Book reading feels like an act of cognitive rebellion in an American society driven by social media and pointess fear-based news. By reading books you are actively engaging the magical act of imagining, world creating and perspective-taking.

Personally, I often feel more relaxed and rested after reading. Book reading is one of my daily nonnegotiables (like exercise, a bit of social time and ideally a good night of sleep). By ensuring I do these key enablers each and every day I can attack my biggest challenges even when they seem pretty overwhelming.

While you can find good ideas and learning anywhere, books are one of the most concentrated forms of knowledge available. If you want to get the full arguments and deepest dive, read a book on that topic. Furthermore, intentional book reading can be key enabler if you want to keep learning and growing as well as a way to explore new ideas and cultures differently.

2024 was another amazing year of book reading for me. According to my reading logs, I read a total of 69 books entailing over 22,937 pages read. This past year the average length of a book I read was about 332 pages. Interestingly for comparison, I read more books in 2023 (79 books) but about the same number of total pages, since my average pages per book was higher. Assuming 300 words per page, that’s nearly 6.9 million words read!

Several years ago, I estimated my general reading speed at around 300 words per minute, even though in reality it varies significantly between page-turning fiction and knowledge-gleaning nonfiction. Regardless, assuming these estimates, I would guesstimate that I spent about 382 hours book reading in 2024 or roughly an hour per day.

Do wanna read more books? My Tip: Read 30 minutes to an hour everyday. How? First, ditch the social media, quit YouTube, and block off your worst phone habits. Then, give yourself the gift of book reading about as often as you want and can. Find a time ideally everyday in the evenings and regularly during the day, perhaps even at lunch.

In this post as part of my year in data, I’d like to review and share a bit about my favorite books from the last year as well as look at a few data visualizations. Hopefully you can find a few inspiring books to read yourself!


FYI – If you are interested in more detailed data logging and tracking practices, I log my reading with Goodreads, Kindle and Instapaper. Data collection and visualization powered by QS Ledger. This post and a few related ones are part of my Year in Data project.


69 books Books Read. 22,937 pages read.

Average book length in 2024: 332 pages

Book Reading Highlights: 3,056 total book highlights

So what were my most commonly highlighted words in 2024?

Top Numbers:
  • 254.7 monthly average
  • 404 most in a month
  • 147 least in a month
Top Highlighted Books:

📊 37.3 average number of highlights per book

  • 249 in The Gifts of Athena
  • 167 in Outlive
  • 144 in Mind Is Flat
  • 136 in The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World
  • 119 in Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing (Posthumanities)
  • 102 in True Age
  • 100 in Both/And Thinking
  • 99 in A Brief History of Japan
  • 94 in Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You
  • 92 in The Death of Death
  • 90 in The Courage to Be Disliked
  • 87 in Empire of the Summer Moon
  • 85 in Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs
  • 81 in The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self
  • 80 in Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
  • 76 in A Little History of Music
  • 71 in Hagakure
  • 67 in How Big Things Get Done
  • 65 in Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya

My 2024 Book Recommendations:

Check out Goodreads for a list of all of the books I read in 2024. Below are a few recommendations on my favorite books and a brief note, quote or thought on each.

(If you are interested in more book recommendations, check out my Recommended Books page.)

Favorite “Made Me Think” Nonfiction Book: The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater

Mind is Flat by Nick Chater argues that we do not possess a mind with hidden depths nor do we possess profound beliefs, desires, and emotions. As he puts it, “There are no mental depths to plumb.” Instead, he posits that our minds and selves are “constructed on the fly” manifesting moment by moment as improvisations influenced by past experiences and the present context. He labels this alternative view as a “flat” model of the mind and posits our brains are dynamic improvisors.

Nike Chater claims, “Consciousness, and indeed the entire activity of thought, appears to be guided, sequentially, through the narrow bottleneck: deep, sub-cortical structures search for, and coordinate, patterns in sensory input, memory and motor output, one at a time.”

📚 This was a thought-provoking book end-to-end and I wrote up an in-depth book review and books notes you can find here.

Here is one more great quote:

“Conscious experience is therefore the sequence of outputs of a cycle of thought, locking onto, and imposing meaning on, aspects of the sensory world. That is, we consciously experience the meaningful interpretations of the world that our brain creates, seeing words, objects and faces, and hearing voices, tunes or sirens. But we are never conscious either of the inputs to each mental step or each step’s internal workings.” (p 12)

Favorite Novel or Fiction: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

“Books, like people, die. They die in fires or floods or in the mouths of worms or at the whims of tyrants. If they are not safeguarded, they go out of the world. And when a book goes out of the world, the memory dies a second death.”

