2024 Reading
Back in July I shared my reading list from the first half of 2023. As we launch into a new year, I’ll share what I read during the second half. Looking back over the past six months, I notice my reading focused primarily on history, including a hefty trilogy of historical fiction.
One note of explanation: The book about Hitler was written in 1941 by Stephanie’s maternal grandfather’s first cousin, a Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent. My mother-in-law passed along a first edition printing of the book. It’s a fascinating read since it was written before Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States in World War II. It offers a glimpse of how history could have turned out differently.
Memoir
Chita: A Memoir by Chita Rivera
All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley
Dirt by Bill Buford
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
Pageboy by Elliot Page
Biography
Catching the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Liberal Hour 1932-1975 by Neal Gabler
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents Series) by Charles W. Calhoun
Nonfiction
Is Tomorrow Hitler’s? by H.R. Knickerbocker
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yoval Noah Haran
Essays
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Fiction
Fall of Giants (book one of The Century Trilogy) by Ken Follett
Winter of the World (book 2 of The Century Trilogy) by Ken Follett
Edge of Eternity (book 3 of The Century Trilogy) by Ken Follett
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
Full confession: I have not finished Edge of Eternity. The Century Trilogy totals about 3,000 pages. I put the book down with 500 pages to go several weeks ago and haven’t returned to it, which tells me I may be done with the 20th century! I’m inclined (by putting it on this list) to call it complete.
I’m always interested in book recommendations, so feel free to share books you’ve enjoyed. I added several of your recommendations from July to my book list for 2024. There’s so much to read!
