Jason's Best Books of 2024

It has been a fantastic year of reading! So many great books were released that it is hard to narrow my list down to 8 favorites, but here we go, listed in the order in which I read them:

Old Crimes and Other Stories by Jill McCorkle: Jill McCorkle is a master of her craft, and nowhere is that more apparent than in this recent short story collection. Like Muhammad Ali and his famous rope-a-dope technique, McCorkle lulls you into a cozy sense of comfort with her charming characters before slamming you in the face with a knockout punch.  I would rank this collection up there with the best of James Joyce and Vladimir Nabokov.  High praise, I know, but Jill has earned it.

This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew by Daniel Wallace: Daniel Wallace is a fantastic author (you may know him for his novel Big Fish), and an even greater person. This Isn’t Going to End Well is his first memoir, and it is the memoir I didn’t know I wanted, but the exact book that I needed. It is about the oftentimes uncatalogued demons that lie under the skin of those who we think we know best, and ultimately, about how we should not remember our loved ones for the way they died, but for the way they lived. Undoubtedly one of the best books of the year. Maybe of the decade.

Hanging Tree Guitars by Freeman Vines: Freeman Vines is a mystic, philosopher and luthier who lives in Fountain, NC. He has spent his life searching for a sound he encountered during a mystical out of body experience. This book chronicles his life and features stunning photos of guitars he has built out of the wood from "hanging trees" (trees where African-Americans were hung during lynchings).  This is a special book by a special man.

Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi: Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi gifts us with this first book of a series that lives at the intersection of The Godfather and A Song of Ice and Fire, if said intersection were in Renaissance Italy.

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud: Another book that is the first of a series, this novella takes place at a Home for the Treatment of the Melancholy on the dark side of the moon. It features several noirish and 1920s pulp fiction motifs. Nathan Ballingrud is a stellar writer who is at the top of his game.

Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek by Kwame Mbalia: Bestselling author Kwame Mbalia has started a news series, and if the rest of the series is as good as this first volume, it will be his best. Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek deserves a spot on your bookshelves beside Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Friendship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix: Speaking of The Chronicles of Narnia, writer and illustrator John Hendrix has given us a masterful graphic novel about a friendship between two men that changed the course of literature, storytelling and mythmaking forever. Highly recommended (if you can find it).

The Basketball 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA History edited by David Aldridge and John Hollinger: Longtime listeners of the Bookin' podcast know that I am a huge basketball nerd, and this book will keep me busy for a few years. Not only does it feature a ranking of the best players of all-time, but it also features a complex but explainable mathematical formula that leads to an alternate list. The top 100 contains four former Charlotte Hornets (only one of whom is arguably known for being a Hornet, though probably only in Charlotte), one former Hornets coach, one former Hornets draft pick and one former Hornets owner.