February 1, 2025 by Philip Lewenstein

Love of Books Continues in 2024

My lifelong love of books continued in 2024. I read several outstanding books in several categories: politics and history, media, sports, other nonfiction, and fiction.

I enjoyed books by several of my favorite authors: Bob Wooward, Garret Graff, Wright Thompson, Kara Swisher, Steven Brill, James Patterson, John Grisham, Kristin Hannah, Elin Hilderbrand, and Louise Erdrich.

Of local interest were books about three Minnesota politicians: former governor Rudy Perpich, former lieutenant governor Marlene Johnson, and former senator and vice president Hubert Humphrey.

Other books feature famous individuals: Nancy Pelosi, Volodymyr Zelensky, Connie Chung, Tiger Woods, Ara Parseghian, Oscar Robertson, John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Anthony Fauci.

The following list describes the 2024 books.

Politics and History

The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House by Nance Pelosi (August 6, 2024)—story of her transformation from housewife to House speaker—how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance.

War by Bob Woodward (October 15, 2024)—behind-the-scenes story of three wars—Ukraine, the Middle East, and the struggle for the American presidency; shows Biden’s approach to managing the war in Ukraine and the bloody Middle East conflict between Israel and Hamas as America prepares for the 2024 election.

Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election by Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman (January 30, 2024)—account of Donald Trump’s conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and how a Georgia prosecutor—Fani Willis—decided to indict him and his allies for his desperate attempt to hold onto power.

True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America by James Traub (February 13, 2024)—recounting of Humphrey’s role as a liberal hero of twentieth-century America who, even after his defeat in the 1968 presidential election, crafted a new vision of economic justice to counter the political divisions consuming American politics.

Rudy: The People’s Governor: The Life and Times of Rudy Perpich by Betty Wilson (January 1, 2025)—chronicle of flamboyant and beloved Minnesota governor’s childhood, and the successes, failures, and controversies of his three terms as governor.

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love by Marlene M. Johnson (September 24, 2024)—professional and personal story of Minnesota’s first woman lieutenant governor under Rudy Perpich in January 1983, the year she met her husband Peter, who in 2010 suffered a traumatic brain injury that would change both their lives.

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos and Lisa Dickey (May 14, 2024)—recounting the history-making crises from the place where 12 presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White House Situation Room.

When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff (2024)—eyewitness accounts of the surprise landing of 150,000 Allied troops on the beaches of occupied northern France: drama told through the eyes of soldiers, nurses, pilots, children, neighbors, sailors, politicians, volunteers, photojournalists, reporters, and more.

Formidable: American Women and the Fight for Equality: 1920-2020 by Elisabeth Griffith (December 6, 2022)—history of the struggle by both Black and white women to achieve equal rights.

The Money Kings: The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America by Daniel Schulman (November 14, 2023)—the story of German-Jewish immigrants who profoundly influenced modern finance.

The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands by Amir Tibon (September 24, 2024)—a first-person account of how one Israeli grandfather helped rescue two generations of his family on October 7, 2023.

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson (September 24, 2024)—a shocking and revealing account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long.

The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government by Brody Mullins and Luke Mullins (May 7, 2024)—portrait of 50 years of corporate influence in Washington DC by handsomely-paid, high-powered lobbyists.

Gangster Hunters: How Hoover’s G-men Vanquished America’s Deadliest Public Enemies by John Oller (November 26, 2024)—account of birth of the modern FBI as young federal agents in the 1930s chased notorious gangsters, often in blood-soaked shootouts.

Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Clavin (October 22, 2024)—true story of the infamous hangouts in Wyoming and Utah for bandits, thieves, and murderers in the 1880s and 1890s and the lawmen tasked with rooting them out.

The Showman: Inside the Invasion that Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky by Simon Shuster (January 23, 2024)—an account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Zelensky’s transformation from a comedian into a wartime leader.

Media 

Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher (February 27, 2024)—a journalist’s chronicle of the tech industry and inside story of its founders.

Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post by Martin Baron (October 3, 2023)—story of Washington Post newsroom editor’s experience under new owner Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, and challenges of reporting on a president who campaigned against the media as “the lowest form of humanity.”

The Times: How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism by Adam Nagourney (September 26, 2023)—a sweeping behind-the-scenes look at the last four decades of The New York Times as it confronted world-changing events and internal scandals, and faced the existential threat of the internet.

Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung (September 17, 2024)—a revealing account of what it’s like to be a woman breaking barriers in the world of television news; story of the first Asian woman to break into the a largely male, white-American television news industry.

The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World—and What We Can Do by Steven Brill (June 4, 2024)—an examination of how we have allowed the proliferation of alternative facts, hoaxes, even conspiracy theories, to destroy trust in institutions, leaders, and legitimate experts, explaining the rise of fake news and how we can return to a world where truth matters The author is a cofounder of NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation.

Sports

Ara: The Life and Legacy of a Notre Dame Legend—The Authorized Biography of Coach Ara Parseghian by Mark O. Hubbard (August 1, 2024)—chronicle of famous coach’s life, exploring his innovative philosophy, organization, strategy, tactics, and motivational techniques.

