It is time for my obligatory year review in books!
These are not necessarily the best books I read in 2024. Instead, they are the books that left the deepest impression on me. A book on this list might suck, but it's included because it left a mark. Conversely, a book might be channeled by God Almighty Himself, but if I can't write an interesting paragraph about it, it doesn't make this list.
Best Counterpoint: Ethical Porn for Dicks by David Ley vs. The Porn Myth by Matt Fradd
One of my special interests in 2024 was sexology, particularly the topic of pornography. I hope to write more about this subject in the new year, but till then I recommend these two books as a good starting point to the broader discourse.
Matt Fradd is a conservative Catholic and takes a decidedly anti-porn stance. He focuses on the destructiveness of the porn industry, the sordid lives of porn stars, and the impact of porn on individuals and societies. He also attempts to make purely secular arguments against porn, rather than arguments rooted in his Catholic faith. Sadly, in my estimation, he does not succeed. He harps on what I already know — that porn can be bad for both the consumer and producer — while failing to address the complex positives and neutralities of porn in a way I found satisfying. He therefore failed to sway me or answer my most pressing questions about pornography.
Sex therapist David Ley, on the other hand, takes a more nuanced approach. Instead of casting porn as all good or all bad, he guides men through the challenging subject of porn use. He teaches men how to ensure that the porn they watch is consensual, how to talk to their spouses about porn, how to report porn that is illegal, how to quit porn if they feel a conflict of conscience over it, and much more. While not brilliantly written (it was written specifically for ordinary men, who are not famous for their book reading) it is the manual to porn that I think every man needs.
Books on Stoicism
My second special interest in 2024 was Stoic philosophy, and I read a number of contemporary books on the subject. I couldn't decide which one I liked most, so I will list them all here in no particular order. They are all excellent and worth reading.
How To Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci focuses mostly on Epictetus, and was my first contemporary book on Stoicism. Pigliucci is a philosopher himself and provides an excellent and actionable introduction to Stoicism.
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald J. Robertson focuses mostly on Marcus Aurelius, and combines modern psychology with the wisdom of the ancient emperor. It also concludes with one of the most beautiful reflections on mortality I have read in recent memory.
The Stoic Test by William B. Irvine draws primarily from Seneca and is the book on this reading list I have the most reservations about. Still excellent, but it seems to take a more strident and absolutist approach to negative emotions like grief and anger which I found troubling.
Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday is less a book on Stoicism and more an ethical tract on moral behavior, featuring biographies of great men and women through history, including the Stoics. I know Holiday regularly gets dragged for being a Broist, but I enjoyed this book, and it was exactly what I needed to get through a very challenging year.
The Practicing Stoic by Ward Farnsworth is a brilliant overview of Stoic ethics, with commentary from Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Ben Johnson, Cicero, and many others. You don’t necessarily read this one from front to back — it’s more of a manual for Stoic ethics when you need insight or inspiration.
Most Thought-Provoking: Why? By Philip Goff
In Why?, panpsychist philosopher Philip Goff argues that we are caught in a needless false dichotomy between, as he puts it, “Richard Dawkin or the Pope.” Either there is a God and the universe and everything in it has meaning, or there is no God and we live in a universe utterly devoid of meaning. In Why?, he argues that the universe has purpose and meaning, even without God. I was most moved by the final chapter, in which he speaks to humanity's desperate search for meaning, and his return to an unconventional form of Christianity.
I love Philip Goff. I don't agree with him on everything, but I find him winsome, creative, and fun in a way most philosophers aren't. For non-philosophical normies like me, a fun philosopher I disagree with trumps a dour philosopher I agree with every time.
Most Controversial: The Myth of Sex Addiction by David Ley
In this counterintuitive book, David Ley makes a compelling case that what we call “sex addiction” is a misdiagnosis (for example, as a symptom of Bipolar or OCD), a vilification of natural male sexuality, and a moralistic and unnecessary self-image that inflicts enormous harm. His most interesting argument is that “sex addiction” is often a cover for selfish and psychopathic men to sidestep responsibility for their sexual misbehavior.
Most of all, The Myth of Sex Addiction is an unflinching exploration of the wondrous, brutal, exciting world of male sexuality. He explores its dark side, but also its capacity for pleasure, healing, fun, and intimacy. He argues that there are better, more compassionate, and more accurate ways to frame male sexual misbehavior.
