Original image by There Stands the Glass.
Used books apparently aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. I took advantage of the pricing anomaly in 2024 by purchasing hundreds of undervalued books at thrift shops and library sales in 2024. Diligent bargain hunting put me well on my way to assembling one of the finest general-interest libraries in my zip code. Yet I own only half the 111 books I read in 2024. Because purchases made during my scavenger hunts are on a best-title-available status, I’m still dependent on library loans. My intellectual improvement regimen is rigorous regardless of the source. I balanced weighty non-fiction studies with literary classics by Baldwin, Balzac, Conrad, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Ibsen, Machiavelli, Maugham, Raleigh and Wharton. Even so, I’m not too proud to admit my affection for lightweight fare such as popular histories written by Erik Larson and Candice Millard. A sampling of my year in books follows.
Favorite book: Sophocles- The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (fifth century B.C.)
Most entertaining book: Giovanni Boccaccio- The Decameron (1353)
Most impactful book: George Antonius- The Arab Awakening (1946)
Most relevant book: Walter Isaacson- Elon Musk (2023)
Nicest surprise: Thomas More- Utopia (1516)
Biggest disappointment: Ann Patchett- Tom Lake (2023)
Best spiritual book: C.S. Lewis- The Screwtape Letters (1942)
Best music book: Robyn Hitchcock- 1967 (2024)
Best short story collection: Flannery O'Connor- A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)
Best poetry collection: Rainer Maria Rilke- Poems from the Book of Hours (1941)
Best audiobook: Elizabeth Strout- Olive Kitteridge (2008)
Most disturbing book: Gabriel García Márquez- One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)
Longest book: Henry Fielding- The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749, 1,000 pages)
Most ambitious project: beginning Will Durant’s 11-volume The Story of Civilization series