Favorite Books from 2024

By

Scott D. Parker

The year 2024 turned out to be one of my best reading years in quite awhile. Granted, I kept pace via audiobooks, but since that is my go-to, I don’t even count it.

The Stats

Overall, I got through 34 books in 2024, and I was 45 minutes (2 chapters) from finishing a 35th on New Year’s Eve. My science fiction book club (now entering its sixteenth year!) can account for at least eight books most years. Yeah, I don’t finish a book I don’t like. Long ago I realized it is better to pull the ripcord on a bad book and read something I enjoy versus slogging through a book I don’t enjoy. 

Four of the books I read last year were non-fiction, including a Top 10. I discovered Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar, reading the first two entries in that series. I also read a pair of Agatha Christie’s novels as part of the always-fun reading list put together by her estate. 

But the winner for most books by one author—three—went to John Jackson Miller. I read two of his Star Wars books—Kenobi and The Living Force—and then Batman: Resurrection, a direct sequel to the 1989 movie. By the way, did Miller have one of the best years for an author? He published three books in three different franchises: Star Wars, Star Trek, and Batman. 

If you put Miller and Coben in the mix, I read eighteen new-to-me authors, accounting for 22 of my 34 books. I do not count Tom Straw in that list since he wrote the Castle novels—but The Accidental Joe was the first of his with his own name on the cover.

Ever since I read Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic in 2021 (and again in 2023), I’ve picked out a book meant to be read daily. Last year, it was The Daily Laws by Robert Greene. As of today, I’m four days into The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield.

The Top 10

Here are my favorite books of 2024, presented in chronological order.

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. Super clever narrative style with the clues rather obviously (in retrospect) sprinkled throughout. Excellent narrator.

Kenobi (Star Wars) by John Jackson Miller. If the original Star Wars was meant to be a western in space, then this is “Shane” in space. It details the first months of Kenobi’s months on Tatoonie and it delivers what I most want from Star Wars: stories set in that universe that have nothing to do with the characters we already know. This one truly is a western, only with lightsabers and Kryte Dragons. 

Learning to Love Midlife by Chip Conley. Anyone at any age can benefit from this book, but for us midlifers, this book is gold. Chip’s metaphor of a chrysalis—of when a caterpillar consumes, then gestates, and then transforms into a butterfly—is the core of this book. It’s the lens through which he advises us to see our lives. He calls everything that came before a dress rehearsal. A driving factor of this book is the growth mindset by which you measure not by winning but by learning. “A growth mindset facilitates seeking out, exploring, and enjoying new experiences. It is the antidote to midlife boredom.” It is also the antidote to boredom no matter how old you are. 

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand. A few years ago, my wife discovered Hilderbrand and has read everything she wrote since. When she finished this book, she put it on the kitchen table, a signal for me to return it to the library. For whatever reason, I picked up the book and read the description. Still curious, I wanted to see how it started. Twenty-nine pages later, I walked into the next room, book in hand, and told my wife, “I am in!” It certainly didn’t hurt that the five lead characters are all my age, but Hilderbrand’s effortless writing made the pages fly by. I was completely enthralled, and while I got misty when it came to what happened to the characters, I really got to the point where I didn’t want the fictional weekend—or the actual book—to end.

The Heist by Jack Du Brul. This is an Isaac Bell adventure as created by Clive Cussler. Bell is my favorite of Cussler’s series and a new entry is always cause for celebration. Plus, this one begins with an aerial attack on the yacht of President Woodrow Wilson. Cussler’s novels are always good, reliable action/adventure mystery/thrillers guaranteed to be the summer blockbuster movie you see in your mind. When you have a series character like Isaac Bell, it’s rare the hero loses. The joy comes in the locations, the devices the hero uses, and specifically the steps and daring-do Bell takes to get his man.

Worst Case Scenario by T. J. Newman. My personal joke with Newman is that the cover of her debut, Falling, so captivated me that it took me a year to read it. But then I read it and her second, Drowning within weeks of each other. Worst Case Scenario is her third, and for a thriller writers, she’s three for three with eliciting an emotional response from me. Her stories have great elevator pitches, like this one: What do you do if a plane crashes into a nuclear power plant? It’s the kind of situation you hope never, ever happens in real life, but Newman tells this story using characters that you really start caring for from the moment they step into the story. As a human, I became terrified at how easily something like this might happen. As a reader, however, I was enthralled and emotionally engaged throughout the entire book. And I will read everything T.J. Newman writes. You should too.

