The Best of 2024

Five-star books, movies, and experiences from this year

How is it already December 17? It seems like yesterday I was getting ready to query agents. I had no idea what was in store for me. This year had extremely high highs and some low lows, but as I’m nearing the end of it, I’m grateful to have made it through. I left 2024 better than I found it, for the most part.

To celebrate the year, I wanted to share some of my five-star movies, books, and experiences from 2024.

Which of these books have you read?

Which of these movies have you watched?

Did you also get engaged and run a half-marathon?

My Five-Star Movies of 2024:

Challengers

I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and thinking, “I’ll pass.” Sports movies and books aren’t typically my thing, but maybe I should rethink that statement. I enjoyed Carrie Soto is Back. I’ve recently put There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension on my TBR list. And I loved, loved, loved Challengers. Challengers was amazing because as much as it was about tennis, it was certainly not about tennis. Luca Guadagnino knows how to make a lady clutch her pearls.

Love Lies Bleeding

When Kristen Stewart actually cares about a movie, you can tell; she shows up for media appearances actually excited to talk about a film. When doesn’t care, you can also tell. Kristen Stewart showed up to talk about Love Lies Bleeding, and I can understand why. I haven’t been on the edge of my seat for a movie in…years? Ever? And as the old saying goes, “I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs.”

The Substance

My fiancee and I were in Salem visiting our friend Kelsey when we saw this film. Kelsey is quite squeamish and asked if she was going to like the movie. I responded by reading Louis Peitzman’s Letterboxd review: “A glossy Tales from the Crypt episode that reaches a level of body horror grotesquerie even the Cryptkeeper would gag at. The gallons and gallons of fake blood, stunning creature effects, and wince-inducing moments had me smiling for 140 minutes. Also, this may be the squelchiest sound design since Society. We are so blessed...Thankfully, the movie's true aim seems to be making you feel physically ill, and on that front, it's tremendously effective.”

He wasn’t wrong. Kelsey and I watched a large portion of this movie with our hands over our eyes. But the movie was so good that I still gave it five stars. It’s worth living through the grotesquerie just to cheer on Demi Moore and rally around her impending Oscar nomination.

Preconceived

I watched this at SXSW and was honored to do the Q&A with the director after the screening. There are many documentaries that show the shallowness behind the fight against reproductive rights—Reversing Roe is on Netflix now!— but Preconceived exposes how “pregnancy resource centers” manipulate pregnant people are while they are wrestling with their healthcare decisions. It’s uncomfortable to watch, but a necessary reminder of why we fight to protect reproductive rights.

(I also watched Death Becomes Her, Pride and Prejudice, The Last of Sheila, and Jennifer’s Body this year. All received five stars from me.)

My Five-Star Books of 2024:

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Okay, but the cover? It stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw it. So simple, yet so stunning. Akbar’s beautiful prose lives up to the cover’s minimalist grandeur. The BookPeople book club will be discussing this one in April. I rarely read books twice but I’m excited to dive into this one again in 2025.

James by Percival Everett

They say that history is written by the victors. After reading James, I dare to add in an “eventually.” Everett’s retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective is funny, bold, and quicker than it looks. I was glued to my seat for the last 100 pages. No need to read Huck Finn beforehand.

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

I finished this book while sitting in the living room with my father-in-law and didn’t properly shed the tears that this book deserved. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat illustrates the beauty of the Cat Distribution System. (This is an Internet-born idea that the universe gifts you a cat when you need one.) Sweet Potato Grace (a real cat, and the inspiration for my debut novel) is a result of the Cat Distribution System, but that is a story for another time (August 2025). In the meantime, pick up this book. It’s a purr-fectly positive, sweet, light read.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

It is very cute and sweet to see Tommy Orange and Kaveh Akbar blurb each other’s books. I had never read Tommy Orange before Wandering Stars and after reading Martyr!, I was intrigued. Wandering Stars is a multi-generational story of a Native American family. It’s massive, yet so intimate and personal. Reading this at what feels like a significant moment in American history was…interesting, to say the very least.

Freedom is a Feast by Alejandro Puyana

If you enjoy stories that cover multiple generations, also add Freedom is a Feast. I met Puyana after he read at the One Page Salon at Radio. Many Americans know Venezuela only as a cautionary tale. While this triumph of a book acknowledges the systemic problems caused by the country’s political leaders, it highlights the love, determination, and forgiveness that shapes this one family’s story.

Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

Talk about craft! Lombardo beautifully lays out the complexities of marriage and motherhood in her second novel. Whether you love or hate Julia from the start, you will grow to understand her. I also love a good Talking Heads reference, and although I could have used more Talking Heads, I still deem this a five-star read.

(Demon Copperhead, Chain Gang All-Stars, and Write a Must-Read were also five-star reads. I also re-read Play It As It Lays for the third time, and it holds up as the best book I’ve ever read.)

And Finally, My Five-Star Experiences of 2024:

Getting Engaged, Obviously

Katelyn and I are nontraditional in the way that we did not U-haul; we liked it and we should have put a ring on it years ago. Our engagement involved local Austin haunts like Radio, sculpture gardens, music venues that hosted Jack White hours before Katelyn’s proposal, and a whole lot of merriment with friends. Maybe I’ll write a longer post about that one day. Maybe it’s none of your business. 😉

We are likely going to officially get married in early 2025 before the Supreme Court has anything to say about it.

Getting a Book Deal, Obviously

In January, I started querying agents, asking them to please fall in love with The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace. While I’m unagented, I got to keep my 15% commission when I signed a book deal with Lanternfish Press. I’m trying not too be insufferable with promoting the book yet (as evidenced by me waiting until the end of this post to ask if you’ve pre-ordered the book) but I will be very insufferable in 2025.

Running a Half-Marathon

Okay, this actually wasn’t a five-star experience. My goal for the Mellow Trail Race was to finish the race in three hours. I trained from March to September, logging around 70 runs through the Nike Running Club app. Unfortunately, most of my training was on nicely paved trails. I was not ready for a more rugged trail race. I ultimately finished in 3 1/2 hours, which is an accomplishment. It’s not three hours, though. Because I can’t let go of things, I will be re-doing my training and adding on the marathon training to complete the Houston Marathon in 2026. No time goal for that one. I just want to finish so I can be done with distance running forever. (I do realize I don’t have to do this.)

Getting Back Into Ghostwriting Full-Time

I started the year viciously burnt out. (I have a full post coming out about that in two weeks.) Setting up over 1,000 first dates was fun, frying my brain in the process was not. I am so happy that I was able to step away from my job and get back to what I love doing most: helping entrepreneurs and founders leave their legacy with the world.

Bonus photo of Funny Business because you made it through this post.

Phew! Are you exhausted? I’m exhausted. I’ve already committed to hibernating for the first six months of 2025 before my book comes out, so keep an eye on my Substack for updates on how I’m prioritizing deep work and taking back control of my attention span. (Seriously, dating apps melted my brain.)

What were your highlights of 2024?