One of my favorite posts of the year is sharing top reads from the year before. While I feel like I learn something about myself or the world from almost every book I read- be it novel, poetry collection, or text book, I tried to make my Goodreads post this year an even split between fiction and non-fiction- to really lean into the “learning” theme. 2024 was a very strange year for me with a lot of grief, worlds of wonder, and tons of rediscovering myself as I began adventuring with a whole new group of people as well as some long time very dear friends. I think my favorite reading experiences reflect all that. (PS: honorable mention goes to Emotional Labor which I’ve already recommended several times throughout last year so I didn’t think I needed to get into it again here…) OK, let’s get into it…
Tiny Beautiful Things (the play!- originally by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos): This is getting mentioned first as it’s the reason I’m posting this almost first thing February- when The Bridge Initiative announced that this play was part of their season I went to read it and immediately fell in love. It has been such a joy to spend so much time with the words and wisdom of this play as I understudied 2 of the 4 roles for The Bridge Initiative’s production (which opened last Friday and closes this coming Friday- only 2 shows left on 2/6 and 2/7). If you are local to Phoenix and want to check out this beautiful script brought to life by some very talented actors I’ve loved working with over the past 2 months, you can get tickets HERE. If you aren’t local or can’t make it to the show, I still highly recommend this script… or you can also check out the book which inspired the adaptation. The general idea is people writing in to the advice column “sugar” for advice and the beautiful, painful, sometimes unconventional, sometimes hilarious answers they receive.
Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea: This book was a wonderful birthday gift from my soul twin who heard Dame Dench give an interview about it and knew immediately I’d love it. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t want it to end and once it did, I immediately put the audiobook on hold from my library and then experienced it all over again. The book is comprised of interviews that try to center around a specific play or character, and there are wonderful insights for anyone interested in those- whether you are anxious about approaching plays of the Bard or hold an MFA in his works… of course everything is interspersed with these fabulous personal anecdotes. Also… I don’t think I anticipated her to swear so much and she’s SO good at it.
Wellness by Nathan Hill: If you look on Goodreads, it is clear that people either love or hate this book. It is WORDY and it covers a TON of topics… but I think either Hill’s prose is my style or else I just read this book at the right time… This novel (mostly) follows Elizabeth and Jack as they go through dating and 20 years of marriage. There is a lot of midlife questioning of life choices, poking fun at AND seriously interrogating societal norms- whether long held or new normals (a very large chapter on Facebook and algorithm manipulation and another on fitness trackers), but the section that stands out in my mind and will continue to toy with my thoughts the most has to do with airlines and children… and not in any way that you could guess unless you read it.
The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie: I loved this collection of reflections and prayers for some of the hard, random, small, exhausting, and sweet moments in life. I just love Bowler’s warmth and it was sharing about loving this book so much that led to a dear friend giving me her newest book as a gift just before Lent last year. My only advice is- don’t try to read this all at once or even close to that! It is meant to be savored or turned to at the moments you need the blessings described in their individual titles.
The Future by Naomi Alderman: I wrote in a previous yearly review that I was obsessed with Alderman’s book The Power and I have to say, I don’t think this novel quite lives up to how perfectly structured The Power was or how compelling I found that read… BUT The Future was still a page turner and very smartly written. The online discussion sections gave an interesting alternative voice to the story and the environmental and technology focus were a great topic, but I just had a hard time with the characters for some reason. Still, I thought about this book long after I finished it so that earns it a spot on this list.
Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection By Julie & John Gottman: I will read basically anything by the Gottmans. They have such thorough research in this area and they have a great way of making the research clear, relatable, and they don’t stop at the research- they always give you the ideas of what to do about it. I first heard them talk about this book on a Brene Brown podcast and knew I’d be reading it ASAP. It is about exactly what the title says… and while this book is geared toward long term couples and romantic relationships, many of the points apply to friendship and family as well. I wish they taught a course on this in school because our general population could really use this information.
Peter and the Starcatcher by Rick Elice: OH MY GOSH. This script is magical and I’m even more upset now that I was SO pregnant and sick when a local company did this play. I read this cuddled up in a cabin in Flagstaff on a perfect post-race high and let me tell you it is probably good I was all alone in that cabin because I laughed, I cried, and my imagination ran wild- others might have been concerned if they heard some of my reactions to this script. This is basically Peter Pan retold/origin story only it is SO MUCH MORE than that. I grabbed an annotated version so the extra notes on the original production and script tweaks while they workshopped this play were such a delicious bonus. Also, what a perfect play to read during a year where I encountered so much grief. “It’s supposed to hurt, that’s how you know it meant something.”
The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen: I started reading this book after a particularly random post-run social. One of my trail besties started spouting off the craziest facts about bananas and when I asked why he knew that he pointed me toward this book. I can’t even eat bananas and yet I kept talking about Big Mike Bananas for weeks… I couldn’t stop reading this book. It was insane. How has no one written a play about the banana wars?! If you aren’t sure if non fiction is for you- this book is one of those stranger than fiction moments that might pull you into the genre.
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck: I’m such a sucker for magical realism and this book was that done in such a perfect way. It was strange and whimsical and pulled at all my heartstrings and I stayed up all night reading it. Another book that I had on my TBR list for almost a year and then read at exactly the right time. Grief, love, art, this book was made for 2024 me. If you read it, just know that the strawberry moon references really solidified my lunar love that grew and grew last summer.
Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship by Fr. Gregory Boyle: I read three books by Father Boyle this year and it really reminded me of the kind of Catholic I want to be. This book happened to be my favorite of the three but I highly recommend any of his books. The Jesuits are just rooted in so much humor and in the poetry of practical gesture as a way to make faith visible and I love that. The stories are heartbreaking but hopeful which, again, was really the theme of last year.
Funny Story by Emily Henry: I needed a more safely predictable “chick lit” read amidst all the big emotions and plot twists last year and Funny Story hit the spot. I will read basically anything by Emily Henry, but the way this hit on a few parallels in my own life really bumped it up as a favorite. As for the plot itself, you likely know more or less what’s going to happen from the first chapter… but you don’t care because you want it to happen anyway.
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing: This story was WILD. It is about Ernest Shackleton and his ill fated Antarctic expedition. This book highly recommended by a friend, and while I STRUGGLED with how graphic some of it was (Spoiler alert: dogs don’t fare very well in this adventure. Something about which I wish my friend who recommended it had warned me, and the descriptions of what the men went through are quite vivid) I was absolutely mesmerized by the persistence, creativity, and fierceness of the human spirit on display throughout the book. The random one off facts about various crew were also enough on their own to inspire a lot of thought. It was kind of a fun tie back to Peter and the Star Catcher which has a character based on another Arctic explorer.
I hope you find something in this post to add to your to be read list this year! Let me know if any of these are a favorite for you too or if you have any recommendations for my list this year. I am looking forward to so many of the books I have lined up for 2025, but love the surprise recommendations that get thrown in.
Alphabet Resolutions 