As I compile the list of books that I read in 2024, I am struck by the challenge of finding books that are worthwhile to read. My love for autobiographies has been somewhat tempered by some that I have read in the last year, which were simply a reproduction of their lives with little to no insight into what made them. My gold standard for autobiographies remains “Open” by Andre Agassi, a book that I read a few years ago.
Self-help books tend to be similar to each other. They are useful to reinforce certain principles that I would like to live my life with. Fiction has so many genres – thrillers, horrors, sci-fi, historical, etc. My favorite over the past few years has been historical fiction. I have tended to like reading up more on history as I follow in the footsteps of those that have come before me in a search to better understand our origins. History also provides a perspective on the reason that things are the way they are in the world order.
As I have started taking baby steps in the world of writing, I have come to appreciate the skill and the science behind the art-form. It can be a topic for a blog post for some other day.
Without further ado, here is a list of the books that I read (or listened) through during 2024:
- No Spin: My Autobiography by Shane Warne
- Talking Life: Javed Akhthar in conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir by Javed Akhthar *
- Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography by Neena Gupta
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Della Owen’s
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyasaki *
- The Great Dune Triology by Frank Herbert
- The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionize your Thinking and make Wiser Decisions by David Robson
- Multibagger Stocks: How to Multiply Wealth in the Stock Market by Prasenjit Paul
- The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig and Warren Buffett
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman *
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Lords of The Deccan: Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas by Anirudh Kanisetti
- Sultan: A Memoir by Wasim Akram, Gideon Haigh
- Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
- The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel by Ken Follett
- Mind Without Fear by Rajat Gupta
- Look Me In the Eye: My life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison
I have marked out my favorites from the list above with an *. I was lucky to have found books that were all engaging except for those on investing. I found those to be dull and repetitive. Anxious People was surprisingly good. It was a recommendation on Audible and the way the author unfolded the story was fascinating. I enjoyed it.
A few of these books left a deep impression on me, such as Mind Without Fear by Rajat Gupta and Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. These were audio books and are worthy of a review by themselves, which I will publish in these blogs in the next few weeks.
If you have any recommendations for books that you have read in the past, please do share them. I would love to expand my repertoire!
Mithun's Musings 