Before we turn the page on 2024, we wanted to explore the year’s best reads from the people who know books best. We asked four literary champions to bring us their list of recommendations for holiday reads, last-minute gifts and books that will get even stubborn kids reading. From tales of courage and revolution to page-turning thrillers, we’ll discuss their faves — and what’s next on their nightstand.
Guests:
- Erika Alfieri, metadata and cataloging librarian at the Jacksonville Public Library.
- Angie Nixon, Florida state representative and owner of Cafe Resistance Bookstore.
- Rhona Brinlee, owner of The BookMark.
- Tricia Booker, journalism instructor at the University of North Florida, author of The Place of Peace and Crickets.
Best Books of 2024
- Legends and Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes, by Travis Baldree.
- The Wealth of Shadows, by Graham Moore.
- Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II, by Elyse Graham
- The City of Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami.
- James, by Percival Everett.
- Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition, by Ann Patchett.
- Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah, by Charles King.
- The Restless Wave, by Admiral James Stavridis.
- A Living Remedy, by Nicole Chung.
- Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver (published end of 2023, but most people read it this year).
- A Well Trained Wife, by Tia Levings.
- Black and Brilliant, by Rodney Hurst.
- Angel of Greenwood, by Randi Pink.
- This Non-violent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible, by Charlie Cobb.
- My Journey From Dozier School Incarceration to Rehabilitation: A True Story of How Chains Are Broken, by Warren King.
Best Children's Books
- The How to Catch a ... (Snowman, Yeti, Gingerbread Man, Santa Claus, etc.) series, by Adam Wallace.
- How Murray Saved Christmas, by Mike Reiss/illustrated by David Catrow.
- Saving American Beach, by Heidi Tyline King, with illustrations by Ekua Holmes.
- 1619 Project: Born on the Water, by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, with illustrations by Nikkolas Smith.
Best YA Fiction Young
- The Witch Hat Atelier series by Kamome Shirahama.
- Darkly, by Marisha Pessl.
Then, a literal path to literacy. We tell you about the new StoryWalk along the city’s Emerald Trail. The first display features Flower Garden by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt.
Guests:
- Claire Olson, literacy project manager at the Jacksonville Public Library.
- Katie Ensign, vice president of community investment and impact at Baptist Health.
And, how trade wars, AVs and EVs are disrupting the global automotive landscape. We get the latest with WJCT’s resident gearhead.
Guest:
- Dan Scanlan, reporter at WJCT News 89.9.
Plus, after the Jags’ weekend in Vegas, News4Jax sportscaster Alessandra Pontbriand joins us for her weekly breakdown of the team’s performance.
