Best Discoveries in Reading 2024: Nonfiction

As you can see below, my nonfiction reading is all over the place, yet this list does not include theology or books about movies. (Both of those are coming soon.) Most of these titles were published in the last few years, but I reached back to the 1st century BC for one, just in case some of you like the old stuff.

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Elon Musk (2023) Walter Isaacson

Love him or hate him (I can think of no one indifferent to him), Elon Musk is a fascinating character. If you think you understand the wealthiest person in the world, you probably don’t. Yet no one is better qualified to sort through the world of Elon Musk and present it to readers than Walter Isaacson. Yes, it’s nearly 700 pages long, but I urge you to read this book.

How to Grow Old: Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life (originally ???/2016) Marcus Tullius Cicero

Several months ago, when I noticed David B., an acquaintance of mine, was reading this book, I decided to buy a copy. This is far more than an updated version of an ancient self-help book. Cicero (106-43 BC), a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, orator, and more, has a lot of wisdom to share. I think you’ll be surprised. This is a bilingual Latin/English edition.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life (2021) George Saunders

This book may be as close as most of us get to a masterclass in understanding, appreciating, and writing short fiction. Saunders, who has been teaching MFA students at Syracuse University for more than 20 years (and writing some tremendous fiction himself), gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at how fiction works. Examining seven short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, Saunders shows what’s underneath the hood and how great fiction becomes great. Don’t make the mistake of thinking of this volume as a stuffy, nose-in-the-air slog. Instead, it’s a delightful journey that lovers of fiction will treasure. I only hope Saunders writes another volume.

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum (2024) Antonia Hylton

For more than two decades, I’ve lived less than 10 miles from the Crownsville State Hospital, the subject of Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum. Yet in all that time I’ve never heard anyone talk about the facility or its history. Now I know why. Madness is a frightening tale that leaves readers asking, “Why didn’t someone do something about this?” Thanks to the Severna Park Library staff for gifting this book to me as a retirement present!

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (1994) Peter Guralnick (2x)

Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (1999) Peter Guralnick

People often fail to recognize that huge events (musical, political, cultural, etc.) rarely happen in isolation. It’s usually a combination of many influential elements converging at a point in time or person, usually both. Peter Guralnick gives us a glimpse at the making and unmaking of Elvis Presley. Both volumes are superb, but this is a story I’ll never revisit. The second volume, Careless Love, is one of the saddest books I’ve ever read.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024) Jonathan Haidt

I greatly admire Haidt’s honesty and courage in writing a book that desperately needed to be written. Haidt suggests that the isolation brought on by the pandemic, combined with smartphones and social media, has created a harmful situation for our children, leading to a multitude of problems that may plague us for some time. Many of his solutions are worth implementing, but others may be a hard sell. A few of Haidt’s examples of safety strategies implemented with his own children may be a bit much for some parents, but the basic concepts seem logical and practical.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession (2023) Michael Finkel

Having previously enjoyed the author’s earlier book, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, I figured my chances of liking The Art Thief were pretty good. As we devour the pages, The Art Thief gives readers the feeling that “This can’t be true. How could one guy steal so many works of art over so many years and never come close to getting caught?” I won’t spoil it for you, but The Art Thief is a page-turner you can get lost in.

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation (2024) Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson was recommended to me by a friend who made the author and his work sound fascinating, so I decided to pick up this title from the library. Hanson relates stories of invasions and sackings from ancient times to the New World, showing how societies can (sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly) become barbaric and force the deaths of peoples and cultures. In histories of the fall of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, Hanson holds nothing back, urging contemporary readers to remember the past or ignore it at their peril.

How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told (2023) Harrison Scott Key

I recently met with my college pastor (from 40 years ago), who asked me if I’d ever read any books by Harrison Scott Key. Maybe I thought he was going to tell me that Key is the ancestor of the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner” (he’s not), but instead, I learned about a writer who is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Key’s marriage journey is tough reading, and you often feel guilty laughing at his humor, but you’ll both laugh and cry. Striking that balance is an extraordinary feat.

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi (2024) Wright Thompson

Fellow Mississippian Wright Thompson takes a part of history that is too frequently swept under the rug and proclaims it boldly in surround sound: the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. Till’s tragedy is not limited to Mississippi but instead represents larger issues having to do not only with justice and humanity but also with economics, commerce, politics, and more. The Barn is an unforgettable book. It may be the best nonfiction work I’ve read this year.

Bare Knuckle: Bobby Gunn, 73-0 Undefeated. A Dad. A Dream. A Fight Like You've Never Seen (2024) Slayton Bonner

I saw this book while my wife and I were on vacation and knew I had to read it. Bare-knuckle fighting, a man with a 73-0 record, fights with very dangerous guys happening at a moment’s notice… This is all under-the-radar stuff, exciting but brutally violent, not for the faint of heart, and incredibly difficult to put down.

V13: Chronicle of a Trial (2022) Emmanuel Carrère (translated by John Lambert)

Okay, I’m cheating a bit: I’m still reading this book, but I’m confident nothing in the remaining pages will convince me to take this off my 2024 Best of Nonfiction list. V13 covers the trials of the terrorists responsible for the attacks at the Bataclan (theatre) in Paris on Friday, November 13, 2015, that killed 130 people and injured 416. I’m linking to the Amazon description if you want to know more.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what nonfiction you enjoyed in 2024.

I have more nonfiction on the way with my lists of theology and books on movies. Stay tuned.