My Favorite Stuff of 2024

What a year it’s been! You haven’t heard much from me through social media, because I’ve been up to my ears in work and overall busyness. Back in June, I ended up buying the company I’ve been working for the last six years, and the transition from employee to owner has been quite time consuming. Unfortunately, this has come at the cost of my creative projects, and the amount of writing I’ve been able to accomplish has dropped off considerably from past years. The funny thing is, I’m hearing from a few different creative friends that their productivity is down as well, so I feel a little less guilty about not finishing some of the projects I’ve been working on. But 2025 is just around the corner, and I have plans to prioritize writing again. So hopefully, you’ll hear more from me soon!

In the meantime, here’s my normal list of favorite reads of the year with an added bonus! I didn’t quite hit my reading goal this year (I read 70 out of 75 books) because I’ve become obsessed with movie podcasts and making new discoveries. So on top of my favorite books of the year, you get my favorite film finds of the year as well.

So Happy New Year to all my readers, fans, family, and friends! I hope your 2025 has as much potential as I feel mine has. You are all loved and appreciated! And now for the list:

1.       Everything Sad is Untrue – Daniel Nayeri

My absolute favorite read of the year. A boy is born in Iran, and when his mother becomes a Christian, his father divorces her and sends her to America to protect her from radical Islamists. She takes the boy and his older sister with her, and they settle in Oklahoma. Daniel Nayeri’s memoir is beautiful, heart-wrenching, and absolutely hilarious. It’s told in seemingly disjointed vignettes, but as you read, you see the method in Nayeri’s madness. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s utterly fantastic.

2.       Vurt – Jeff Noon

This was a re-read for me. Back in the 90s I picked this up and read it, and immediately loved the fever dream sci-fi of Jeff Noon’s world where hallucinogenic feathers called Vurt are the drug of choice. Scribble lost his sister to the Vurt world (where you go on your feather trip) and has been working to find his way back in to bring her home. I’ve long since lost my copy from the 90s, but a 30th anniversary edition was released this year, and I was excited to see if the story still holds up. I’m happy to say that Noon’s psychedelic, cyberpunk adventure is still a great read.

3.       Flood – Andrew Vachss

This was another re-read for me. This is the first of the Burke novels, which I also read back in the 90s. Burke is a taciturn private eye and anti-hero who takes the jobs nobody else wants. A woman named Flood wants to find the man who killed her sister but the creep is hiding in some dark and nasty places around New York City. Vachss gives us a look around the seedy, gritty NYC of the 80s, and while he does take us into dark places, he surrounds Burke with a colorful cast of characters that add touches of humor to the story. It’s still a compelling page-turner. 

4.       Holes – Louis Sachar

I’ve known about this classic for a long time (thanks in part to Disney’s adaptation), but never got around to it. What a terrific book. Sachar gives us an unlikely protagonist, the chubby, weak Stanley Yelnats, and then surrounds him with great characters, including the villains who somehow come across as both whimsical and deadly sinister. A fun read for both adults and kids.

5.       John Dies at the End – Jason Pargin

Another sci-fi fever dream, this one also starring a weird drug that might even be alive. That’s honestly all I can say about this absolutely bonkers book without ruining the joy of it. If you’re bored with sci-fi at the moment, this book can pull you right out of that funk. It’s weird, terrifying, and hilarious. (And no, the title is not a spoiler.)

6.       Cinemagogue – James Harleman

How should Christians watch movies? Should they watch them at all? Should they limit and censor what they see? These and many other questions get answered here as pastor and movie nerd James Harleman teaches us how to watch a movie biblically, rather than mindlessly. Using tons of examples, he makes a compelling case for recognizing that since all story-tellers are made in the image of God, there is likely something of God within every story. Harleman teaches you how to recognize these things and extract them for you own good and God’s glory. You can also hear Harleman and friends doing just this on the Popcorn Theology podcast. Both book and podcast are highly recommended.

                And now, my favorite film finds of the year.

