Our Favorite Books of the Year
Reminisce the exciting first season of the PBS Books Readers Club!
Our hosts highlight the most incredible author moments and fascinating reads from the series this year that were heartfelt, funny, and inspiring!
Plus, hosts dish out their favorite book picks for 2024 — providing readers with an ultimate gift guide for the holiday season! This year’s book picks explored an array of genres, from historical fiction (Geraldine Brooks, Horse), suspense (Tana French, The Hunter), American history and religion (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song), biography (Walter Isaacson, Leonardo da Vinci), family drama (Rachel Khong, Real Americans), and modern classics (Percival Everett, James). The monthly episodes complement the PBS mission to educate, inspire, entertain and express a diversity of perspectives—often pairing author conversations that align with beloved PBS shows, including Masterpiece® dramas (Robert Thorogood, The Marlow Murder Club), American Masters profiles (Julia Alvarez, The Cemetery of Untold Stories), and exciting series, like The Great American Recipe which harmonized with Olivia Ford’s baking-driven coming-of-old-age novel, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame.
Don’t miss the season finale of the PBS Books Readers Club to celebrate the writers and creatives works explored this year, and reminisce the most heartfelt, funny, and inspiring author moments—plus get a jump-start on holiday gifting ideas for the book lover on your list, as hosts share their top reads of 2024!
Walter Isaacson and Sarah Burns
The PBS Books Readers Club Welcomes Renown Historian Walter Isaacson and Guest Sarah Burns, Co-Director/Writer of the new Ken Burns film, LEONARDO da VINCI debuting November on PBS.
He was history’s most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us?
Bestselling author and Professor Walter Isaacson (STEVE JOBS, EINSTEIN, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN) brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this enthralling, comprehensive masterwork that conveys how this Renaissance man unified science and art.
The conversation continues from novel to screen, as filmmaker Sarah Burns joins the PBS Books Readers Club to discuss LEONARDO da VINCI a new two-part, four-hour documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
Robert Thorogood
Author, screenwriter, and producer Robert Thorogood joins the PBS Books Readers Club to discuss the murder-mystery book The Marlow Murder Club, soon to be a Masterpiece drama series on PBS.
To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…
The Marlow Murder Club follows the adventures of unlikely amateur sleuth Judith Potts, a crossword puzzle setter living happily on her own in the quaint town of Marlow. When seventy-seven year old Judith witnesses a brutal murder and the local police don’t believe her story, she decides to investigate for herself. Soon she is joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. When another body turns up, they realize they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…
Julia Alvarez
Tana French
Percival Everett
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with literary icon Percival Everett to discuss James—named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Time, NPR, The Seattle Times, Elle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Oprah Daily. James is an instant New York Times bestseller and highly acclaimed novel that puts a transformative spin on the canonical work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Olivia Ford
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author Olivia ford to discuss her super sweet novel. A huge-hearted, redemptive coming-of-old-age tale, a love story, and an ode to good food. Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends’ lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.
Rachel Khong
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author of Real Americans, Rachel Khong. Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
Scott Alexander Howard
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we plumb the depths of Scott Alexander Howard’s debut novel, The Other Valley. Fans of the PBS series A Brief History Of The Future and books like Never Let Me Go and The Giver will enjoy this tale about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future. The Other Valley tells the story of Odile, an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. This thrilling page-turner will make readers ask the question: would you want to know your future if you could? And what would you risk to change it?
Allison Pataki
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author of “Finding Margaret Fuller”, Allison Pataki. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller, The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, The Queen’s Fortune, The Traitor’s Wife, The Accidental Empress, Sisi: Empress on Her Own, Where the Light Falls, as well as the nonfiction memoir Beauty in the Broken Places and two children’s books, Nelly Takes New York and Poppy Takes Paris. Allison’s novels have been translated into twenty languages. A former news writer and producer, Allison has written for The New York Times, ABC News, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Fox News and other outlets. She has appeared on The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Good Day New York, Good Day Chicago and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author, scholar, and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for a deeper look at the stories and inspirations behind his bestselling book The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. Prof. Gates guides us through the roots of the Black church and its importance as a foundation of American identity. Prof. Gates also explores over a century of Black spirituality through sermon & song in his newest PBS series Gospel, discusses the long-buried secrets that are brought to life in his hit PBS series Finding Your Roots, and teases his soon-to-be-released book The Black Box: Writing The Race.
Horse and All Creatures Great & Small
Join the PBS Books Readers Club hosts Fred, Lauren, Heather, and Princess as they sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Geraldine Brooks to discuss her bestselling novel HORSE. We’ll talk with Geraldine about the captivating relationship between horse and human, her process when writing this novel, and get to know more about her life off the pages. With the not to miss season 4 of All Creatures Great & Small finally here, we sit down with the new Executive Producer, Jamie Crichton, to get an inside look on what’s in store for our beloved characters, learn about adapting these treasured tales from Darrowby, and learn about life on set of the MASTERPIECE favorite.
