Books I Read in 2024
Don’t you love those recipe posts with the long introductions? Isn’t it so fun to read through the storyline of how the recipe came together? It’s just so necessary for making the dish yourself.
At the risk of doing the same thing, I will have a longer-than-normal introduction to this post. Maybe you won’t care about it. That’s fine. Just scroll down to the list. Scrolling doesn’t cost too much energy these days. (I even made it easier to find where you should pick up by including a line before the list.)
For the rest of you, I want to share how I choose what to read. Of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12), so how can one choose what to read among endless options? Here are a few considerations.
Genre. Much of this is mood-based but can also be interest-driven or work-related. I read several books at the same time because my mood shifts daily. In the morning, I am clearer-headed to read more difficult works. At night, I need to relax with an easy read that doesn’t require too much of my brain. On the weekend, I might want an escape with a good work of fiction. Sometimes, when the jazz music that serves as my reading soundtrack strikes me the right way, I’ll pick up some poetry and pretend I’m more cultured than I am.
Author. Some people are just worth reading. If you’ve followed my “Books I Read” posts for a few years, you’ll notice some authors always make “The Best” lists. That’s because some authors just know how to write, and part of my criteria for a “best” book I read that year is based on how well-written the book is. Some authors are great thinkers, and while the writing is usually good (I struggle with a poorly written book, even if it is thought-provoking), their logic is what attracts me. I heard someone once say to a group of incoming students, “Take teachers, not classes.” In other words, a class with a great teacher on a subject you aren’t necessarily interested in is better than a subject you’re thoroughly interested in with a bad teacher. So it is with books. This criterion differs for fiction and nonfiction.
Nonfiction
The author is an expert on the subject matter.
The author is a good writer/thinker; therefore, the subject matters less.
Fiction
The author is a great writer.
The book won a respectable award.
The book or author was recommended by a trusted source, often a friend or public figure who knows what they’re talking about.
Reputation. Some books don’t qualify for the above criteria for one reason or another, but they have a reputation of excellence. This would be like a movie that was a critical success but won no awards and didn’t do well at the box office. It’s still worth watching. A book like that is still worth reading.
Subject. Perhaps the most boring of considerations, sometimes subject trumps all. This is especially true when one needs to read a book for one’s vocation, research a topic for a talk, paper, training, etc.
Length. The shallowest of considerations but a necessary one, nonetheless. We all have limited time. Some big books just won’t be read because we simply don’t have the time to commit to it—at least not yet. I don’t shy away from books due to their size, but I do have to plan better to finish them.
Medium. We live in a day where books can be consumed by more than eyes on a page. We can listen to books on our commute to work, doing chores around the hours, walking the dog. Some books must be read the old-fashioned way, but some are just fine being listened to. Such non-listenable genres for me are theology, poetry, and most fiction (I find it too hard to keep up with characters and small details that make the story what it is). Older works are also often unlistenable due to their style. History, biography, sports, Christian living, essays, and some fiction (the more pop-lit type) are great for listening to.
Availability. If you can’t get it, you can’t read it. Most of my books are purchased second-hand. I live for the local library book sales and used bookstores. If it is for sale at a deep discount, I’m more likely to own it and, therefore, to read it. But, of course, there are other ways to get one’s hands on a book. If not owned, can I check it out at the library? Is it included in an audiobook subscription service I already use? Does a friend have a copy I could borrow? When it comes down to it, the books nearest at hand are the books most easily read. That is one reason I am a proponent of a large library.
Mood. I mentioned this along with genre above, but mood plays a role in everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is, overall, the largest determining factor in what I read if no other forces push me in one direction (i.e., I’m not preparing to teach, preach, or write on a topic). Like food, what you’re in the mood for drives you to the restaurant.
Personal taste. I read some books simply because I’m interested in the subject, author, genre, etc., though I would understand why others would not be. I love books on baseball. That’s because I love baseball, history, and biography, and baseball has the best history and some of the most interesting personalities. We like what we like. I don’t let what I should be reading interfere with what I want to read. Just find time for both! Like exercise, the more you do it, the more you like it. Do you want to read that book you know you should read but lack motivation? Reading begets reading. Pick up a book you know you’ll like first and leave the more daunting book for after the appetite is whetted.
The List
A few notes before you get started:
The list isn’t in any ranking. I look at what I read in chronological order and then put it in either the best or the rest category and list it here. So the last of the best is not the worst, just the last I read.
My reading is a bit eclectic, as I think everyone’s should be. You’ll find works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and theology. You’ll find different thinkers and influences. It’s the way I like to read.
I separate the list into “The Best” and “The Rest". By no means do I intend to communicate that “The Rest” are not good—quite the opposite. I try to be discerning about what I read. Life is too short not to be. But some books rise above the others. Maybe I leave some out of my best list that you would include. That’s what makes these lists so fun.
“The Best” means the books I enjoyed the most this year. It doesn’t include re-reads, and some classics I read for the first time don’t make it. If they’re a classic, they should probably be on the list, but whatever. I reserve the right to like what I like, just as you do.
Some of “The Rest” were re-reads, and many likely were on “The Best” lists of prior years. But since it’s not a new read for me, I don’t include them in “The Best.” So if you see one that you would think I would put in “The Best” section, it’s probably a re-read.
If you have some book recommendations for me this year, leave a comment. I’m always on the lookout for a good read.
All the links are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy it from that link, I get some money from the purchase.
Now, on to the list!
The Best
We live in an age of technology and convenience. Our digital lives take up so much time and space that we often skip across the surface on the way to the next thing. But what do we miss if we don’t engage with others as deeply as we could? What if we actually knew someone? What if our deep need to be known was commonplace? David Brooks asks similar questions. What should we ask when in conversation with others? What should we pay attention to? Lean into? Learn from? Knowing how to know people takes some work, especially these days. What if we spent the next year learning how to get to know others and, in turn, letting people get to know us? What would our future look like? This book could help with that. And, as an added bonus, which even Brooks doesn’t fully realize, this is exactly the kind of life God intends for us!
Oh, I adore a good baseball book. If that good baseball book is written by a great writer, well, that’s about as good as a book gets. Roger Kahn is a great writer, and he knows baseball. The Boys of Summer is Kahn’s classic book about the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s, written by a man who loved the team and the players. He covered them early in his career, and as they all grew and separated, Kahn reconnected with each of them to see how life turned out. It contains nostalgic recollections, life advice, baseball glory, and post-baseball struggles. From Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier to the classic 1955 World Series win against the mighty Yankees, this book will take you deep into mid-century baseball—baseball as it is in every boy’s memory, whether you lived through those years or not. Oh, how i wish the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, and Ebbets field was still standing!
Piper’s book is part of the Love Your Church series published by The Good Book Company. I think it’s the best of the series. I have the privilege of knowing Barnabas. He is one of my pastors at Immanuel Church. I don’t think my knowing him influences this book’s position on my list other than the fact that I feel its truths deeper for knowing him. It is true, nonetheless. Immanuel Church, where Piper serves, is the best church I know for experiencing Christian belonging. We call it gospel culture. If you want to taste what that is, this book is for you. Who doesn’t need a greater sense of belonging? That deep desire can be satisfied, and this book can help you.
Here is a book on many “Best of” lists this year, and rightly so. Jonathan Haidt sounds the alarm on what is happening with our children. Technology is a great gift and creates many wonderful opportunities, but we can’t let it rule us. The consequences are dire. Mental health among children and teens nose-dived in the early 2010s—right around the rise of social media and smartphone usage among that same group. Play-based childhoods are fading, and technology is filling the gaps. Children are more distracted, less rested, and more connected, but they are more troubled than ever. Anxiety is at a high point. Haidt offers not only the data supporting his thesis but also some potential solutions. This is a book well worth your consideration.
Here’s a good rule to live by: if Leif Enger writes it, you should read it. Enger has the ability to combine intriguing adventure and profound emotion together in ways few authors can. I Cheerfully Refuse is a story of a man who has loved and lost much refusing to fall into the pit of despair.
Enger’s writing is beautiful. His stories are gripping. Again, if he writes it, read it. I think every book I’ve read by him ends up on my best of list.
Here is a book that qualifies in the category of “great author, regardless of the subject.” I’ve read Goodwin on presidents, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and now on her marriage to Dick Goodwin. Dick was on JFK’s team as he prepared for a presidential run. His speechwriting was monumental during the 1960s, and this book is largely a history. It was written by someone who was not only heavily involved in the major political lives at the time but was married to someone who was also. It’s a story of a marriage that lasted more than 40 years, written based on letters and diaries revisited long after their writing—a time filled in with wise and profound reflection that can only come by age.
Another baseball book. This time, on the greatest baseball player to ever live. Sure, you can argue other players have come along with equal talent, but I’m not sure I can buy an argument that anyone surpasses Ruth. Part of that is because of the way he changed the game, ushering in the live ball era where home runs ruled the game, but part of it is the personality behind the bat. Ruth was an all-time great with a personal and professional life that has kept him in the American consciousness for over 100 years. If, after that long, others in your field are still compared to you, you know you’ve reached the top.
Biographies abound on Ruth, and this book isn’t novel in that regard. But Leavy's writing always feels fresh. She centers the story on a point in time and writes around it, bringing in the full history. That approach helps us feel as if we are at dinner with the subject, listening to old stories over the course of the evening, drawing us into the personality behind the lore.
It wouldn’t be a best-of-list without Jared making an appearance. Here is a book for writers about writing by one of the best writers around. What makes Jared’s books so good is not just what he writes about (mostly Jesus) but how he writes. There is a craft to it. Every word matters. The style says something about the subject. Good writing adorns the gospel, and no one does it better than Jared.
