Six Books For Your Consideration
Books about knowledge work dominated my year of reading in 2024
Last year I did something universally frowned upon by the reading community: I watched a TV show or movie before reading the book it was based on.
SHAME!
Please accept this year’s reading recommendations as penance, and discover the culprit content along with five other recommendations for your 2025 reading list below.
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman
by Patrick Hutchison
CAUTION: This book may cause you to think things and feel things. Read with care.
I went into this book toward the end of 2024 thinking that it would be a nice thing to read as the days shortened, the leaves turned and dropped in quick succession — sigh, that’s Fall in Louisiana — and the air finally cooled … a little. It was going to be a nice companion to, and a great kickoff for, the coziest season of the year.
Well it was all that and some. Not only entertaining, Hutchison is humorous, endearingly naive, and deeply philosophical about modern work and life throughout Cabin. Hutchison gives the reader a front row seat to the cutest existential crisis of all time.
Interestingly enough, this read was as much about knowledge work as it was about remodeling a cabin in the woods. I’m a magnet for anything knowledge worker right now. Perhaps this is a sign of an existential crisis of my own, in which case you’ll be reading about a cabin or other manifestation of said crisis soon enough!
It was the last book I read in 2024, so this might just be recency bias, but what the hell:
Cabin was my favorite read of the year.
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
by Cal Newport
Newport is a favorite writer of mine at this point, so I’ll read anything he writes about modern work, craft, and career. Besides that, though, I continue to find myself drawn to books related to knowledge workers — see Cabin above and I also started Brigid Schulte’s Over Work in 2024 — and Newport’s latest is square within that category.
A summary of Slow Productivity, in Newport’s words:
Do fewer things.
Work at a natural pace.
Obsess over quality.
Yes — Hell Yes! — to all of the above.
The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death’s End
by Liu Cixin
After binge-watching the Netflix special, I devoured Liu Cixin’s science fiction trilogy in 2024. Now I can at least say that I finished the books before the show reached the ending!
For the majority of the book series, Cixin wrote my favorite kind of science fiction — the kind that is believeable enough that it could be reality. You can imagine lots of what happens in Three-Body actually happening in the real world, the world you and I live in today.
There is much to unpack in each lengthy volume, but one of my favorite elements of the books were the forays into societal, psychological, and philosophical dilemmas faced by humanity on account of contact with an extraterrestrial race. Just when you thought our world was interesting and complicated enough, imagine that being thrown into the mix of today’s world.
*shudders*
Three-Body is a riveting, hard-to-put-down read, especially the first two books of the series.
Notes from a Small Island
by Bill Bryson
Bryson is not for everyone and, even though I enjoy his works, there are moments in his books that can make you cringe. Especially in his interactions with some service and hospitality workers.
Forgiving the man for behaving a little childish at times — who among us hasn’t? — Bryson can write a travelogue that makes you want to pack a bag and start walking immediately. Cringe-worthy moments aside, most of his content is harmless and often hilarious. And Bryson’s ability to describe a place, to build a world inside your head with words on a page, is unbelievable. He’s so good at awakening your geographic imagination.
So much so, in fact, that Bryson’s unique voice and style of writing influenced two stories here this year about our trip to the Cayman Islands, which you can read below:
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann
This book was recommended by Greg Thompson of Geographic Computer Technologies, a company which does GIS consulting work for government agencies like ours at the Assessor’s Office. I’m grateful to know Greg and work with his outstanding team at GCT, not just for the geospatial services but also for Greg’s solid taste in books.
This year at our annual Christmas luncheon Greg suggested anything by Tom Wolfe, so there’s a good chance you’ll see The Right Stuff on this list next year.
Dubliners
by James Joyce
Sarah and I traveled through Ireland for a week before the Thanksgiving holiday, and enjoyed one of the most comfortable travel experiences of our life to date. There is a link to more of that story below, but, to sum it up, being in Ireland felt a lot like being at home. The language, the food, and the drink are so familiar to us, and so, too, are Ireland’s people and its history.
In Dubliners, Joyce crafted a compelling collection of personal narratives and of deep dives into the psyche of the people of Dublin during the early twentieth century. You’ll find familiarity — a kinship, perhaps — with many of his characters throughout the book.
Like Ireland, there is comfort in reading Joyce, too.
A Real Adventure In Ireland
James Joyce once wrote that real adventures don’t happen to people who stay at home. “They must be sought abroad,” he wrote in Dubliners.
So tell me, what did you read in 2024 that left a lasting impression on you, and why? The comments are open for your recommendations!
Happy New Year. I love Bryson and agree it's not for everyone, but it's a hilarious read if you are into him.