The Accidental Joe by Tom Straw. Every now and then, you hear a concept for a book and it instantly hooks you. This is one of those books. What if an Anthony Bourdain-type celebrity chef who hosts a TV travel show is also a CIA spy? Here, Sebastian Pike is the Bourdain stand-in, and you'd be hard pressed not to imagine the real celebrity chef in this story. When I read the hardcopy, it was Bourdain's voice I heard in my head. Later, as I listened to Straw's narrations, he put just enough of a tonality that could I still hear Bourdain's voice. It was pretty magical, as was the relationship between Pike and Cameron Nova, ostensibly his producer, but we soon learn she's a CIA agent who recruits Pike for this job. Pike is one of my favorite new amateur detectives. I love stories where a non-detective becomes embodied in a larger, dangerous story. I love it when what this non-detective brings to the table—cooking and TV production in this case—actually helps solve the case. I love it when we meet a character that just feels like you’ve watched every episode of his fictional TV show for years. 

Deal Breaker by Harbon Coben. Where has this book been all my life? On the bookshelf of a local store, just waiting to be read. Myron Bolitar is a sports agent, and while you might think it would take some narrative gymnastics to get him involved in a mystery, you'd be wrong. One of Bolitar's clients, Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback, receives a phone call from his girlfriend. That would be his missing girlfriend whom everyone presumes is dead. Know who’s also dead? her dad, a medical examiner, who was killed during a mugging. Coben delivers an entertaining co-star. Windsor Horne Lockwood III is Bolitar’s old college roommate, friend, and “partner.” I might've been late to the Myron Bolitar party, but I ended up listening to the second book right after this one.

Batman: Resurrection by John Jackson Miller. Who knew that one of the best sequels of the year would be a novel to a thirty-five-year-old movie? A highlight about this book is that we get scenes we would have liked to have seen in the movie. A key one is with Alexander Knox, the reporter played by Robert Wuhl. We get a number of scenes with him, doing some investigating about a gang of Joker acolytes, the Last Laughs, and, most importantly, interacting with Batman himself. Miller, a former college reporter, gave Knox some great content and retained Wuhl’s trademark sarcasm. He also shines when he gets into the heads of our characters. Specifically, he puts you in Bruce Wayne’s head, the Michael Keaton version. He’s still new at this costumed hero thing and he struggles with what he has to be, why, and what’s next for him. Miller shows us how Batman uses the tools on his utility belt, and how, during longer conflicts, he can run out and must rely on his fighting skills. I particularly enjoy the relationship between Alfred and Bruce. There’s that paternal instinct in Alfred, and yet he still questions why Bruce does what he does. In a Batman world without a Robin, Alfred is very much a partner.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave. Know how, as soon as you finish watching The Sixth Sense, you watch the movie again, knowing the truth, and it all lines up? That’s how the prologue is in The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave. This is the story of Nora, and architect, who is surprised by her estranged half-brother, Sam, who is convinced their father's recent death was not an accident. What follows is a dual story: Nora and Sam's investigation and their father's life. The more Nora digs, the more she looked inward on her own life. Laura also wrote a line of dialogue I've extracted from her book and put into my own book of quotes. When Nora is doubting herself, a young mom says "If you are looking for answers you can't find, you need to change the question." This line hit my reality and forced me to look around and assess things. It’s always a good and positive thing to assess one’s life and make adjustments accordingly. I do it rather frequently, but Laura Dave’s succinct way of saying it crystalized it for me. One of the best books I read all year. Oh, and I get to books any number of ways, so for this one, a hat tip to The University of Texas at Austin, Apple TV, and Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop for introducing me to the work of Laura Dave. Here's the review for how those things connect. 

My Favorite Books of 2023

by

Scott D. Parker

One of the things I did in 2023 that really helped me remember what I read was my notecard habit. For everything I watched or read, I wrote down my thoughts on a 4x6 lined index card along with the date. I particularly appreciated the finite space of an index card. Granted, sometimes I’d write a review for a blog and the notecard would be “See blog” but those times were rare. 

Lots of Comics

I ended up reading quite a bit in 2023. Now, one of the things that really helped bump up the total was my decision in the summer to read a comic book per day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. As a result, I read over 99 comics during the summer and then just kept going until the steak was broken on 11 November. It was so much fun to rediscover old issues I hadn’t read in decades and get introduced to new ones.

I particularly enjoyed the Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle run on Batman from the early 1990s. I own nearly every title from that run so I had the great pleasure of opening my long boxes and fishing out issues that most likely hadn’t been opened since I taped them up back in my college days. Grant’s way of telling a story that drew on then-current issues like drugs and terrorism was a nice bridge between the Bronze Age version of the character and the grim/dark version we now have. Grant kept reminding the reader that Batman was really a man. Breyfogle’s art is superb, and not just his way to drawing characters and scenes but his imaginative way of laying out the panels. 

