As with last year, this list isn’t composed only of books released in 2024. It’s a list of my favorite books among those I read this year, regardless of when the book was published. Also, this list doesn’t include books I reread this year, only those books I read for the first time.

For the first time in 2024, I started rating each book with ★s. I did so immediately when I finished the book, and consequently, the ★ ratings don’t completely align with ranking below. That’s in part because the real-time ratings didn’t factor in the reading list in totality.

I read 81 books in 2024. Here are my 10 favorite books I read (or listened to) this year.

10: Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

As the title suggests, Harari addresses (and challenges) AI from the perspective of the anthropological history of human information networks. This is as fertile grounding as any, I suppose, but another book in this list provides a simultaneously broader and more specific justification to question AI. That said, this book—along with the author’s previously earned notoriety—is a vital contribution to the discourse regarding AI.

9: Walking It Off: A Veteran’s Chronicle of War and Wilderness

As the inspiration for Edward Abbey’s Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang, Doug Peacock certainly has tales to tell. After reading Peacock’s more recent Was It Worth It? in 2022, I looked back to this book, published in 1997. Its portrayal of the author’s post-traumatic return from Vietnam, along with a raw recounting of his relationship with Abbey, this book is laden with sobering perspective.

8: Arctic Traverse: A Thousand-Mile Summer of Trekking the Brooks Range

I always appreciate a wilderness travel memoir, and this book is no exception. Its envy-inducing Alaska adventure, along with the author’s obvious admiration for his surroundings—both human and non-human—make this a rewarding read.

7: The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?

“Success” resulting from merit seems like a noble, democracy-supporting idea, in theory. But as the author demonstrates, the entire justification for class hierarchy based on merit not only betrays a clearly stacked deck, but is a flawed idea to begin with.

6: Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech

It’s time to take back the term “Luddite”.

5: The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors

I picked up this book randomly from a bookstore at the Oregon Coast, and I was immediately enthralled. The book captures our societies’ complex relationship with deer, and humanity’s ancient fascination with these animals.

4: Worn: A People’s History of Clothing

I learned of this book while watching Patagonia’s excellent short film The Shitthropocene. It’s an excellent anthropological survey of clothing and an appeal for us to recognize the cultural and environment web of past and present relationships embodied in our fabrics and clothing.

3: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

I listened to this audiobook, and it’s like being in George Saunders class. Saunders guides the reader through classic short stories, heightening awareness, attention, and thoughtfulness.

2: The Women

I don’t think I’ve ever teared up while reading a book, but I did with this one.

1: The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

Like Braiding Sweetgrass before it, this is book our society desperately needs. I originally listened to the (brief) audiobook, but received the printed book as a gift for Christmas. The latter is full of beautiful illustrations, accompanying beautiful text.