Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Top 10 Books of 2024: A Journey Through Literature's Transformative Power
What if books and theater had the power to change lives? Join me, Lluvia, as I promise a journey through my top 10 favorite books of 2024, where stories leap off the page and into your heart. From a whimsical adventure in "Ollie's Odyssey" by William Joyce to the hauntingly beautiful love story in "Swimming in the Dark" by Tomasz Jedrowski, I explore how contemporary literature captures the spectrum of human experience. Expect a special El Paso mention in "Our Towns" by James and Deborah Fallows, alongside unforgettable narratives like "Carrie Soto is Back" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As I reflect on the representation of queer characters and authors, these books reveal the profound journeys and diverse voices reshaping modern storytelling.
Beyond the pages, I confront the challenges of accessing live theater and share my admiration for those, like Moshe, who navigate these hurdles with creativity and passion. While financial constraints remain a barrier, the transformative magic of theater inspires hope for future experiences and discussions. Plus, I sprinkle in some timeless classics such as "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker, and thought-provoking reads like "We Should All Be Feminists" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ensuring that your book list is both rich and relevant. Whether you're a literary enthusiast or a theater aficionado, there's something in this episode to ignite your imagination and reaffirm the power of art in our lives.
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Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Yuvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and today I will be counting down my top 10 favorite books of 2024. Alright, so before I get into the countdown, I have another El Paso shout out. So I have not done an El Paso shout out in a while. As I said, I get so excited whenever I see El Paso mentioned anywhere. That is my hometown and it doesn't get a lot of love, so I always get excited when I see it. And I don't remember which episode I did my last shout out in, but it's been a while, and that shout out came from the Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, which, spoiler alert, is somewhere on my list today. So since I just felt like it was appropriate that, since my last El Paso shout out came from the Vanishing Half, I should include the next El Paso shout out on this episode. Now this El Paso shout out comes from Our Towns, a 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America, by James and Deborah Fallows. So I quote for distraction on days of long flights there's always the radio. The air traffic controllers were busy over West Texas with its vast stretches of military airspace. There were many calls between the ATCs and Fighter 25 and Fighter 26, who were no doubt on training missions. I tallied at least five medevac flights in the air that day, which seemed like a lot until I considered the long, desolate stretches of road between sick or injured people and medical attention. Pilots this day requested vectoring to get to places with names that sounded exotic and evocative Amarillo, san Angelo, dollheart, alpine, el Paso. When the ATC chatter faded out, we switched to Sirius XM radio and toggled around" so that is today's El Paso, shout out.
Speaker 1:So let's go ahead and get into my top 10 favorite books of 2024. And I have quite a few rereads on here, which is not surprising, and I have a few from Dua Lipa's book club that also made it on here. So, as I said, dua Lipa's book club has been hit or miss for me in terms on whether or not I love the book as much as she does, or I really do not like the book. So, and then we have a few in which I like it, but they didn't make I like it and they might still be good or might still be something that I just did not enjoy, but it just wasn't on the top 10 least or top 10 favorite books of this year. But anyway, starting off with number 10 is Ollie's Odyssey by William Joyce. I just thought this was a really sweet kid's book and the illustrations were just so gorgeous. Like this is one of. This is the most beautifully illustrated book that I've seen in a while. It's just gorgeous to look at and I really, really liked it. I liked the story of Ollie's Odyssey. I think it's a great way to bring kids on this adventure and get them excited about the relationships that they have with their favorite toys and hopefully encourage them to go on more adventures with their favorite toys and really just soak up as much as they can of their childhood.
Speaker 1:Number nine is Swimming in the Dark by Thomas Jodorowsky. This was one of Dua Lipa's book club picks and this is one of. Let me see one of one, two, three, four, four out of my 10 favorite books of 2024 are queer or like. Um have to deal with like queer characters or queer authors wrote them. This is I. I read a lot of like books this year with with like queer characters, which is I. I didn't realize that until I was making this list. So that's really cool and I majority of them made it onto this list. So there you go, and I think that's why these deathless shores which is that queer Captain Hook, peter Pan reimagining was just so disappointing because I had so many solid, like queer books to choose from.
Speaker 1:But anyway, number nine is Swimming in the Dark by Thomas Jodorowsky, and this book is set in the early 1980s in Poland and it follows a. It tells a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide. It's really heart-wrenching to see our two main characters fall in love and still have a lot of love for each other and think that they're doing the right thing, but they disagree ultimately in terms of their political beliefs. One of them is definitely very much fighting for his right to love anybody and the other one is, well, he does want to have the ability to love who he wants. He's more okay with being in the closet and staying in the closet. And yeah, it's just a really. It's a really beautifully written book and I really, really enjoyed reading it and it's it is difficult to read, obviously, but I absolutely loved it.
