2024 has come and gone, which can mean only one thing: time to review every book I read in the past year! As is tradition, at the end of every year I look back on each book I read this year and give a short review.
The total count for this year is 41 books (which I believe is a new personal best ). Unlike previous years, I also kept track of the order in which I read them. Without any further ado, let’s kick things off:
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
A classic that lived up to its reputation. The Screwtape Letters follows a series of letters written by the elder demon Wormwood to the junior demon Screwtape. The letters are intended to instruct Screwtape in how to lead Christians astray, but the reader is intended to see Wormwood’s writings cautionary as for their own lives. The premise of the book itself is intriguing, and there’s a lot of wisdom in Lewis’ writing. Even if you aren’t a Christian, I think there’s still a lot to be gleaned from this book.
In Defense of Sanity — G.K. Chesterton
Chesterton was one of the best essayists of the twentieth century, and this collection shows him at his best. The essays contained within cover a wide range of topics, but I think my personal favorites were those on the least serious topics. Something I greatly appreciated in reading Chesterton was his insistence that mundane, everyday life is still exceptional in its own ways. Humans have a tendency (to our own detriment) to grow “nose-blind” to some of the most important things around us. Recognizing those things helps foster a sense of appreciation and thankfulness, which are an important part of living a fulfilling life. I highly recommend reading at least some of Chesterton’s work and this particular collection is great.
The Silmarillion — J.R.R. Tolkien
I was homeschooled, so needless to say this wasn’t my first time reading The Silmarillion. Even so, it was a delight to journey through it again. This time, I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Andy Serkis (who played Smeagol/Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies). His narration is excellent, and I highly recommend it. As for the work itself, the Silmarillion has a uniquely mythological aspect to it. I remember hearing somewhere that Tolkien originally started writing Lord of the Rings to give England its own ancient folklore. I think he best accomplishes this in The Silmarillion. The stories are magical, the characters are larger than life, the oaths are binding, and the world it draws you into is mercilessly captivating. You should probably read “Lord of the Rings” beforehand, but everyone should read The Silmarillion at some point.
48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene
As I previously wrote in my 2023 Book Recap, Robert Greene is just a reborn Malcolm Gladwell. He writes books with big themes based on a bunch of interesting anecdotes. The conclusions he draws for these anecdotes are usually less interesting than the anecdotes themselves. Well, 48 Laws of Power is no exception. Greene lists off 48 different “laws of power” that rulers have used throughout history to maintain their dominance. Of course, all of these rules are tenuously based on singular anecdotes and many of the rules conflict with each other. In any case, I thought the book was interesting enough to finish reading, but not interesting enough to make any strong impact. I will say, the print quality of the paperback book was excellent, so it was nice to look at while reading if nothing else. If you need something to read, this is perfectly serviceable. But it isn’t something I would be running to the bookstore to snatch up.
Reassessing the Presidency — John Denson
This collection of essays assembled by John V. Denson discusses the crimes and failures of American presidents (and American politics more generally) throughout history. If you have read some of the scholars that contributed to this volume, you won’t find a ton of surprises (DiLorenzo doesn’t like Lincoln?), but I still found a few gems that I gleaned some information from — particularly the essay on the Electoral College and Denson’s own essay on Pearl Harbor. Like most gargantuan essay collections, this one is best enjoyed like a buffet — reading what you find interesting and skipping the rest. If you can find this one, it would be a great addition to any personal library.
The Science of Storytelling — Will Storr
In The Science of Storytelling, Storr examines the psychology behind narratives and how the stories we tell reflect human nature. Most of the information and research he presents isn’t new, but Storr presents it in an easily digestible form. After reading “Maps of Meaning” last year, I was already familiar with some of the motifs that Storr covers here. Even so, I still enjoyed reading through it. Especially if you aren’t familiar with this area of psychological literature, I recommend picking this one up.
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life — Emile Durkheim
This classic work from Durkheim aims to understand the socio-psychological basis of religion and the purposes it serves in creating social cohesion. While I thought there were some interesting points here, I feel as if I could have just read a detailed summary and gotten the same experience. Durkheim is an interesting thinker, but unless you are particularly interested in reading him, I wouldn’t recommend picking this one up.
