Reading Roundup — Best Books of 2024

What a year! With a lot of travel in the first part of the year, I was behind on my goal of 65 books at times but finished strong with 74 books for the year! As always, there were books that challenged me (Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis) and that I challenged (Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts). And those by authors I loved and authors I discovered. A few stats and highlights

• 21 Non-fiction — Politics, history, culture, and food
• 6 Classics — Arrowsmith, Dune, Pride and Prejudice (reread), Sanditon (reread), Notre Dame de Paris (Hunchback of Notre Dame), Anna Karennina (reread). Hmmm. A pattern here.
• 5 Series — either partial, ongoing, or the entire thing like the Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal mystery series and Dan Jones’ Essex Dogs series
• 21 books published in 2024

Best Non-Fiction: My top pick on this one isn’t a surprise, Erik Larson’s terrific The Demon of Unrest about the siege of Fort Sumter, Lincoln’s early days in office, and the creation of the Confederacy. It is an an insightful look at this critical moment of history with the cultural and historical context that brings it into sharper focus. Another top pick (because who can have just one?) Adam Higginbotham’s Midnight in Chernobyl. Published in 2019, this book gives a minute-by-minute account of the catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear facility along with the science, history, and Soviet-era management that created it and hindered the response. He also covers the years-long efforts at clean up.

Non-Fiction Honorable Mentions: I was in Burgundy for a month in April and often visited one of the best bookstores I know, the Athenaeum in Beaune. After a visit to the Abbaye de Citeaux, I asked a bookseller for a history of Burgundy covering the time of the Dukes, the monasteries, and battles with France. The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire by Bart Van Loo was his recommendation. This incredible book covers a thousand years of history for a region much more aligned with the northern Flemish cities than it was France. Along the way, we get battles and feuds, the culture of the table, and the wealth to make bold ideas happen. Cheers to Philip the Good, John the Fearless, and Philip the Bold.

Second HM goes to Peter Goodman’s How the World Ran Out of Everything — a primer on the global supply chain, how and why it works, and why disruptions cost us all a lot of money.

Favorite Fiction: I find fiction so subjective, so “best” to me isn’t “best” to someone else. I read more popular/current fiction this year than usual, and like all of us, there’s a formula I love. For me, it’s sharp, smart, twisty stories and I read two I couldn’t put down: Look Closer by David Ellis and First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. Were they the best literary books I read this year? No, but were they the most fun I had reading? Absolutely! Along more traditional lines, I loved Richard Osman’s new We Solve Murders which will surely be a new series now that The Thursday Murder Club is moving to film (with an all-star cast!) We Solve Murders gives us a cast of quirky characters searching for meaning (and murderers!) in classic Osman style.

Fiction HM: I loved The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley and thought it was one of her best. And, at long last, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova — a perfect vampire tale that I somehow missed when it was a huge hit in 2005. And last but not least, don’t overlook Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt if you haven’t read it. The book is a delight.

Observations: I read Frank Herbert’s Dune for the first time since junior high — and loved it. As an adult, I found it accessible, engaging, and filled with relevant themes for today from the long-term problems with climate change to how religions can manipulate people and build armies. I also dipped my toe into Edward Rutherfurd’s world of historical fiction with his book Paris: A Novel. His books are long — reminiscent of the epic novels of the 1980s — but a great way to learn the city’s history.

And as a last note, a huge hat tip to the Indianapolis Public Library. My parents were dedicated library supporters and would be proud that I use the library so much. The free Libby app is magic for audio and ebooks plus putting books on hold. Don’t forget that via the website you can look up, reserve, and request any book to be delivered to your branch. If you’re an audio book lover and want to save some cash, don’t forget to check Spotify, Audible and Librivox for streaming audio books.

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