The Best Reads of 2024

This was an excellent year for reading. In making my top ten list I had to reject many books that other years would’ve been a shoo in for recognition. The only reason So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson isn’t on the list is because I fear recency bias. Here are my top ten, followed by a complete list. As always, I welcome your recommendations!

1. Miracle Creek by Angie Kim-- A nonspoiler trigger warning: this book revolves around the death of a child and the fallout from that. Parts can be hard to read. But it’s gripping and poignant and I still find myself thinking about it. The mystery element is well put together, with enough clues the reader can piece together what’s happening but some twists that also make sense. The characters are all flawed humans. Some I empathized with, some I hated, but they all felt like real people. The discussion this book is having about parenting is fascinating. What do we give to our children and what do they take from us?

2. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr-- I went into this one blind and I think that’s how I’d recommend it. All you need to know is there are four narrators in three different time periods and they all have connections to an ancient Greek comedy. I sobbed at the ending of one of the narrator’s stories and I very seldom cry while reading. It’s long but Anthony Doerr is absolutely worth it.

3. The River of Doubt by Candace Millard-- This felt like an adventure novel, but all the best stories are true. In 1912, despondent over losing the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt traveled with his son and an expedition down an unmapped river in the Amazon. He set out to have a grueling physical challenge and, well, it definitely succeeded in being that. It’s incredible what humans can accomplish and where they can survive. This book made me feel like I could see the expedition unfolding before me. Highly recommend.

4. Extra Life by Steven Johnson-- Okay this is the nonfiction that got me to tear up this year. Insert the Seinfeld meme-- “You’re crying from reading about how lifespans have lengthened over the past century?” “The myriad of good that has come from science got to me.” As you probably know, the reason the average person’s life expectancy has shot up isn’t that people in the Middle Ages died randomly in their twenties or thirties (although that happened too) but because child mortality was so high. Why has it dropped? Beyond vaccines and antibiotics, which are obvious, artificial fertilizer is on the list. This is Steven Johnson’s best book since The Ghost Map, which he also references. It’s both scientific, well written, feel good, and somehow philosophical. What do we do with all this extra time most of us take for granted?

5. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik-- As I age I read less and less fantasy as the tropes have grown tiresome, but this was a joy. A darkly funny joy. Think Hogwarts meets the Hunger Games. Students are drafted into a magical boarding school and don’t get to leave until they graduate-- if they can survive that long.

6. Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer-- I know and love Paul Scheer through the incredible How Did This Get Made podcast, which is something else I highly recommend. I had no idea that Paul’s childhood was this, well, traumatic, because he’s such a positive person. Obvious trigger warning for children experiencing trauma. But it’s not all bad; Paul is inherently funny and the book doesn’t dwell in moroseness. If you’re looking for an audiobook this is a great one to hear narrated by the author.

7. The Hilarious World of Depression by John Moe-- Kind of funny that these two ended up right next to each other on the list. They’re both about serious topics (depression and suicidal ideation in this case) with bleak sections, and yet are not depressing to read and have humor laced throughout. Whether you struggle with depressive tendencies or are trying to understand what it’s like, this is a great read.
8. Divine Might by Natalie Haynes-- Natalie Haynes writes in a delightfully droll way. I would read her analysis of anything, but goddesses in ancient myth is a real treat. I found this book in an airport bookstore and bought it immediately because Pandora’s Jar is one of my all time favorites. The well known names like Hera and Athena are here, but also some more obscure names, like Hestia. I especially loved Demeter’s chapter.

9. The President & the Assassin by Scott Miller-- This is the second book on presidential assassination to end up on my annual top ten (Candace Millard wrote the other; she’s a gem). There’s just something so intriguing about the intersection of two people’s lives in a way that changes the entire world. It feels inevitable, but it could’ve gone millions of different ways. I read this quickly and it left me humming Sondheim, of course. “Czolgosz/Working man/Born in the middle of Michigan…"

10. The Martian by Andy Weir-- This was a last minute decision as there were so many titles I could have put in this last spot, but this one just made me feel happy to read it. I’m late to the party but I’ll definitely be checking out more Andy Weir in the future.
 
Honorable Mentions:
Nonfiction-- Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery
Fiction-- Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie 

 Books are listed alphabetically by author. Asterisks denote a reread, recommendations are bolded.

Nonfiction
Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster?: The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line-- David Andrews
Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation-- John Carlin
Queen Victoria: A Life of Contradictions-- Matthew Denison
Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence-- Joseph J Ellis
All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia-- Simon Garfield
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body-- Roxane Gay
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference-- Malcolm Gladwell
Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s-- Gary Gulman
Spare-- Prince Harry (It desperately needed an editor but who doesn't love Harry reading an audiobook, so it's worth checking out the chapters on the time periods you're interested in)
***Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths-- Natalie Haynes
Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth-- Natalie Haynes
The Best American Magazine Writing 2023-- edited by Sidney Holt
Raising Demons-- Shirley Jackson (the only author to appear on both sections on this list!)
Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer-- Steven Johnson
31 Dates in 31 Days-- Tamara Duricka Johnson
The Loneliest Americans-- Jay Kaspian Kang
The Envoy: the Epic Rescue of the Last Jews of Europe in the Desperate Closing Months of World War II-- Alex Kershaw
The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy-- Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowen
Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll-- MG Lord
In the Dream House-- Carmen Maria Machado
Bully!: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt-- Rick Marschall
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey-- Candice Millard
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and the Empire at the Dawn of the American Century-- Scott Miller
The Hilarious World of Depression-- John Moe
Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail-- Ben Montgomery
I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever-- Barbara Rae-Venter
So You've Been Publicly Shamed-- Jon Ronson
My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir-- Jason B Rosenthal
100 Essays I Didn't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theatre-- Sarah Ruhl
Joyful Recollections of Trauma-- Paul Scheer
Jerusalem's Traitor: Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea-- Desmond Seward
The Secret Lives of COlor-- Kassia St Clair
This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew-- Daniel Wallace
Benjamin Harrison: America's 23rd President-- Jean Kinney Williams
Little Sister: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood-- Lana Wood
Fiction
Evergreen Tidings From the Baumgartners-- Gretchen Anthony
***The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy-- Jeanne Birdsall
Evil Under the Sun-- Agatha Christie
***Gregor the Overlander-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Marks of Secret-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Code of Claw-- Suzanne Collins
Kill the Farm Boy-- Delilah S Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Cloud Cuckoo Land-- Anthony Doerr
Sometimes I Lie-- Alice Feeney
The Return -- Rachel Harrison
The Paradox Hotel-- Rob Hart
The River-- Peter Heller
Funny Story-- Emily Henry
We Have Always Lived in the Castle-- Shirley Jackson
Miracle Creek-- Angie Kim
A Stranger in the House-- Shari Lapena
No One Goes Alone-- Erik Larson
The Devil Among the Lawyers-- Sharyn McCrumb
***What Alice Forgot-- Liane Moriarty
A Deadly Education-- Naomi Novik
There There-- Tommy Orange
The Bell Jar-- Sylvia Plath
The Revenant-- Michael Punke
Excellent Women-- Barbara Pym
***Where the Red Fern Grows-- Wilson Rawls
The Labors of Hercules Beal-- Gary D Schmidt
The Glass Hotel-- Emily St. John Mandel
Stepping Off-- Jordan Sonnelblick
One to Watch-- Kate Stayman-London
The Martian-- Andy Weir
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow-- Gabrielle Zevin