My Favourite Books of 2024
Every year, I list some of my favourite new Christmas albums as well as a couple of books I particularly enjoyed over the last year (see also the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 editions). Admittedly, I was fairly close to skipping it this year but had decided otherwise after three people in a row asked me about this year’s edition. So here we go again, I guess. A very happy Christmas to you all from Oxford and happy reading and listening 🎄
Books
Caledonian Road
Andrew O’Hagan, 2024, Faber & Faber
One of the grand theories of our age is that spoilers are a cardinal sin. What utter hogwash. With Caledonian Road you know from the start how it’s all going to end. Celebrity writer cum academic cum high society figure Campbell Flynn’s life is going to end in tatters. Our pleasure as a reader lies not in the fact that this is withheld from us but that we don’t know how his downfall is going to come about. I enjoyed this book way too much to be honest. I hadn’t heard of Andrew O’Hagan before reading this book and purely bought it for the cover, only to be very pleasantly surprised by a novel of Dickensian proportions. Arguably, the fact that I’ve spent a) eight years in the UK at this point and b) far too much of this time reading about the ins and outs of London’s interconnected elites is a major contributing factor.
Out of the Darkness. The Germans 1942–2022
Frank Trentmann, 2023, Allen Lane
‘Out of the Darkness’ reached me as a gift by my wonderful DPhil supervisor Ralph — who thought that I would enjoy a bit of light reading of *checks notes* 700+ pages on German history after passing my viva (Ralph, if you are reading this, you couldn’t have given me a better present). Trentmann starts his book off by reminding us that he’s spent the better part of his life outside of Germany and that his ‘insider/outsider’ perspective proved instrumental in writing this book. It’s a view I can — for obvious reasons — identify with. After living in the UK for 8 years (and counting) I’ve come to see the country I come from in quite a different light; for good and ill. It has also (at least somewhat) removed the veil and allowed me to see many things more clearly — and this book has intensified that sensation. Trentmann takes us on a journey through recent German history but looks at it through the lens of moral struggle, illuminating how the German people have navigated feelings of conscience, compassion and complicity the last 100 years. And, in the author’s own words, the book ‘breaks with the success story with which we have become familiar […] [of a] teleological bent of progressing towards a better present’ instead showing that for Germany and its people there wasn’t and isn’t a single destination. Who we are as a people is complex and Trentman takes great care in foregrounding this, not least by showing how ‘contemporaries experienced their own times’, through the careful use of archival material. Despite this rather heavy sounding snapshot, ‘Out of the Darkness’ is surprisingly easy to read and eye-opening in a way that few other books are.
Free Agents. How Evolution Gave Us Free Will
Kevin J. Mitchell, 2023, Princeton University Press
A warning ahead: This book is a rather challenging read. You will need focus and isn’t suited to hurried reading. Mitchell basically tries to address one tiny and simple question: Free will, do we have it? Drawing on a wealth of research across a variety of scientific and philosophical fields, he takes us on a journey from bacteria to artificial intelligence and back (read the book to understand to see what I mean) and questions how agency, or the ability to make decisions and act, originally developed. As I interpret it, his fundamental argument is that free will is a biological function that has evolved, reliant on neural capacities — essentially, he attributes agency to natural processes. Organisms, or so Mitchell argues, have evolved to act with purpose and for reasons (the very basic one being that we try to survive). And while we may not always be able to choose all of those purposes, we can reason about them and and exercise at least some self-control.
The book can be a bit too heavy on the detail at times. But at least no one can say that Mitchell does not show us the receipts or assumes that we as readers are idiots that can be hoodwinked with a bit of magical handwaving. Instead, he methodically navigates us through this complex topic. While some might find this overwhelming (to which I say, fair enough), for others like me, it works well. And if you end up not liking it, well, in that case you can exert some free will and put it aside.
The MANIAC
Benjamín Labatut, 2023, Pushkin Press
This series has previously included a biography of John von Neumann (see the 2023 edition). However, I could not resist including Labatut’s “The MANIAC” this year, too. I was unaware of his works until he gained widespread attention in the UK press earlier this year (who says that no one reads literary reviews any more?) What sets this book apart from Ananyo Bhattacharya ‘The Man from the Future’ is that it is not a conventional biography because it is both a fictionalised account of von Neuman’s life and narrated from the perspectives of others. To be honest, I found this quite the unsettling read and to me the book serves as a sobering reminder that any cult of genius is inherently a bad idea, regardless of the impressive accomplishments of the individual in question.
AI Snake Oil. What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t and How to Tell the Difference
Arvind Narayanan & Sayash Kapoor, 2024, Princeton University Press
AI Snake Oil is a great book for anyone looking to gain a comprehensive understanding of artificial intelligence. Arvind and Sayash have done an admirable job of breaking down complex ideas, making them accessible and easy to grasp, which is no small feat especially on a topic so sprawling and complex. It’s a quick read, too, and devoid of the dense and overcomplicated prose that afflicts some other books on the topic. For those interested in catching up on fundamental discussions about AI, including its mechanisms, the implications of automation, and concerns regarding AI safety, this is a fantastic resource — and if you are one of those who work in the field but have relatives who go ‘Oh you mean killer robots’ every time you talk about your work, this is a good stocking filler…
As Gods Among Men. A History of the Rich in the West
Guido Alfani, 2024, Princeton University Press
Who reads books for their covers: me! Isn’t this one dazzling? So is the content which is…well…about the history and status of the rich in West, as the title says. On this one, I am going to be lazy and instead point you to a good review by Noah Sutter in the LSE Review of Books because I a) haven’t read the final chapter yet but wanted to include the book nonetheless and b) he does a much better job at summarising what the book is about.Music
Music
No, Jacob Collier has still not made a Christmas album (hurry up!). In previous years, we got his version of ‘White Christmas’, a (slightly too space-y) version of the ‘Christmas Song’ and this rather lovely version of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ with Gregory Porter. This year, he’s given us three classics recorded with a (very involved) live audience at Abbey Road studios which are well worth a listen — even though he is admittedly not to everyone’s taste.
This next one is from last year but jazz pianist Christian Sands’ ‘Christmas Stories’ is a very elegant and well-done holiday album of the ‘pour yourself a Whisky and fall asleep on the couch in front of the fire while he taps the keys in the background’–sort. Highly recommended.
Another one I rather enjoy, again from last year, comes from German jazz trumpeter Till Brönner with his album that does not ask but certainly answers the question ‘Can you play a trumpet so smoothly that it sounds like molten butter?’ Full playlist behind the link and on YouTube:
Finally, Joy Lapps and Jarnell Lewis have recorded the Carribean Christmas Mixtape — which has to be experienced. Again, the full playlist is here and below.
Dr Felix Simon is a Research Fellow in AI and News at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, both at the University of Oxford. He is on BlueSky.
