You know this about me already (or you do now): I love to read. I love escaping into a book and imagining new worlds. I love cuddling up on the couch with a huge blanket and mug of herbal tea and a good book. It’s when I give myself permission to sit still and relax. And – crucial for any introvert – I get to be quiet. No conversation to make, no small talk, no obligations, no tight pants. Just me, my cats, and silence. (This time of year, maybe some Christmas jazz playing in the background.)

I read 52 books in 2024. (I read 52 books in 2023 as well as 2021, 2020, and 2017.) My original goal this year was 60… but I seriously underestimated how much time wedding planning would take away from reading.

Folks aren’t reading much these days. Maybe because we’re exhausted, maybe because we’re glued to our phones and screens. But, the average American reads at most one book every year. When we can’t focus for more than 60 seconds at a time, how could we possibly spend 4-10 hours reading a book? What does this mean for our psyches, our imaginations, our collective attention spans?

Our busy, modern lives are leaving us overstimulated and overwhelmed. And all this technology isn’t making us any happier. (I think all the time about how so many tech CEOs don’t let their kids use the technologies they’ve created. If that doesn’t tell you something … I don’t know what will.)

I hope some of these books resonate with you and inspire you to read more in 2025.

1. The 11 best books I read in 2024
2. For when you want to ugly cry in public
3. I could not shut up about
4. Best (fantasy) series
5. A book to change the way you think about …
   1. … the Middle Ages
   2. … Shakespeare
6. The book I procrastinated on reading the longest
7. By Category: All the books I read in 2024

The 11 best books I read in 2024

1. The Neopolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante
2. Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang
3. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life, Alison Weir
4. You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith
5. I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, Glynnis MacNicol
6. The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo
7. Here After, Amy Lin
8. Shakespeare was a Woman, Elizabeth Winkler
9. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
10. The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante
11. What You are Looking for is at the Library, Michiko Aoyama

For when you want to ugly cry in public

You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith

A Columbus writer who write about Columbus and her life. This is how she navigates the messy end of her marriage, parenting young kids, and COVID isolation.

Here After, Amy Lin

Amy is in her early 30s when her husband of six months dies suddenly. This book made me cry a lot in no small part because Amy’s in the same phase of life as me, a 30-year old who just got married. Truly excellent.

I could not shut up about

The Neopolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante

I am an evangelist for his incredible book series. Trust me. You need to read all four books in this series. I have never read such a nuanced, complex portrait of decades-long female friendship. (This is a re-read, as I read this series for the first time in 2023.)

Best (fantasy) series

Crescent City series, Sarah J. Maas

Escapist, fun, and terribly entertaining. I’ve read all the Sarah J. Maas books at this point: Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. These three books are a perfect beach read or for those frigid January nights.

A book to change the way you think about …

… the Middle Ages

Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life, Alison Weir

This French queen lived many lives. She was highly intelligent and influential in an age when even noble women were kept uneducated and silent by the men in charge. Crusades, betrayal, imprisonment, wars, political machinations, and more. This book has it all.

… Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a Woman, Elizabeth Winkler

The Shakespeare authorship question was news to me when I read this book (recommended by my favorite interior design YouTuber Caroline Winkler, whose sister Elizabeth wrote this book). This debate of ‘who actually wrote Shakespeare’s works’ has raged for centuries. This book explores all the possible authors of Shakespeare’s works, the least likely of whom is Shakespeare himself. This book is a fascinating look into the rather toxic world of academia, scholarship and gaslighting of (women) scholars who disagree with the old guard.

The book I procrastinated on reading the longest

The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien

I am a huge Lord of the Rings nerd. But I had avoided this dense text since childhood. I’m not sure I’ll re-read this one, but the deep dive into the world of Middle Earth lore, history, and characters was a fun romp. The Prancing Pony podcast also helped me work through the densest, most esoteric chapters.

By Category: All the books I read in 2024

(I left off the books I read but didn’t love. And only three books were written by men. Can you find them?)

Fantasy

• Crescent City series, Sarah J. Maas
• Babel, R.F. Kuang
• Half a Soul, Olivia Atwater
• The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo
• The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien
• The Hurricane Wars, Thea Guanzon

Sci Fi

• Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang
• Poppy War series, R. F. Kuang

Interior Design + Art

• Memories of Home, Heidi Caillier
• Men to Avoid in Art and Life, Nicole Tersigni

Memoir

• You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith
• No. 91/92: A diary of a year on the bus, Lauren Elkin
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come, Jessica Pan
• I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, Glynnis MacNicol
• Here After, Amy Lin
• I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, Baek Se-hee

Nonfiction

• Shakespeare was a Woman, Elizabeth Winkler
• Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life, Alison Weir
• In Morocco, Edith Wharton

Fiction

• Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
• Someone Else’s Shoes, Jojo Moyes
• Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston
• How Much of These Hills is Gold, C Pam Zhang
• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Satoshi Yagisawa
• The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante
• A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
• The Postcard, Anne Berest
• The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell
• The Breakaway, Jennifer Weiner
• Cassandra in Reverse, Holly Smale
• What You are Looking for is at the Library, Michiko Aoyama
• The Wedding People, Alison Espach
• Temeraire series, Naomi Novik
• The Neopolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante

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