Speaker 1:Number eight is the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. This is the Hunger Games prequel, you could say. It follows Coriolanus Snow who turns into President Snow in the original trilogy, and I absolutely loved it. I was very hesitant to read it and come back into this world, but I loved it and I enjoyed my time back in the arena and getting a look at one of the first Hunger Games and how it was so close to not existing had this one failed. So for more detailed thoughts again, visit the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes episode of Books vs Movies.
Speaker 1:Number seven is Keri Soto is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This one I read to fulfill one of my reading challenge prompts about reading a book about or by a female athlete. So, and I just want to say this was the first year I read Taylor Jenkins Reid and I read two of her books. Both of them are on this list. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. So really, really, really enjoyed this book.
Speaker 1:But Keri Soto is back, follows Keri Soto, who is the goat of tennis back in the 70s or 80s, I believe. Don't remember off the top of my head, but this is one of the books that I listened on audiobook. I don't usually like reading via or listening via audiobook. I prefer to read just because the book sticks with me better. And, yeah, I just get more out of visually reading as opposed to hearing it being read. But this one I just really really enjoyed the story that I was able to listen to it just fine. But it follows Keri Soto. She went into retirement and the record she set for the most Grand Slam Swan has just been broken and she wants to keep that record. So she comes out of retirement to defend that title. And this is a book about tennis. There's really not much that happens outside of the tennis world, but I still found the book to be really engaging and I really enjoyed Keri Soto.
Speaker 1:Now, this is an example of how Keri Soto is like one of the most unlikable characters. She is so cocky and conceited and just full of herself and, yeah, she's Just not a likable character. But this speaks to Taylor Jenkins Reid's ability to get you invested in the story. I usually don't like if the main character is unlikable. You will not see me rooting for them. I hope everything bad happens to them. And again, this just speaks to Taylor Jenkins Reid's ability of making a compelling story and finding a way to make even the most unlikable character someone that you enjoy reading about. I wasn't necessarily rooting for her per se, but I did enjoy reading her story, and that doesn't always happen with unlikable characters.
Speaker 1:Number six is the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. So this is the other Taylor Jenkins Reid book I read this year. I really, really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading more from her. As I said, this is the first time ever reading a Taylor Jenkins, any kind of Taylor, any books by her but I really, really enjoyed both of them. And the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows a classic film actress named Evelyn Hugo. She is telling her story to our secondary our supporting character, I guess you could say and so that this supporting character can write Evelyn Hugo's biography and she reflects on her rise to the top, the risks she took, the loves she lost and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine, and I don't want to reveal what those secrets are, but this is, yeah, I don't want to say too much because I feel like spoiling. That just spoils everything. It just spoils so much. But you will really, really like this book Evelyn Hugo is fascinating. Her story is fascinating. Hearing about all seven of her husbands and how she ended up married to each one of them and what she gained and lost by marrying each one of them is. It's just a fun journey.
Speaker 1:This was another one, I believe, that I read to fulfill one of my reading challenges I don't remember which reading challenge but I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it. Number five is the Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Now, this one is like I said, that was the one that prompted me to start El Paso Shoutouts, because El Paso was mentioned in there. And yeah, this story follows the Vignes or Vines. It's pronounced, it's spelled V-I-G-N-E-S. So I'm going to say Vignes, the Vignes twin sisters. They are identical twins but they grow up to have completely different lives. They grow up together in a small southern Black community and run away from that community at age 16. And they end up becoming separated at some point after running away, and this is what leads them to have completely different lives. One of the Vignes sisters ends up returning to her, the small Black community that she grew up in. She now has a Black daughter and her.
Speaker 1:This is the. This is a Black community where you're aspiring to become lighter and lighter skinned, as as you can. So, even though you're still marrying other Black people in this community, you're marrying like the lightest Black skinned person so that you can hopefully have light skinned children that then proceed to have their own light skinned children and so on and so forth. Like this is what this black community is aspiring for. This twin goes against that and she ends up marrying a really black, like dark skinned black man and she ends up giving birth to a really dark skinned daughter, and so that brings about a lot of prejudice when she comes back to this community towards her daughter, but she doesn't let that stop her from raising her daughter and trying to give her as many opportunities as she can. The other twin sister runs away and gets married to a white man and she and her sister are. They are up until the sister ends up returning with a really really dark skinned daughter. They are like what everyone in this community is aspiring to be because they are so light skinned that she ends up the sister that ends up marrying the white man. She's passing as white. Everyone believes that she is white. She's married to a white man. This white man has no idea that she's actually black because she is passing as white. But their lives become, even though the sister that ran away and ends up marrying the white man. She's completely cut off her family, including her twin sister. Marrying the white man, she's completely cut off her family, including her twin sister. Their lives continue to be intertwined because then their daughter's storylines start intersecting.
