The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 325 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs that Made Our Brains

Eric Brechner I ❤️ loved this book because...

This amazing book provides a clear, thorough, and engaging account of how intelligence arose from primordial soup. Far and away my favorite book of 2024 (and one of my favorites overall).

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Max Bennett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Brief History of Intelligence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the story of how the brain came to be.

'I found this book amazing' Daniel Kahneman, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and bestselling author of Thinking Fast & Slow

The entirety of the human brain's 4-billion-year story can be summarised as the culmination of five evolutionary breakthroughs, starting from the very first brains, all the way to the modern human brains. Each breakthrough emerged from new sets of brain modifications, and equipped animals with a new suite of intellectual faculties.

These five breakthroughs are the organising map to this…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution

Eric Brechner I ❤️ loved this book because...

Elie Mystal's brilliant book is funny, tragic, and challenging. The Constitution is a flawed document yet has the power to reach its lofty goals if our judiciary chose to interpret it accordingly.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Elie Mystal,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Allow Me to Retort as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Instant New York Times Bestseller

MSNBC legal commentator Elie Mystal thinks that Republicans are wrong about the law almost all of the time. Now, instead of talking about this on cable news, Mystal explains why in his first book.

"After reading Allow Me to Retort, I want Elie Mystal to explain everything I don't understand-quantum astrophysics, the infield fly rule, why people think Bob Dylan is a good singer . . ." -Michael Harriot, The Root

Allow Me to Retort is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of Be a Scribe!: Working for a Better Life in Ancient Egypt

Eric Brechner I ❤️ loved this book because...

Michael Hoffen's remarkable translation of a dad's instruction to his teenage son transports you back to ancient Egypt. You learn what life was like for the common Egyptian told by someone alive at the time. It's short, sweet, and evocative of how much remains the same after 3000 years.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Michael Hoffen, Christian Casey, Jen Thum

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Be a Scribe! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

An immersive story of daily life in ancient Egypt.

This extraordinary translation of a tale by Michael Hoffen, a 16-year-old young author, will acquaint readers with the life of a teenage boy in ancient Egypt and show readers that working for a living has never been easy!

Sail up the Nile with an ancient Egyptian father and son and discover what daily life was like along the way. Experience the wonderful world of ancient Egypt with the help of countless artificats and paintings. Delight in four-thousand-year-old humor and immerse yourself in the choices facing a teenage boy in Egypt then.…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Agile Project Management with Kanban

By Eric Brechner,

Book cover of Agile Project Management with Kanban

What is my book about?

With Kanban, every minute you spend on a software project can add value for customers. Think of this book as “Kanban in a box”: open it, read the quickstart guide, and you’re up and running fast.

As you gain experience, the book reveals powerful techniques for right-sizing teams, estimating, meeting deadlines, deploying components and services, adapting or evolving from Scrum or traditional Waterfall, and more.

You’ll find pragmatic advice, useful checklists, rude Q&As, and actionable lessons for every step of your journey. This truly is “Kanban in a box”: all you need to deliver breakthrough value and quality.