What I'm Reading - 12/29/24
My top books of 2024
I’m back from Wisconsin after a lovely week at home celebrating Christmas. We had a great time. This year, my family drew names and had to pick an embarrassing shirt for that person to wear all year. We had a lot of fun picking things out for folks.
I’m writing this right before heading to the shore for New Year's. I told my friends I couldn’t remember the last time I had a day without a rush to get anywhere and no long list of things to do. It feels great.
As we close out this huge year, I’ve been sharing my favorite reads of 2024 to Instagram and TikTok. Here’s the complete list. What were your favorite books of 2024?
Top Ten Books of 2024
10. Tarot for Creativity by Chelsey Pippin Mizzi - I’ve been working with Chelsey to improve my writing, and it’s been a massive help in tackling writer's block and discovering more about myself as an author and my ideal reader. This book gives you tools for using tarot to help you with your creativity, no matter what you are creating.
9. I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris by Glynnis MacNicol - After being trapped alone in New York City for 18 months during COVID, the 46-year-old and single MacNicol headed to Paris to pursue radical enjoyment.
8. Character Limit by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac and Breaking Twitter by Ben Mezrich - The saga of Elon Musk taking over Twitter continues today. Still, the authors of both books do a good job of adding new details and stories that build on earlier books published about Musk’s reign. Conger and Mac bring their journalistic background, providing ample details, while Mezrich brings the Hollywood flair for storytelling and insights into the emotions of the employees caught up in all the drama.
7. The Price of Power by Michael Tackett - Outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is polarizing. Still, most would agree that he knows how to wield power in Washington, unlike many others. Tackett got unprecedented access to write this authorized biography of McConnell’s pursuit of power throughout his life and career and does a good job of outlining why McConnell made the decisions he did - even if you disagree with them.
6. What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack - As a huge West Wing fan, it’s pretty hard for me to find out new things about this television series, but Fitzgerald and McCormack - both actors in the series - spent hundreds of hours interviewing the cast and crew to deliver numerous never before heard stories and stories of service. This is a must-read for any fan.
5. Inheritance and The Mirror, Books 1 and 2 of the Lost Bride Trilogy by Nora Roberts - Nora Roberts is one of my go-to authors when I want an easy fiction read, and these two books don’t disappoint. When the main character discovers an uncle she never knew she had and that she inherited a mansion on the coast of Maine, she moves there and realizes it’s haunted. Inflicted by an old curse, seven brides die there, and the characters set out to find out what happened to them and how they can end the killing streak. Book three, the Seven Rings, comes out in November 2025.
4. The Women by Kristin Hannah - Hannah’s books are another favorite, and her latest is set during the Vietnam War when women who went to fight were treated very differently than men. Frankie comes home not as a hero but to a country that wants to forget about the war. Full of twists and turns, Hannah shines a spotlight on a particular era of American history.
3. Burn Book by Kara Swisher and Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten - I put these two books together as they are both memoirs by two women who have blazed their own paths in their lives and careers. Swisher in the tech journalism world and Garten in the culinary- both of these books’ authors were more vulnerable than expected. They were full of practical advice for anyone trying to put their unique stamp on the world.
2. World on the Brink by Dmitri Alperovitch, Garrett M. Graff - Opening with a hypothetical scenario where China invades Taiwan on November 13, 2028, Alperovitch and Graff set the stage for this must-read book about why Russia and China are making the decisions they are right now and what America must do to fight back.
1. The Fourth Turning is Here by Neil Howe - While this book came out in 2023, I read it at the beginning of 2024, and I’ve been unable to stop talking about it. Howe does a fantastic job of explaining the cycles that American history has gone through and how we are at the same point in the cycle as past challenging times such as the American Revolution, Civil War, and World War Two. While it will give you anxiety about what will happen between now and the early 2030s, it also shows that we’ve gotten through tough times before.
Bonus Friend Favorites
Three friends came out with books this year that I immensely enjoyed. Renee DiResta wrote Invisible Rulers about how narratives gain traction online, Garret Graff wrote an oral history of D-Day, and Sasha Issenberg wrote The Lie Detective about the challenges those fighting misinformation online face.
What I’m Reading
Top Trends
NYU Center on Tech Policy: The State Of State Technology Policy 2024 Report
Stories About Specific Countries
Political & Social Commentary
Associated Press: President-elect Trump asks Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban
Associated Press: Most adults feel the need to limit political news consumption due to fatigue and information overload
The Wall Street Journal: How a Telecom Bureaucrat Learned to Speak Trump
POLITICO: Mark Zuckerberg and Meta got a big win. They have the House GOP to thank.
Washingtonian: Kara Swisher Just Wants a Meeting With Jeff Bezos
Bruce Mehlman’s Age of Disruption: Six-Chart Sunday (#48) – Resolutions
Miscellaneous Insights & Reports
NPR: The 'Beyoncé Bowl' halftime show was a massive hit for Netflix. The football was too
The New York Times: How Airlines Pick the Movies on Your Flights
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