Books I Read in 2024
Last year I read less books than the two previous years. In 2022, I read 25 books. In 2023, I read 32. However, I’ve accomplished a lot this year in other ways. I produced 10 short stories last year, though significantly less poems. Professionally, I was promoted to subject matter expert in English, got more adjunct positions, and developed a science fiction literature course. Many goals and expectations weren’t met, but other unexpected things happened.
I planned to read more books in 2024, open a new school with a partnership, and those things didn’t work out. Something unexpected was starting a doctoral program. I wasn’t planning on it, but it happened.
Here is a list of the books I read in 2024:
- The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
- I Will Fear No Evil by Robert A Heinlein
- Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling
- This is not a Science Fiction Textbook by Mark Bould
- Triplanetary by E.E. Doc Smith
- Firestarter by Stephen King
- Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
- Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
- Showdown at Yellow Butte by Louis L’Amore
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
- The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway
- Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
- Journey to Reality by Dr. Zac Porcu
- Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlin
- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
- Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- Shogun by James Clavell
The book that disappointed me the most was All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy because I found the characters to be a little flat and the plot anticlimactic. The book that surprised me the most was Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein because it was a book club selection that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy as much as I did. It’s nothing like the movie and very heartfelt for a military science fiction book. The book I enjoyed the most was Firestarter by Stephen King, which is probably really cheesy but It was a lot of fun to read. The pace was great, the characters were complex, and I will most definitely NOT watch the movie.
My goals for 2025 are to read more books than last year, open a school, exercise more regularly and publish a book. We will see which of these come true by the end of the year. I hope you pursue your dreams. I am the son of immigrants who grew up in the ghetto, but now I’ve been a business owner, professor, writer, and will soon be a doctor. Despite discovering a blood disease, which was a bummer, I’ve accomplished many things that I’m very grateful for. You can too. Just do it and see what happens.
