--- title: Books in 2024 date: "2024-12-31T09:32:58Z" lastmod: "2024-12-31T13:01:36Z" categories: - how-i-do-things - top-10-lists tags: - book wp_id: 3807 description: "A year of reading only manga, especially Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist, reshaped the author’s sense of what serious reading can be and rivaled even his usual Brandon Sanderson immersion." keywords: [books in 2024, manga, Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, reading habits, Brandon Sanderson] --- ![Books in 2024](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2024-books.webp) I read 51 new books in 2024 (about the same as in [2023](/blog/books-in-2023/), [2022](/blog/books-in-2022/), [2021](/blog/books-in-2021/), and [2020](/blog/books-in-2020/).) But slightly differently. I **only** read Manga this year. 1. [Fullmetal Alchemist](https://www.goodreads.com/series/49276-fullmetal-alchemist) (Vol 12 - 27). What started off as a childishly illustrated children's book evolved into a complex, gripping plot. 2. [Attack on Titan](https://www.goodreads.com/series/83553-shingeki-no-kyojin) (Vol 1 - 34). I read it while I watched the [TV Series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan_(TV_series)) (reading first, **then** watching). It started explosively and the pace never let up. I had to take breaks just to breathe and calm my nerves. The sheer imagination and subtlety is brilliant. It's hard to decide which is better—the [manga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan) (book) or the [anime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan_(TV_series)) (TV). The TV series translates the book faithfully in plot **and** in spirit. It helped that I **read** each chapter first, allowing me to imagine it, and **then** watch it, which told me what all I missed in the book. I absolutely would **not** have understood the manga without watching the anime. This apart, I only read [Brandon Sanderson](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43606308-defiant)'s books. Or rather, re-read. All of them, actually 🙂. Though I enjoyed manga thoroughly, it may not be for everyone because: 1. Firstly, **books** are not for everyone. Comics even more so. A lot of people feel they're ... childish. That takes some effort to overcome. 2. Manga can be gut wrenching. Nerve racking. Mind bending. You **can't** treat them as light reading, like [Sanderson](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/38550.Brandon_Sanderson), [Archer](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4820.Jeffrey_Archer), or [Asimov](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16667.Isaac_Asimov). Read if you have the stomach for [To Kill a Mockingbird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird), [A Clockwork Orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film)), or [Catch-22](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22). We visited Japan this summer and it beautifully complemented this reading experience. I could visualize every scene against the backdrops. I finished Attack on Titan on 4 Jun, just as we reached Japan. I planned to read nothing more for the rest of the year. Nothing could beat the experience. But in Dec 2024, [Wind and Truth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_and_Truth) was released. I am now half-way through perhaps the **only** book that can match my manga experience this year. --- ## Comments - **[My Year in 2024 - S Anand](/blog/my-year-in-2024/)** _31 Dec 2024 3:08 pm_ _(pingback)_: […] Reading only Manga […] - **[Saransh Saini](https://www.thesaranshsaini.com/)** _17 Feb 2025 12:30 pm_: Hi sir, just another AoT fan here. This was my very first anime and unfortunately, it set my bar so high that I couldn't enjoy other genres for a long time 😂. Since you are an LLM Psychologist, what better way to have fun than training two LLM models, one on the Psychology of Eren and another on Reiner/Armin, and letting them debate the ending of AoT and its future consequences? Honestly, I wasn't satisfied with the ending and I assume this debate would drive out a better conclusion than the original one. Moreover, I would love to work with you on this project.