My Popular Posts and Books I Loved in 2024

As we wrap up 2024, I’ve compiled a list of this year’s most popular posts and some of the books I’ve read and loved.

Your thoughts and reflections mean a great deal to me. If there’s anything you’ve taken away from my writing this year—or topics you’d like me to explore in 2025—I’d love to hear from you.

Popular Posts in 2024

In Modern Virtue, my goal has been to share fresh perspectives and reflections on the complexities of human development, relationships, and mental health. Scientific studies offer valuable insights we can all learn from, and I’ve shared those in my writing, along with lessons from my professional experiences as a psychotherapist.

Here are a few of the year’s most-loved posts, along with a few guest contributions from fellow Substackers. If you missed them the first time or want to revisit, now’s a great chance.

• The Unspoken Price of Growth and Healing

• Making Sense of Our Parents’ Imperfections

• Pure Acceptance in Relationships is not Realistic

• The Hidden Need Behind Taking Things Personally

• Listen to Your Boredom

• The Opposite of Worry

• Coping Like a Pro: How Mental Health Experts Navigate Stress

• Whose Life is This? The Costs of Advice

• Is the Fear of Missing Out Keeping us From Life?

Recent guest posts on Modern Virtue (I highly recommend their Substacks!)

• The Best (and Worst) Ways to Deal with Uncertainty by Erman Misirlisoy

• The Relationship Game-Changer by Vicki Connop

• How to Avoid 5 Common Relationship Errors by Yael Schonbrun

Book Recommendations

Books are a big part of my life. I read a lot and have developed a disciplined approach to it, though I stay flexible enough to adapt. I finish most of the books I start, but if a book doesn’t resonate with me, I don’t hesitate to set it aside—I’d rather not waste time forcing myself to finish it. There are books I only skim through or focus only on select chapters. I often read multiple books at once and frequently revisit books I’ve loved or found valuable.

I reserve most evenings for fiction and avoiding non-fiction. In 2024, I intentionally read more fiction than non-fiction—a first since my teenage years—and I’m so glad I did.

Since I read so much, I won’t attempt to list everything I’ve read fully or partially. I’ve selected a handful of books I enjoyed and would recommend. That said, I’m not the biggest fan of recommendations—reading is such a personal experience, and everyone’s tastes differ. But these are books that stayed with me, and perhaps they might resonate with you too.

Some of the fiction books I’ve read and enjoyed (not all of them were released in 2024).

Most of these novels have been published in the last few years, but The Secret History is an older one (published in 1992) that I hadn't had the chance to read until recently—and I regretted not picking it up sooner. What an amazing book! A Little Life is from 2015, and I've been meaning to read it for years (it’s long!). It truly is a masterpiece.

• Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

• Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

• Talking at Night by Claire Daverly

• The Golden Bowl by Henry James

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• The White Book by Han Kang

• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

• Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt

• Gliff by Ali Smith

• The Muse by Jessie Burton

• There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Some non-fiction books on psychology and mental health (not necessarily released in 2024).

I read a lot of academic books on psychology and psychological therapies, which might not be of interest to you. So, here's a list of books written for general readers, which are much easier to get through than some of the nerdier ones I've read.

• Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness by Jamil Zaki

• Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure by Maggie Jackson

• Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom by Sharon Salzberg

• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

• The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life by Mike Rucker

• Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

• Out of Her Mind: How We Are Failing Women’s Mental Health and What Must Change by Linga Gask

• Bitter Sweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain

• On Giving Up by Adam Phillips

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Bonus – Philosophy Books Worth Exploring

Recently, I shared the note above on Substack Notes, and it resonated with many readers. This inspired me to put together a list of books by thinkers and philosophers that I highly recommend for anyone interested in psychology, human development, meaning, and virtues. I often revisit these sources and discover a new perspective each time.

• The Imaginary by Jean-Paul Sartre

• Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard

• Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

• The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

• The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

• Consolations by David Whyte

• The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell

• The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts

• Time and the Soul by Jacob Needleman

• The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

• Political Emotions by Martha Nussbaum

• Radical Hope by Jonathan Lear

• The Pathology of Normalcy by Erich Fromm

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Let me know what you think, and feel free to share some of your favourite books from this year, along with any topics you'd like to see me write about.

See you in the next post!