Philosophy: Who Needs It? — Ayn Rand
Even when I don’t agree with Rand (which is a regular occurance), she is still an enigmatic and worthwhile thinker. In this collection of essays, Rand looks at how philosophical ideas unwittingly trickle down into the thoughts of ordinary people, demonstrating the need for sound philosophical ideas. Just like everything else Rand has written, this one is worth a read.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat — Samin Nosrat
I had this one on my “to-read” list for a long time. I’ve always been interested in cooking (I spent several years in high school and college working as a line cook) and I always wanted to learn more about the “laws of cooking” so to speak. Not just learning recipes or techniques, but the bigger ideas of why particular things taste good, why certain foods pair well with others, etc. Basically, I wanted a treatise on cooking. And that is essentially what Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is.
Nosrat teaches you four essential rules of cooking to make things taste good. These are the titular salt, fat, acid, and heat. Learning how to incorporate these four elements in a dish is what separates the wannabes from the skilled masters of cuisine. As a bonus, Nosrat also includes a bunch of recipes in the book so you can practice incorporating these into your cooking.
I firmly believe learning how to cook is one of the highest rates-of-return on any investment you can make in yourself, and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is the best guidebook for learning not only about cooking, but how to cook. If you are even remotely interested in cooking, absolutely pick this one up.
The Crowd — Gustave le Bon
This classic of Italian “Elite Theory” examines how human psychology changes when people form into crowds, and how that energy can be manipulated by others. While I thought this was interesting, that book spends a lot of time repeating its core themes without drawing a lot of tangible conclusions. An interesting work, but you can just ask Chat GPT for a summary instead of reading it cover to cover.
Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor Frankl
This work from Frankl is one of the most famous books of the twentieth century, and for good reason. The book is essentially split into two parts: in the first, Frankl recalls his experience surviving a Nazi concentration camp during World War II; in the second, Frankly draws upon his experiences to exposit his own beliefs about what makes a man’s life meaningful.
Frankl’s experiences in a concentration are as captivating as they are harrowing. Most interesting to me was his observation that those who survived the camps were those who had something to live for beyond the hard work of day to day life, whether it be seeing their family again, returning back to their hometowns, etc. I found the second half interesting as well, although I wish that Frankl had more fully fleshed out his thoughts on human meaning. His writing is sometimes superficial without having much practical applicability.
Regardless, Man’s Search for Meaning is absolutely worth the read. It’s fairly short as well, so it won’t take up too much of your reading time either. You have no excuse!
Foundations of Morality — Henry Hazlitt
I had picked this book up several months before I read it, without knowing much about it. I was still working on my book, Praxeological Ethics, at the time, and I was hoping that hazlitt might have some interesting insights I could use in my own work. To my great surprise, I found that my work and Hazlitt’s are very complementary, and in some cases, nearly overlapping.
In Foundations of Morality, Hazlitt uses a Misesean/Utilitarian framework to examine questions of morality. His overriding framework is what he calls “Cooperativism” — the idea that everyone in society benefits from cooperation with others. He tackles all varieties of moral problems, including free will vs determinism, law, personal ethics, and more. Frankly, I think this book should be much more widely read, especially by those working in the Austro-Libertarian tradition. It is a great work, and one that we can still learn from today.
Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, and God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
Instead of reviewing them all separately, I’ll combine all the Dune books into one blurb. Inspired by the release of Dune: Part II in theaters this year (fantastic move, by the way), I decided to jump into the Dune books to experience this world for myself. I really enjoyed reading them all, and I’ll give my brief thoughts on each one below.
Dune is the classic that kicked off this series, and its reputation is well-earned. The setting of the book is enthralling: the desert planet Arrakis, the valuable spice that the galaxy relies upon, the mysterious Fremen tribes, and of course, the giant sand worms. It’s all so cool, and it makes for an awesome story that has inspired sci-fi writers ever since it was published. The main problem I had with the book is the pacing. The first act of the book feels draggy at points, and the finale of the book happens too quickly. Herbert has said this was an intentional decision on his part, but it still feels strange. Even so, Dune is a classic that everyone should read.
Dune Messiah doubles down on the themes of the original book but without feeling overbearing (and is much shorter, which was a welcome change). Like all the other Dune sequel books, this extension of the original story is entirely optional — you can just read the first book if you don’t feel inclined to continue on. However, I feel like if you can get all the way through the first Dune book, you should try to tackle Messiah as well. It’s like a nice capstone to the original story, which is sorely needed after how quickly the first book wraps the story.
