Books Read, 2024

Fiction fun.

The Murderbot Diaries have been fun. The audiobooks are only three hours or so and I introduced them to the kids during summer road trips. Reluctant hero is one of my favorite tropes.

Another favorite trope is we need to get the gang back together and The Adventure of Amina al-Sirafi and Pirate Latitudes were both pirate books that fit that description. PL was the worst Crichton book I’ve read, and only finished it because his other books have been so good. Skip it unless you’re on a cruise ship. Amina was a suggestion from Emily Holdman.

Reacher; Personal, Make Me, The Hard Way, The Enemy.

Wool was a huge hit in 2012-2013, as author Hugh Howey went from self-publishing success to traditional success. (The Martian was around the same time). Wool was interesting, but I didn’t read the sequels or like it enough to watch the Apple TV series.

The Narrow Road Between Desires. If you’re waaaaaiiiiiiitttttting for Rothfuss to finish his trilogy you could read this. Not for new entries.

Finance and business.

Million Dollar Weekend was too familiar. It’s a good example of JTBD in action but didn’t hook me. But, I’m a sucker for internet 2.0 survivors like Noah.

No Worries: How to Live a Stress Free Life by Jared Dillan was a great approach to a cluttered genre. Some parts of life were damn stressful this year, and this book did a good job of focusing on the feelings around money. Hopefully it moves into the collection of “beginner finance books” like I Will Teach You to be Rich.

Full Fee Agent is Voss’s Never Split applied to real estate.

Becoming Trader Joes was not as well told as Shoe Dog, but it was just as interesting. One of the better business history books.

Not much from The Power of Moments was new, but the Heath brothers do a good job summarizing and presenting many different but connected ideas.

Co-Intelligence, a fine book about LLMs but find author Ethan Mollick’s newsletter instead. Things are changing.

Personal growth.

Be Useful. I liked the Schwarzenegger book. We need those reminders, nudges, and encouragement to be our best selves. This book provides that.

The Heart and the Fist. About SEALS training, “This was not really “physical training” at all; it was spiritual training by physical means.” A challenge to separate the message from the messenger.

Good Inside. Ryan Holiday recommended this book. Like Be Useful, it’s a good reminder that your kids are good inside.

The 5B Swim Method.

Psychology, sociology, etc.

I poo-pooed Clear Thinking in my review, but re-reading that post and my notes I think was too hard. Like Atomic Habits, it wasn’t new so much as a reminder, and that takes the shine off some.

Cultish was a book about cults, why we form them, how we form them, and the **language** behind it all. This book recommended The Power of Ritual, a book that questions our intentionality.

How Minds Change. My favorite of the year, and the biggest ideas here.