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Books read in 2024
Before I went on my movie craze this year my diversion of choice was reading. Here are the books I read this year. I'm not including books where I only read a bit. Most of these I read cover-to-cover once. Some I read more than once.
Historical Bible
The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction by Bart Ehrman is a book I studied. It's a great resource for understanding the Bible from a historical and literary perspective, rather than a devotional one.
The other Ehrman book I read is probably his most well-known book written for a popular audience, and that is Misquoting Jesus. Ehrman is a scholar whose expertise is textual criticism, and that's the lens he uses in the book. By examining textual variants one can construct an understanding of how and why the Christian New Testament changed over time.
The Bible Unearthed is a book that I read and then studied. Its authors are eminent archaeologists of the Levant. They attempt to piece together a history of the ancient Israelites and the formation of their scriptures given the archaeological record.
Who Wrote the Bible? explores the documentary hypothesis which understands the Torah as a work composed over time by different authors and editors, each with their own perspectives and goals.
Agnosticism
Why Does the World Exist? asks perhaps the most fundamental question, and its author leaves no stone unturned trying to find the most compelling answer as he interviews various thinkers. Interpolated into the heady stuff are a series of moments from the author's personal life; anecdotes occurring during his quest that make the question all the more personal. Incidentally, I moved approximately sixteen-squillion woodchips while I listened to this one as an audiobook. Funny how palpable that association is. "Why does the world exist?" "Well, first of all, woodchips come to mind".
Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto was a delight to read in part because Hazleton is such a good writer, but personally, it was such a relief to—for once—hear thoughts that resembled mine. Fellowship feels good.
I first heard of Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives via Afterlife, an episode of RadioLab. The book imagines 40 different possible post-life existences with humor and profundity. It's an entertaining and thought-provoking work.
Discworld
Once when I was young I tried to read a Discworld novel and I just couldn't get into it. This year—being that I'm older and I understand myself better—I began to think this series by Terry Pratchett might be right up my alley, so I gave it another shot starting with Guards! Guards!, and, well, I adored it. Pratchett is clever and funny. His stories thrill, and his characters are vivid and lovable. After reading that first one, I kept going. The series is huge, but I imagine I'll keep working through it over the years. I'm reading one now.
Misc
Turtles All the Way Down is a young-adult novel by the wonderful human being John Green. I don't think YA is really my genre, but I appreciate Green's perspective, and heck if I don't like the joke the title is based on! The infinite regress it refers to is one of my philosophical interests, as may be apparent by my reading Why Does the World Exist?. It is also the case that the cosmology of Discworld relies on a giant turtle.
Man's Search for Meaning explores, from a psychological standpoint, the human drive to find purpose in this life. Frankl was in part informed by his experience in Nazi death camps, which obviously put a fine point on the problem.
Unruly by comedian David Mitchell delves into the ignoble history of the nobles in Great Britain. It humorously drives home the point that the person in charge—while claiming to be stationed by God himself—was also usually the person most willing to betray and kill others to get the job.
Graphic Novels - Horror
I read a bunch of horror in October. To see what I thought of some of these titles, check out Horror Gorging: A spooky-season observance for October 2024
I didn't write on The Bloody Cardinal which is a fun mystery horror by the wonderful Richard Sala. Similarly, I haven't said anything about the Japanese work The Strange Tale Of Panorama Island which I hoped was weirder and sexier than it turned out to be. The story has is moments though, and the art is expertly executed.
Graphic Novels - Scifi/Fantasy
Crater XV is a fun and humorous adventure scifi and sequel to Far Arden. It is possibly my favorite book I read this year. It's so clever, energetically drawn, and heartful.
Beauty and A Man's Skin are two incredible works written by Hubert. The first is a dark fairy tale whereas the latter is a queer feminist fantasy. Both are masterpieces.
Everything We Miss is a fairly short work of magical realism featuring some deep reflections.
Three Shadows is a work of magical realism, stylish and beautifully rendered in black ink. It's the story of a parent's courageous love for their child.
I wrote briefly about Paper Girls Vol. 1 in Horror Gorging: A spooky-season observance for October 2024.
Darkly She Goes is another Hubert fantasy book but this one was not for me. I didn't think the story was well-crafted but maybe that's the translation. I thought the art was hit-or-miss.
Graphic Novels - Misc
It surprised me, a self-described intellectual—you are permitted to guffaw derisively—how much I liked the simply-drawn straight-ahead crime story Bastard. It succedes in everything it does, and I'd recommend it to self-described intellectuals and basic bros alike. One of my favorite reads this year.
The City of Belgium is an impossibly extravagant "one crazy night" story. It's sort of like a Coen brothers movie in that there's a lot going on, such that trying to pin it down to one ultimate meaning is impossible. Gorgeous and dark, like all of Evens' work.
Always Never is a romance with a unique structure. Like a Christopher Nolan film, I suppose something is lost if you rearrange the work chronologically, and I'm not sure if that dinimishes the achievement or not.
The Story of Jezebel follows the biblical the story of Elijah, Elisha, Jezebel and King Ahab. It highlights the unavoidable (and often quite funny) confusions of reading ancient literature from a modern perspective. For more information about how the Bible reads like it was first put in a blender, check out the Historical Bible section above.
On paper the beautifully drawn philosophical work The River at Night should have been a homerun for me, but for heck's sake I couldn't derive any pleasure or understanding from reading it. I have no idea what's going on or why it's ostensibly so repetitive.
