20 Good Books I Read in 2024
/I’ll admit right up front: I’m a reader. I love to read books. Some of my earliest memories are reading late into the night from my summer reading list. In fact, I recently rediscovered my summer reading record from 1963, before I entered the second grade. It was saved by my mother in a notebook of memories.
Some read books partly because they want to learn new things, but it’s seldom the actual data that I’m interested in. Most of the time I read because I want to know how the author thinks, to engage the author in a conversation. I seldom read a book without using a highlighter to mark my favorite parts and a pen to write comments in the margins, either agreeing with the author, disagreeing with the author, or linking something the author said with my own thoughts and observations.
Sometimes I want to import the writer’s thoughts into my own heart and mind, to absorb his sense of time and pace and dialogue, to be a better storyteller. There is value in immersing in a particular author, especially if the goal is to absorb his technique and his voice and his imagination. You need a broad swath to catch someone’s heart - reading only one or two books is not enough.
I often read in order to have something new to share. For me, it isn’t enough to simply journey through life; I need to talk about it. I’m not the solitary man I claim to be, even though I certainly enjoy solitude. I have a need to talk about what I’ve been through. I have to tell my story, and reading brings new stories.
Some readers get frustrated, even embarrassed, because they can’t remember something from a particular book ... even books filled with personal notes and highlighting, and ask: what’s the point in reading if I don’t remember? But something from one of my favorite writers, Kathleen Norris, rescues me. She wrote, books are “a way of reading the world and one’s place in it … working the earth of my heart.” I wrote in the margin of her book: I read so many books and listen to songs and sermons on my iPod, hoping the bits and pieces will compost in my subconscious, and come out as intelligent thought when I write and teach.
I don’t expect everyone to love reading as much as I do, or like the same books I like, but all of us would be better people if we read more. And so, here are some suggestions. These are listed in the order I read them; I didn’t try to rank them by importance or enjoyment … that’s a paralyzing and pointless exercise. However, if you’re interested, give me your email address and I’ll send you my entire reading list for 2024. And send me your own list. I’m always searching for ideas.
These twenty books turned out to be the most meaningful for me over the past twelve months. Should you choose to read one of these, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to see those, too.
1. The Climb: The Autobiography, by Chris Froome … tells the extraordinary story of Chris Froome's journey from a young boy in Kenya, riding through townships and past wild animals, to his unforgettable yellow jersey victory in the 2013 Tour de France.
2. Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, by Adam Grant … shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop.
3. The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of WWII’s Most Decorated Platoon, by Alex Kershaw … about a small American platoon who faced the main thrust of the entire German attack. Vastly outnumbered, they repulsed three German assaults in a fierce day-long battle before being forced to surrender.
4. Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator, by Keith Houston … This book felt personal. Pocket calculators changed my world, yanking me away from my slide ruler and pushing me toward personal computers.
5. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, by Ed Yong … I assumed, without much thought, that animals sensed the world the same way I did. But this book describes the sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields sensed by animals, fish, and insects.
6. The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, by David McCullough … describes the experience of a brave and broad-minded band of people who crossed raging rivers, chopped down forests, plowed miles of land, suffered incalculable hardships, and braved a lonely frontier to forge a new American ideal.
7. Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure, by Rinker Buck … This was my second book by Rinker Buck, and it won’t be my last. He chronicles his incredible adventure: building a wooden flatboat from the bygone era of the early 1800s and journeying down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
8. The Way, My Way, by Bill Bennett … Bennett hiked 800 kilometers on the Camino de Santiago. He was not a hiker, not a Catholic, not an adventure traveler, but an Australian film director who was never sure why he was doing it.
9. Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You, by John Ortberg … One of my favorite writers tells how to discover, feed, and care for our souls. This was our Iron Men book for fall 2024.
10. 90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (… or more), by Felice Cohen … The lessons the author learned from living in a 90 square foot apartment in the middle of Manhattan are practical and valuable for all of us no matter how much space we live in.
11. Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina, by Kristen Jokinen … I love reading about epic adventures, especially about extended multi-continent cycling trips, and about who the participants became as human beings because of it.
12. God Gave Rock and Roll To You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music, by Leah Payne … the author traces the history and trajectory of CCM in America from the Jesus Movement to today. Our family was heavily engaged with CCM during most of these years, and this was a walk through the most formative of our adult years.
13. The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith, by A.J. Swoboda … wandering, whether on foot, or by intellectual and spiritual pursuit, is not an absence of faith but a central component of faith.
14. When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day, by Garrett Graff … Hundreds of stories and viewpoints of D-Day are told in real time, and in the words of the soldiers themselves.
15. The Storied Life: Christian Writing as Art and Worship, by Jared Wilson … this book explores the ins and outs of writers and writing, how the practice is more about transformation than simply communication.
16. Gun Lap: Staying in the Race with Purpose, by Robert Wolgemuth … a challenge for us to live our l lives with energy and intention. This will be our Iron Men book for spring 2025.
17. Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure, by Richard Bird … his plan was to spend six months of 1938 alone in Antarctica, gathering scientific data and experiencing peace and quiet. However, the adventure almost killed him. It was a reminder that extended time alone may be more than we want.
18. The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality, Belden C. Lane … This book explores the question: What has drawn spiritual seekers into the wilderness for centuries?”
19. The Five Marks of a Man, by Brian Tome … This book discusses what it means, and what it takes, to live life as a Godly man, based on 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”
20. How We Got To Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern Word, by Steven Johnson … the author explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences.
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“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
