Best of 2024 Books
I have a giant list of books to share with you this year, and I’ve only included the ones I gave at least a 4/5 on the star rating system. I read a lot in 2024. I read like it was my job—because it was! I have been working through an undergraduate program in creative writing. Even though I’ve always been an avid reader, the program has opened my eyes, helping me realize how little I’ve actually read: a classic example of the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. Being a student is a privilege for which I have the deepest gratitude, and I’m thankful I’ve been able to devote so much time to reading. Also, I lost interest in watching most television, which freed up some extra hours.
Spiritual
Mary Magdalene Revealed by Megan Watterson
Practicing The Way by John Mark Comer
The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi, by Ungolino di Monte Santa Maria
Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace by Sally Clarkson
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Armchair Mystic: Easing into Contemplative Prayer by Mark E. Thibodeaux
Fashioned to Reign by Kris Vallotton
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
The Voice of Jesus by Gordan Smith
The Listening Life by Adam S. McHugh
Writing Craft
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
The Art of Fiction by David Lodge
A Short Story Writer’s Companion by Tom Bailey
Break, Blow, Burn, and Make by E. Lily Yu
The Virgin’s Promise by Kim Hudson
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
On Writing and Failure by Stephan Marche
Suburban Fantastic Cinema by Angus McFadzean
The Rhetoric of Fiction by Wayne C. Booth
The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
Letters to A Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke
Fiction
*denotes a book I’ve read multiple times because it’s just that good.
The Restless Lake by Teri Fink
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet* by Jamie Ford
Arranged Marriage (short story collection) by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
American Dirt by Jeannie Cummins
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
The Alchemist* by Paulo Coelho
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron
The Oppermans by Lion Feuchtwanger
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert M. Pirsig
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
What’s Mine’s Mine by George MacDonald
Captured in Frame by Laura Thomas
I See Through You by Daisy McNally
Non-Fiction
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
Fast Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz
The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett
Moving Beyond Trauma by Ileen Smith
Poverty by America by Mathew Desmond
Memoir / Autobiography / Poetry
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon by Charles Casillo
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming
An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison
Poetry Unbound by Padraid O’ Tuama
A Treasury of Irish Verse by David Gibbon
The Collected Poems of WB Yeats
The Road to Harmony by JD Ballam
Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World by Carol Lynn Pearson
I’m not going to pick any favourites (because that would be impossible), but instead, I’ve chosen one book from each category that I’ll highlight because that book did the most to help me think more deeply and see the world with fresh eyes.
Best of the Best
Spiritual
Mary Magdalene Revealed by Megan Watterson
Writing Craft
Break, Blow, Burn, and Make by E. Lily Yu
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poverty by America by Mathew Desmond
Memoir / Autobiography / Poetry
Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World by Carol Lynn Pearson
Please share: what’s one book you’ve read this past year that you recommend?
Feel free to ask if you have any questions about any of the books in this post. I thought this newsletter would get too unwieldy if I included a review for every book, but I’m happy to tell you why I included it on this list if you want to leave a question in the comments.
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I've read several titles on this list and found several others I'm intrigued by! I'm currently in the middle of reading "Break, Blow, Burn & Make" and loving it. I also thought "You Could Make This Place Beautiful" was phenomenal!
I read several memoirs that I can't stop thinking about or talking about: "The Many Lives of Mama Love" by Lara Love Hardin, "Recollections of my Nonexistence" by Rebecca Solnit, and "It Wasn't Roaring It Was Weeping" by Lisa-Jo Baker.
Wow! I’m so impressed by your reading skills. Good job!! You read so many books on writing, where would you recommend starting first?