Tiger, Tiger: The Prince Harry of Sports by James Patterson (July 15, 2024)—biography of famous golfer by famous author that reads like a thrilling novel.

The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play by Frank Andre Guridy (August 20, 2024)—story of how the stadium, from the first wooden ballparks to today’s glass and steel mega-arenas, has affected American life and its role in the struggle for justice in America.

The Real Hoosiers: Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops by Jack McCullum (March 5, 2024)—story of the unheralded Crispus Attucks Tigers, playing basketball at the highest level in the 1950s in racially-divided Indiana.

Trash Talk: The Only Book about Destroying Your Rivals That Isn’t Total Garbage by Rafi Kohen (December 5, 2023)—based on author’s interviews with some of the world’s top competitors—on the petty rivalries and mind games that fuel them.

The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos by Armen Keteyian and John Talty (August 27, 2024)—investigation into the tumultuous state of big-time college football including Name, Image, and Likeness endorsements; the transfer portal, collectives, and college realignment; and the powerful influence of big media companies.

The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry, and Revolution by Michael Silver (October 1, 2024)—inside story of the brilliant, hypercompetitive young professional football coaches who threw out decades of received wisdom to fundamentally remake America’s most popular sport: focus on Kyle Shanahan and members of his coaching tree including Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, Raheem Morris, and Matt LaFleur.

The Lions Finally Roar: The Ford Family, the Detroit Lions, and the Road to Redemption in the NFL by Bill Morris (September 3, 2024)—the epic and tumultuous story of the Lions, the Ford family, and the city of Detroit—and how all three have come together on the cusp of a new era.

Kingdom on Fire: Kareem, Wooden, Walton, and the Turbulent Days of the UCLA Basketball Dynasty by Scott Howard-Cooper (March 5, 2024)—bold history of the iconic UCLA championships led by legendary coach John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Walton—set against the turmoil of American culture in the l960s and 1970s.

Big Time: The History of Big Ten Basketball, 1972-1992 by Murry R. Nelson (March 12, 2024)—history of two decades of Big Ten basketball when it was the most successful basketball conference in the country.

Rainmaker: Superagent Hughes Norton and the Money-Grab Explosion of Golf from Tiger to LIV and Beyond by Hughes Norton and George Peper (March 26, 2024)—behind-the-scenes memoir about sports management by Tiger Woods’s first agent. Norton describes his work with Tiger and Greg Norman and offers his thoughts on golf’s current money-grab era.

Better Faster Further: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women by Maggie Mertens (June 18, 2024)—story of how women broke into competitive running and how they are getting faster and fiercer every day—and changing our understanding of what is possible as they go.

Other Nonfiction

The Age of Grievance by Frank Bruni (April 30, 2024)—examination of ways in which grievance has come to define our current culture and politics, on both the right and the left.

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: Their Stories Are Better Than the Bestsellers by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann (April 8, 2024)—a collection of stories celebrating the heroic efforts of people on the front lines getting our books into the world.

On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service by Anthony Fauci (June 18, 2024)—memoir by famous doctor whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents; describes his key role in guiding the country through Covid, researching HIV, and navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises.

Attacking the Elites: What Critics Get Wrong—and Right—About America’s Leading Universities by Derek Bok (February 27, 2024)—a former Harvard president’s reflection on how elite universities are responding to critiques from the left and the right and how they can do better. Bok examines current disputes involving admission, diversity, academic freedom and political correctness, curriculum and teaching, and athletics to determine which complaints are unsubstantiated and which are valid.

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCluskey (October 15, 2024)—ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions by Grisham, famous novelist, and McCluskey of Centurian Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond (March 20, 2024)-argument about why poverty persists in America because the rest of us benefit from it; draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor.

Fiction

The Woman by Kristin Hannah (February 6, 2024)—novel about young woman from Southern California who joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother’s path to serve in Vietnam, then comes home to the challenges of adapting to a changed and divided America.

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson (June 3, 2024)—thriller about history-making eruption about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii.

After Annie by Anna Quindlen (February 27, 2024)—novel in which family, friendships, and the ties that bind are at the center of the story about the power of love to transcend the loss of a wife/mother, and triumph over adversity.

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich (October 1, 2024)—story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearning, and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people’s lives on the North Dakota prairie.

Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand (June 11, 2024)—the last of author’s best-selling novels about Nantucket; when rich strangers move to the island, social mayhem and a possible murder follow.

Counting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks (September 1, 2024)—emotional novel about wondering if we can change—or even make our peace—with the path we’ve taken.

Intermezzo by Salley Rooney (September 24, 2024)—moving story about grief, love, and family—about two grieving brothers and the people they love.

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham (May 28, 2024)—a third Grisham novel about Camino Island where bookseller Bruce Cable and novelist Mercer Mann always manage to find trouble in paradise.

Source: Summaries are borrowed from Amazon.