One of the great joys of 2024 was getting to know Gavin and his family. In doing so, I got an up-close look at the brilliance that is Gavin Ortlund. I don’t know anyone else who is doing what he does. His YouTube channel, Truth Unites, is outstanding. He defends Protestantism so well, with courage, intelligence, and great care. This book is a distillation of a lot of his YouTube content. It’s a heady read but a really great one.
Another Ortlund book! Ray and Jani were our dear friends when my wife and I were newly married. We learned so much from them about what a marriage should look like. We missed out on their parenting days with kids in the house, but we heard stories, and we saw the lives their children now live. We were impressed. This book is their attempt at coaching us parents on how to think about our family through the gospel lens. Your family matters to God. It is a divine strategy for blessing. Lean into it, and let this book help you.
Another great joy of 2024 was spending more time with my friend Sam. I don’t know anyone who uses illustrations to explain the gospel as well as he does. In this book, he helps us understand what it means to be united with Christ—a biblical reality that sits above all other realities in our relationship with God. Let Sam teach you what it means to be one with God, and rejoice in that glorious truth.
The NFL is the biggest sports league in the country. Nothing compares to it in terms of revenue earned, influence produced, and eyeballs attracted. How did it get that way? This book tells the story. If you want to know how the NFL grew from a cute little league barely making it to the behemoth it is today, this is it.
Speaking of football, Jos Posnanski takes that great American game and tells us stories about it in this wonderful book of memories and recollections. Posnanski is just like us—a fan. He happens to also be a great writer. You might have other moments you would include, but you can’t argue with the ones he highlights in this book.
Twenty-five years after The Tipping Point, Gladwell revisits the idea of social epidemics and why things become what they become, why places turn into what they are, and why people end up where they do, with a look at the darker side of tipping points. I listened to this one and would highly recommend that experience.
Maybe this is just a more professional attempt at fan fiction, but this book was fantastic. Percival Everett retells the story of Huck Finn through the eyes of Jim, the slave. It includes all the elements that made Twain’s original so good—all the adventure and comedy, but with a sober look at slavery. It’s more than just a straight retread from different eyes. It adds to and expands the story.
Vanhoozer’s latest is just excellent. It takes some focused attention, as all his works do, but it rewards. The premise is simple enough: essential principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians. His proposal is “mere” in that way. The impact is far from mere, however. If we read the Bible incorrectly, we make a major mistake. We need to right lens to see the light of the Bible. Vanhoozer helps us put those lenses on in this great book—my favorite book of theology this year.
I love to look at year-end book lists. This one showed up on NPR’s Books We Loved list, and it drew me in. I listened to this one. It’s short enough to listen to relatively quickly, and easier to keep up with the characters because there are so few. It’s a story, ultimately, of friendship between a man about to lose his house and land and the one sent to take it from him.
Here is a book I would normally never pick up. It’s a graphic novel, which isn’t my cup of tea. But this one is different. For one thing, it’s about two of my favorite authors: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Hendrix tells the story of their friendship from the early days of the first meeting to the Inklings and eventually to the strain their relationship faced near the end. It’s a wonderful story that keeps you turning the pages. It’s also beautifully written and illustrated. And I promise, especially for Lewis and Tolkien fans, the final chapter is worth the journey.
This little book helped me revel afresh in the genius of Jesus, who doesn’t often get the credit he deserves for being the smartest man to ever live. Using the story of the prodigal son, Williams explains how Jesus’s brilliance is on full display in a relatively short story about two sons and their father. If you liked how Tim Keller expounded and applied the parable in his great book The Prodigal God, this book will help you dive even deeper into the glory of that story.
Hisham Matar won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Return in 2017. He’s back now with a new novel about a man named Khaled who leaves his home country of Libya to go to school in London. While there, he and a fellow countryman make a decision to attend a protest that changes their lives forever. Through a series of friendships, Khaled learns to live his unexpected life away from his family but close to friends he wouldn’t otherwise have had. Matar shows us what friendship can do and how it can create in us a good life even when the life we imagined is lost forever.
Another truism: if Fredrik Backman writes it, read it. That’s what I do. While waiting for his forthcoming novel in 2025, the great people at Amazon published this short story about how a frying pan changed a person’s life. It’s short, funny, moving, and well worth the little time it takes to read it.
Here is a true story that is stranger than fiction. It’s one of those fun reads that just boggles the mind. Here is the description from Amazon.
Stéphane Bréitwieser is the most prolific art thief of all time.
He pulled off more than 200 heists, often in crowded museums in broad daylight.
His girlfriend served as his accomplice.
His collection was worth an estimated $2 billion.
He never sold a piece, displaying his stolen art in his attic bedroom.
He felt like a king.
Until everything came to a shocking end.
