Here are some of the books I read in 2024 and what I thought of them.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien

10/10. This was my third attempt to read The Silmarillion, and I honestly think it took me a minor in Classics (Latin) to appreciate the mythology aspect. But my goodness, it was a beautiful read. Typical of Tolkien, everything weaves together so beautifully.

Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner

9/10. This history of the CIA was eye-opening, to say the least. The fact that the CIA was not able to provide one single early warning during the Korean War, the constant infiltration of CIA by Soviet spies during the Cold War, its own inability to compromise anyone in the Kremlin, the anti-democratic actions taken in other countries "to stop the Commies...", the spying on left-wing Americans for the same reason, the Iran-Contra affair, The list goes on and on, and made me ashamed of my country, to be frank.

This is a contender for my list of Books Every American Should Read for that very reason. It is so important for us to confront uncomfortable truths and process them so we can improve as a nation.

The Secret Language of Cells by Jon Lieff

7/10. This was an okay book. To be honest, I was looking for something that would give me a bit more technical detail when it came to cellular signalling, but alas, as so many books are, this was more on the pop-sci side of the spectrum. It still taught me a good many new things about how cells communicate, and how widespread that communication is across the body.

The Whole-Brain Child by Drs. Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

8/10. This book was geared more towards older children, say 6 years and older, but the principles seem sound even for my younger child. The authors are both qualified to write on brain-based parenting, being a well-published academic psychiatrist and a practicing psychotherapist.

It is incredibly hard to causally blame or credit a child's behavior to anything in particular, which is part of what makes getting solid, evidence-based parenting advice so hard in today's world chock full of grifters. But I will add my anecdotal testimony that in my (clearly) biased opinion, my child's behavior is exceptionally well-adjusted for their age, and I do tend to apply many of the theory and practices from The Whole-Brain Child in my parenting, and encourage my wife to do the same.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

This was one of Stephenson's earlier works, if I'm not mistaken. The first chapter was phenomenal! It had me on the edge of my seat: it was engaging, rapid-paced, humorous, just enough farce to be amusing, but not so much to break the suspension of disbelief. And then the pacing kind of petered out. The rest of the book got kind of slow. And repetitive. And a little bit boring. 6/10.

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

A great history of the Chernobyl disaster. 10/10. I was stunned to learn that the adverse health effects of radiation on the affected population of Pripyat were far outpaced by the mental effects of being invisibly poisoned. That was fascinating! And it helped ease some of my concerns about nuclear power potentially making a comeback.

(In general, I am pragmatic about nuclear power. I know reactor designs have become much, much safer since Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukishima. I am overall in favor of more nuclear power, since it provides a lot of power with no direct CO2 emissions. I just have safety concerns, that's all.)

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

9/10. The conclusion of the original Mistborn series. I would say overall I prefer the first book over the other two, this book was satisfactory and I quite enjoyed it. It wrapped up very nicely at the end in a way that surprised me, so kudos to Mr. Sanderson.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

5/10. Oh my word. This book was such a flip-flop for me. It has such pacing problems. And I suspect it suffers from translation problems too. First, the name of the Big Bad Evil Guy: Capricorn??? The name gives idyllic goat, or possibly a goatherd, not a psychopathic villain.

We Are Legion, We Are Bob by Dennis E. Taylor

9/10. This is such a fun book! It's right up there with Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in my eyes. Lots of nerdy fun, especially amusing for engineering types who just relate so easily to Bob.

Never a Girl, Always a Boy: A Family Memoir of a Transgender Journey by Jo Ivester

9/10. This was an interesting read. There is a lot about the trans experience I would like to understand, so I'm glad I got to read Jeremy Ivester's story of transition. This is a collection of scenes told from the points of view of different members of the Ivester family as Jeremy (née Emily) grew up and reckoned with his gender dysphoria, eventually coming to live as a man.

The last section of the book does seem a little self-congratulatory on account of the author's deep dive into her activism, and earlier segments in the book give the impression that the mother (who collected and wrote this memoir) really just wanted to process her thoughts in a book. I knocked a point off for those writing choices.

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

8/10. This was a short one, but an interesting concept. Definitely worth the two hour listen. The writing was a little unpolished in places, and there were some big questions left unanswered, but overall it was an enjoyable scifi story.

The Nazis by Lauence Rees

I picked this book up in November. Something about that current events made me want to research the rise of the Nazi regime, I forget specifically what.... Imagine my grimly brief shock to learn that many associated with the Nazi party still to this day (or at least the day of Rees interviewing them) stand by their actions as seeming to be the right thing at the time. Yep.

This was a fairly good account of the rise of Nazism in Germany, followed by a decent account of WWII as related to the Third Reich, followed by a bizarre tangent into the Soviet experience of WWII, and concluded with more Nazi history.

8/10 for the lengthy diversion into Soviet history.

Change: How to Make Big Things Happen by Damon Centola

10/10. This is a great book on how challenging ideas spread through a social network. It was eye-opening, fascinating, and full of research that challenged my preconceived notions, most of which was done by the author. I highly recommend anyone who wishes to know more about how change happens in a people, how and why some ideas take hold and others don't, read this book front to back.

Beyond Lies the Wub

7/10. An okay short story.

Pigs is Pigs

10/10. Hilarious satire. A worthwhile short story if there ever was one.

Verification Handbook ed. Craig Silverman

This book explains a lot.

It is meant as a handbook to educate journalists on best practices for verifying sources, especially as an emergency breaks. It is filled with such mind-numbingly basic advice on verifying information on social media that I wish I hadn't spent the time to read it. Advice like, "Cultivate a network of trustworthy people" and "Verify facts with a quick Google search before spreading them" is like giving someone pointers on brushing their teeth like, "If your toothbrush ends up buried four inches up your nostril, you're doing it wrong."

If this is the state of the art of verifying sources, it is no wonder journalists are so often bamboozled, misinformed, and outright deceived with frightening regularity. 2/10.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I believe I reread this early in the year, when my wife and I were playing Hogwarts Legacy around the clock. It was a wonderful, heart wrenching jaunt into one of my favorite childhood series.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

10/10. One of my favorite books of the year. The unreliable narrator, the Classics minor, the despair which then has delightful developments at the start. This is easily one of my Top Books of 2024.

Focus by Daniel Goleman

I don't remember much about this book. That says a lot about its content, eh? I do recall that a nontrivial amount of its content seemed obvious or repetitive.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I believe this was lampooned on the If Books Could Kill podcast (which I highly recommend). The book itself had some interesting ideas, like deconstructing the habits you want to acquire and incorporating those smaller steps into your life instead of the whole habit all at once. By and large, however, Atomic Habits, as with most self-improvement books, could have been reduced to a blog post. Clear drones on and on, flailing to flesh out the one or two things he has to say into a work long enough to publish as a book.

3/10. Not really worth the read, but if you're bored at your grandparents' house....

Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar

10/10. An Important Book to Read. Grabar goes into detail about how parking requirements are at the heart of a whole slew of urban ills plaguing America: suburban sprawl, lack of public transportation, traffic congestion, unwalkable communities. This is a must-read for anyone interested in any of those issues.

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

8/10. This book really does drone on, and arguably should be a lot shorter, but its content is so important that I can't in good conscience knock it below an 8/10. Shoshana, who, I believe, coined the term Surveillance Capitalism, details the lengths to which Big Tech companies mine us for the newest exploitable resource: our behavioral data. I wish all could come up to date with this topic, as data collection is so pervasive, and those who are least educated on it are exploited the most.