Lindsay L. O'Connor

2024 was another year of beautiful, brilliant books! As always, many that I read were library books and/or audiobooks and/or Kindle books, but I rounded up some that I own as physical copies for the book stack pictures in this post. Below are my favorite nonfiction, fiction, and poetry books for the year with brief reviews of each. For the complete list of what I read this year and more reviews, check out my Goodreads profile here.

Favorite nonfiction reads for the year:

1. How Ableism Fuels Racism by Lamar Hardwick – A powerful book and an important challenge to the status quo in modern U.S. American Christianity, this book has insightful interpretation and application of scripture from a disability theology lens.
2. Othered by Jenai Auman – I appreciate Jenai’s commitment not only to healing but to being a healing presence in the world. I’m grateful for her prophetic voice. She encourages people to name their wounds and speak their truth and cautions against becoming what hurt us. This is a great read for anyone who has ever felt othered in church spaces.
3. Untangled by Lisa Damour – I highly recommend this for anyone who parents, teaches, or spends time with preteen and teen girls. Did you know this author was a consultant for the movie Inside Out 2?!
4. The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee – I learned so much from this book about the hidden costs of racism for all of us and the hope that springs forth when people work together across race/class/ethnicity/gender differences, for the good of us all. A must-read!
5. Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley – If you follow Black Liturgies online, you know the beauty, wisdom, and depth of Cole Arthur Riley’s writing. This is the perfect companion for individuals and faith communities who are doing the deep work of spiritual healing together. It is a “collection of prayer, poetry, and spiritual practice centering the Black interior world.” I love using this one in spiritual direction sessions!
6. The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. May – I had a hard time getting through the original Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross, but I absolutely loved this book written through the lens of a psychiatrist. (It’s much more accessible than the original!) I would recommend this to anyone who is frustrated by a sense of loss of connection with the Holy.
7. Black AF History by Michael Harriot – This is my #1 top nonfiction read for the year. Harriot’s writing and humor are brilliant. I learned so much U.S. history in this compelling book that centers and celebrates Black folks. This is a great one for people who want to read more history but prefer it to be entertaining and accessible (me!).
8. An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz – This was a slow but informative and important read. I’ve been working my way through books to decolonize my understanding of U.S. history, which is filling in huge gaps in my education and challenging false narratives I was taught both implicitly and explicitly. This is packed full of information and paradigm-shifting ideas.
9. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates – This is a breathtaking book! With beautiful, intimate language, Coates writes a letter to his teenage son about what it means/has meant to live as a Black man in the U.S. at this point in history. 
10. Theologizin’ Bigger by Trey Ferguson – This is one of the best books I’ve read on how to read the Bible and engage in a more expansive faith. I’d highly recommend this to folks who are reevaluating their relationship with God and the Bible. Pastor Trey has been one of my favorite social media follows for a while and always makes me laugh and also makes me think. His storytelling reminds me of Michael Harriot’s writing… laugh-out-loud humor in the service of making a thought-provoking point.
11. Meditations of the Heart by Howard Thurman – I’m picky with devotional-type books, but this is a lovely collection of prayers and meditations. Thurman was a pastor, contemplative, and Christian mystic who had a major influence on Martin Luther King, Jr. His writing is a bit heady, so it’s best read and reread it slowly and contemplatively.
12. A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer – Parker Palmer’s books have been my first meaningful introduction to insights and values from the Society of Friends (Quakers), and I loved reading about the power of what he calls the “circle of trust.” He explains how to employ active listening for the sound of a person’s true self, which is an important skill in spiritual direction.

Favorite fiction and poetry books of the year:

1. Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan – This was my favorite poetry book of the year. The writing is exquisite!
2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz – This YA book had my whole heart right from the start, and I loved listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda read it. It’s a coming of age story about two boys from immigrant families growing up in El Paso, Texas in the 1980’s. The movie is excellent, as well!
3. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram – Another amazing YA read! Amidst his struggle with clinical depression, Darius takes his first trip to Iran, where his extended family lives, and meets Sohrab, who lives next door to his grandparents and becomes a true friend. This tackles serious topics in a funny and warm-hearted way.
4. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar – This book is difficult to describe, but the writing is incredible and the book is unique and thought-provoking.
5. James by Percival Everett – This was my favorite novel of the year, and it lives up to all the hype. I couldn’t put it down! Darkly humorous, engaging, and disturbing in the way the best truth-telling fiction can be, this is a “brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn…told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.” 
6. Mercury by Amy Jo Burns – I became completely engrossed in this character-driven family drama set near my childhood hometown in western PA. I had the immense pleasure of interviewing the author here. This is a novel about complex family dynamics, small-town life, roofing, and the ways we negotiate who we are for the sake of belonging.
7. Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman- I loved this whole YA graphic novel series and the Netflix series, as well! I wish I had grown up with books and shows of this quality with extensive LGBTQ+ representation. The books and the show handle difficult topics beautifully (especially around mental health), and it sparked some great conversations with my teen.
8. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow – This is an incredible remix of the classic, Little Women, and I loved reading it with my daughter after we read the original. It is its own story, rich with truth-telling about life for a Black family in the U.S. during the Civil War. It centers on the love the March sisters have for one another. It’s intimate and relational while challenging the mythology of U.S. Civil War history as it is usually told.
9. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet – A fantastic audiobook! This fascinating story spans decades (from the 1950s – 1990s) and geography (from the Deep South to California) about twins who “ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds: one black and one white.”

Most of the books pictured below are ones that I enjoyed rereading aloud with my daughters. Reading is my love language, so I am always happy to give and receive book recommendations from fellow bibliophiles, particularly in the areas of justice, contemplative life, mental health, poetry, and novels by BIPOC authors.

A Blessing for the New Year

May you enter the New Year with a sense of your unshakeable belovedness that grounds you and keeps you. May the felt sense of your belovedness equip you with courage to face your true, authentic self with honesty and compassion. May you experience enough Holy unrest to lead you into good trouble. May you be companioned by good, true, and beautiful books that open your heart and mind to new things waiting to be born in you and in your communities.