Children of Dune was probably my least favorite of the Dune books I read. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but I found myself less interested in the plot. I suspect this is because Children largely revolves around characters that had been heretofore unintroduced (the titular children of protagonist Paul Atreides). Unlike Messiah, which was really just an outgrowth of the original story, Children is where you can tell Herbert had bigger plans for an extended Dune series.
God Emperor of Dune was perhaps my favorite of the four. It’s a unique book, and I haven’t ever read anything quite like it before. It revolves around the God Emperor Leto II and his multi-millennial reign over the galaxy (he’s also a giant sand worm with a man’s face). This book is really where a lot of the main themes of the Dune series as a whole come to the forefront, and Herbert is masterful at weaving them into the plot, conversations, and monologues of his characters. This book is very weird (which you might have gathered from Leto the man-worm), but its strange elements only made me more interested.
I hope to make my way through the final two of Herbert’s Dune books this coming year. Overall, I enjoyed reading through the series so far. I can see why it has been so influential, and the themes in the books themselves are very thought-provoking. Herbert’s stories aren’t just fantastic tall-tales in space — they do make you think. For that reason alone, they are worth exploring.
The Will to Power — Friedrich Neitzsche
I’ve read a lot of Neitzsche’s other works, so I had a pretty good idea of what would await me in The Will to Power. However, I think this might be Neitzsche’s best book, largely because it wasn’t compiled by him. This book is a collection of sayings, writings, and notes from Nietzsche from over his writing career. These are all organized into different categories, which make up the different sections of the book. The result is a version of Nietzsche that is more organized, but also more terse. There’s a lot of great bits in here, and it presents a side of Nietzsche that doesn’t quite come through in his own published work. If you want to read some Nietzsche, this is a great place to look.
Capitalism in America — Alan Greenspan
I honestly can’t remember much from this book. Greenspan provides an overview of American economic history from the Revolution to the present. He provides some interesting information from a (mostly) free-market perspective, but the overall work is far from inspired. Can’t say I recommend this one.
The Anxious Generation — Jonathan Heidt
I’ve loved everything else Heidt has written and this book was no exception. The Anxious Generation examines the changes — both in the real and virtual world — that have impacted our modern psychology. Specifically, Heidt looks at the meteoric rise of mental illness among young people today and hypothesizes about why this might be happening. His essential thesis is that young people have been overprotected in the real world and underprotected in the virtual world. I’m not sure if I agree with every aspect of his argument, but he’s certainly onto something. Absolutely pick this one up when you get the chance.
Nuclear War: A Scenario — Annie Jacobsen
This book was simultaneously terrifying and captivating. Jacobsen draws upon her numerous interviews with military and national security personnel to give a detailed scenario of a nuclear war. She writes minute-by-minute what would actually happen if nuclear weapons were used: what the U.S. president would do, how much time he has to react before it’s too late, how many people would die as a result, etc. This is the scariest book I have ever read, bar none. You need to read this book, period.
Dominion — Tom Holland
Dominion looks at the origins of Christianity in the first-century Roman Empire and how it changed the world in the coming centuries, all the way up to the present day. Maybe this is a hot take, but I thought this book was mid and disappointing. Holland has a shifty narrative structure, moving very quickly from one topic to another, even within the same chapter. While I don’t hate this concept in theory, the result is a book that feels schizophrenic — unable to stay on topic and bouncing all over the place. This was because I think Holland is intelligent and has a lot of interesting things to say. But the way he said them in this book just doesn’t work for me. I think this might just be a personal thing, so I would still recommend checking it out.
The Jesus Dynasty — James Tabor
What was the life of Jesus actually like? The Jesus Dynasty is Tabor’s attempt to answer this question from a non-Christian perspective. To do so, he relies on the New Testament, historical knowledge of the time period, extra-biblical sources, and some good ol’ fashioned speculation.
While this book is in many ways a response to Christian apologetics, I think even Christians could benefit from reading this book. If you are interested in New Testament textual criticism, give this one a shot.
(Fun fact: for many years, Tabor taught New Testament studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte — my alma mater!)
A Confederacy of Dunces — John Kennedy Toole
One of the most famous novels of the twentieth century, A Confederacy of Dunces lives up to its reputation as a hilarious satire. Toole provides characters that are both life-like and absurd — a rare balance that few writers can achieve. This has plenty of great moments and good laughs. If you want a book like that, A Confederacy of Dunces is for you. I don’t think this is necessarily a book for everyone, but for the people in its demo, this one is well worth the read.