Spanning four main plotlines and characters spanning fifteenth-century Constantinople, present-day Idaho, and a twenty-second-century intergenerational starship, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Antony Doeer is part work of historical fiction and part future, sci-fi imagining. Whether it’s a war, aging, climate change or just finding your place, each of the characters must navigate their own survival and life mission.

The title of the novel and central object linking the storylines and characters is a rediscovered Ancient Greek codex entitled Cloud Cuckoo Land. The fragmentary codex tells the quest of Aethon, who aspires to visit the fabled paradise in the sky. Through a series of misadventures, he is transformed into a donkey, a sea bass, and finally a crow. This final form finally allows him to reach to the gates of the mythical bird city in the clouds.

Each of the main characters offered a unique life story as they overcame challenges and found connection and meaning in the codex through its discovery or re-discoveries and translations. I particularly resonated with Zeno who loses his family and is a POW during the Korean War but finds meaning and connection all the same. I also really enjoyed the perspective of Konstance who is the main character in the future and whose mysterious situation and survival offers a unique surprise at several points.

Like the last book I read by Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), this book is wonderfully written, offers beautiful details and feels quite immersive, even as it challenges the reader.

2nd Favorite “Made Me Think” Nonfiction Book: Courage to Be Disliked

“Think of life as a series of dots” - Alfred Adler

Based on individual psychology of Alfred Adler, Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga is a dialogue between a youth and an older philosopher on many of life’s most important questions.

Through a series of illustrative exchanges, the book’s characters examine many of Adler’s key concepts as well as laying out a philosophy of self-acceptance, courage to lead one’s own life and an ethical orientation based on contibuting to others. One might even argue it fits in well with Charles Taylor’s Ethics of Authenticity.

The Adlerian concept/question of “Whose task is this?” is a central idea. “All interpersonal relationship troubles are caused by intruding on other people’s tasks, or having one’s own tasks intruded on.” It is about clarifying boundaries and responsibilities in relationships and can be an empowering ideal for pursuing authenticity and emotional freedom from others.

“There is a simple way to tell whose task it is. Think, ‘Who ultimately is going to receive the result brought about by the choice that is made?’“

While its final messages are simple ones like “living earnestly here and now” and having the “courage to change what we can change,” Adler does not want us to simply accept these ideas without critical inquiry or self-examination. In fact, he is quite skeptical of advice-giving as such and instead encourages each of us attempt to work through these challenging ideas from our own point of view and personal experience and to strive to incorporate the key lessons authentically and fully. Along with “Man’s Search For Meaning” by Viktor E Frankl, I think this book and its underlying philsophy are worth remembering and returning to, especially when depressed, feeling nihilistic or uncertain on purpose

Favorite Sci-Fi Book: Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang

The only source of infinite mental energy is the organ of cognition of a sentient being—that is why we call the energy of gryons mental energy, for consciousness is its greatest generator—and so, an individual of extraordinary mental strength can, by entangling universes with their own mind, jump across universes.”

Imagine a precarious future Earth divided between two factions, an Asia-Pacific League and North American/European Group. Tensions are high with global shattering weapons and spaceships on earth and in orbit. Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang and translated from Chinese by Ken Liu takes this as its opening situation and throws in a mysterious third party that has been influencing Earth’s history, culture and technology for thousands of years.

Centered on a series of mysteries and puzzles, three scientific minds both sides of Earth’s major geopolitical divide navigate a real page turner of modern Chinese sci-fi. While the writing can be a bit tedious at a few points, the core plot is intriguing and offers a fresh take on an alien universe based in Chinese myth and legends. Protagonists must navigate riddles and puzzles rooted within human antiquity as they seek out truths of the universe and avoid impending disasters on their world and galaxies away. They must confront that Earth at its stage of civilization is about to make contact with another at a fair more advanced and potentially deadly stage.

Honorable Mention Sci-Fi Favs

It was tough picking my single favorite so here are a few more sci-fi picks from this year:

  • Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - Set in Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Valley, this light-hearted read offers transgender main character, explores a strange “Faustian” bargain involving violins and some mysterious new owners at a local donut shop. Super fun and enjoyable.
  • The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin - This book involves a lone human emissary to a planet called Winter whose inhabitants pass most of the year genderless and periodically become either male or female. Amazing premise and beautifully written with a core nail-bitting central challenge and plot.
  • Plum Rain by Andromeda Romano-Lax - Based in Tokyo, the central narrative involves a Filipina elderly care nurse, an intensely private woman about to turn 100 years old and a robot/AI. Intimate and probing looking at what it means to be human, care and what might be ahead for all of us.
  • The Golden Age by John C. Wright - Set thousands of years in the future in our solar system, humans are immortal and society is an interplanetary utopia. But Phaethon, our main character, is haunted by a crime he committed but whose memory has been erased.
  • A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White - Swashbuckling narrative involving a treasure-seeking space crew. Playful. Easy read.
  • The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson - With a dramatic opening scene centered on a very imaginable climate disater, this near future sci-fi book is centered on a new international goverment agency tasks with avoid global calamity. The characters felt a bit flat but the ideas were important ones and made me think of our current near-future of climate crisis differently.

