2024 in Review: My Favorite Reads
One of the best things to happen when I finally got off Twitter in late 2022 was that I started reading more in general, and more books in particular. It had been several years since I’d read more than a handful of books of any kind, but I read 28 in 2023, and 68 in 2024, including several new favorites that had been sitting forgotten on my shelves for a while.
Last year, I combined my “best of…” into a single post, highlighting my favorites in each medium, but 2024 was such a good year for reading that gaming got its own post so I can spotlight my favorite reads in different categories: nonfiction, fiction, comics, and manga.
Let’s go…
Nonfiction
Not including comics and manga, I generally prefer nonfiction over fiction, but I’m also a lot more selective about what I’ll read, avoiding most mainstream faves that obviously deserve an episode of If Books Could Kill more than they deserve my limited time. Picking a favorite this year was tougher than usual because two found a place among my all-time favorites and a few others had personal value. (There’s also a poetry collection slotted in here because my goal of reading more poetry didn’t get any further than one book, and it was closer to memoir than fiction.)
Honorable Mentions
The Beautiful Ones by Prince (with Dan Piepenbring)
- This had been sitting on my shelf for years, initially bought as a memento of one my favorite musical artists, and I decided I wanted to end my reading year with it. It’s a unique (auto)biography befitting a unique musical talent, offering insightful glimpses of the young man who’d become one of the greatest artists ever. The passion and attention to detail Piepenbring put into pivoting after Prince’s unexpected death so early into their working together is apparent throughout, resulting in a beautiful physical keepsake that is arguably greater than the sum of its parts.
Bright Dead Things: Poems by Ada Limón
- A range of good to great poems, strengthened by Limón’s ability to tell insightful vignettes in verse that flow like prose; accessible without ever sacrificing or flaunting craft.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
- Deeply researched and smartly constructed, Range joins a small handful of invaluable, well-written nonfiction that validates and clarifies some strongly held beliefs. It’s been a while since I’ve dogeared and highlighted as much of a book as I did with this one. Highly recommended!
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
- I first read this back in ’03 when I got back into comics as an adult, and it still holds up as an invaluable must-read for anyone who wants to, well, UNDERSTAND the art (and history) of the comics medium. This time around, I appreciated the comparative references to manga a lot more than 20 years ago, when I barely knew it existed.
You’ve Been Played: How Corporations, Governments and Schools Use Games to Control Us All by Adrian Hon
- Insightful overview of gamification in various forms — some familiar, some new (to me) — that’s ultimately quite depressing. I don’t generally believe in the inevitability of anything related to technology other than the likelihood that we’ll find and prioritize the worst use cases first, and then proclaim them as innovative, required, and infinitely scalable. #cmonson
2024 Favorite
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
- Insightful and infuriating. This isn’t about AI, but Pérez presents such a dizzying range of examples of the various ways women are ignored in research and data in a variety of sectors because [white] men are the default human, that anyone who believes AI and LLMs aren’t irreparably biased should be forced to read it.
Fiction
I’ve been reading a lot more comics and manga the past couple of years, and traditional fiction has taken a hit as a result. I used to be more willing to take chances with novels, but the bar for capturing my interest is a lot higher. Fortunately, a few cleared that bar, one landing a place on my all-time favorites list.
Honorable Mentions
Eisenhorn: The Omnibus by Dan Abnett
- Most of my fiction reading last year was represented by this brick, my first non-gaming dip into the Warhammer 40k universe, and it was a hoot! Four novels, four novellas; overall, it was a perfect read after loving Inquisitor — Martyr so much, and it helped hook me on the grimdark future, as I have another omnibus teed up for this year.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
- A wonderfully crafted thriller in sci-fi clothing and socio-political accessories, Solomon keeps the plot and worldbuilding in the background, focusing instead on developing an amazing cast of characters who will stick with you long afterwards. Most years, this would have been my hands-down favorite read.
2024 Favorite
The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings
- I bought this on a whim at Octavia Books during our visit to New Orleans last summer — and it turned out to be one of the most creatively ambitious novels I’ve ever read, absolutely drenched in a love of all things NOLA — aka, EXTREMELY MY SHIT. Urban fantasy? Magical realism? Literary fiction? All of the above? Jennings says it started as a comic book, but I wouldn’t trust any artist to match what he pulls off with words.
