Hellooo 👋 So happy to have you here. I’m Kevan. I have spent 15+ years as a head of marketing for some cool tech startups. Now I’ve co-founded a brand storytelling business called Bonfire. We do coaching, advisory, and content. If you identify with creativity and marketing, we’d love for you to join us.
My favorite 66 books of 2024
All the books I read this year, in case you’re looking for something new to read
Back in the day, Buffer provided teammates with free Kindle books—as many as you’d like, as often as you’d like them—and it kickstarted a big reading habit of mine that continues to this day. I get my free books from the library now, but I still read a lot, deeply and widely across most any genre (except for the scary ones). This year I read 66 books. In years past, I’ve read 100+.
And as usual, I thought I’d share with you what I’ve read, what I’ve enjoyed, and what I’m looking forward to next!
(Here are my lists from 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.)
Books marked with a 💯 are the ones that I really enjoyed and / or have stuck with me long after I’ve finished them.
Books marked with 🤯 kind of blew my mind with their stories and/or twists.
Books marked with 🐇 were the ones that took me down a rabbit hole: either I took copious notes or I Googled tons of things afterward.
Do you have some favorites this year? I would LOVE your book recs please! Just hit reply with a title or two.
All the books, sorted by genre
Business, creativity, & self-help
💯 🐇 Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg — A detailed account of how the best communicators communicate so well. I took a bunch of notes!
If you listen for someone’s truth, and you put your truth next to it, you might reach them.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin — So, so many little chapters of Rick Rubin-isms (he’s the producer and taste-maker behind some of the most popular music albums ever).
🐇 Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr. Julie Smith — Little self-help lessons from a renowned therapist.
🐇 Slow Productivity by Cal Newport — A three-step formula for not working so hard all the time.
Logo Modernism by Jens Müller — Just a bunch of really cool logos.
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron
I Don’t Want to Be an Empath Anymore by Ora North
The Genius of Empathy by Dr. Judith Orloff
🐇 The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen
Science & technology
🐇 Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia — A rather refreshing take on health and longevity that covers both the theory of “healthspan” (an alternative to “lifespan” that focuses on being healthy for as long as possible, not just to stay alive as long as possible) as well as practical tips for exercise, nutrition, sleep, and emotional health.
A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence by Michael Wooldridge — I now kind of know what artificial intelligence is.
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Nonfiction, history, & biography
💯 🤯 Going Infinite by Michael Lewis — A remarkable story of the rise and fall of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, who built one of the largest crypto businesses ever and then saw it all collapse in epic fashion.
Sam had agreed to pay Tom Brady $55 million, and his then-wife, Gisele Bündchen, another $19.8 million, for twenty hours of their time each, over the next three years.
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
🐇 Dilla Time by Dan Charnas — A biography of J. Dilla, one of the most important hip hop producers of the past 20 years.
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel — Incredible true story of a young couple who stole a literal bedroom’s amount of paintings, sculpture, and more from dozens of European museums. In broad daylight!
The Why Is Everything by Michael Silver — Behind-the-scenes stories about a group of NFL coaches.
When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey
The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszezynski
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke
🐇 Wild Chocolate by Rowan Jacobsen
Memoir / Autobiography / Personal Essays
💯 Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley — Dealing with the death of a best friend while at the same time having your apartment burgled.
The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay
💯 Inciting Joy by Ross Gay
In the best conversations, sometimes you go as deep as you do far. ~ Ross Gay
🤯 Private Equity by Carrie Sun — What it’s like to be an executive assistant for a billionaire VC partner! (The VC, which goes unnamed in the book, is Tiger Global.)
Exit Interview: The Death of My Ambitious Career by Kristi Coulter — What it’s like to work at Amazon!
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris — I usually end up re-reading a Sedaris book every year because I really enjoy his wry sense of humor. This one I listened to as a Spotify audiobook. I’m re-reading (er, re-listening?) to Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls at the moment.
Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott
🐇 Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford & 🐇 Comedy Sex God by Pete Holmes — Two memoirs by two really funny comedians.
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal — Told in alphabetical sections, just like an encyclopedia.
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Ambition Monster by Jennifer Romolini
The Light Room by Kate Zambreno
Little Labors by Rivka Galchen
If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine Ruiter
And Then? And Then? What Else? by Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket
There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib — For fans of basketball and LeBron James, circa early-2000s.
Art & design
💯 Well, This Is Me by Asher Perlman — A collection of the New Yorker cartoonist’s comics.
Old Brand New by Dabito — Modern interior design & pretty pictures.
Food & cooking
Bliss on Toast by Prue Leith — I love toast, and I love the Great British Baking Show (Prue is a judge on the show).
Salt Hank by Henry Laporte
Fiction
💯 Sandwich by Catherine Newman — A little beach read about a family vacationing at the beach. Catherine Newman is one of my favorite, LOL-iest authors.
The Fraud by Zadie Smith — Historical fiction of the hottest identity theft scandal in 19th century England.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney — Chess and relationships.
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli — Literally about the teeth someone owns.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder — Parables about motherhood. Now a movie starring Amy Adams!
💯 My Husband by Maud Ventura — Translated from French, this book had one of the trippiest endings of anything I read this year.
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Body in Question by Jill Ciment
All Fours by Miranda July
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
Ladies’ Lunch by Lore Segal
A Quitter’s Paradise by Elysa Chang
Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan
Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
Comrade Papa by Gauz’
The Most by Jessica Anthony
Science fiction
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino — An alien doing recon on our everyday lives, via fax machine.
Wool by Hugh Howey — The book that the Apple TV+ show Silo is based on. Spoilers for season two, btw.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Deep Sky by Patrick Lee
Books on my reading list for 2025 …
Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch — A horse on a mission to clear the name of its owner who is accused of murder. Fiction, clearly.
Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California's Wildfires by Jamie Lowe
Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire by Ashley Spencer
What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter by David Sax
Jenny and the Jaws of Life: Short Stories by Jincy Willett
12 Rules for Strife by Jeff Sparrow and Sam Wallman
The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili
A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders by Jonn Elledge
About this newsletter …
Hi, I’m Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I previously built brands at Oyster, Buffer, and Vox. Now I am cofounder at Bonfire, a brand storytelling company.
Each week on this substack, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
Thank you for being here! 🙇♂️
I’m lucky to count folks from great brands like these (and many more) as part of this newsletter community.
Thought you might enjoy, Kevan — we recently spoke with Carrie Sun for Women of Letters: https://womenofletters.substack.com/p/carrie-sun