Best horror: Uzumaki by Juni Ito
I read several of Junji Ito's horror manga books immediately after Hurricane Helene hit my region, and this one was by far my favorite. It tells the story of a small Japanese town invaded by Lovecraftian spirals and the ensuing nightmarish chaos. Ito's artwork is harrowing. When I am on my deathbed with dementia, I will still remember some of the panels from this book.
Looking back, it is strangely appropriate that, in the hideous blackout days immediately after a giant spiral destroyed my region, I was reading a story about how insidious spirals destroyed a town.
Best fantasy: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
I've already already sung Narnia's praises in a previous article, so I will quote what I wrote there:
Narnia is, in my view, a magnificent piece of literature. Lewis breathes mythical fire into these books. They are as pagan as they are Christian, and he draws from Greco-Roman myth and the deep well of medieval literature to inform the stories. Narnia is heavy with scholarship, wisdom, and imagination. When we first step foot through the wardrobe with the Pevensie children, we are in the skillful hands of a brilliant scholar of myth and literature.
I don’t have only nice things to say about Narnia. I have criticisms of how these books have shaped generations of young Christian minds. But, before I unleash my displeasure, I thought that I should dwell on the beauty of the books, and the impact this reading has had on me. As much as I wanted to remain unmoved by these stories, I found that even I was not immune. Reading these books transformed this jaded skeptical atheist in ways I did not anticipate.
Most Horrifying: On the Farm by Stevie Cameron
On the Farm tells the story of the pig farmer Willy Pickton and the dozens of women he raped, butchered, and processed like swine.
What makes this book so chilling is how professionally curious, respectful, and unflinching it is. A great amount of true crime resorts to tabloid schlock. Not On The Farm. This book is forensic, calm, and averse to melodrama while clinically staring down some of the worst atrocities imaginable.
Stevie Cameron clearly cares more about the victims than the killer. She doesn’t plunder the depths of his depraved mind, unpacking the whys and wherefores of his violence. Her narrative doesn’t seem to care about his inner life — it only cares about those lives he took. I find this a refreshing counterbalance to the wider True Crime genre.
Most heartbreaking: The Complications by Emmett Rensin
The Complications is a memoir of living with Bipolar I with psychotic features — a similar diagnosis to my own. Rensin writes with aching humanity, self-deprecation, and moral indignation about his madness. I read this book in the midst of receiving my own diagnosis of Bipolar, and it gave me permission to write about my own experience with such unflinching rawness.
Rensin gave voice to some of my own worst, unutterable nightmares. While I have thankfully never experienced the soaring heights of insanity that he has, he feels like a long-lost brother from the same mother of madness.
Most interesting to me was his occasional inclusion of his Catholic faith, which is an obvious balm to his illness.
Most moving: In My Time of Dying by Sebastian Junger
In this slim book, war journalist, athlete, atheist, and uber-bro writes about his near-death experience and how it cracked his mind open to the possibility of an afterlife. Along the way, he recounts his other near-encounters with death and fondly recalls those close to him who died in war. Most powerful to me were his recollections of his parents — his physicist father and superstitious mother — and how they both grappled with mortality and eternity.
This book is simply beautiful. It is laced with rare humility and spirituality. It is also humane, masculine, and wildly vulnerable. The final paragraph so moved me that it will quite possibly stay with me for the rest of my life.
Best book of 2024: Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus
This was the primary text in my study of Stoicism in 2024. While it is a slim book, it took me months to read. I have now moved on to Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, but Epictetus remains my favorite of the late Stoic philosophers. He is brutal, wise, sour, and gentle, all at once.
Of course, he and the other Stoics had a limited understanding of the human condition, as did every other ancient school the world over, from the Christians to the Buddhists. One must apply his wisdom advisedly. But, doing so has changed my life. I owe my survival of Hurricane Helene to the wisdom of Epictetus.
Epictetus is also funny. He’s exactly the sort of endearing hardass I love. Throughout the pages of the Discourses, he calls you a stupid slave, tells you to throw yourself into a lake, and accuses you of spending money on whores who aren’t even pretty. The man is hysterical.
That’s all for now. In the comments below, tell me which books were your favorite in 2024, and what you hope to read in the new year.
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I’m assuming that by talking about top books, you also admit the existence of bottom and verse books?
This is a great list! I always enjoy Ryan Holiday’s books.