Best Books of 2024

Happy New Year to all! I hope you had a relaxing holiday surrounded by the people you love.

Because I got SO many comments on our last post from 2024 on financial wellness books, I've decided to do another book post about the best books I read in 2024.

I target reading 100 books a year but last year for some reason I only read 67. Here are my gems. Please share yours!

I got a Kindle Paperwhite for my birthday in September and linked my library account to it, so I was plowing through books in for the last part of the year.

I got the cheaper version but now that I'm looking at the more expensive one I wish I'd gotten that (it has wireless charging, weeks of battery life, and auto-adjusting backlighting).

1. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

This is an epic novel spanning multiple generations in India. It weaves family, culture and medicine while exploring a mysterious genetic condition the family has tied to water. It's long but easily one of the top ten fiction books I've ever read.

2. The Women by Kristin Hannah

A story about women fighting in Vietnam in the 60s and 70s, a time when the world was changing, and women were daring to imagine different futures for themselves. Kristin Hannah also wrote The Nightingale, which, in my opinion, is her best book by a mile but The Women is a close second.

3. This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

A beautiful book about a child named Claude, the youngest of five children, who dreams of being a girl. It's one of the best books I've read on trans acceptance, implicit and unconditional family love and the struggles with conformity.

4. The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block

This is the last fiction book I read in 2024, but I would put it as my #1 favorite for the year. Not sure if it's just because it's fresh in my mind but it was a hidden gem. I read about it on a list of sleeper books and I have combed my teenage emails to find that list so I could find others. I never found it again. There isn't a theme so much as the story about a teenage boy whose mother is coping with early onset Alzheimer's.

5. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

I also heard about this book on a podcast and books that didn't make the NYT top 100 books list and the hosts were in all agreement that this should have made the list. They were RIGHT. It's set in post-World War I England, and is about a young woman and her mother who take in lodgers to make ends meet until things get a little too close and stick with it through the middle. There wasn't to read several other of her books and were all fabulous.

6. Finding Margaret Fuller by Alison Pataki

Margaret Fuller, a friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and others becomes the "radiant genius and fiery heart" of the Transcendentalists. She hosts a women's literary salon in Boston, becomes the first woman permitted entry to Harvard's library, becomes the first female foreign news correspondent, and becomes the first female foreign war correspondent. For a woman I'd never heard of before, I was surprised to learn what a trailblazer she was. Pataki (George's daughter!) writes prolifically and if you like this I'd also recommend Sisi.

1. All I Want to Know Is Where I'm Going to Die So I'll Never Go There by Peter Bevelin

This book, besides having the best title of all books ever, is a conversation between Buffett and Munger, using real quotes from their speeches or newsletters. It explores decision-making, risk management, and the importance of avoiding mistakes. It emphasizes the value of understanding human behavior, cognitive biases, and mental models to succeed in life and investing. I ordered it right after Charlie passed, so it took ages for it to come, but I've seen it in bookstores now so they must have done a re-print.

2. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

This book follows Stéphane Breitwieser, one of history's most prolific art thieves, who stole more than 200 works of art across Europe. It delves into his obsession with beauty, his extraordinary methods, and the consequences of his actions. It's a fascinating exploration of art, crime, and human obsession.

3. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I hate this title 50x more than I like the Bevelin title but the book was strangely readable. My husband has worked for Paramount (Nickelodeon) for almost 20 years so we've watched all these shows in our household for years and it was heartbreaking to learn what was happening behind the scenes while she was working as a child actress.

4. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

This book retells history from the perspective of the marginalized. You don't have to read it in order and it's one of those books that I read in pieces but got a lot out of it. This was my second read and I'll probably read it again in a few years.

5. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari

This book investigates the growing crisis of attention loss in the modern world, examining how technology, media, and societal changes disrupt our ability to concentrate. Funnily, I listened to this on audio (at 1.75x) and it made me want to throw my phone, earbuds and computer into a burning dumpster.

6. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

The subtitle of this book is: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness ... and I think that pretty much says it all. The main point is that parents used to let their kids roam freely in the real world (biking till dark, concrete playgrounds, pocket knives etc) and now we've completely reversed course by controlling and tracking their every moment in the real world but let them explore the digital world without restriction (social media, video games, porn). It made me want to throw my kids' phones, earbuds and computers into a burning dumpster.

I'd love to hear your favorites! Send them along!