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In 2024, I picked up a new hobby: reading books. It started as a way to cut down on screen time and improve my focus, and surprisingly, it stuck with me throughout the year. Initially, I aimed to dive into non-fiction hoping to grow professionally, gain fresh perspectives, and find inspiration, but that plan shifted fast after I stumbled into the world of fiction :P
Looking back at my 2024 numbers, I only have respect for each of the authors and how it has pushed me to rethink my ideas. Here’s the breakdown:
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Personal Development & Psychology | 12 |
| Business & Innovation | 6 |
| Fiction & Literature | 15 |
| Finance & Wealth | 3 |
| Mythology & Historical Fiction | 3 |
| Total | 39 |
Through this blog, I’ll share my key takeaways, favorite books, and a few books that just weren’t for me across these categories. If you are reading this, let’s connect on Goodreads.
Fiction & Literature
I devoured bestsellers and timeless classics, and one thing that caught me off guard was the sheer brilliance of these stories. There’s something magical about the creative process - the effort poured into building worlds that pull you in.
I’d sometimes read for 6-8 hours straight, completely hooked. People often promote non-fiction for learning, but there is lot to learn in fiction too. Non-fiction can feel like quick hacks you forget, while fiction stories linger.
My Top Picks:
1. All the light we cannot see
This novel is pure beauty - from the vivid portrayal of European architecture to the deep character development and emotions of war. I still play the Netflix series’ soundtrack in the background. It alternates between a blind French girl and a German boy drafted into the military during WWII. Their struggles and the way their paths converge make it unforgettable.
2. Book Thief
WWII strikes again! The book is narrated from the perspective of Death (such a clever idea) following a German orphaned girl living with her adoptive parents. The war slowly creeping onto her daily life and her resilience and optimism amid this chaos shot this book quite high in my list.
3. Dune
This was a long read and absorbing the world building took quite some time (imagine how long author spent on creating an entire universe), but I am glad I read it. I got so obsessed with the synopsis that I splurged on a special edition hardcover (NO REGRETS!)
It is set in a futuristic world and explores many different concepts like politics, religion, and ecology. I’m planning to read the sequel parts and hoping that I don’t cave into watching the movies first!
4. Project Hail Mary & Martian
I can’t pick between either of these sci-fi gems. Both are hilarious, set in survival space setting where the protagonist juggles between genius, creativity and not losing their mind. Packed with solid science, humor and lot of twists, I managed to finish each book in 2-3 days.
5. Crime and Punishment
This was the most difficult read - a sentiment shared by almost everyone who I know has read it. I’m not sure I grasped all its themes, but post-read analysis shed light on author’s life and protagonist intent. The book dives within the mind of a man who justifies murder for the “greater good”, only to unravel under guilt and turn himself in.
Worst read:
Kafka on the Shore
The first half felt magical, but the ending dragged and left too much unexplained. It touched on the ideas of fate and isolation, but it felt all over the place.
Personal Development & Psychology
I picked most of the books in this category from Instagram or Amazon bestsellers (lesson learned: not always the best strategy). These books hit differently depending on where you are in life, and the lessons stick only if you’ve experienced them to some extent. That’s why some feel like a drag on, and some (with proper theory, experiments, and actionable inspiration) become the top picks of the year:
1. Daring Greatly
The book explores vulnerability – often seen as weakness in modern society - and how to embrace it with courage. I really liked the flow of the book where author started with validating our fears, proceeded to debunk those myths while nudging towards empathy and self-compassion.
2. What Got You Here Won't Get You There
People have flaws and as they grow in career, the flaws compound and it can give a perception that since everything have worked so far it will continue to do so which is far from truth. The book explores the learnings from the author who have met and coached these types of people and tried to help them realize and fix their flaws to continue growing.
3. The Defining Decade
This book is related to author’s learnings as clinical psychologist helping people who seems lost in their 20s with three categories: Work, Relationships, and Brain/Body. I really liked social examples shared in the book and how one can navigate through these very common problems that people in the decade seems to worry about.
4. Man’s search for meaning
The horrors of World War 2 and effect of it on the human individuals is explored deeply in this book. Though the author talks about people finding meaning in their daily mundane tasks but learning about the life in prisoner camps and people losing hope is unforgivable and quite unfortunate.
The book explores 3 principles around meaning (termed as logotherapy) and dives deep into human psychology in adversity:
- Finding purpose through creative work and goals
- Appreciating beauty in relationships and love
- Become resilient to unavoidable pain and accept it to move on
Worst read:
You Only Live Once
This is not it. It felt the author wrote it just to write something. It was just bad; I don’t have anything good to say about it. The book borrows from stoicism, but it doesn’t feel that the idea was articulated well enough. At some point, it went on rambling about philosophy and how you should live your life.
Business, Innovation, & Finance
I started reading books in this category to gain insights into the software industry and economics but ended up captivated by stories of remarkable people in tech history and their domain. Corporate Library for the win ;)
1. The Ride of a Lifetime
This is Robert Iger’s journey of his quite dramatic professional life and his learnings on leadership principles. I really liked how Iger approached the challenges, his decision making, and his relation building with big companies in the time where Disney was facing downfall.
Most important thing is he felt more humane and genuine than any other Tech CEO and that’s why I guess I sticked with the book.
2. The Richest Man in Babylon
A timeless guide on personal wealth and learning to manage money. The principles shared in this book feel basic until you realize all our modern books only expand upon the ideas shared in this book. This was also my first book of the year, and the short stories shared in the book make it quite an easy read for beginners.
3. Steve Jobs
I didn’t think I would get that engaged when I saw the size of this book, but the life of Steve Jobs was nothing short of fiction. Another reason could be because Steve was there from the start of tech and was at the center of innovations in many spaces other than computers (animation, music, etc.) I picked it up after Iger’s book mentioned their friendship, and I wasn’t disappointed.
4. Disrupting the game
REGGIEEE and Nintendo are synonymous with each other. The only reason I picked up this book was because of his speech at the E3 presentation: “My name is Reggie, I'm about kicking ass, I'm about taking names, and we're about making games” and I play on Nintendo.
I really liked how Reggie is so humble, and his challenges and experiences in moving up the ranks were possible only because of his perseverance and resilience.
Closing Thoughts
I aimed for 50 books in 2024 - an ambitious (maybe unrealistic) stretch - but I’m thrilled with 39. Reflecting on it, it wasn’t about the number; it was about having fun and learning along the way. This hobby’s here to stay. In 2025, I plan to learn about stoicism, a lot of fiction, and occasionally junk (Amazon Best Sellers :P)
Here’s my 2024 in a picture:
