My favorites reads from 2024

Inspired by Victoria Griffith 's great list of reads, here are my favorite books from last year.

Reviewing my list, I am surprised to see that non-fiction dominates, given that I read a lot more fiction. 2024 appears to be the year of the memoir; I think I was craving deep looks into the lives of others to gain perspective on a crazy world. Either that or I'm just too embarrassed to publicly share my list of "indulgent literature", as Amanda Misiti refers to it :)

I also really enjoyed reading with the growing bookworms in my family. I included a few suggestions for those young readers just getting into chapters are at the end.

Let me know what great reads I've missed! Shoutout to the AMAZING Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation and The Seattle Public Library who have extensive e-book selections and great recommendations. If you are looking to start 2025 off with some good moves, consider supporting your local library and/or spending a chilling afternoon wandering the very wonderful aisles of Seattle's Third Place Books.

In no particular order......

Best fiction

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez. I hate audiobooks but I have listened to both of Gonzalez's books and almost cried when I finished them. I love the characters, their deep interior lives, the dark humor, and the razor sharp commentary. This is what fiction should be.

Let us descend by Jesmyn Ward. Another lyrical author who draws the reader into a painful, at times very cruel world with complex and surprising characters, and stories that intersect at unexpected moments. I would love to see Ward become an author that all children read in school--she is one of the greatest gems of our time.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (HT Amanda Misiti ). Another startling story, quirky humor and characters (of all ages) whose lives have moments of extreme happiness and heartbreaking lows. It is not a mystery nor is it really romantic, but it has suspense, romance, and plot twists until the end.

Non-fiction

The worlds I see: curiosity, exploration and discovery at the dawn of AI by Fei Fei Li. Ok, you got me: I learned about this from Melinda Gates on Instagram. It took me awhile to get pulled into the book, but I found that Li makes AI exciting and accessible to a layperson. She also talks in depth about how AI can and should solve problems for real people and increase equity, which is not the inevitable path the technology will take.

Education of an Idealist (HT Victoria Griffith ) by Samantha Power. I really liked how Power wrote about herself and her work. My own public sector experience was full of frustrations with bureaucracy and politics, and Power had a very productive and valuable perspective on how to approach what she did. It changed my own thinking about how to have impact in the context of big institutions.

Solito by Javier Zamora. This one will keep you up a night and should make you angry. The story-telling is simple as a child is narrating their experience of traveling to the United States from El Salvador through informal channels. In many ways, the protagonist's youthfulness just magnifies all of the brutality and danger many face when attempting to migrate into the United States without legal documentation.

The art of communicating by Thich Nhat Hanh (HT Shazzad Khan ). Over the years, I have gained a lot of perspective from his writings. This was the first time I've read a book of his on a specific topic like this, and I found it incredibly digestible. Unsurprisingly, it was less about finding the right words and more about having the presence and openness to really listen and connect with people.

An inconvenient cop: my fight to change policing in America by Edwin Raymond. Raymond lays out amazing data, personal experience, and the harm from unjust policies in a pretty compelling way. Our approach to policing is clearly failing poor communities (especially those of color) and black men, and this book makes it clear that there are obvious, urgent opportunities to make change. I would love to see city policy makers and police chiefs reflect on books like this and put ideas like Raymond's into practice.

Forgotten girls: a memoir of friendship, and lost promise in rural America by Monica Potts. This book was particularly timely in the run up to the election as it focuses on some of the small, isolated communities in the South and Midwest that have declined into poverty, drug use, and a sense of hopelessness. In contrast to books like Barbara Kingsolver's Copperhead, which looked at a similar type of community but focused on a young, male protagonist, Potts focuses on women, and specifically, women who she has known for decades.

I should have honor: a memoir of hope and pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi. Speaking of books that profile women, this one is a fantastic look into the life of a powerful activist. She share painful details of her life unflinchingly, while also making sure to describe the humanity of all of the actors in the story. Too often writers strip out inconvenient details and simplify narratives to make them palatable; I felt that Brohi wanted to make sure her readers appreciated the complexities and messiness of family dynamics, gender roles, marriage, and decision making.

Emergent strategy: shaping change, changing worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown. All of you out there who knew about Brown and NEVER mentioned her to me are in trouble (ahem, Alexandra Fiorillo )! I discovered her through a podcast about her new book, Loving Corrections, which I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Her narratives and frameworks have brought so many of my experiences into sharper focus. Many of of 2025 professional goals were inspired by this book.

Notes on grief by Chimamanda Adichie. Adichie's fiction is some of my favorite writing ever, but this long essay she wrote in the wake of her father's death was less polished and more raw emotion. I read it after losing my mentor and it helped me process. Grief is hard, but perhaps writings like this make it slightly less lonely.

For younger people just discovering the magic of reading on their own

Kite fighters by Linda Sue Park. I was a little skeptical that we'd get through this one, since it's set in 15th century Korea, and generally I find historical fiction slow. But this book opens with an action-filled chapter about two brothers and one kite; it expertly hooked my young reader right away.

Millionaires for the month by Stacy McNulty. This was the first chapter book that pulled in my son and got him to move on from Dogman. Many thanks to the gift from Aunt Laura M. Ridgeway, CFRE and the great advice from the staff at Raleigh's Quailridge Bookstore.