Favorite Historical Fiction: Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.”

Set in World War II France and based on a Belgian woman named Andrée de Jongh, Nightingale follows two sisters navigating, surviving and resisting German occupation. Set in a provincial town of Carriveau, each sister charts her own path as the war and Nazi occupiers upends French society. The older sister, Vianne, is a more passive resister and survivor, at least initially and become focused on protecting her young daughter and her students at the school she teaches at. Isabelle is the younger and more fightsy woman and decided to take an active role in resisting the occupation.

Beautifully written, Kristin Hannah presents World War II from a female perspective. Characters feel very much alive and real as they face difficult, even impossible, choices during their evolving emotional and moral journeys. Highly recommended!

Fantasy Favorite: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros is the second book in the The Empyrean Series. The initial story arch covers a first-year student at a fantasy military institute whose chief goal is to train dragon riders. The female protagonist was originally slated to attend the scribe school but her mom, an important military general, forces her to follow in family tradition and her siblings. The book is rather violent and seems like a lot of pointless death at times.

I read both of the first two books this year. I really enjoyed the first book, Fourth Wing, but I felt like it was too similar to other fantasy, school-based novels. Instead, I preferred the second book, which presents more contrast and more tension as society assumptions fall apart and the build up to key battle grows. Some of the additional characters and plot drivers added to the suspense and drama. I quite enjoyed the world building and magic system especially, even though at times the main female character bored me and would have preferred a bit less romance.

Definitely a page-turner and engaging plot and understandably one of the more popular reads this year. Excited to follow this up with the third book coming out soon.

Honorable Mention: Thunderhead - What if AI could solve all problems…

Favorite on Art and Creativity:

In today’s culture, it often feels like we need to first do a bunch of life stuff (like work, answer emails, chores, plan for our next trip, spend family time, etc.) before pursuing the things we truly care about. The book Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratasky challenges this mindset. They cleverly call this the “Busy Bandwagon,” which along with this warn against “Infinity Pools” like social media and endless news feeds that hijack your attention.

The book argues for slowing down and being intentional about what matters most to you and making time for that thing, whatever it is. As Cesare Pavese said, “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” The book offers tons of techniques and a useful overall framework but personally I think the most important component is simply asking yourself: “What’s going to be the highlight of my day?” and then building your day around whatever that is.

As the authors say, “You only waste time if you’re not intentional about how you spend it.”

Honorable Mention: Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal

Favorite Startup/Business/Economics Book: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner

How can we avoid the projects we work on going overtime, overbudget or even failing to be completed?

Only 0.5% of the megaprojects in their (Oxford University) database were completed within budget, within schedule, and with committed benefits

According to How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between by Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner, only 0.5% of the megaprojects are completed within budget, within schedule, and with committed benefits. Most megaprojects, including software projects, tend to go “over,” in time, money, resource, etc. This book analyzes many of the reasons why including a bias towards action over thinking.

They offer a different approach based on their own experience. Specifically, they believe small and megaprojects would benefit from better and more detailed planning. For example, “Developing a clear, informed understanding of what the goal is and why—and never losing sight of it from beginning to end—is the foundation of a successful project.” Additionally, they show how important it is to find a good achor or benchmark, because without a good benchmark it becomes difficult to appropriately scope, forecast, and follow a plan:

“See your project as one in a class of similar projects already done, as “one of those.” Use data from that class—about cost, time, benefits, or whatever else you want to forecast—as your anchor. Then adjust up or down, if necessary, to reflect how your specific project differs from the mean in the class. That’s it. It couldn’t be simpler.

Finally, they posit that successful projects benefit from simulation. They specifically look at using architecture software as an aid towards construction but this idea can apply towards most forms of engineering. If you can simulate the project in software, then you have create a high fidelity plan, derisk much of the unknowns and can merely follow the plan acccordingly.

Honorable Mention: The Gifts of Athena: Historical Origins of the Knowledge Economy by Joel Mokyr

Favorite Philosophy Book: Both/And Thinking by Wendy K. Smith & Marianne Lewis

How do I keep my approach to thinking and decision-making fresh, adaptive and opportunitistc? How can I deal with paradox problems? How do I avoid a local maximum, getting in a rut, etc?

