In 2024, I read an average of slightly more than 2 books a week, for a total of 106. It was mostly a lot of literary fiction that I did not regret but that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, either. I had a couple of mini-themes with books by authors from and/or set in Finland and Korea since that’s where I traveled on holiday; about gut health, to try to understand and fix my own ailments; and about autocracy and American politics, post-election. I completed only one book in Chinese, again a disappointment but also not a surprise.
Although most of what I read is fiction, most of what I recommend is non-fiction: Invitation to a Banquet, Fuschia Dunlop; Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore, Patric Richardson and Karin B. Miller; How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog, Christina Hunger; The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, Alice Schroeder; I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, Ed Yong; The Light Eaters, Zoë Schlanger; Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What To Do About It, Richard V. Reeves; Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, Anne Applebaum.
The best fiction I read in 2024: When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut; Hang the Moon, Jeannette Walls; The Women, Kristin Hannah; Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese; Intermezzo, Sally Rooney; Contact, Carl Sagan.
1. Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Invitation to a Banquet, Fuschia Dunlop ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Happiness Falls, Angie Kim ⭐⭐⭐
4. We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian ⭐⭐⭐
5. In Memoriam, Alice Winn ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Food Pharmacy, Lina Aurell and Mia Clase ⭐
8. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros ⭐⭐⭐
11. Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore, Patric Richardson and Karin B. Miller ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
12. Atalanta, Jennifer Saint ⭐⭐⭐⭐
13. Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine, Refaat Alareer ⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. Breathing Lessons, Anne Tyler ⭐⭐⭐⭐
15. How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog, Christina Hunger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
16. When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
17. Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang ⭐⭐⭐⭐
18. Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: 50 Poems for 50 Years, Joy Harjo ⭐⭐⭐⭐
19. Strange Weather in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami ⭐⭐⭐⭐
20. How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World, Deb Chachra ⭐⭐⭐⭐
21. Glucose Revolution: The Life-changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar, Jessie Inchauspé ⭐⭐⭐⭐
22. The Hunter, Tana French ⭐⭐⭐⭐
23. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, Alice Schroeder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
24. The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang ⭐⭐
25. Extremely Hardcore, Zoe Schiffer ⭐⭐⭐
26. A Winter Book: Selected Short Stories, Tove Jansson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
27. Making a Scene, Constance Wu ⭐⭐⭐⭐
28. I Have Some Questions for You, Rebecca Makkai ⭐⭐⭐⭐
29. Wandering Souls, Cecile Pin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
30. Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight, Dr. William Davis ⭐⭐⭐
31. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, Ed Yong ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
32. The Five Wounds, Kirstin Valdez Quade ⭐⭐⭐⭐
33. Gut, Giulia Enders ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
34. The Microbiome Connection: Your Guide to IBS, SIBO, and Low-Fermentation Eating, Dr. Mark Pimentel ⭐⭐⭐⭐
35. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
36. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz ⭐⭐⭐⭐
37. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover ⭐⭐⭐⭐
38. The Love of My Life, Rosie Walsh ⭐⭐⭐
39. Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, Ada Calhoun ⭐⭐⭐⭐
40. A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine ⭐⭐⭐⭐
41. It’s Elemental: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything, Kate Biberdorf ⭐⭐⭐⭐
42. Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers, Chip Heath and Karla Starr ⭐⭐⭐⭐
43. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas ⭐⭐⭐
44. The Loneliest Americans, Jay Caspian Kang ⭐⭐⭐⭐
45. A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas ⭐⭐⭐
46. Sociopath: A Memoir, Patric Gagne ⭐⭐⭐⭐
47. The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa ⭐⭐⭐⭐
48. The Bee Sting, Paul Murray ⭐⭐⭐⭐
49. May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases—And What We Can Do about It, Alex Edmans ⭐⭐⭐⭐
50. House Love: A Joyful Guide to Cleaning, Organizing, and Loving the Home You’re In, Patric Richardson and Karin B. Miller ⭐⭐⭐
51. The Perfumist of Paris, Alka Joshi ⭐⭐⭐⭐
52. Lady Las Vegas, Susan Berman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
53. We Are Called to Rise, Laura McBride ⭐⭐⭐⭐
54. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut ⭐⭐⭐⭐
55. Summer, Ali Smith ⭐⭐⭐
56. Expecting Better, Emily Oster ⭐⭐⭐⭐
57. Funny Story, Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐
58. 孩子你慢慢來, 龍應台 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
59. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
60. Hang the Moon, Jeannette Walls ⭐⭐⭐⭐
61. The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley ⭐⭐⭐⭐
62. Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas ⭐⭐⭐⭐
63. The Lions of Fifth Avenue, Fiona Davis ⭐⭐⭐⭐
64. Beautiful Country, Qian Julie Wang ⭐⭐⭐⭐
65. The Book of M, Peng Shepherd ⭐⭐⭐⭐
66. Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano ⭐⭐⭐⭐
67. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Otessa Moshfegh ⭐⭐⭐
68. Beach Read, Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐
69. The Light Eaters, Zoë Schlanger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
70. The Women, Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
71. The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu, Katja Pantzar ⭐⭐⭐⭐
72. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, Vendela Vida ⭐⭐⭐
73. The Summer Book, Tove Jansson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
74. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, Florence Williams ⭐⭐⭐
75. Trust Exercise, Susan Choi ⭐⭐⭐
76. Stolen, Ann-Helén Laestadius ⭐⭐⭐⭐
77. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, David Wallace-Wells ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
78. Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
79. In True Face, Jonna Mendez ⭐⭐⭐⭐
80. Girls That Never Die: Poems, Safia Elhillo ⭐⭐⭐⭐
81. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck ⭐⭐⭐⭐
82. Long Island Compromise, Taffy Brodesser-Akner ⭐⭐⭐⭐
83. Ninetails: Nine Tales, Sally Wen Ma ⭐⭐⭐
84. About Alice, Calvin Trillin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
85. Intermezzo, Sally Rooney ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
86. Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What To Do About It, Richard V. Reeves ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
87. How to Say Babylon, Safiya Sinclair ⭐⭐⭐⭐
88. Help Wanted, Adelle Waldman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
89. A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐⭐
90. The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐⭐
91. Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, Anne Applebaum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
92. The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐⭐
93. The Book of Lost Names, Kristin Harmel ⭐⭐⭐⭐
94. Contact, Carl Sagan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
95. Tyranny of the Minority, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
96. All Fours, Miranda July ⭐⭐⭐
97. Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure that AI Works for Us, Gary Marcus ⭐⭐⭐
98. The Husbands, Kelly Gramazio ⭐⭐⭐⭐
99. The Idea of You, Robinne Lee ⭐⭐⭐
100. Exit Right, Mark Achler and Mert Iseri ⭐⭐⭐⭐
101. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
102. James, Percival Everett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
103. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt ⭐⭐⭐⭐
104. The Mermaid of Jeju, Sumi Hahn ⭐⭐⭐⭐
105. Please Look After Mom, Kyung-sook Shin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
106. The Forest of Stolen Girls, June Hur ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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