Comics
I wrote about the differences between reading comics and manga recently, and separating them here may seem a little arbitrary, but I’m doing it anyway, partly because I read so much more manga that a blended list would leave out some good ones.
Honorable Mentions
The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History by John Vasquez Mejias
- An impressive work of art, and an inspiring introduction to an important bit of American and Puerto Rican history (pro tip: they’re overlapping, but not always the same) that doesn’t typically get much attention in classrooms or media coverage. It includes an abridged version of this insightful TCJ interview, with my new favorite perspective on non-commercial art: “Nobody is waiting around for this book, so it’s going to take however long it’s going to take.”
Quince by Sebastian Kadlecik, Kit Steinkellner, Emma Steinkellner
- This has been a huge hit at the day job, regularly jumping into our top 25 circulating titles, and I use it often as an example of the power of diverse collections, deep backlist, and active curation. I’d never gotten around to reading it myself, though, because it’s arguably a middle grade book and I still don’t love reading digital comics. I finally jumped in and although the first few chapters didn’t quite grab me because I’m becoming a cranky old man, I eventually realized they were just confidently setting the stage for an unexpectedly delightful story that actually had me tearing up by the end!?!? The bilingual hardcover is expensive, but Fanbase Press is a small indie publisher so it’s worth it, especially as a beautiful gift for teenage fans of superheroes looking for something different.
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Gene Ha, Phil Jimenez, Nicola Scott
- A stunningly beautiful example of Sequential Art, and also a compelling reimagining of Amazonian mythology that exceeded my wildest expectations. I’ve never been a big DC fan, and Lynda Carter will always be my Wonder Woman, but this kind of standalone story, freed of Intellectual Property and continuity constraints, is where they should have refocused their movie efforts, too.
2024 Favorite
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V, Filipe Andrade
- I’d heard a lot of praise for this series, so much that I was worried it couldn’t live up to the hype and almost read it digitally instead. After finishing it, I wish I’d bought the hardcover edition because it’s going on my all-time favorites shelf! No spoilers, no notes; believe the hype.
Manga
So much of my manga reading has been series-based, so it can take a few volumes before something is ready to be called a favorite. Two new-to-me series not appearing here are likely to appear next year as I get further into them.
Honorable Mentions
A Journal of My Father by Jiro Taniguchi
- Literary fiction isn’t usually my thing, but Taniguchi delivers an emotional family tale of reflection and regret without any melodrama, combined with clean, beautiful artwork that subtly communicates the complicated feelings throughout. It made me think about the glimpses I’ve had into who my parents were in their early years, and how little I’ll ever know about who they were as individuals beyond my relationships with them.
Witch Hat Atelier 7-11 by Kamome Shirahama
- Officially my favorite ongoing manga series, I’m almost caught up with its English releases, and volume 11 unexpectedly and wonderfully paid off a long-simmering character arc while steadily moving the underlying plot forward. Shirahama has nailed her story’s pacing, slowly expanding the world while ensuring no single volume feels like filler, and her artwork remains stunningly beautiful throughout.
2024 Favorite
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Vols. 1 – 8 by Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka, Takashi Nagasaki
- An amazing reimagining of Tezuka’s goofy original short story that fully unpacks themes he only hinted at, while adding more nuanced emotional depth and political subtext, for a story that remains timely and even more relevant 20 years later. It’s not just my favorite manga I’ve read so far, but officially one of my favorite overall series ever!
Next Year?
I’ve decided to be more intentional with my TBR list for 2025, weeding my physical and Storygraph shelves to clear out the aspirational and long-forgotten books I’m never going to get around to, and selected 27 to start the year with. It’s a mix of fiction and nonfiction, comics and manga, including re-reads of the first two manga I ever tried (12 Days and Death Note). There’s also a poetry collection, and one ebook (novel) I’d forgotten about that made the cut.
The year was barely two days old before my wife added another book to my TBR, so even though 2025 has the potential to be one of the worst years of our adult lives, it also has the potential to be another great year for reading.
Discover more from As in guillotine...
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“even though 2025 has the potential to be one of the worst years of our adult lives, it also has the potential to be another great year for reading.”
Good heavens, may it be so!