Favourite Books of 2024

On Seeing Clearly and more

To Read in 2025

If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you know that I love to read books. I read to learn, to inhabit other worlds, and to relax. I read to help me see more clearly. The image above shows some of the books on my “to read” pile for 2025. However, now is that time of the year when I look back and share my favourite books of the year, my gift to you. I hope you’ll share some of your favourites with me.

Favourite Book of the Year: Fire Weather by John Vaillant

This book was terrifying and I couldn’t put it down. It’s the book that has stayed with me most this year. In 2016, the Fort MacMurray Fire in Alberta dominated the news here in Canada and around the world. I thought that I had a grip on the devastation that occurred there but I didn’t know the half of it. Vaillant brilliantly weaves the specifics of what happened from firsthand accounts with the history of fire and what we might expect in the future as the climate changes. It was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction, and a New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year.

Most Surprising: Of Time and Turtles By Sy Montgomery

This is a heartwarming (and heartbreaking) book about the amazing people who devote their lives to turtle protection and conservation. I have long been partial to turtles and their ancient history but I was stunned by the love for turtles shown by those who work tirelessly to protect them and care for those who are injured. The things that happen to turtles because of poaching, habitat degradation, and roads are disturbing. Sy Montgomery is a beautiful writer who truly loves animals of all kinds. This book prompted me to write a post about turtles.

Best Memoir: My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand

I received this 900 page memoir for Christmas last year and waited until June to read it (when I could sit outside). I’ve been listening to Barbra sing since I was little (thanks to my Dad) and I love her as an actress too. So, I devoured this book, with its behind the scenes look at making records and movies. Whatever you think of her, she is a woman who was ahead of her time and didn’t let anything stand in her way.

Honorable Mention: Knife by Salman Rushdie, with his riveting account of the knife attack that almost took his life, his long and agonizing recovery, and how love saved him.

Best History Book: The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh

I didn’t love history when I was going to school but, as an adult, I do enjoy learning from historical fiction or just history writing that makes it come alive. Amitav Ghosh is one of those great writers, probably because he writes fiction too. This book, like Fire Weather, tells a specific story about the history of nutmeg trees in the Banda Islands in the Indian Ocean. He shows how Western colonialism and exploitation affected the landscape and the people there and how that’s related to climate change today. Next year, I plan to read his newest book, Smoke and Ashes, about the history of opium.

Best Fiction: The Personal Librarian** by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, and The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

I tend to read mostly non-fiction and I had seriously gotten out of the habit of reading fiction. So, I set myself a goal for 2024 to read at least one novel per month and I’ve kept to that goal. Most of my picks were based on end of year lists in 2023 and recommendations from friends. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the novels I read and the three above were my favourites.

** The Personal Librarian led me to visit the Morgan Library in New York City.

Honorable Mentions: Tremor by Teju Cole, Denison Avenue by Christina Wong, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, I Have Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, On the Ravine by Vincent Lam, This is Happiness by Niall Williams, and Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke.

Best on Seeing Clearly: Resonance by Harmut Rosa

This book had been on my “to read” list for a long time. A newsletter I received from a friend during the year mentioned it so that gave me the impetus to finally read it. I often write about resonance in terms of how a photograph comes into being, when there is a felt sense between something you see and what’s inside of you. In this academic work, Rosa puts into words how this happens.

He outlines a sociology of our relationships with the world; world in this case meaning “the people, things, nature, the Universe, history, God, life, even one’s own body and emotions, that we interact with every day.” His premise is that we live in this modern society, where everything is always accelerating and constant growth is fundamental. This can cause general feelings of alienation or disconnection and may be the root of economic and ecological crises. His solution is to create the conditions for more experiences of resonance. Fascinating. And, this book also prompted a post on resonance.

Honorable Mentions: The Biology of Wonder by Andreas Weber, Queering Contemplation by Cassidy Hall, , Fluke by Brian Klaas, On Quality by Robert Pirsig, A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

Non-Fiction: Politics and Culture

I always like to read about ideas and cultures, especially ones that are different from mine. Below are a few of the books that expanded my mind or made me see differently.

Mutual Aid by Peter Kropotkin, Be a Revolution by Ijeoma Oluo, Hamas Contained by Tareq Baconi, The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi, Fluke by Brian Klaas, The Map to the Door of No Return by Dionne Brand, Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson, The Pocket Guide to Facing Down a Civil War by John Paul Lederach, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Thanks for reading this and reading in general. What was your favourite book this year? I’d love to know. You can find my favourites on Amazon by clicking on the button below.