A more modern comic title I really enjoyed was the current run on Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. This pair remember something fundamental to the comic book medium: It’s supposed to be fun! They tell the story of the adult Dick Grayson from a point of view that basically makes you question why Bruce Wayne dresses up like a bat versus investing his money in other things that can help Gotham. And this title has heart. I was grinning the entire time I read these issues.

Favorite Books

But I also read “real” books (as my wife calls them). I’m in a science fiction/fantasy book club (we’re in Year 15 now) and I don’t often finish the books I didn’t select, so I’m not going to include them in my best estimate of started-but-not-finished books (approximately 10). As best as I can tell, I finished 24 fiction books in 2023 (and two non-fiction books), which might be the most number of books I’ve read in many years. 

DEAD SILENCE by S.A. Barnes - I gave this one an A in my book club. Think derelict “Titanic” space cruiser where salvagers have to enter the ship to retrieve things…but there might be something else on board. Super creepy, and the horror elements really worked for me.

THE NAZI CONSPIRACY by Brad Meltzer - All I need to know is that Meltzer wrote another history book. The fact that Scott Brick reads narrates is just gravy. There is an effortless quality to the prose and the narration about an alleged plot to kill FDR, Churchill, and Stalin at the Tehran Conference. Lots of great detail and it reads like a novel.

THE SPARE MAN by Mary Robinette Kowal - Five words sold me this book: “The Thin Man in Space.” Kowal narrates her own book that features two main protagonist that are more than worthy successors to Nick and Nora Charles.

FALLING by T.J. Newman - The cover is what snagged my attention, but the story of a pilot being blackmailed into crashing his plane kept my earbuds glued in my ears until it was over. Propulsive story that is suspenseful but not the breakneck pace of other thrillers. 

CHARM CITY ROCKS by Matthew Norman - If I had to pick my favorite book of the year, this is it. I read it (not audio) over four days, and I haven’t done that since forever. Here’s the premise. 

A single dad, Billy, is watching a rock and roll documentary with his high school senior son, Caleb, when the fictional band Burnt Flowers shows up. Billy confesses that he had a huge crush on the drummer, Margot Hammer, back in the day. With Caleb about to go off to college and with his mom married, he worries about his dad will be lonely when he moves away. When Caleb accidentally eats some “special” gummies, he sends an email to Margot who is a rock and roll recluse after a spectacular and public meltdown on stage two decades ago. Caleb invites Margot to come to Charm City Rocks, the record store in Baltimore over which his dad lives. He’s convinced that if the former rock star would just meet his dad, they’d hit it off.

But Caleb knows that Margot won’t just come down to Baltimore so he poses as if he’s a teenaged girl in an all-girl rock band. Margot’s publicist thinks it a great idea to get Margot’s name back out in the world and urges her to go. Reluctantly, she agrees, and then the truth hits the fan.

DROWNING by T.J. Newman - From the opening, harrowing moments of the first three chapters to the last 30 minutes of the audiobook, this book did not let up. In the book, a plane suffers mechanical failure two minutes after takeoff from Honolulu and crashes into the ocean. Unlike those famous airplane disaster movies from the 1970s that takes a quarter of the movie to introduce the characters and get the plane in the air, Newman puts you on the plane just after takeoff from the first sentence. By Chapter 3, the plane is down.

And those three chapters are incredibly harrowing and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful. How suspenseful you might ask? Suspenseful enough to elicit an emotional response. Heart pounding in the chest and a sting of tears in the eyes. And that was only the beginning.

PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir - The SF story of one man’s attempt to save all of humanity…as he works with an alien trying to save his planet. 

LION AND LAMB by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski - Yet another “Nick and Nora”  type story with two utterly charming main characters. This book is so much fun. As I closed out my review: “When you find a book or characters that you instantly form a connection with, you just want more and more stories. As a writer, I know how long the process can take.

Which is why I’m requesting, on behalf of all the reading audience, that Patterson and Swierczynski write a new Lion and Lamb novel every year. Oh, and TV execs? Read this one. And then make the series. Call me. I’ve got some ideas on casting.

THE CHRISTMAS GUEST by Peter Swanson - I enjoyed reading seasonal books and this was the second Christmas book I read (after a re-read of THE CHRISTMAS THIEF by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark). I had never heard of Swanson but this novella was quite good. I really appreciated the twist at the end, and the ultimate reveal. How much did I like it? The first book of 2024 I read was a Swanson book…but that’s a different post.

On the non-fiction side, my favorite was BE USEFUL by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His story, his rise from humble beginnings to what he became is a good one, and this slim volume boils down his philosophy down to seven things. Oh, and Arnold reads the audiobook so that’s a win-win.

So, those are my selections. What are some of your favorite books of 2023? And what are you looking forward to in 2024?

