what it sounds like, a few quants buy a minor league, unaffiliated baseball team, vie for a championship, and it’s a wild ride. The authors' later work, which I read first, The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players is a great read on analytics and innovation, even if you aren’t a baseball fan. The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives was also great and has broader appeal.

Leadership

One commonality of good leaders, they all read. Finding one who doesn’t is nearly impossible. I love books on leadership and books about leaders, either biographical or historical. One of my favorite authors and fellow central Texan, Ryan Holiday ’s Right Thing, Right Now: Justice in an Unjust World focuses on key historical figures doing the right thing, often under challenging circumstances or significant consequences. I had heard of Admiral James Stavridis before, it’s possible I heard him speak or read one of his articles while I was a midshipman, but hadn’t read any of his books before this year. Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character was a great read on admirals from around the world across a broad spectrum of nations, leadership styles and personalities. The book identifies their leadership strengths and faults, with great lessons from each one. The Leader’s Bookshelf, also by Stavridis, provides notes on a collection of flag officer’s favorite reads. The 50 books listed are included on this Goodreads list. The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency was eye-opening and thrilling, understanding the dynamics and leadership of the presidency and those around the president from a different perspective. Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect, by Will Guidara, is on the surface a book about fine dining restaurants, but really it's about leadership, management, and how a culture of hospitality can have a positive impact on many organizations, both internally and externally. Some people find it gimmicky for the mock scenarios, but I really enjoyed The New One Minute Manager. The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals is a great read for those thinking about how their teams can operate more effectively.

Memoirs and Biographies

Elon Musk, by Walter Isaacson – enough said. Isaacson is one of my so good it’s almost not fair authors, and Musk is, well...Musk. The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight was fascinating and I saw Andrew Leland speak at the Texas Book Festival. The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah is Joel Chasnoff’s story of making Aliyah and joining the tank brigade in the army. Thanks to my high school English teacher Laird Loomis for the recommendation. Randomly I discovered Joel’s family were our neighbors growing up and I happened to meet him while reading the book. How Not to Be a Politician by Rory Stewart dramatically changed my perspective of both him and the UK’s political system. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere is Maria Bamford’s whacky and compelling story. I Am Malala reminds us that you don’t need to be old to write a great memoir. Even if you’re already terrified at the state of our democracy in the United States, Liz Cheney’s Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning was a great read. Talk of Champions by Kenny, “The Jet,” Smith was a fun read for any basketball fan. ?

Psychology

Adam Grant, another so good it’s almost not fair author, keeps releasing winners, this year, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout was another good read. ?The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions was good to reflect on your current behaviors, vs. what you want them to be.

Changing Jobs

The past few years I have changed jobs and areas within tech more frequently than I would have thought. Every time I change roles I try to read at least two books in the new area. I also re-read key sections of The First 90 Days whenever I start a new role. Starting at IBM last year, and focused on AI, I read The Greatest Capitalist Who Ever Lived: Tom Watson Jr. and the Epic Story of How IBM Created the Digital Age and Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins. Both were fascinating and enriched my perspective of the IBM culture and the opportunities and challenges of AI. Interestingly, while searching for books on AI governance, I observed the most extreme example of a hallucination I have seen from OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4. Upon asking for recommendations, it made up titles to books on AI governance, and when I asked for it to share the Goodreads link for each one, the links routed me to various Japanese Anime comic books. ?

Other non-fiction

Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley is the crazy true story of trying to revive a ghost town (listen to the audiobook recorded in the mine). Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System will make you never look at forensic experts, especially forensic dentists the same way again. Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue is a brilliant look at a modern conspiracy and billionaire power. 84, Charing Cross Road is a funny and heartwarming collection of post-war letters between a bookseller and reader, separated by an ocean. It reminds you that you don’t need to be in person, or even see someone to develop a relationship with them. If you read one book on my list, read that; it’s short and you’ll enjoy it. I wrote about this book last year since I read it in January, but it’s so good I’ll mention it again: Boom Town, a must-read if you’ve ever been to Oklahoma City, are a fan of the NBA or The Flaming Lips or just want to relive a crazy middle of nowhere American city story. ??

Incredible Authors – so good it’s almost not fair

Incredible authors who put out artfully written works about a variety of subjects make it difficult for lesser authors to compete, but it’s a win for us readers.

Walter Lord joined my incredible authors list with his books on Pearl Harbor and the Titanic. I still need to read his books on Dunkirk, Midway, and The Alamo. I am embarrassed for my slow recognition of their incredible writing, but I added Haper Lee and Toni Morrison to the list. I wish they were still alive and writing.

Recurring incredible authors, all of whom are still living and writing: Ryan Holiday, Walter Isaacson, Michael Lewis, Daniel James Brown, and Adam Grant.

Happy reading

I hope you enjoy these and others on my list. Thank you all for the recommendations this past year and keep them coming. Thanks to those who have provided recs in recent years:

Aaron Welker, Arianna Fanning, Diego Torres, Eddie Huang, Girish Mallapragada, Jennifer Franklin, P.E., Daniel J Cohen, MBA, John Patrick Dees, Jon Wiegand, Jonah Donnenfield, Joseph (“JW”) Amos, Sloane Pardue, Paul Brar, Melissa Cantarow, Kate Miley, David Goldsmith, Brian Lange, Gildea, Josh Latto, Katie Stevenson, Kyle Bender, Laird Loomis, Leah Apothaker, Madison Edwards, Marcie Golden, Jorge Pastrana, Kirkland Kraines, MBA, Noah Donnenfield, Paul Gage, Pranav Venkataramana, Robin Selig, Richard Planto, Ryan Adkins, Sam Selig, CCIM, Saul Vaca, Stephanie Simon, Suzanne Lang Fodor and many more I've failed to remember.

I would love to hear about your best books of the year. Happy reading for 2025!