Every Book I Read in 2024

Every year, I try to read 36 books. In 2023, I accomplished that goal. In 2024 I fell embarrassingly short. Luckily for you, that means this will be a shorter article. I will take some time to over a quick review of each book, including who I’d recommend them to. Most books aren’t related to running at all, but there’s a few gems in there. Also, I’d like to note the order here is just based on how affected I was by the book. For example, I use the ideas from Healthy Intelligent Training every day. I try not to use the ideas from The Road ever.

Healthy Intelligent Training by Keith Livingstone

The first ‘How to run’ book I read was Jack Daniel’s Running Formula. I would consider HIT to be the master's program in running. Not for everyone, but if you are interested in seeing why certain principles of running work and just how prolific they are, this is a great book. Lydiard is the father of running training - you won’t find a running coach in the NCAA or Pro’s who isn’t following his ideas to some extent. I love and subscribe to ‘the Lydiard way’ because Lydiard didn’t always work with professionals. He started by coaching kids in his neighborhood in New Zealand and turned a few of them into Olympic Gold Medalists and World Record Holders. It also has pictures for the faint of heart.

2. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I hated this book in high school. As an adult, however, I see why it’s so widely taught in high school. I think lots of the ideas went over my head when I was young, but now the richness of both detail and storytelling Fitzgerald commands is almost unmatched in American literature. Read this if you’re looking for a short book to appreciate or didn’t enjoy it in high school.

3. Cowboys Full by James McManus

I bought this book prepared for a slog. It’s very impressive to me that McManus was able to write a history book about a card game that was exciting enough that I was stealing pages whenever I could get a moment. I think McManus is one of the best non-fiction writers alive. While most historians think history is just a collection of facts, McManus sees how they can be spun into a story. Read this if you’ve ever been interested in poker and want a book that will hook you.

4. The Science of Running by Steve Magness

Magness is a cohost for the “On Coaching” Podcast, creator of the website “The Science of Running,” and host of his own YouTube channel. He ran D1 at Rice and The University of Houston. He coached Middle and Long Distance Running at UH. He holds a PhD in Excercise Science from George Mason. In TSoR, Magness goes down to the biology of running and how our bodies produce energy. He addresses some running myths from a physiological perspective and supplies his training templates. This is the PhD program of running. Most of it went over my head and the training programs don’t apply to non-NCAA level runners, but it showed me why we do things. Magness also has one great rule I always abide by: the body responds to stress.

5. Fostered by Tori Hope Petersen

Petersen is an adult now who aged out of the foster system. The book is about her experiences in ‘the system,’ constantly being given up on, and finding Christ in her difficulties. I like books that challenge my perspective. I love books that change it. It’s a small one as well, and I think that makes it for everyone.

6. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell

I’ve read a few Gladwell books. He’s a hot-take machine. I once heard him say Golf and Football should be outlawed. That being said, I think this book put into perspective the final months of WWII in the Pacific and why Truman ultimately chose to use the atomic bomb. I always thought it was a display of power, but Gladwell makes a compelling case that it saved many US and Japanese lives. It’s a quick read for anyone who enjoys military history and WWII.

7. John Adams by David McCullough

Every year, I try to read one biography of a new Founding Father or other early American leader. I’ve done The Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, and in 2023, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson has a very long and convoluted relationship with John Adams, so this year, I decided I’d read history from Adam’s perspective. What I found was that I liked Adams a lot more. It’s a massive book, but if you’re interested in the founding fathers and what kind of people they were, McCullough has no rivals.

8. He Leadeth Me, by Walter J. Ciszek

A book about a Jesuit Priest who voluntarily enters Russia during WWII. He ends up spending most of his life a prisoner in either prison or Siberian Labor Camps. The book was given to me by a close friend. Ciszek’s story is a testament to faith and the ability of humans to endure when they center their lives around Christ. It’s the kind of book you want to tell other people about. Short and perfect for anyone about to attend a challenging school or period of their life.

9. Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee

McPhee was a writer at the New Yorker for many years. This book is a collection of long-form essays he did following an American conservationist to sites around the US that were in danger of being sold for development. It has some hilarious dialogue and scenes from his memory. A good read for people interested in conservation, learning, or dry humor.

10. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

The most accessible work by Pynchon. This was a reread for me, one of my favorite books ever. It’s about a woman who finds herself investigating a scheme to upset the American Postal Service. It’s wacky, funny, and full of sharp, dry humor. At less than 100 pages, I’d recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered what ‘highbrow literature’ is.

11. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

Another short book, it follows the life of a man who works on the railroads, and then retires to the Mississippi River Valley. It is very short and easy to read. It is one of my favorite books for its poignancy. Read this if you’re looking for a simple, short read about a moment in American history.

12. Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray

Following John Adams, I needed a short book that was easy to read. I started reading Star Wars books. This was the best of the ones I read. I liked it most because it had a good plot, good conflict, and delved into Qui-Gon who is a very important character in Star Wars but only briefly explored in the Movies. It’s the most well-written of the bunch.

13. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I want to be clear here, I’m not trying to say Master and Apprentice is better than The Road. I just enjoyed the former more than the latter because of when I read it and what I was looking for. The Road is a brutal read. It almost convinced me to start a prepper stash. It makes you ask yourself ‘What would I do if the apocalypse happened? Would it be worth staying alive?’ I raced through it because the plot was so well done and the characters so compelling. At the same time, it’s sad and there are scenes that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Worth reading if you are okay with reading about sadness and evil.

14. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Another reread. This book is hilarious. If you are in the military, especially the army, you must read this book. It follows an Army bomber pilot in WWII and is written with a tone of satire for everything about the military. From Generals who just want to get promoted to an LT who starts a DFAC Cartel, it’ll make you laugh at all the ridiculous caricatures of things we experience every day. Especially a good read if you are going to a school soon, but I think everyone in the military should read this at some point.

15. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

Another Gladwell, another blistering take. This one centers around the questionable arrest of a black woman in Texas and goes on to analyze modern policing practices and alcohol culture in the US among other things. I enjoy that Gladwell questions everything. A good book for someone who likes to learn, nonfiction, another easy read.

16. Fellowship of Dust by William P. Shaw

I found this book in a local bookstore outside Fort Liberty a few years ago. William retraces his grandfather’s footsteps. Frank was a draftee in to army in WWII. He was just a regular guy who managed to survive in the 1st Infantry Division from Africa to Italy to D-Day and on. I loved this book because it represents the experience of the average American called to war. It testifies to what a regular person can do when faced with extraordinary circumstances. It is also brutally honest about the horrors of combat. If you’re looking for a book to justify or glamorize war, this is not it. It’s too realistic.

17. Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

Another one of my ‘Star Wars,’ phase. A fun read for those who’ve watched the movies. An interesting exploration of the ‘Dark Side’ and Anakin’s origin story as well.

18. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño

Having read 2666 in 2022, I’m a huge fan of Bolaño. It follows a group of writers in Mexico City who started a literary movement aimed at upsetting the established literary scene in South America. The story follows one character as he’s introduced to this new community, gets involved with a rich but mentally ill man’s daughter, and eventually comes into conflict with a pimp. To save a young prostitute, the main character and the two ‘Savage Detectives’ take her and drive north. The story then cuts for a very large portion as the next 30 years are told in interviews with people with whom the ‘Savage Detectives’ have come across in their further adventures. The book ends with a resumption of the rescue/escape operation as the detectives search for a long-lost literary figure while avoiding the pimp.

In true Bolaño fashion, it’s complicated and long. My favorite thing was the fusion of a larger plot with these ‘short story’ accounts. A great book for anyone interested in contemporary Mexican culture, world travels, and a plot that keeps you guessing where it’s going, but if you aren’t into literary fiction, it’s probably not for you.

19. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut was probably the first author I got deeply into. Sirens of Titan is another wacky, satirical book of his. This one is about religion, space travel, and Tramalfadorians. A short read, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something light who doesn’t mind a sci-fi bend, or if you like Terry Pratchett.

20. Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

A few things lead to me picking this up. Firstly, I liked CoL-49. Secondly, this story is ‘about’ Mason and Dixon, the two surveyors who established the Mason-Dixon Line. I enjoyed that period and thought it was Pynchon’s stab at historical fiction. Pynchon can sometimes get a little wacky (in one scene in Gravity’s Rainbow, a character correlates bombings in London to women he’s slept with). Thirdly, I thought it was short.

Boy, was I wrong. On every account. It is probably his longest work. It is nothing like CoL-49. And to stomp on my dreams of realism, it opens with a scene where a character carries on a conversation with a dog, and later, tells his troubles to a preserved, animated, living ear. It took me almost 3 months. So yeah, 20th.

21. Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

I picked this because it was Bolano’s favorite book. It follows a man who, upon his mother’s death, goes to the village of his father in Mexico. There, instead of finding people, he’s haunted by ghosts of the past as he learns about his father’s story and the demise of the village. It’s short, but it took me so long to figure out what was going on, it just didn’t stick with me, although it’s widely considered a piece of Mexican literary treasure. Netflix is coming out with a series for it and just from the commercials, it looks like the show will be much easier to follow.

22. The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

A sort of sequel to The Three Musketeers, this follows the same characters as they become involved with a plot to overthrow the king of France. This book sort of broke my heart. Dumas is one of my favorite writers, and I think The Count of Monte Cristo is a top 5 book ever. This book was good until the end. The main plot had no consequence to the larger plot, and it ends with the beloved characters just sort of dying. I genuinely wish I hadn’t read it.

23. Star Wars: The Mandalorian Armor by K.W. Jeter

This was my first selection in the Star Wars phase. I read probably 100 pages of it before I realized the plot wasn’t going anywhere. One of the characters spends 85 pages in a sandpit. I’m glad I picked it up because I think bad writing can teach as much as good writing, but I’m also glad I put it down. Apparently, after the original trilogy craze, the franchise was paying for anyone to write anything, so this is one of those 90s fluff books that served as advertising.