Speaker 1:It is just a really really fascinating book. I really enjoyed reading it. This is also part of Dua Lipa's book club and I really enjoyed it and I recommend it. Number four is the Color Purple by Alice Walker. I don't think it's any surprise to anyone that it's on this list. I mentioned in the podcast episode that this was my third time rereading it, my third time reading it, second time rereading it, and I still really really love it. Every single time I read it I love it even more, so of course it's going to be on here somewhere.
Speaker 1:Number three we have A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini, and Khaled is one of my favorite authors. If I read something by him, it's definitely going to be on my favorite books list. It's just how it works. I absolutely love all of his stories, all of his books. A Thousand Splendid Sons is his second novel and I read the Kite Runner first. Absolutely love the Kite Runner.
Speaker 1:The Kite Runner definitely focuses on a relationship between father and son and he wanted his second novel to focus on the relationship between mother and daughter. Now I will say the relationship between father and son and mother and daughter doesn't mean they're literally father and son and mother and daughter. That's just kind of the relationship that the characters have with each other. There's like an older one who's a mentor to the younger one. So you can argue it's a motherly daughter relationship, even though they're not literal biological mother and daughter. But A Thousand Splendid Sons focuses on this, really on the relationship of two women, mariam and Layla, and it chronicles 30 years of Afghan history in a deeply beautiful story of family, friendship, faith, and I just love it so much. I love this book. This is one of my all-time favorite books ever and I just really, really love it.
Speaker 1:Number two we have Pretty, a Memoir by KB Brookins. So this was another book that I won in an Instagram giveaway and I fell in love with it. This is written by a young black trans writer and this is their memoir about transitioning from female to male and it talks about queerness, masculinity, race, their experiences, since they have experience being female and now they're male presenting. They have experience with how women are treated versus how they were treated when they were a woman versus how they're treated now that they're male presenting. There's just so many good quotes in this book. I could just fill a notebook with all my favorite quotes, all the things that I took away from this book. I really really recommend it and I learned a lot and I applaud KB for just their vulnerability and their ability to tell their story and not be afraid to call out the people that, the way they've been treated in the past, and just everyone, that everyone should read this book.
Speaker 1:I think number one we have we should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Again, chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of my favorite authors. Anything that she writes is going to end up on my favorite books. I just love all her books and this is actually a really short essay. That was so. She actually gave this we Should All Be Feminists speech as a TEDx speech, speech as a TEDx speech, and then from there it was transcribed and altered into an essay.
Speaker 1:That in this little pocket-sized book. It really is the little pocket-sized book that you can carry with you anywhere and pull out as needed and share with anyone that needs to read it, and it's really, really, it's really, really short. Like I said, it's really small. It's small, it's pocket-sized, so you can read it in 20 minutes or less, 30 minutes or less, and it's just a really, really good introduction to feminism and what it is. In case you're not familiar with it, and if you are familiar with it, it's just a good refresher on why we should all be feminists and why feminism benefits everyone. It is not feminism is not man-hating, and feminism should include everyone, regardless of gender identity and race. Because unfortunately, we do have a lot of what's called white feminism, in which we focus on the victories given to white women, and sometimes those victories exclude Black women and other women of color. So I absolutely love it, I highly recommend it and you should check it out for yourself.
Speaker 1:So those are my top 10 favorite books that I read in 2024. Be sure to keep listening for my top 10 least favorite book, least favorite films that I saw in theaters, and my top 10 favorite films that I saw in theaters, and I will explain in those episodes why I'm focusing on just films that I saw in theaters, as opposed to every single film that I watched in 2024. And, who knows, maybe Moshi can send me his list of top 10 theater that he experienced in 2024. We'll see if he's interested in doing that. And, yeah, he watches so much more theater than I do. He's very passionate about watching as much theater as he can.
Speaker 1:I am very passionate about watching theater. I love watching theater as well, but if I don't get comps, which are free tickets to see a show, I am probably not going to watch it. And it's not because I don't want to, it's just that theater going to the theater is so expensive and more and more there are affordable ways to get theater tickets. But even then then, with how much I spend on Orlando and I to go to the movies, it's still usually less than just one theater ticket to go myself. Yeah, so it's just not as financially accessible to me. But Moshi finds a way to watch a lot of theater and I really applaud him and commend him for that. So we'll see if he wants to do that. But that is it for this episode and I'll see you next time.