Riot Headline The Best Books of 2024

Whatever, Parents Are Stupid

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Amanda and Jenn discuss lady scientists, teen superheroes, books on racism, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by our Blind Date with a Book, Penguin Teen, and The Best American Short Stories 2019 audiobook, guest edited by Anthony Doerr, series edited by Heidi Pitlor.

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Questions

1. I am sort of a huge fan of Stephen King novels. Every spooky season I try to make time to read at least one of them. I adore his writing style and his world building. Another big plus for me in his novels specifically are the characters he creates and develops. However, the more I read his work, the more I cringe at some of the blatant sexism/ racism/ homophobia throughout them. I was wondering if you could recommend me some horror/ thriller novels that have the same elements of a King novel, but don’t have any of the other stuff. Bonus points for women authors, LGBT authors, or authors of color.

-Jana

2. Hi Ladies, thanks again for that Dad-book rec! He was not a scared baby deer about a lady author and I was so pumped!
So I’m coming in hot with a specific ask – I am a playwright and currently working on a research based project with high school students. We are collaborating and creating a devised piece about lady scientists! WAHOO!! It’s really cool and I’m looking for some books highlighting these incredible ladies. I am focusing on “The Cosmos” so I have Hidden Figures, Radium Girls, and Rise of the Rocket Girls – I am finding Rise of the Rocket Girls really focuses on the looks and love lives of the ladies and not so much about the barriers that were systematically in place to prevent them or shame them from joining the STEM workforce. I’m also interested in the POC perspective in this area. I’m looking for more lady authors and books that also might appeal to my young adult students.
Thank you so much and big love from Philly!!
-Stephanie

3. Hello! Can you rec me some YA superhero stories with diverse casts that aren’t by Marvel or DC? Ensemble cast preferred–things like Young Justice, Young Avengers, or Teen Titans, but not those things! Comic books or novels are both fine. Thank you!

-Anne

4. Please help me find a book for my mom. She’s trying to be woke, but is having problems understanding. For instance, she doesn’t understand how slavery of black people in the U.S. could still affect anyone today and doesn’t grasp all of the institutional racism that still occurs today. Perhaps an #OwnVoices book could help her grasp the issues that people who aren’t white and/or straight face.

-Lacey

5. Hi!
I’m Brazilian, and love to read about latinx lives in North America — Colombian, Porto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Dominican, Haitian, you name it —, mainly because I enjoy seeing what other latinx cultures have in common with Brazilian culture, and also because it is the closest to my culture I can find. I have never found a Brazilian immigrant in entertainment, be it books, tv shows, movies or broadway shows. As much as I love reading about my latinx siblings, I can’t help but feel a little bit left out, since Brazil is the only country in Latin America that speaks Portuguese. If you could, I would love to read a book, preferably YA but I’d love anything really, with a Brazilian character whose culture is important to them.

Thank you so much,
-Maria

6. I love listening to your weekly podcast. I hope this is a new-ish question for you both. I have surprisingly enjoyed books where the author goes on a trip that is physically or emotionally draining. Throughout their journey they discover new things about themselves and discuss the aspects of humans that need to explore and push themselves. I loved both Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Both books have stuck with me years later. I hope you can help me locate other interesting books along this topic.

Thank so much!
-Nicole

7. My boyfriend and I have recently started reading books together but it has been difficult finding things we both enjoy. He is a fan of fast paced high fantasy stories that have similar lore to Dungeons and Dragons. I prefer more slow-burn, character driven stories that have science fiction themes. We are both fans of Jeff Vandermeer, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, and The Stand and Pet Semetary by Stephen King. Can you please recommend a science fiction/ fantasy book that has enough action to satisfy my boyfriend and interesting characters that I can enjoy? Thanks in advance!

-Jana

Books Discussed

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Stephen King Readalikes episode

Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky

Promised the Moon by Stephanie Nolen

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad) by CB Lee

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Crow Blue by Adriana Lisboa, transl. by Alison Entrekin

3% on Netflix

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon

Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris

Gamechanger by LX Beckett

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann