I don’t remember why I started counting how many books I read each year (narcissistic tendencies?), but for whatever reason, this is my seventh consecutive year to keep track. I wish I could declare a “book of the year,” but I am proud of the diversity represented in this year’s booklist, and there are just so many that are so good in so many different ways. Suffice it to say that in the past year, thanks to the authors below, I have traveled through time and space, experienced deep pain and silly laughter, learned new lessons and remembered old ones, and encountered both desperation and inspiration. I’m grateful for it all.
FICTION
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
- Something to Do with Paying Attention by David Foster Wallace
- Oblivion: Stories by David Foster Wallace
- Jazz by Toni Morrison
- Later by Stephen King
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- Box Socials by W.P. Kinsella
- Cost of Arrogance by H. Mitchell Caldwell
- Morgan’s Passing by Anne Tyler
- Cost of Deceit by H. Mitchell Caldwell
- Democracy by Joan Didion
- Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
NONFICTION
- The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Colleges & Universities by David Karp
- Basketball (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano
- Free Cyntoia by Cyntoia Brown-Long
- The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by The Oatmeal
- Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner
- Father Flanagan of Boys Town: A Man of Vision by Huge Reilly and Kevin Warneke
- The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn
- Bettyville by George Hodgman
- Why Won’t You Apologize? by Harriet Lerner
- Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Warren
- Life Worth Living by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz
- Dusk, Night, Dawn by Anne Lamott
- Failures of Forgiveness by Myisha Cherry
- A People’s History of American Higher Education by Philo A. Hutcheson
- The Grace of Troublesome Questions by Richard T. Hughes
- The Second Mountain by David Brooks
POETRY
- Good Poems: American Places by Garrison Keillor
Starting to Look Up 
Merry Christmas & Blessed 2024
Two of my favorite writers made your list. I’ve always enjoyed Garrison Keillor but he’s something of an acquired taste. Richard Bach can get a little far out there but he sees flying as almost a spiritual experience.
I remember reading an interview with Bach from many years ago when he was asked about Jonathan Livingston Seagull becoming a best seller. He said that shortly after he had turned in his final manuscript edit, he left home for several weeks, flying his old bi-plane and barnstorming all over the Mid-west. During that time the book came out, but it wasn’t until he got back home and checked in with his editor – who simply told him “check your bank balance” –that he found out that it was a best seller.
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Thank you my friend! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!!
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A great list! I too keep a running list of all the books I read in a year. Alas, I’m not nearly as diverse in my reading habits — my list is dominated overwhelmingly by non-fiction centered on history and biography.
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Thanks! For a few years now, I’ve made a conscious effort to balance fiction and nonfiction because I love both but end up neglecting one for the other. Happy Holidays my friend!
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Thanks Al. Was God, Human, Animal, Machine worthwhile?
And merry Christmas!
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Yes! At least for me. It’s a philosophy/meaning-of-life book that helped me understand the technological end (not my natural interest), really for the first time, while poking holes (and finding similarities) in all sorts of meaning-making approaches. More critique and frustrations than clarity and answers, but I found it to be honest, enlightening, and provocative in the good kind of way. Merry Christmas to you, too!!
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