Summertime

By Claire Booth

Things I’m looking forward to this summer:

The continuation of Lupin, the French-language heist thriller (June 11 on Netflix; it’s officially Part 2 of Season 1. Whatever. Just watch it. My review of Part 1 is here.)

Finishing Money Heist, the Spanish thriller I just started binging. I’m late to the party and still only on Season 1 (there are four). So far it’s perfect high-stakes, slick-criminals summer viewing.

The Underground Railroad, limited series (out now on Amazon Prime). Colson Whitehead’s book, on which the series is based, was phenomenal. And Barry Jenkins directs.

In the Heights, in theaters June 11. Lin-Manuel Miranda. Enough said.

Black Widow, in theaters and Disney + Premium July 9. This one has an asterisk. Black Widow is one of my least favorite characters in the Marvel Universe and this could be junk. I’ll see what the reviews say before I commit . . .

Jungle Cruise, in theaters July 30. Dwayne Johnson. Emily Blunt. Could be junk. Almost guaranteed to be ridiculous. Will I still see it? Yes. Guaranteed.

Even the poster is deliciously ridiculous!

Michael Lewis’s latest book, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story. (out now)

The Other Black Girl, the debut novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris (June 1)

Finally digging into Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic, by Eric Eyre. (out now) It won the Edgar for Best True Crime this year and has been in my to-be-read stack for a while.

The Eviction of Hope, a crime anthology. (out now)

Laura Lippman’s latest, Dream Girl. (June 22)

And wrapping up the summer, as always, with Louise Penny. The Madness of Crowds (Aug. 24)

And a few non-media things:

Sending my children to camp

Eating at a restaurant (inside even!)

Bouchercon. I get to list this because, while normally it’s held in the fall, this year takes place August 25-29. In New Orleans. So … hot and sticky and hurricane season. But also … people and friends and panels and jazz and travel and socializing. Heaven.

The Life-Changing Magic of Books

By Claire Booth

Let me confess this right upfront. I own a lot of books. I am actively looking for another bookcase. I dream that one day I will live somewhere with ceilings tall enough to necessitate one of those rolling ladders to get to the top shelves. 

Someday . . .                          Photo credit:Stairwayshop.com

So I had definite opinions when I heard about Marie Kondo’s stance on books. The author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up maintains that if an item doesn’t "spark joy," you should get rid of it. The book was very successful on its own, but since her Netflix show started streaming at the beginning of this month, she’s become a cultural juggernaut.

I didn’t take much notice of this until her stance on books hit my social media feeds. Kondo advocates keeping only those books that spark joy or will be beneficial to your life going forward; otherwise, get rid of them.

And boy, were people pissed off. Granted, many of those I know are writers and passionately in love with books, so their response wasn’t surprising. But the outrage extended even further. People of all sorts were highly offended at the thought of someone telling them they should keep only a chosen few volumes.  

In fairness, Kondo isn’t quite as draconian as that. She didn’t make the guy in Episode 5 get rid of his copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, even though he’d read it countless times. She encouraged the keeping of anything that provoked that kind of special "joy."

But then she said something that I’ve been mulling over ever since.

"Books are the reflection of our thoughts and values."

This statement can be seen in two different ways. The first, and the way I think she meant it, is that what’s on your bookshelves should reflect you. It should match who you are as a person.

"So by tidying books, it will show you what kind of information is important to you at this moment," Kondo says to the couple she’s helping in Episode 5.

So in essence, someone looking at your bookshelves should be able to tell that right now you’re an Atkins-dieting, sci-fi-reading father of a toddler? Or a Sudoku-solving reader of Regency romances who’s taking an accounting class?

That might be completely accurate, but good grief, how completely limiting. Shouldn’t your books be more than who you are?

I think the best book collections are the opposite of a reflection; they contain ideas that don't just echo our own opinions or knowledge, but rather push us outside our comfort zones—whether in the setting, the genre, the subject matter, the author’s cultural or ethnic background, the political viewpoint, or countless other aspects. The thing I hope people can tell about me if they look at my bookshelves is that I’m curious about the world.

The second way Kondo’s reflection statement can be interpreted has a broader and deeper meaning. I don’t think this interpretation is what she meant, and I think it’s where she misses the mark.

Books are a reflection of the value placed on reading.

Books, of any kind, show that value is placed in the written word and the knowledge that imparts.

Having books in a home—enough books where they are a presence, not an afterthought—means that everyone who lives in that home is exposed to that value. Every time they walk by that bookshelf. 

This is particularly true with children. Rigorous studies have shown repeatedly that kids who live in homes with books, and who are read to consistently, do better in school and enjoy learning more. That doesn’t mean you need the dream library with the ladder. If you only have the room or the budget for a rotating stack of ten from the library, that’s great. It’s still showing that the value of books is both individual and aggregate. And that both are precious.