What I read in 2024 — 110 Outlet

20 books out of a goal of 25, which is pretty good. For 2025, I’m shifting as much reading as I can to ebooks to see if that makes it easier to read more books and do less doom scrolling.

Catalyst Gate

So much happens in this book to wrap things up. Satisfying, if a little hurried.

Recursion

What starts as a pretty typical science fiction turns into an exploration of love and purpose across time. Highly recommend. I think this was the best book of 2024 for me.

The Alchemist

Fairy tale nonsense. The universe is indifferent.

The Boldly Inclusive Leader

At this point I've read enough of these books that they all start to sound the same. Not a bad book if you need a first book on leadership, no need if you've already sampled the genre.

Rereading for the first time in a decade. Holds up incredibly well, if anything the lessons feel even more correct: a successful business is ultimately constrained by the same factors that enabled that success.

How to Be Perfect

A fun exploration of what it means to be good.

Slow Productivity

I've enjoyed previous work from Cal Newport, but this book fell flat for me. The people used as examples in the book all feel like outliers whose success is simply independent of the speed of their output. To quote another (imperfect) author in the genre, "Assume you are not that person."

Antifragile

This book is wild. Thought-provoking to be sure, but the arguments that devolve into diatribes detract from the overall message.

The Three-Body Problem

Didn't meet my expectations given the hype, but still interesting.

Thinking in Bets

Excellent discussion of the difference between bad decision-making and bad outcomes.

Working Backwards

An inside look at the strategies and tactics deployed during the hyper-growth phase of Amazon. Feels more like guidance on how to steer a rocket ship, not guidance on how to get it off the ground.

A Half-Built Garden

Cozy sci-fi, but in the end I'm not sure if the protagonists' perspective really resonated with me.

The Way of Kings

This book is twice as long as it needs to be. But if you want world-building, this book has it in abundance.

The Consuming Fire

A solid continuation of the The Collapsing Empire series.

The Last Emperox

A solid conclusion to the The Collapsing Empire series.

Becoming Trader Joe

Enjoyable because it's not a typical business book, but I think you have to be a regular customer of Trader Joe's to fully appreciate it.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Fun sci-fi, especially for programmers or folks in IT. Inspired me to get back into Factorio.

The Reservoir

In the end kinda weird, but still warm and well-written.

Lock In

Fun sci-fi murder/mystery.

Dark Matter

Great! Another excellent book from Blake Crouch. Read it one sitting.