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BOOKMARKS: New feature debuts with favorite reads of 2024

Welcome to Bookmarks, where twice a month your friends, neighbors and fellow WVIA listeners recommend your next read.
Sarah Hofius Hall
/
WVIA News
Welcome to Bookmarks, where twice a month your friends, neighbors and fellow WVIA listeners recommend your next read.

I read 20 books in 2024. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but compared to just four years ago when I was lamenting that I never read for enjoyment anymore, it’s huge.

What got me out of a years-long reading slump was a friend pushing a book she loved into my hands and saying “You need to read this.” She didn't say the book I needed to read would send me down the rabbit hole of a 15-book multiverse series, but I've forgiven her.

Welcome to Bookmarks, where the people of the community will have a chance to slam a book down in front of you and say “You need to read this.” Twice a month, I’ll compile a list of recommendations from your friends, neighbors, fellow WVIA listeners and even some WVIA staff, and make a few recommendations of my own.

To start off, I asked a few avid readers to talk about their favorite read of 2024. The 2025 to-be-read pile starts now!

Rachel Balon, Adult Services Coordinator at the Osterhout Free Library
Submitted photo
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Submitted photo
Rachel Balon, Adult Services Coordinator at the Osterhout Free Library

Rachel Balon, Adult Services Coordinator at Osterhout Free Library

Book: "The Keeper of Lost Things"

Author: Ruth Hogan

My favorite read of 2024 was "The Keeper of Lost Things" by Ruth Hogan, and here's why I think everyone should read it. It was an easy, enjoyable read that had elements of mystery, magic and great character development. In this story, we meet Laura, who's a bit lost in life. She starts working for Anthony, who, as a way to grieve, starts collecting everyday objects that others have lost. When he passes away, Laura unexpectedly becomes the keeper of lost things. With new friends and a changed outlook on life, she tries to reunite the lost objects with their owners. This is ultimately a charming, feel-good story about new chapters in life, the meaning we attach to the things in our life and how we are all connected and going through life together.

Bookmarks - The Keeper of Lost Things
Rachel Balon recommends The Keeper of Lost Things
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Patrick McKenna, Lackawanna County Communications Director
Submitted photo
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Submitted photo
Patrick McKenna, Lackawanna County Communications Director

Patrick McKenna, Lackawanna County Communications Director

Book: "24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid"
Authors: Willie Mays and John Shea

My favorite read in 2024 was, coincidentally, "24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid," by Willie Mays and John Shea, a longtime sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle. The book was published in 2020 but I reread it following Mays’ death in June. Twenty-four was Mays’ number; he played in 24 Major League All-Star games and the book has 24 chapters. It’s not simply a sports memoir, but a study of the intersection of sports, history and culture — told through Mays’ experience of rising above segregation to become the most beloved athlete of his time or any other time. I was fortunate to cover Mays’ Hall of Fame induction in 1979, where he laid out many of the principles that he addresses in “24” – such as play hard every day and respect teammates, fans and opponents. You need not be a Mays fan or even a sports fan to appreciate “24.” It’s a great read about one of America’s greatest athletes, but also about some of America’s greatest unresolved challenges.

Bookmarks - 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid
Patrick McKenna recommends 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid
24: Life Stories and Lessons

Jenelle Culver, Assistant Adult Services Coordinator, Osterhout Free Library
Submitted photo
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Submitted photo
Jenelle Culver, Assistant Adult Services Coordinator, Osterhout Free Library

Jenelle Culver, Assistant Adult Services Coordinator at Osterhout Free Library

Book: "A Farewell to Arms"
Author: Ernest Hemingway

This year, my husband and I started listening to audiobooks of classic novels during car trips, and I was especially moved by this one. The emotion of the characters was striking and intensified by the looming threat of war. The story follows an American ambulance driver on the Italian front during World War I who falls in love with an English nurse. Their hopes for a future together are uncertain when he is sent to the front lines during the Battle of Caporetto. The novel explores themes of love, loss, the brutality of war and the fragility of life.

Bookmarks - A Farewell to Arms
Jenelle Culver recommends A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Sarah Scinto, Morning Edition Host and reporter
WVIA
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WVIA
Sarah Scinto, Morning Edition Host and reporter

Sarah Scinto, Morning Edition host

Book: "Under the Whispering Door"
Author: TJ Klune

My turn!

Narrowing down my number one read of 2024 was difficult, but this book has stayed with me all year.

"Under the Whispering Door" is TJ Klune at his finest — a supernatural, lightly fantastical world layered over our own, a strong theme of human connection in difficult and confusing circumstances, and scenes guaranteed to make you teary-eyed on a Martz bus to New York — okay, that was probably just my experience.

Klune’s writing is beautiful and his characters never fail to make you feel — their emotions and your own. This book is a standalone, but if you’re craving more, he recently published a sequel to his breakout novel "House in the Cerulean Sea," so grab that if you’re looking for a series.

Bookmarks - Under the Whispering Door
Sarah Scinto recommends Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Want to submit your own recommendation? Email sarahscinto@wvia.org with Bookmarks in the subject line.

Sarah Scinto is the local host of Morning Edition on WVIA. She is a Connecticut native and graduate of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, and has previously covered Northeastern Pennsylvania for The Scranton Times-Tribune, The Citizens’ Voice and Greater Pittston Progress.

You can email Sarah at sarahscinto@wvia.org