With every new year comes a slate of “best of” lists. Spanning a combination of new and old books, students across the University of Iowa share their favorite books they’ve read since last January.
“There was a nonfiction story I read called ‘The Formula,’” Mackenna Heggen, a fourth-year student at the UI, said. “It felt like reading a fiction story, but it was still factual knowledge. I liked.”
Written by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson, “The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport” follows the recent rise in popularity of Formula 1 racing. The book was released in March of 2024, making it a more recent favorite, much like the sport it covers.
Another recent novel was highlighted by several students: “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar, the director of the English and Creative Writing Major at the UI. Released in January 2024, the book was quickly noticed by literary fans and ended up as a finalist for the National Book Awards.
“It’s about a guy who has a lot of issues trying to work through them and finding out an answer to his issues in the process,” Henry D’Souza, a third-year student at the UI, said. “Martyr!” was among his highlights of the year.
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Mya Sackett, a first-year student at the UI, noted that one of her favorites is “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Although the novel was released 20 years ago, it is still beloved by the reading community.
“It was just very beautiful writing,” Sackett said. “He’s an author who knows what he’s doing.”
As for authors who know what they are doing, another novel mentioned was “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller. Second-year student Shae Mills brought it up as one of her most memorable books from 2024, despite its original release being in 2011.
“It is really good, but very sad,” Mills said.
With so many books, new and old, it becomes a fun experience for all to look back on what they found most exciting from the year. But not everyone is so focused on the past, some are also focused on the upcoming books. UI student Kevin Meyer introduced a novel he was looking forward to in the upcoming year.
“I’m so excited to read ‘Fourth Wing.’ I haven’t yet, but I heard that book just came out. It’s the newest [installment] in a series I love,” Meyer said.
“Fourth Wing” released its newest sequel on Jan. 21. this year. “Onyx Storm” officially brings the series to a trilogy and has shaken up the reading community as many are excited to see what could happen next.