Favorite books of 2024

+ how I track my reading

Books are one of the delights of my life. I track my reading in a yearly Word document, which I’ve been told is only one step up from writing titles and authors on a piece of paper stashed on my desk. I know there are apps to track and share reading, but I simply do not need another app. When I read a book I particularly like, I put an asterisk by its record. Then, at the end of the year, it’s easy to see my favorites.

These are listed in the order that I read them.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

I bought a gargantuan book that I’ve mentioned a few times this year. It includes all of Le Guin’s Earthsea writings, novels and short stories, and is so large that Justin laughed at me every time I picked it up before bed. This first novella is short and when it ended I was astounded. It’s young adult¹ and I can’t wait to pass it along to my boys.

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

I fully believe that this book should be sitting on the shelf with any spiritual formation books you might own. And if you don’t own any, start with this one.² This look at Jesus is quite different and if the church is going to fall into negative cultural status,³ we need people who have lived on the margins to lead the way. Thurman was a powerful preacher and wrestled with deep questions.

I recommended this one on Instagram this fall.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

The twist at the almost very end of Mandel’s books are my favorite part. Her writing is alive. The stories are engaging. Why there’s always a pandemic, I don’t know. There’s time travel and a the twist. I loved it. I guess this year I’ll have to read The Glass Hotel.

Together in Ministry by Rob Dixon

I had been wanting a specific book, in this case a guide for how men and women work together in mutual relationships in ministry settings. Then this book was assigned for a seminary class⁴ and I realized it was what I was looking for and that it had been sitting on a to-be-read list for a couple of years.⁵ This is straightforward and practical, and might be just what you need if you work across gender in ministry and want something that bears better fruit than the Billy Graham rule.

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin

This novel was further into the Earthsea work. It’s the final of the six books and I’m not going to give anything else away. If you like fantasy and if you want something deeply human, this series might be for you.⁶

African American Readings of Paul by Lisa M. Bowens

I read this book on the plane ride to California for graduation and fell in love with it. It was more biography than I expected and spanned several hundred years of interpretive history. It talked about powerhouses of the church and explained the way they interacted with the work of the Apostle Paul. If you are interested in church history or Pauline theology, you should snap this up.

A handful of earth, a handful of sky by Lynell George

I bought this book about Octavia Butler in Pasadena without realizing that Butler was herself from Pasadena. It’s at least part of the story of how became the Butler that we know: how she shaped her work and how her work shaped her. It was a fresh format that was unexpected and enjoyable. It’s not a biography, nor is it literary criticism. But it is good.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I grabbed this from the library and loved it with all my heart. So much happened in this story and I wanted to start it over when I finished it.⁷

The Editor by Sara B. Franklin

This book fascinated me. I knew nothing about Judith Jones before reading it but I feel in love with her. I especially love stories of people do interesting work that they love and this was easy to read. I devoured it in a weekend.

James by Percival Everett

I read this book in hours when we were at the beach. A retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the enslaved Jim’s perspective comes alive under Everett’s care. As with all slave narratives, there are some hard things in the books. I’d love to read more of Everett’s work this year.

The Mother Artist by Catherine Ricketts

Rickett’s book illuminates different parts of motherhood by the work of different artists. I do not usually read books about motherhood but this was honest and embodied and gritty, as motherhood itself is. Highly recommend if you are a mother, if you love art, if you want more insight into mothers (men… that means you too).

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

I love Oliver’s poetry. If you don’t, don’t tell me. Keep that heresy to yourself. In this “prose guide to poetry,” she outlines what makes up a poem, how you can use form and process to your advantage, and some advice on editing.⁸ If you’re a writer, even if you don’t consider yourself a poet, you should make time for this in 2025.

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

Did you know that to be human means we have both authority and vulnerability? I’d never heard it explained quite that way, but Crouch breaks it down in simple and profound ways. He says, “But personal growth now serves a different end—not our own satisfaction or fulfillment, but becoming the kind of people who could actually help others flourish.”⁹ If you lead in any way, you need this book. If being a human is confusing, this might help, at least a little. If you don’t ever find being a human confusing, please contact me and fill me in on how that works.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Set in a nameless South America country, attendees of an opera are held hostage for a long enough time for love and friendship to form between captives and captors. But what happens when the government has had enough and they intervene?

How to Walk into a Room by Emily P. Freeman (audiobook)

I rarely listen to audiobooks (besides The Creative Act by Rick Rubin when I want to sleep in the car. I’m sure it’s a great book but his voice is so soothing. It’s the perfect background sound for falling asleep). However, since I listen to—and love—Emily’s podcast, listening to her book felt familiar and enjoyable. I was facing a big decision and our travels over Christmas gave me ample time to work my way through the book. The book did not tell me what to do. It did, however, affirm what I already suspected. I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to make a big decision, who wonders where they belong, who wants guidance for transitions.

I would love to hear what books you loved in 2024. Please share them in the comments!

1. The stories do get increasingly more complex and mature as the series progresses.

2. All the love to Richard Foster and Dallas Willard.

3. As it has done in many parts of the states just not where I live yet.

4. Wow, that feels so far in the past already.

5. Which does make me want to take a couple months (years?) break and read everything on my list.

6. I also read a book of short stories by Le Guin and some essays of hers. I really leaned in and would like to read some more of her work this year.

7. Remember that I like character driven stories. This might drive you nuts if you don’t.

8. She writes, “I usually revise through forty or fifty drafts of a poem before I begin to feel content with it.” (p111.) 40 or 50 draft? Maybe I’m impatient.

9. Page 113.