Books are the most impactful media I consume. One of my regrets for the last few years is that life as I’ve constructed leaves me little time for reading. Nonetheless I finished 16 books in 2024, the same as 2023 and 2022. It’s well over the national average of four but nowhere close to the family (adult) average of over 60 this year. It’s telling that I finished six of those during summer break. (Of course, I also published a book this year, more on that in coming days!)
There were several books I read that had an impact on the work I do and how I live in the world.
(A note about links: I have used bookshop.org for most links, because they support independent booksellers. I get a small affiliate percentage if you buy a book through these links, which I will use to maintain this website. You can also direct a portion of your purchase to support a local bookstore of your choosing. Which is pretty cool.)
Nonfiction
Around the World in Eighty Games, Marcus do Sautoy (384 pages) The author, a mathematician, takes you on a journey across globe and through time to explore humanity’s obsession with games of all kinds. Fascinating diversions into odds and game design, the mathematics of games, history, and much to draw from it about how gameplay impacts our lives.
Hidden Potential, Adam Grant (304 pages) Adam Grant’s books have all been impactful and inspiring, but his latest takes the cake. It should be required reading for every educator and everyone who makes decisions about education. Chapter after chapter, Grant gives us the science to inspired better ways to support and inspire people to achieve their potential.
The Gift of Song, Alice Parker (64 tiny pages) You could read this every week and take new inspiration from it each time. Alice published this in 2020, when collective song was unavailable to us all. I’ve been missing my friend, so what joy to have her brilliant words. “The song has transformed us into the human beings we most want to be, each contributing to the whole, and rewarded by being lifted out of our daily lives. We are inhabitants of that imaginary world where all work together to create beauty. We taste transcendence, and we are filled.”
Fiction
Sandwich, Catherine Newman (240 pages) Catherine writes movingly and hilariously. I’ve been reading her writing for nearly two decades, and she just keeps finding new peaks. It’s delightful.
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett (320 pages) A pandemic novel that’s also a Michigan novel and hinges on a classic work of literature? (it tells stories of multiple productions of Our Town.) It’s fantastic, maybe my favorite of many favorites by Patchett.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea, T.J. Klune (416 pages) A fantastical story, memorable characters, and a beautiful message with hope for humanity. It has the pacing and tone of a YA novel, but it really belongs on everyone’s shelves.
Playground, Richard Powers (400 pages) I love Powers’ storytelling, and I love the way he explores idea and subjects with such exquisite depth – and then weaves that knowledge into a plot that spirals into thrilling endings. Fantastic.
I didn’t read any bad books in 2024 – you can see the entire list in my Instagram Story Highlight.