Sam's 2024 book stack

👋 Sam here. I'm no Shane — holy smokes, dude — but I was pleased to have read 20 books in 2024.

State of play: I'm a regular, albeit deliberate, reader. Typically my goal is about two books per month.

• This year, I hopscotched among popular sci-fi fantasy franchises, literary classics and contemporary nonfiction about both homelessness and Palestine.

Yes, but: My favorite was Kazuo Ishiguro's heartbreaking, luminous 2005 novel, "Never Let Me Go."

• It's on the New York Times top 100 books of the 21st century for a reason.

What's next: My 2025 queue is already over capacity.

• I've just started Adam Hochschild's "Spain in Our Hearts," an account of Americans in the Spanish Civil War.
• Next up are Rebecca Yarros' "Iron Flame" (sequel to the #romantasy sensation "Fourth Wing"), and R.O. Kwon's "The Incendiaries," which I'm reading for book club.

Zoom out: My longer-term 2025 plan is to begin reading Cormac McCarthy's novels in chronological order. (I've only read "The Road" and "Blood Meridian.")