[Reading] Books I enjoyed reading in 2024
As 2024 is coming to an end, I would like to look back on the books I enjoyed reading this year.
2024 was the year I read the most books in my life.
Books I enjoyed
There are other books I enjoyed besides these, but I will introduce the ones that still leave a deep impression on me when I look back at my reading notes.
Project Hail Mary
It was great!
It is the best science fiction in my reading history.
I felt like I had been studying science just to read this novel. I was very satisfied with the scale of the story and the plausibility of the setting.
Although there are ups and downs in the story, there are no villains or small-minded characters, so it is a happy read.
Genocidal Organ
Wow, this is truly the greatest masterpiece of 2000s science fiction!
The ideas and the ending were amazing, but I also liked the theme of how to face the original sin of 'peace built upon the corpses of people in developing countries'.
I don't think the conclusion in this book is the best solution, but I still think it is a must-read.
Ee-en to Kuchikara (The Power of Mouth)
Modern tanka poetry.
I think it has an incredibly surreal and outrageous worldview, but it doesn't become grotesque or satirical.
There are other surreal poets like Shuntaro Tanikawa, but I felt this author has a transparency that lacks the self-assertion or ego you feel in Tanikawa.
Imperial Headquarters Staff's Intelligence War Chronicle: The Tragedy of a Nation Without Intelligence
A memoir by Eiichi Hori, an intelligence staff officer who correctly predicted U.S. military operations one after another during the Pacific War.
He himself was amazing, but the Japanese military at the time was so hopeless that, well, defeat was inevitable...
Also, the character of Tomoyuki Yamashita, who was executed as a war criminal, was so good that I really liked him.
The History of Bizarre Human Experiments
A history of literal mad scientists who used themselves as test subjects!
It is incredibly interesting because it is full of people who are just out of their minds.
I want people who say 'Such and such is a human experiment!' to read about how humanity has accumulated scientific evidence.
Red and Blue Gowns
A record of Princess Akiko of Mikasa's study abroad at the University of Oxford.
The imperial family circumstances, British life, Oxford life, and the situation at the British Museum where she worked were all interesting.
Studying abroad seemed incredibly tough, but also fun, and I think it is a book that gives you a lot of courage.
There is something scary in every house
I have read several novels by Shinzo Mitsuda, and this is my
favorite.
The mockumentary atmosphere was thick and vivid, which was great.
The first story about the girl was the most unsettling and the best.
BIG THINGS: How do people who achieve massive things do it?
The main point is that planning and risk hedging are essential!!!
Every big project throughout history and across the globe tends to go over budget.
Reading this makes you think, 'Let's just stop doing the Olympics already!'
Diary of the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda
A memoir by Masaya Hattori, who was appointed as the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda in 1965.
He was a man with very firm principles, such as not blindly accepting the opinions of Westerners regarding Rwanda's economic downturn, but instead listening properly to the Rwandans and letting Rwandans handle Rwandan affairs.
It is seriously interesting and a must-read.
A 'What If' History of the Japanese War: What if there had been no Pearl Harbor attack?
A book that explores historical 'what ifs' such as 'What if Japan and the US had jointly managed the South Manchuria Railway?' or 'What if Japan had sent troops to Europe during WWI?'
There are many turning points, but the book suggests that the US held significant distrust toward Japan for doing as it pleased from afar while Europe was in turmoil during the Great War, and that if we were to redo things, it would have been difficult unless we went back to that point and cooperated with the British and Americans.
It is fascinating to think that such a timeline could have existed.
Black Box Thinking
You cannot see the essence of failure just by talking about how things 'should' be.
This book argues that it is important to consider that there might have been rational reasons for the actions taken by the side that failed.
Honestly, I think this is a book that all of humanity should read.
A Complete History of the Showa Army
I've grouped them together, but it's a three-volume set, so it's long!
But the tension on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack is incredible.
It feels like watching a thriller movie where you're constantly thinking, 'Ah, if you go that way, you're going to die!', so I'm hoping someone will turn it into a movie.
The Depths of Folktales: Jungian Psychology and Grimm's Fairy Tales
The analysis of 'lazy' stories like 'Three-Year Netaro' was particularly interesting.
The reason there are so many folktales of this type, despite there being no benefit to encouraging laziness, is apparently because the lazy person represents a 'new order'.
I don't think Jungian psychology has much value as psychology or psychoanalysis anymore, but I think it is very interesting as a tool for analyzing the depths and metaphors of stories.
Hitler and Nazi Germany
Left-wing people often compare others to Hitler, but both the left and the right should properly understand how Hitler gained power.
Hitler's actions leading up to his seizure of power were truly ingenious, but even before Hitler, the structure of the state frequently utilized presidential decrees that allowed for extra-legal measures.
I think this is something that should also be considered in the recent discussions regarding emergency clauses.
Other books I finished reading in 2024
Wow, I read a lot.
I want to keep reading next year as well.
The Three-Body Problem
The Village of Earth Burial
What is the Universe?
The Complete Cult Leader Manual
Introduction to Western Art History
How Do Blind People See the World?
Time Does Not Exist
Solving the Mystery: Bible Stories
Rereading the Kojiki
Blank Spaces in Japanese History
World History from the Perspective of Indigenous Peoples: Columbus's 'Discovery of the New World'
Pistols and Crowns: Kunihiko Konishi, the Man Who Carried Osaka on His Back Through 'Discrimination' and 'Violence'
National Security in Pre-war Japan
Great Questions About the Japanese Language
Great Questions About the Japanese Language 2
Stories of Scary Villages
The Structure of Fear
"Kiwami" Scary Stories: The Trap
The Ghost Story Monk's Kyoto Strange Tales
Kanji Ishiwara: That Vanity
On Defiled Pilgrimages to Sacred Sites
The Cursed Mansion: The House Where a Horror Writer Lives
Seven Mysteries of Showa History Part 2
Death March on Mount Hakkoda
Encho Ghost Story Records: The Curse of the Nonosama
Start Small to Grow Your Assets and Knowledge! An Investment Roadmap
Naruse Takes Over the World
Chukaku-ha vs. Kakumaru-ha (Vol. 1)
Kobe Ghost Stories
The Mechanism of Evolution: Modern Darwinians
Memories of War: Columbia University Special Lectures - Dialogues with Students
Animal Protection as Pleasure
How Did the Universe Begin?
Japan's Public Security Police
Days of Asking About the Strange
The Birth of the New Testament
Spirited Away and the Japanese People
What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Why Your Work Never Ends: Speed Is Your Greatest Weapon
Back Pain Explorer
Is God a Mathematician? The Mysterious History of Mathematics
The History of Extinct Humans: Why Did 'We' Survive?
Disgrace: Confessions of a Corrupt Hokkaido Police Detective
Solving the Mysteries of Modern Japanese History
It Should Have Been Impossible to Fall in Love with You