I Rate All Books I Read in 2024
21 books with a 3.0 average personal Goodreads rating.
This was a tremendous reading year.
After reading 14 books in 2023, I did one better and ended up reading 21 books in 2024.
There were some big surprises, as well as unexpected disappointments. Some books I picked up after coming across them for the first time in a bookstore. Others, I strategically planned and purchased.
To my surprise, I loved books from the former category much more than the latter.
In this blog post, for every book I read, I will share my Goodreads rating, and a few sentences explaining why I enjoyed (or not!) the book.
If you want a quick glance instead, feel free to check out my Goodreads page.
That said, let’s get started in a chronological order.
January
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Rating — ⭐⭐
This was the shortest book I read this year. While sipping a vanilla latte in a cozy bookstore, I breezed through the 29 pages. Poems don’t usually resonate with me. This was another example of that.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
The author had a very interesting take on aging and death. In modern medicine, doctors only care about extending life, regardless of someone’s suffering in their final days. It almost reminded me of the juxtaposition of “lifespan” and “healthspan”.
How many people would prefer living 2 years healthily with friends and family instead of suffering 10 years or more strapped to a hospital bed, going through devastating procedures, intense pain and even memory loss.
I found the argument fascinating. However, when applying to my loved ones, I don’t think I would ever think in those terms.
All in all, a very interesting read.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Rating — ⭐⭐
I finished this book on a long haul 20 hour flight from Atlanta to Dhaka.
When picking this up from a bookstore in Istanbul, I was very excited. It’s one of those books that you see everyone recommending.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it.
The moral of the story came across very clearly in the first few pages. After that, it seemed like a drag. The author kept trying to make the same point over and over again.
The story in itself wasn’t interesting either.
February
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
A great all-in-one productivity book!
If you haven’t read much about productivity, pick this up. You will love it! Lots of very valuable information.
In the last few years I have read too many books on this topic. Because of that, most of the information to me was either repetitive or very dry.
March
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Oh boy! This was one of the best books I read this year!
With the Israel-Palestine conflict continuing in 2024, I felt the need to educate myself on this topic.
The book does a tremendous job covering all historical events. It’s very comprehensive. Maybe to a point where it can be paralyzing.
Granted, Rashid Khalidi is a Palestinian-American, so there’s some bias. However, I read other accounts from people who are not Palestinian, and most of the history presented in this book checks out.
One of the only books this year that made me feel helpless. Amazing read!
April
The Art of War by Thomas Cleary
Rating — ⭐⭐
From one of the best to one of the worst books I read this year. Where do I begin?
The book is about military strategy based on Chinese warfare. Also, if you were to believe all the “self development gurus” on YouTube, apparently you can apply many of the teachines into your own life.
Neither worked for me.
The military strategies were “obvious” and I literally couldn’t find one principle that I could apply to my personal or professional life.
Even after being only 170 pages long, the book somehow managed to bore me. When I closed the final page, it felt more like 500+ pages. Did not enjoy it whatsoever.
May
Kaizen by Sarah Harvey
Rating — ⭐⭐
I will be honest, this book was closer to a 2.5.
To someone who didn’t read many self-improvement or habit books, this can easily be a 5/5 read. Unfortunately, not for me.
There were a ton of practical tips about how to make lifestyle changes in one’s life without being overwhelmed. They might truly be life-changing for some people, but it did not work for me.
Easy to forget.
The Shining by Stephen King
Rating — ⭐⭐
After all the hype and it being a horror classic, once again, my excitement was dashed.
The book was very long (500+ pages). It was overly descriptive. The story was very predictable.
I am not sure if it’s because I don’t like horror books (never enjoyed one!) or this particular one did not resonate with me.
To my surprise, I enjoyed the movie more than the book.
This was my second Stephen King book (after Billy Summers). Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it either.
June
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
One of those books that I first came across in a bookstore. Just after reading the first few pages, I decided to grab it.
The book is about a sensational disappearance of someone who ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization.
For a mystery/adventure junkie like myself, the plot was a dream.
The execution, however, was mediocre. Parts of the book were really good, others either very dry or overly descriptive.
July
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
An investment classic about long-term “value investing”.
One of the best finance books I have read. The book teaches you to disconnect from hype cycles, become consistent with your investing habits and gives you practical tips about how not to “buy high, sell low”.
An incredible book that transformed my investing habits.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a book about happiness, building wealth, goal setting and learning new skills, among other things.
Naval is an entrepreneur, philosopher and investor. Being in tech myself, I have come across him in many blogs and podcasts.
When picking up the book from a bookstore in Nashville, I was worried it would be another one of those “get-rich-quick” books.
I couldn’t be more wrong.
It’s a great book that can help anyone craft a path towards a healthier, happier and wealthier life.
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
Even though I gave it a 3-star, I was quite disappointed by this book.
