Top Ten Books Read in 2024

 Annual Top Ten Favorites

Since January 1, 2024, these books have been my favorite reads.  They span a wide range of reading genres, from non-fiction to fiction, from lengthy to short works, and from the Classics to modern literary fiction.

The list is in no particular order, but if I had to pick my favorite of the year it would be Doctor Faustus.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 

 

Ice by Anna Kavan 

My Antonia by Willa Cather 

The Ethics by Baruch Spinoza 

Doctor Faustus by  Thomas Mann 

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross 

The House of Doors by TanTwan Eng 

The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon

 

 Blackouts by Justin Torres

Knight Errant

Don Quixote 

by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

 

 “Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”   ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

 

 

 

 

The idea of the novel starts here. This is the source of the modern novel for many. While it remains the epitome of story-telling its fame has also led to the coinage of such terms as "quixotic" and others. Influential beyond almost any other single work of fiction, the characters through their charm and uniqueness remain indelible in the memory of readers.
Don Quixote is one of those books whose influence is so far-reaching as to be almost ubiquitous, like The Odyssey, or the Bible. And like the Bible or Homer’s epic, it is more often talked about than read. But my conclusion upon reading it is to recommend to all: read it and enjoy the stories.

As Don Quixote says . . . "the life of knights-errant is subject to a thousand perils and reverses, and it's jus as likely for knights-errant to become kings and emperors, as has been shown by experience through many diverse knights whose histories I know thoroughly. And I could tell you know, if this pain would abate, about some who, all alone, through the strength of their arm, have risen to the high positions that I've told you about. . . I can well suffer among such good company, for they have undergone greater affronts than we've just now undergone." (p 119)