Fifty two weeks of reading (2024)

I read 52 books last year!

The full list of books I read this year is available here, along with a partially complete list from past years. I read a pretty even mix of fiction and non-fiction, though generally not much sci-fi or fantasy.

I'd like to make some recommendations! I think I'd strongly recommend five of the books I read this year, where I think of strongly recommend as the following commitment: “if you read this book and honestly found it to be a waste of your time, I would gladly get coffee and defend the book or read a book of your choosing.” Descriptions are left deliberately short, I strongly prefer to come into books relatively blank slate and "experience" them." Without further ado —

• The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. This book eloquently expressed a number of thoughts I'd crudely had before. I think this is the most personally meaningful piece of literature that I've read in years.
• A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis. A short, raw reflection after the death of his wife, this was painful to read but hauntingly beautiful. I still think about individual lines from the work often. n.b. the book touches often on his christianity, but I found lots of meaning despite not being one myself.
• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. An adorable, warm book set in a second-hand used bookstore in japan. I suspect this is the most biased and stubborn inclusion on this list. I've often said my dream is to one day run a second-hand bookstore and that bookstores are my happiest places, which likely explains much of my love for this piece.
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. A classic & often recommended book that I thought lived up to expectations. Obvious what a personal theme of reflection was for me this year between this and The Myth of Sisyphus.
• Mathematica by David Bessis. The first half of this book is a wonderful description of synthesizing intuition and building a language to communicate it. I'd consider myself a fine but not particularly good math student, but thought the principles were far more generally applicable.

To make good on my commitment above — if you read one of the five and you regret the time you spent on it, I'd love to buy you coffee and talk about it (note: I reserve the right to retract at some point if the volume of outreach becomes overwhelming). Send me an email at pranav [at] conviction [dot] com or shoot me a DM on twitter.

I'd love some recommendations from you -- fill out this form below & I'll let you know if I read your book. Thanks in advance!