I am an ardent supporter of reduced smartphone usage, not only for kids and teenagers, but adults too. I have read countless research papers, listened to many podcasts and even wrote a few blogs on this topic.
When I saw Anna Lembke (a Stanford psychiatrist) write about this topic, I was excited.
In this book, Anna talks about the pain-pleasure cycle. It talks about our unlimited access to dopamine stimuli in the Western world, and how overconsumption of them leads to a less fulfilling life.
There were many missing pieces. The book wasn’t comprehensive enough. It touches the surface only, and most of her claims lack supporting evidence.
August
Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood by Anthony Mascarenhas
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I grew up in Bangladesh, a very young country close to India that became independent in 1971.
For Bangladesh, 2024 has been a year for the history books. Through mass demonstrations and protests, young Bangladeshis got rid of the ruling dictator. What followed was a crazy few weeks of revelations: corruptions, kidnaps, murders, etc. All conducted by the then ruling party.
Living in the US for 10 years now, I grew very distant from my own history.
This was an opportunity for me to delve into my country’s history. To my delight, the first book I picked up (this one!) gave me a fantastic lesson in history.
High Output Management by Andrew Grove
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From one best book to another. This was the best management book I read this year.
Some of you might already know that I am an engineering manager.
One of my goals this year was to become a more process-oriented manager. And boy did this book deliver!
A great management book no matter which industry you are in. It’s concise, straight to the point, and full of gold information nuggets.
Don’t let the cover deceive you. This book is worth every penny.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Rating — ⭐⭐
After reading the above two intense books, I needed a relaxing one.
This book seemed like a perfect light read. It was that indeed. However, a horrible one at that.
The story did not make any sense. I don’t think I have read another book with more plot loopholes.
The only good thing: it was a very fast read. Otherwise, utterly disappointing.
September
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil
Rating — ⭐⭐
With the explosion of LLMs and AI, the time seemed fitting to read this.
The book is about algorithms in daily life and how they can make our world more biased than fair.
There were some fantastic examples of this bias. Especially ones related to health insurance, loans and jobs. The author showed how we have transferred our inherent biases to algorithms and supercharged it by applying the bias at scale. By moving from human judgement to algorithms, we have reinforced discrimination, at an even bigger scale.
However, the book came across very negatively. It did not provide any solutions. Let alone solutions, it did not even acknowledge all the good things that have come out of Machine Learning, data, and now, LLMs.
I would love to read another book on this topic that is more fair and better researched.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
In this book, Mitch reconnects with a long lost Mentor to talk about the deeper things in life.
The mentor, Morrie, was dying from a motor neurone disease. In his final days, he teaches Mitch how to live.
A heart-warming book that brought me to tears.
However, looking back, I don’t remember too much. Most of the lessons were too obvious or not practical enough to follow.
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
Rating — ⭐
The only 1-star I gave this year. That should say it all.
A Horrendous read. Too theoretical. Extremely repetitive. Half of the time, it made no sense.
Nothing more to say.
October
Quran in English by Talal Itani
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐
It was a big year for me spiritually.
I made a concentrated effort to learn more about Islam, and finishing the English translation of the Quran was a big step towards that.
Needless to say, the rating is not about the message in the Quran, but the quality of the translation.
I was able to get the big picture message. And I loved it!
However, the translation was lacking. It did not add extra notes or background information that some other translations add.
I am looking forward to reading another one.
December
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Rating — ⭐
Oh wait, there’s another 1-star from this year. And this was the biggest disappointment.
After seeing the excitement around this book and reading the summary, I was stoked! If I were to quote from Goodreads, the book is “a novel that explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it’s an answer”.
I did not get an answer.
Essentially, Eddie meets five people in Heaven and revisits their connections to him on Earth. The stories behind the connections were very shallow. One of the connections was this random lady who’s the wife of the owner of the amusement park that Eddie worked at. What was worse than this random “connection” was the “why” behind meeting her in Heaven.
One of the worst books I read this year. So disappointing.
This Change Everything by Naomi Klein
Rating — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
From one of the worst to one of the best books I read this year.
2024 was the year I dipped my toes into the world of climate change. With all the natural disasters happening in the US, it seemed like the right time.
Super hurricanes in Florida, wildfires in California, snow in Georgia (where I live!), something seems wrong.
The book talks about climate change, the doomsday scenarios if we don’t reduce carbon emissions, and how our society incentivizes everything, but moving to cleaner renewables.
Surprisingly, most of my learnings from this book centered around our failed economic system rather than climate change.
A great read! I look forward to reading more books about climate change in 2025.
Closing Thoughts
Okay folks, that’s all for today.
If you have read it so far, thank you for your time. I hope you found it valuable.
If you want to stay connected, here are a few ways you can do so: follow me on Medium or check out my website.