The Books I Read in 2024

I read a total of 39 books in 2024. As always, the year was filled with a wide variety of books—short books, long books, fiction, and non-fiction.

Like every year, there’s always a topic I find myself returning to which I usually deem my theme of the year. This year, that theme was absolutely all forms of Simplicity—spiritual simplicity, material simplicity, and professional simplicity. It’s been a transforming theme which I am still learning about and being challenged by.

It’s also fun to look back and see how Justus’ literary tastes are maturing because it’s brought back fiction into my life. Katie, Justus, and I enjoy reading together whenever Ellie will allow it (which is why it’s often after she goes to bed). Ellie is also slowly getting into reading herself, but I’m not counting the 427 times I read We’re Going On A Bear Hunt on my list.

So here are most of the books I read in 2024.

Books on Simplicity

The Minimalist Home (Joshua Becker)
Living out of a suitcase in 2022 was an eye-opening experience which showed how much we truly need to live with. This book was a great start to looking at our lives now that we’ve gotten more settled.

Clutterfree With Kids (Joshua Becker)
A natural follow-up. Same author, same principles, different focus.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (John Mark Comer)
The first couple of chapters nearly brought me to tears. Not because it was so beautifully written, but because I was so raw inside. It touched a nerve and set the year’s theme.

Freedom of Simplicity (Richard J. Foster)
This was a re-read, but I read it so long ago I didn’t remember it at all. A very good, challenging book.

Abundant Simplicity (Jan Johnson)
A more modern-day simplicity book. This and Freedom of Simplicity should be required reading for all Christians.

Practicing the Way (John Mark Comer)
So good! A book that truly came at just the right time. This is also required reading for followers of Jesus.

Sacred Rhythms (Ruth Barton Haley)
A very good book on slowing down and finding spiritual rhythms in life. If Practicing the Way was written with new Christians in mind, this book was written to the longtime believer.

Deep Work (Cal Newport)
This was a re-read to prepare for his soon-to-be reased book (next). This book is not a Christian book, but it very much speaks to the chaos of modern work life, and I’d consider it required reading for any full-time minister.

Slow Productivity (Cal Newport)
Another very important book for everyone, but especially for full-time ministers.

Fiction

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Road Dahl)
I hadn’t read this since I was very young. It was fun, and so strange.

The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)
We finally finished the core series of The Chronicles of Narnia at the beginning of 2024. Man…so good.

Maniac Magee (Jerry Spinelli)
This was the first chapter book I read in school as a child that I chose to read again on my own. I loved this book, and it was special getting to share it with Justus. (And the artful way the subject of racism was presented—something I didn’t notice as a child—made it obvious why this book was an award winner.)

Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare)
Another book from my childhood that I barely remembered. A fantastic book about a 12-year-old who is watching the new cabin while his father brings leaves to fetch his mother, sister, and new baby sibling. It was a beautiful coming-of-age story that touches on themes of manhood, being a foreigner in a foreign place, and changing in a way that is hard to communicate with others. When we finished this book, Justus was very sad it was over and declared it was his favorite book ever.

Hatchet (Gary Paulsen)
I somehow had never read this book in school. A very gripping survival tale. I totally get why this is a classic.

The River (Gary Paulsen)
Ugh! The sequel to Hatchet. I totally get why this book did not gather the same attention as the first. Gripping action, but terrible premise.

Where The Redfern Grows (Wilson Rawls)
I had seen the movie but barely remembered any of the story. Such a wonderful book. (And it was interesting to notice that the teenage protagonist was such an emotional boy. Not the typical main character.)

Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
A classic by the same author as The Secret Garden. It was enjoyable, but mostly it felt like a Hallmark movie for kids. The drama was…non-existent.

The Flames of Rome (Paul L. Maier)
This was the only adult fiction I read this year. It was recommended by a Bible professor at a Christian college. It’s historical Christian fiction which takes place during the time of Nero. It really brings the first century world to life and, as a bonus, is truly historical fiction. Every character and major event comes from the existing historical record. It wasn’t the best fiction I’ve read, but the commitment to the historical record made it a very interesting read.