We often attempt to all solve problems using Either/Or thinking. Unfortunately this approach limits our options and some problems especially paradoxes can’t be solved in this way. In Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, Wendy K. Smith & Marianne Lewis offer an alternative approach to think and problem solving that challenges us to navigate certain problems and paradox with curiosity and openness and with the goal of embracing creative tensions.

The book looks at several types of paradoxes but two types reonated with me:

  1. Knotted Paradoxes: These are situations where multiple conflicting forces or tensions are intertwined and reinforce one another, making the paradox more complex and harder to unravel. Think of it like a knot, where pulling on one strand tightens the others.
  2. Nested Paradoxes: These occur when similar types of tensions or contradictions are present across different levels or layers of a system. It’s like a set of nested dolls, where the same pattern of tension repeats at each level, from the individual to the collective, or the micro to the macro.

These kinds of situations can lead to Vicious Cycles, which refers to patterns of thought and behavior that reinforce negative outcomes. These cycles are self-perpetuating, as the strict adherence to a binary mindset (either this or that) leads to decisions and actions that entrench an individual or group in unproductive, harmful, or limiting situations.

While the writing, examples and style can be a bit tedious and academic at moments, the authors argue that part of the problem in previously successful companies and individuals who fail is their inability to operate in two realms at the same time. You may not see it on the horizon but your current strategy or approach to life and business might be entering a plateau or even a dip. “Ruts” often feel like bound by and stuck in either/or thinking. The book offers some interesting mental models and frameworks for overcoming and embracing creative tensions as necessary ingredients towards innovation. In short, not all problems can be solve with one solution over another and demand embracing paradoxal thinking.

Honorable Mention: Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing by Ian Bogost - Is our “human” getting in the way of seeing and knowing certain others as other? How might we formulate an objective oriented phenomenology?

Favorite History Book: Jungle of Stone

“Yet for all its jumbled desolation, the remains left by the natural force of the jungle still displayed delicate tracings and intricate sculptured heads and figures, artistry carved into stone and frozen in time. Set in the overpowering forest, it was bewildering devastation and mystery, too much to grasp in a single take. The two men stumbled through the jungle after José in a state of disbelief. Yet Stephens realized almost immediately that they were in the presence of something extraordinary, something with the potential to change the understanding of history.” (p 67)

Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya by William Carlsen is a lively adventure story about a journey through Central America and re-discovery of one of humanity’s most advanced and now lost civilizations, the Maya.

Part travelogue and part serious biography, the book follows two of archaeology’s most exciting pioneers, American diplomat and amateur archeologist John L. Stephens and British artist and illustrator Frederick Catherwood. They stumble around Guatamala and Honduras in 1839 during the fall of the Central American republic and civil war in Guatamala. Over the next three years, the explorers traveled by mule using local guides and limited clues through the jungles of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, discovering more than 40 sites filled with ruins. Both got deathly sick and faced much hardship.

“They had come to the end. Tuloom was their last great ghost city, haunted with wonders no less astonishing than those of their first, Copán. Both places were victims of nature, lost to time, and, as with so much of what they had witnessed between, provocative and mystifying.” (p 336)

Upon returning, Stephens crafted the story and Catherwood created the illustrations for what would become one of the best selling books of their era. Their work revealed that the so-called New World also had reached an advanced state of civilization beyond what was previously known to most Americans and Europeans.

I heartly enjoyed reading this book that felt like a real-life Indian Jones, especially since it mapped well with my recent trips to Maya sites in Guatamala, Belize and Mexico (Yucatan).

Favorite Health Science Book: Immune by Philipp Dettmer

Second only in complexity to the human brain and nervous system, the immune system is incredible multi-level defense system. Immune: a Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer takes a deep and informative dive into the all of the cellular systems that protect us from different threats. The book has incredible illustrations and great descriptions to make the key cellular systems understandable and memorable. I especially like the look at both B and T Cells.

Honorable mentions:

Conclusion and Reflection

One of the central lessons in my favorite “thinking” book of the year, The Mind is Flat, is that we often overestimate how well we understand something. The author calls this the illusion of explanatory depth. Reading, attempting to understand books and different concepts and integrating different pieces of knowledge are one way to avoid this cognitive bias.

I’ll admit that I often finish a book and think I really learned something. Unfortunately when pushed to state what I learned, liked or even what it was about, I draw a blank. By writing either publically or on our own through note-taking and journaling we can overcome this illusion of competence and illusion of actual deep understanding.

I hope these summaries and quotes inspired you to dig deeper, read more and go beyond.

What was your favorite recent read? Or what’s another book I should read based on the ones here?


Got a comment? Send me an email.