Books read in 2024

I read 57 books this year, satisfying my annual goal of reading at least 50. Some are re-reads (starred) —I was on an Oliver Sacks binge last month. As usual, the list is skewed toward non-fiction (verity) with some excellent fiction: Hernan Diaz’s “Trust,” an endlessly inventive novel, was a keeper. And as usual, science and history dominate the list.

1. Weapons of the Lewis and Clark Expedition – Jim Garry

2. The Indispensables – Patrick O’Donnell

3. From Falling Bombs to Radio Waves – Emilie Serge

4. New Cold Wars – David Sanger

5. The Fifties – David Halberstam

6. For Blood and Money – Nathan Vardi

7. Madame Curie – Eve Curie

8. Physics in the Twentieth Century – Victor Weisskopf

9. I’ve Been Thinking – Daniel Dennett

10. Letters – Oliver Sacks

11. Uncle Tungsten – Oliver Sacks*

12. On the Move – Oliver Sacks*

13. Awakenings – Oliver Sacks*

14. A Leg to Stand On – Oliver Sacks

15. Deadly Feasts – Richard Rhodes

16. The Man With a Shattered World – A. R. Luria

17. The Golden Road – William Dalrymple

18. Campaigning with Grant – Horace Porter

19. Poor Charlie’s Almanack – Charlie Munger*

20. Origin Story: The Trials of Charles Darwin – Howard Markel

21. Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction – Fergus Bordewich

22. No Ordinary Time – Doris Kearsn Goodwin

23. Playground – Richard Powers

24. Life Atomic: A History of Radioisotopes in Science and Medicine – Angela Creager

25. Areopagitica – John Milton

26. The Uranium Club – Miriam Hiebert

27. America’s Cold Warrior – James Wilson

28. Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

29. Quanta and Fields – Sean Carroll

30. The Peacemaker – William Inboden

31. Reagan – Max Boot

32. Why We Die – Venki Ramakrishnan

33. Genius Talk – Denis Brian

34. Trust – Hernan Diaz

35. Waves in an Impossible Sea – Matt Strassler

36. Material World – Ed Conway

37. More than Curious – William Press

38. American Spring – Walter Borneman

39. Valley Forge – Bob Drury, Tom Clavin

40. American Colonies – Alan Taylor

41. Breaking the Spell – Daniel Dennett

42. Strategies of Containment – John Lewis Gaddis

43. Hinge Points – Siegfried Hecker

44. Washington: The Indispensable Man – James Flexner

45. The Best Minds – Jonathan Rosen

46. Fire Weather – John Vaillant

47. Inside the O’Briens – Lisa Genova

48. The Revolutionary – Stacy Schiff

49. Blind Spots – Marty Makary

50. The Quiet Damage – Jesselyn Cook

51. Foundation for the Future: The ABM Treaty and National Security – Arms Control Association

52. The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War – S. C. M. Paine

53. The Gravity of Math – Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis

54. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam – Robert McNamara*

55. The Fog of War – Robert McNamara and Erroll Morris

56. Because Our Fathers Lied – Craig McNamara

57. Making Weapons, Talking Peace – Herbert York