The best books I read in 2024
Every year, I set an ambitious goal for myself: I try to read one more book than I did the year before.
That meant 64 books in 2024, and I pulled it off! Not only that, I read more pages than ever before. With so many books to choose from for my top books of the year, I decided to select three favorites in two categories: fiction and nonfiction.
I hope this inspires you to set your own reading goal in 2025, whether its one book or 100!
Here are my 2022 and 2023 lists as well.
Fiction
3. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
My brother Nathan has been raving about this book for years, and for good reason. It’s a dynamic psychological mystery/thriller that will draw you in and keep you engaged until the final page. Mystery is a tough genre — folks know something is up and are constantly trying to crack the case. The Silent Patient is good enough that even if you figure out what’s going on, you’ll enjoy each twist and turn.
2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Tartt’s earth-shattering debut novel published in 1992, The Secret History is even more fascinating if you learn some of the true history behind it. I listened to the podcast “Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College” before reading The Secret History, which I don’t recommend if you want to be surprised by the book. But, learning about Tartt’s own intriguing past and the inspiration behind the novel made it a richer experience for me.
Largely ignored when it was originally published in 1965, Stoner has received a second life thanks in large part to its legion of fans on BookTok. Williams’ novel lives up to the hype. Any synopsis of the book is going to sound boring as hell. But while Stoner’s life is, on the outside, dull and disappointing, it’s Williams’ internal examination of the character that sets this book apart. In many ways, this book has allowed me to take a look at my own life — my hopes, dreams and failures — in a new, more dynamic way.
Nonfiction
3. Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Master Slave Husband Wife is the extraordinary biography of Ellen and William Craft who escaped slavery in my current hometown of Macon, Georgia “with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as ‘his’ slave.” You get so much with this book: a painful look at slavery in Georgia, a daring escape, pre-Civil War political dynamics, an examination of the anti-slavery movement in New England and Great Britain.
Living in Macon added another layer to Woo’s work, since I could walk the same streets Ellen and William did and visit the library where Woo conducted some of her research. But don’t just take my word for it: Master Slave Husband Wife won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Harari takes you from the origins of our species to examining the impact of the Internet and artificial intelligence on the future evolution of our species. It’s a lot to pack into one book, but Harari does a good job of presenting a wealth of fascinating (sometimes depressing, but always interesting) information and theories in a dynamic way. Sapiens will help you understand our world in a new way and reexamine your relationship to it and your fellow humans.
Wilkerson’s book makes a series of bold claims and then backs them up with incredible research and anecdotes. Her overarching thesis is that there exists in America a caste system that has endured through all of our efforts to establish racial and socioeconomic equality. This system not only prevents Black Americans from living in a just and equitable country, it has a degrading affect on all Americans. It is pervasive and insidious, but also hidden, making dismantling it a monumental — but not impossible — task. Caste will change how you think about America, our history, slavery, racism, and our collective future.