The Age of Entitlement — Christopher Caldwell
While almost everyone knows about the Civil Rights Act, very few understand the time period that created it, as well as the impact this landmark legislation had on American history. In The Age of Entitlement, Caldwell provides just that — a sober and unabashed look at the Civil Rights Era. Caldwell argues (quite persuasively) that the introduction of Civil Rights law effectively meant a new constitution for the country, although most of its citizens weren’t cognizant of this fact. This is an important book for everyone to read, especially in the age of “wokism” that we find ourselves in today. Big thumbs up for this one.
How to Write Well — William Zinsser
If you want a simple, yet effective book on how to make your writing better, How to Write Well is for you. Zinsser provides no-frills advice on how to make your writing effective, persuasive, clear, and organized. Even as an experienced writer, I found myself picking up some helping tips from this one. If you need some pointers on your writing, this is a great place to start.
The Enlightenment by Ritchie Robertson
In The Enlightenment, Richie takes a complete look at the Enlightenment era, including philosophy, science, art, aesthetics, literature, psychology, etc. Coming in at over 1,000 pages, he leaves no stone unturned. While this might seem gratuitous, I found it results in a more comprehensive look of the period as a whole: not only how philosophers changed, but how all aspects of society were transformed during this time. For anyone interested in the Enlightenment period, I absolutely recommend this one.
Bowling Alone — Robert Putnam
Sadly, this book has aged like fine wine. In this sociology classic, Putnam details America’s declining stock of social capital — defined as the connections, ties, and bonds that members of society have with each other. This decline in social capital is pervasive in all areas of society, including churches, schools, social groups, organizations, etc. Putnam rang the alarm on these trends when Bowling Alone was published in the 2000, but unfortunately, these trends have only exacerbated since then. This is a book that everyone should read.
The Way to Willpower — Henry Hazlitt
The first book ever published by Hazlitt, The Way to Willpower is essentially a self-help book for learning how to achieve goals in your own life. I’m a big fan of Hazlitt’s writing, and I really enjoyed this one as well. It has some timeless nuggets of wisdom, but it wasn’t exactly life-changing. If you like hazlitt and are interested in reading more of his work, this could be a good read.
Discourses — Epictetus
As a former stoic-bro (we all had that phase), I always meant to get around to reading Epictetus, but never did. I finally picked up a copy, and I’m glad I did. While I don’t fully agree with Epictetus’ stoic outlook, I do think his attitude is commendable. Throughout his sayings, Epictetus emphasizes the agency of virtue. Nobody can make you do right, but nobody can make you do wrong either. How you choose to act is up to you. Overall, an enjoyable read, and I’m glad that I finally got through it.
Applied Economics — Thomas Sowell
Sowell is well-known for his pedagogical prowess, and Applied Economics shows that quality on full display. Sowell takes basic economic principles and shows how they apply in real-life situations, such as housing, immigration, minimum wage, etc. For the layman, this is a well crafted, hands-on, practical economics book.
Apocalypse Never — Michael Shellenberger
Shellengerberger falls into the “climate change anti-Alarmism” school of environmental thinkers. Apocalypse Never presents his argument that while climate change is a real problem, its consequences are often over-catastrophized, misrepresented to the public, and solvable with human ingenuity. He doesn’t try to present a novel perspective on fossil fuels like Alex Epstein does. Rather, Shellenberger takes a sober look at the scientific data and examines how this data has been twisted to provide the public with countless the-sky-is-falling headlines. If you are interested in this subject, this book is a good contribution to the literature.
After Liberalism — Paul Gottfried
Liberalism is a strange word. Depending on the context, it could refer to either Thomas Paine or Hillary Clinton. In After Liberalism, Gottfried looks at how the Liberal tradition has changed and morphed over the last two centuries — along with how it could continue to morph in the future. More than anything, this is a book about the ideological evolution of the West and the long development of modern political struggles. If you want to understand how we got from the Declaration of Independence to a $35 trillion national debt, this book is for you.
Liberalism: The History of an Idea — Edmund Fawcett
I liked a lot of the information that Fawcett presents here, but the entire thesis of the book is hopelessly mistaken. Fawcett tries to draw a consistent line through the “Liberal” tradition over time (something that Gottfried pointed out is fallacious in After Liberalism). The result is a very tenuous link between people like Thomas Jefferson, John Maynard Keynes, and Margaret Thatcher. Again, the actual information that Fawcett presents about these thinkers is mostly fine, he just doesn’t have a correct understanding of the tradition he is trying to portray. Even so, I think this book is still worth the read. Just go into it knowing that the author’s framework is specious.
