Reader鈥檚 Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2024

14,247

pages read

books read

Reader Bxtch

The Complete Guide to Partnership Marketing by James Cristal

Shortest Book

169

pages

Longest Book

688

pages

Average book length in 2024

407

pages

Most Shelved

3,290,890

people also shelved

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Reader鈥檚 average rating for 2024

4.3

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

4.65 average

Reader鈥檚 first review of the year

it was amazing

I had seen the name 鈥�1MDB鈥� floating around for years, loosely tied to scandal, closely linked to The Wolf of Wall Street. This is probably why I struggled to separate it from 鈥淚MDB,鈥� the online movie database. 1MDB stands for 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a sovereign wealth fund instituted on behalf of the country of Malaysia by a cohort of well-connected kleptocrats who immediately plundered it. Chief kleptocrat among them was Jho Low, a born-ri I had seen the name 鈥�1MDB鈥� floating around for years, loosely tied to scandal, closely linked to The Wolf of Wall Street. This is probably why I struggled to separate it from 鈥淚MDB,鈥� the online movie database. 1MDB stands for 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a sovereign wealth fund instituted on behalf of the country of Malaysia by a cohort of well-connected kleptocrats who immediately plundered it. Chief kleptocrat among them was Jho Low, a born-rich Chinese Malay whose origin story seems to be mostly 鈥淚 went to a British private school with the children of royalty and realized I wasn鈥檛 rich enough.鈥� It鈥檚 intriguing how little we learn about our main character. He is constantly described as awkward, quiet, observing the fun he is paying for without having any, and prone to lying and overspending. I did enjoy how much I learned about money laundering. Might come in handy if I happen to get my hands on a billion or two someday.

Billion-Dollar Whale is as doggedly researched and thrillingly written as Bad Blood, fellow Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou鈥檚 expos茅 of Elizabeth Holmes and her fraudulent blood-testing startup. Both books are ultimately about the same thing: the dangers of charismatic, well-connected people and the risks they pose to people who are structurally inclined for some reason or another to believe in them. And boy do the hangers-on and believers get the journalists鈥� scorn in this story. Some of the most luminous names in entertainment are nothing more than props for rent (in this story and in general, apparently鈥擪im Kardashian really flew Southwest with a trash bag of cash in her carry-on? Nobody at TSA asked questions? She was flying Southwest?!) Storied banks pretend they don鈥檛 understand what a prime minister鈥檚 secret bank account implies about the prime minister or the contents of his account. Politicians think corruption doesn鈥檛 apply if it鈥檚 their wives receiving the gifts. It鈥檚 a conspiracy of people who are rich but don鈥檛 feel rich enough (spending enough time around the Saudis will do that) and there are few endings more satisfying than watching these detestable people end up with less than they started with.

Interestingly enough, Jho Low is still on the lam. The man who once rang in the New Year twice in one year with Jamie Foxx thanks to his private jet is now holed up with his immediate family somewhere in China, trying to make a final, futile deal for his freedom. He鈥檚 a young man who, best case scenario, will spend the rest of his life on the run. His co-conspirators are serving decade-plus prison sentences or facing them. You wonder if it was all worth it. ...more

搁贰础顿贰搁鈥橲 2024 BOOKS

it was amazing

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone

it was amazing

The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian

The Psychology of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman

The Wizard of Lies by Diana B. Henriques

it was amazing

All the President鈥檚 Men by Carl Bernstein

it was amazing

The Devil at His Elbow by Valerie Bauerlein

The Russo-Ukrainian War by Serhii Plokhy

Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Reader鈥檚 last review of the year

liked it

I enjoy him and his writing but I won鈥檛 pretend like he鈥檚 unveiling secret mysteries of the world with this. It seems fairly obvious that investment or lack thereof in an outcome would impact the way people interact with possibilities or solve problems.

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