2024 Reading Recap
and my early reading list for 2025
As a bit of a nerd for tracking things, since 2018 I’ve kept a list of every book I’ve read that year, which includes the author, length of the book, and my rating of it. Over the last few years, my number of completed books has dipped, bottoming out in 2022 at a measly 5. So, this past January I made a resolution to read 12 books in 2024, and now at the end of the year, I’m happy to say that I met my goal, finishing with 13 completed books. Below, I’ve included my tracker for 2024, along with short reviews of a few of my favorites, and my list to read in 2025.
My 2024 Reading Tracker
Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better
Lyn Alden’s Broken Money was my favorite book of 2024, and per my trackers from the past few years, the best book I’ve read since 2021. A friend initially recommended it as a book to better understand Bitcoin, but it far surpassed that goal. In reality, the majority of the book isn’t really about Bitcoin, but about the history of money and how it has evolved.
Alden begins by defining what money is, and how in her view, it’s most simple purpose is to serve as a ledger. She then details how different commodities, including shells, tobacco, and ultimately gold, were able to fulfill the role of money, until technology and evolution rendered each less useful (or even completely useless). After covering the evolution of money, Alden also analyzes during financial systems, and how they have evolved as technological advancements have increased the quantity and speed of transactions, and placed ever-greater burdens and concentrations of power in the state and organizations. She shares her view that the current system is failing us, and how we are reaching the end of a long-term debt cycle that indicates ever greater trouble ahead (or as she commonly states on X, nothing stops this train). From that point on, the focus is more on decentralized money, including Bitcoin, and how it has the potential to strengthen much of our financial system.
Overall, I think Alden makes a compelling case, set by a perfectly-ordered narrative. She comprehensively detailed the history of money and financial systems, noting various strengths and weaknesses along the path, before arriving at her diagnosis and recommendations for the future. As someone who had struggled to the reconcile the appeal of decentralized with many of the negative aspects of it, I appreciated her clear-eyed presentation of it. Alden seems to place a heavy weight on the concept of personal responsibility, and the rights of the individual, which should be core tenants of a democracy. In many ways, her advocacy for greater personal control and responsibility via decentralized money and financial systems reminded of playing sports or being a member of a team. I relate to it, and I love the concept of it. That said, I do question the scalability of it and the broader appeal of it. People often want/need guard rails, and are often willing to give up certain freedoms for them, especially when it comes to people’s health and wealth.
Ultimately, I was left with uncertainty of how our financial system (and money writ large) would and should evolve going forward. But Alden’s comprehensive analysis of it better informed me, and enabled me to think more critically about the issue, which to me is often the sign of a great book. I’d highly recommend it to anyone curious about how money works, who doesn’t understand what Bitcoin or decentralized money is all about, or who wants to have a better idea of what the future of our financial system will look like.1
The Lightbringer Series
It’s been a rough few years for fantasy books for me, as I haven’t really been able to get into the few that I’ve tried. Honestly, it’s been frustrating, as fantasy was one of my favorite genres as a kid and young adult. So, when a friend sent me book one of the Lightbringer series, I have to admit that my hopes were not high, even though he told me it had all of the traits I typically like. Well, after reading all five books of the Lightbringer series in the last five months, he was right and I was (happily) wrong. This series is phenomenal, and it does indeed have all of the traits of a fantasy book that I love. A grand world, filled with a magic system that is both overwhelmingly complex and yet simple to understand. A plot that weaves a winding path, with a consistent mix of chapters of pure, unadulterated action, and political intrigue and strategy that leaves me thinking about where the story goes from here, even after I’ve stopped reading it for the day. But perhaps most importantly, a set of characters that rivals other great fantasy series I’ve read (Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Eragon, and maybe the Lord of the Rings).
Without spoiling too much, the setting of the series is a world (mostly) ruled by the most powerful magician (or “drafter”) in the world. He’s known as the Prism, and his ability to draft magic (via colors/light that he can see) is unparalleled. However, Prism’s have limited lives, usually dying after ruling for seven, 14, or at the most, 21 years. The start of this series focus initially on this Prism, his challenges with the (mostly) democratic institution that he shares power with, the Seven Satrapies (or realms he rules over), and his complex personal and family history, including a discovered son he has never known about. From that point on, the Prism, his son, and a slew of other characters that are some of the best-written I’ve ever read embark on a set of sub-adventures that never fail to weave into the larger plot line. There’s adventure, war, exploration, magic, political maneuvering, games with real life consequences, spying, assassination, love, and so much more.
Put simply, it’s a wonderful story.
My favorite parts are the plot and the character development, which are incredible. The character development reminds me of watching Game of Thrones and seeing how Jon Snow, Jamie Lannister, and so many other characters all developed as the main storyline of the fight for the Iron Throne played out. As an added bonus, the short chapters in Lightbringer made it easy to keep ahold of where each character is and what he/she is doing, even when I wasn’t able to read for a few days (which was often a frustration of mine with Game of Thrones). I also found this series to have some of the best quotes and displays of emotional intelligence I’ve read, especially from a fantasy series. While I didn’t start highlighting many in my Kindle until later on in the series, here are just a few examples:
“Life isn’t a climb. It’s a marathon.”
Sometimes you do your best, and it’s not good enough. That’s why we have each other.”
“If God needed perfect mirrors to being His light to the world, it would be a world forever dark.”
“There are things in this life that I need. Things I can hardly function without: My wife, a few close friends, hard work, the comraderie of shared purpose, things to figure out. Some leadership, because I’m pretty good at it and I chafe under incompetence. But I don’t need power. I don’t need every eye to be on me every time I walk in a room. I don’t need strangers to know who I am or be in awe of me. I wouldn’t give up those first things in order to be the most important man in history. Because that man will also be the most isolated man in history. I’ve been isolated, and it’s not for me.”
Ultimately, I can’t recommend this series highly enough. While initially skeptical of it, and the fact that it was five books long instead of a trilogy, it’s easily been one of favorite fantasy series ever. I’m both thrilled to have read it and sad that it’s over. Kip, Andross, Gavin, Karris, and Teia are all on the Mount Rushmore of fantasy characters for me now. And like all great fantasy books, I expect I’ll think about many of them and how they would react to situations in my own life going forward.
2025 Reading List
With 2024 wrapping up, it’s time to look ahead to some reads for 2025. As you can probably tell, I like to read about a variety of topics and genres, so the list below is pretty broad.
I think the book I’m most excited for right now is Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential, or Nate Silver’s On the Edge. I’m a big fan of each’s work, and Nate Silver’s coverage of the election and analytical approach to it this last year was one of the best, in my opinion. Adam Grant’s Think Again was one of my favorite books a few years back, and I use his Four Modes of Thinking (scientist vs prosecutor vs preacher vs politician) from it all the time. I expect both of these books to make me think deeply, and to examine how I can improve my own thinking process. I expect to read each early in 2025 before best ball and football season ramp back up.
On the lighter side, I am of course going to read Brent Weeks’ (author of Lightbringer) other series, The Night Angel Trilogy.2 But, I’ll probably save that until closer to football season so reading feels more light-hearted and less analytical. I’m also very excited for Sunrise of the Reaping, as the Hunger Games continue to just be plain old fun, and reminds of reading young adult books in my teenage years.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this non-football article, and please send me any questions you have about the books above or if you have any recommendations to pass my way. As always, thanks for reading!
I’m also now a regular reader of Alden’s newsletter, where she details her own investments and analyzes current and future trends.
While I loved Lightbringer, I am thankful that Mr. Weeks decided to just keep this series as a trilogy