Moral Matters — Jan Narveson
I’ve been wanting to read more of Narveson’s work, so I thought his book on ethics would be a good place to start. This one turned out to be a good read, especially the sections on difficult topics like animal rights and abortion. Narveson has a very precise method of augmentation, making it very difficult to disagree with his views without having very precise arguments yourself. Narveson doesn’t come to any shocking conclusions in this book, but its still worth a read just to follow him through his philosophical reasoning.
The Happiness Hypothesis — Jonathan Heidt
As I mentioned above, I’ve loved everything Heidt has written. This was his first book he ever published, so it isn’t quite as polished as his later work. However, it is still worth reading. The book compares modern psychological work to the ancient scriptures, texts, and books to see where they align and where they diverge. In many places, they agree more than not. While some of the work he cites has probably not survived the duplication crisis of recent years, the book is still very good and worth reading all the same.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions — Thomas Kuhn
This one is a certified hood classic. I remember when I first read Kuhn ~6 years ago and it blew my mind. Rereading it has only deepened the impact it had on me and my thinking. The main thesis of the book is that scientific thinking does not progress linearly upwards. Rather, science is conducted with specific paradigms, and in order to change scientific thinking, you have to change that paradigm. This has important implications for how we view scientific development and even science as a whole. I truly mean it when I say that everyone who wants to be a serious thinker should read this book. Once you understand the idea of paradigms, you see them everywhere. Read it!
The Status Game — Will Storr
Out of the two Will Storr books I read this year, I think this one was my favorite. The Status Game is a deep-dive into the psychology of status hierarchies and how they manifest in all areas of human society (and even animal societies too!). This book does involve a lot fo Storr repeating himself by giving different examples of the same thing over and over, but there’s still a lot of meat on these bones all the same. Again, most of the value here isn’t in original research, but in Storr’s presentation. If you want to learn more about this topic, this is a great read to pick up.
Austrian Business Cycle Theory — Paul Cwik
I’ve maintained for a long time that Austrians need to work on writing books on specific topics. Far too often, someone who wants to learn about the Austrian perspective on a question has to dive into a treatise like Human Action, or Man, Economy, and State. For this reason, I was very glad to see Cwik publish a book on Austrian Business Cycle Theory. In this short book, he examines the basics of ABCT, and even takes some time to look at some more advanced problems with business cycle theory as well. This is a great introduction to the topic, and I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about business cycles.
Plough, Sword, and Book: The Structure of Human History — Ernest Gellner
I learned of this book because of a Twitter (or X) thread asking for recommendations on obscure books filled with esoteric knowledge. Plough, Sword, and Book definitely fits that bill, and even though I don’t agree with everything that Gellner writes, I still really enjoyed reading it. The core focus of this book is examining the evolution of mankind through three lenses: cognition, power/government, and the division of labor. These three elements can all be seen in three different phases of man’s history: prehistoric, neolithic revolution, and the industrial revolution. The transition to each of these phases brought dramatic changes to man’s cognition, the state, and economic organization.
Again, I don’t agree with everything Gellner says. Specifically, his economic analysis is dubious at points. Even so, this is a book written by a very serious thinker, and it should be more widely read than it is now. It can be difficult to locate print copies of this, so an E-book might be your best bet.
Warriors and Worriers — Joyce Benenson
Why do men and women think differently? The solution to this problem lies in the different problems that men and women are both looking to solve. In Warriors and Worriers, Benson looks at the differences in male and female psychology from an evolutionary perspective. While I think her perspective is sometimes too reductionistic, this book is still packed with valuable insights. For anyone interested in evolutionary psychology, this is a great read.
The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Dostoyevsky
It’s easier to list what The Brothers Karamazov isn’t about than what it is about. It’s about almost everything: the nature of man, the existence of God, the impact of an individual’s past on their present character, etc. etc. This was the last work of Dostoyevsky’s life, and it truly was his masterpiece. The reader must be warned, however: the weight of Dosteovsky’s characters and world will make most other fiction unreadable. This is a book that everyone should read at some point in their lives.
That’s the roundup for 2024. I hope you enjoyed your reading this year as much as I did. On to 2025!