1.       Godzilla Minus One (2023) Directed by Takashi Yamazaki

This is a great human drama that uses Godzilla as a backdrop. After World War II, Koichi finds himself disgraced as a coward for balking at being a kamikaze pilot during the war. He attempts to rebuild his life, but a new threat emerges (guess who?), giving him an opportunity to redeem himself. This is the best Godzilla movie I’ve ever seen, and it’s fantastic.

2.       The Holdovers (2023) Directed by Alexander Payne

Angus is looking forward to leaving his elite boarding school and going home for the holidays, but his mother and stepfather put a damper on his plans when they decide to leave him there and take a trip. Angus takes his anger out on Professor Hunham, the teacher who is supervising the students left behind, but the two end up forming an unlikely bond. I’m a sucker for coming-of-age stories, and this is a really good one.

3.       Renfield (2023) Directed by Chris McKay

There are two types of Nicolas Cage. One is the quiet, understated Cage (see his Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas), and the other is the completely unhinged Cage (see the utterly bonkers Vampire’s Kiss). Renfield is definitely the latter as Cage plays Dracula to Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield. Set in present day, Renfield is tired of doing Dracula’s bidding and just wants to escape. That sounds fine and all, but it’s the execution of the story that really makes this movie. It’s an over-the-top violent horror comedy, so it’s not for everyone, but if you can handle that sort of thing, this movie is tremendous fun.

4.       The Menu (2022) Directed by Mark Mylod

Honestly, the more I say about this movie, the more I take away from the experience of seeing it for the first time. Basically, a group of people sit down for a private dinner with a world-renowned chef, and some stuff happens. And that’s all I’ll say, because this is a movie that needs to be experienced first-hand.

5.       The Gentlemen (2019) Directed by Guy Ritchie

While I’ve enjoyed his take on Sherlock Holmes, this here is really the kind of movie where Guy Ritchie shines. Going back to the pitch black, gangster comedies of his earlier career (like Snatch), Ritchie brings us a fun movie about an American gangster trying to offload his marijuana business in Great Britain. Add in a bunch of colorful reprobates trying to steal everything from him, and you’ve got an enjoyable and memorable movie.

6.       Ready Or Not (2019) Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Another dark comedy, Eric? Really? What can I say? I love this kind of stuff! A woman marries into a wealthy family, but instead of a honeymoon, she’s forced to play a sinister game in the family mansion. I’ll warn you it gets violent, so if that’s not your thing, stay away. But this is a little bit scary and a whole lot hilarious as this woman fights for her life. A really fun movie.

7.       The Lighthouse (2019) Directed by Robert Eggers

The director of The Witch followed it up with this freaky, funny, fever dream (I know I’m using that term a lot here. Maybe that’s my theme for 2024!). Two men work as lighthouse caretakers, one experienced, one new. The new guy begins to hallucinate (or is he really seeing something?), and begins a slow descent into madness. This movie is not for the faint of heart and has some disturbing images, but it’s a fascinating look into the human psyche.

8.       Upgrade (2018) Directed by Leigh Whannel

A tragedy turns Grey’s world upside-down, and he turns to having an AI-enhanced computer chip implanted in his body to help him get back to where he was. Of course it all goes wrong. This is a techno-horror film with moments of dark humor. It also has plenty of twists and turns along the way, making it a real edge-of-your-seat watch. I really enjoyed it.

9.       Free Fire (2016) Directed by Ben Wheatley

A movie that is essentially a 90 minute shoot out might sound boring at first, but Ben Wheatley fills his movie with great characters and plenty of (you guessed it) dark humor. This is just a really fun movie, and one of the best things about it is that you have no certain idea of how it will end since every character is a scummy criminal.

10.   Housebound (2014) Directed by Gerard Johnstone

I discovered this little gem via the Junkfood Cinema podcast. It’s a horror comedy from New Zealand about a woman sentenced to house arrest only to discover that someone—or something—is lurking within the walls. This is a really great movie with plenty of twists and turns, and the filmmakers make the wise choice of dialing up both the terror and the absurdity of their plot, leading lots of thrills and laughs.