Christian

The NLT One-Year Bible
I really like doing my daily reading in the New Living Translation. (I’ve read through the NLT Chronological before which was also good.) Each day, this Bible includes a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.

The Connected Child (Karyn B. Purvis)
An important book for our family.

The Connected Parent (Lisa C. Qualls)
Ditto.

Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies (Janet and Geoff Benge)
This is actually part of a huge Christian series for young readers. It’s the true story of a Japanese prisoner of war in WWII who became a Christian and returned to spend the rest of his life as a missionary there. Very challenging.

Eternity Is Now In Session (John Ortberg)
The first couple of chapters were so powerful and so important. The rest of the book was good, but man those first chapters about eternal life were so important.

The Beast That Crouches at the Door (Rabbi David Fohrman)
This doesn’t really belong under “Christian” books since it’s written by a Jewish rabbi, but…it’s the only book by a Jewish rabbi I read this year, so this will have to do. It’s a deep-dive into the story of Adam, Eve, and Cain. It was very interesting, but I didn’t love it. There were many Jewish word studies that I appreciated learning about, however.

Is Christ Divided? (Monroe Hawley)
I found this old book in the church library here in Slovakia. It’s a book on how our particular fellowship often ends up acting like the denominations and sects it seeks to be be different from. There were some good points in there I hope to revisit again one day.

Let Go (Francois Fénelon)
A short collection of thoughts from a 17th century theologian. I’d like to read more from him, but this particular book didn’t stand out to me.

Letters By A Modern Mystic (Frank C. Laubach)
An interest look into the spiritual life of a missionary from decades ago. It was fine, but I certainly didn’t love it as much as the person who recommended it to me.

Redeeming Productivity (Reagan Rose)
If you read a lot of productivity books, this won’t add anything to what you’ve heard before. If you haven’t, it might be interesting to read a book like this from a Christian perspective. (I’d still recommend Cal Newport’s books before this though.)

Let Your Life Speak (Parker J. Palmer)
This may be the first time this has happened to me, but I genuinely cannot remember reading this book. It’s full of my highlights, so I guess I did. And the topic of the book certainly calls to me, but I don’t remember anything about it. Crazy.

Other Books

Theodore Rex (Emund Morris)
This is Book Two in a massive three-series biography on the life of Theodore Roosevelt (each part is a tome!). I read the first back in 2018 and loved it, but needed a break. Finally, I got to part two this year. The writing is wonderful (the author won the Pulitzer Prize for the first book), and Teddy Roosevelt is such a fascinating person. The man was a focused, determined, machine. I plan to read part three one day, but I’ll take another break before I get back to it.

Let My People Go Surfing (Yvon Chouinard)
This book about the origin and development of Patagonia was very interesting. I love the idea of much of what Patagonia stands for, and I wish other businesses cared for God’s creation that much. Unfortunately, I don’t particular love Patagonia styles and my wallet doesn’t love Patagonia prices.

The Lost Art of Running (Shane Benzie)
A great book for those interested in running, or improving their running skills. It’s a well told story, not just running instruction.

Limitless (Jim Kwik)
I came for the memorization tips. I stayed for the fascinating world of speed reading.

Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff
A very interesting look at parenting and how it differs culture to culture. It’s a very good read with some challenging insights into what we tend to think are givens when it comes to raising children when, in fact, much of what we do is based on us being quite W.E.I.R.D.: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Speed Reading (Kam Knight)
Short, simple skills to increase your reading speed. I’ve doubled my reading speed and am enjoying the extra boost through certain kinds of reading.

The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day Speed Reading and Learning Program (Stanley D. Frank, ED.D.)
A classic in the world of speed reading. You’d be fine just reading the previous book, however.

Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention (John M Kirsch)
The only health book I read this year. It was a re-read as I looked to figure out a constant pain in my shoulder. The books didn’t help, but the pain finally went away very soon after I started supplementing with Omega 3’s (per my doctor’s recommendation).

Looking Forward

I am typically reading a few books as we head into the new year, but this year I’ve actually finished everything I was reading except for the book we are currently reading with Justus (The Bronze Bow).

Did you read any must-read books in 2024? Send me a note below and let me know! (And if you decide to read any of these books I’ve read, definitely tell me what you thought.)

—Brandon