THE BEST of 2024


This is a "best of" list based on the 89 books I read and reviewed in 2024. I do not focus on new books, so there are books on this "best of" ranging from being published in 1953 to being published in October of 2024.

The titles are active links to my reviews.

*** = Best of the best in that category.


HISTORY/MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY/NON-FICTION

This is a tough category every year. Every one of these is great, but Tim Alberta's book just stuck with me. His look into the world of Christian Nationalism was an alarm bell in the night for all American Christians.

***The Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta.

Attucks! Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team that Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose. 

Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith by April Ajoy.

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard.

The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope by Munther Isaac. 

Kurt Vonnegut: The Last Interview and Other Conversations edited by Tom McCartan.

FICTION

Clearly, I was doing a deep dive into older authors this year. Among this list of eight novels I have 4 books from the 1950s and 1960s - all classics of their genre.

***Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

The Waiting (Ballard and Bosch book 6) by Michael Connelly.

Cost of Malice by H. Mitchell Caldwell.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut.

Ban this Book by Alan Gratz.

Sun Moon Star by Kurt Vonnegut and Ivan Chermayeff


GRAPHIC NOVEL

I chose to read several graphic novels this year. All of these were good for different reasons. I chose the one that most would not - a crossover comic with Batman in the Fortnite universe. This could have been such a cheesy mess, but it was made into an interesting mystery.

***Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point by Christos Gage and others.

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru.

March (Series - Books 1, 2, 3) by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

Run: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott.

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin.

SHORT STORY

All of these short stories were excellent in their own way. There is a paranormal story, a Western, a what if? war story and a sci-fi story. 

***Tiger Chair by Max Brooks.

Ushers by Joe Hill

Comrades in Arms by Kevin J. Anderson.

The Turkeyfeather Riders by Louis L'Amour

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