On with Kara Swisher

The Best (and Most Overrated) Books of 2024

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Which subpar books actually warrant writing a bad review? Do best sellers usually live up to the hype? And how does our relationship with technology affect the publishing industry? Kara sits down with two of her favorite book critics, Dwight Garner of The New York Times and Becca Rothfeld of The Washington Post, to discuss the best and worst books of 2024. 

The trio debates standout books and notable disappointments, the craft of book reviewing, and the best way to experience a great book. They also explore the importance of best-seller lists, how concerned we should be over the rising tide of book censorship, and which books from 2024 could end up becoming forever classics.

Books mentioned includes (listed alphabetically):

  • What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice, Anastasia Berg & Rachel Wiseman
  • Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763
  • Believe Nothing Until it is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism, Patrick Cockburn
  • D'Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
  • Carson McCullers: A Life, Mary V. Dearborn
  • You Dreamed of Empires, Álvaro Enrigue
  • James, Percival Everett
  • When the Clock Broke, John Ganz
  • The Upstairs Delicatessen, Dwight Garner
  • Small Rain, Garth Greenwell
  • Lesser Ruins, Mark Haber
  • Alphabetical Diaries, Sheila Heti
  • A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman, Robert Hilburn
  • Splinters, Leslie Jamison
  • Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
  • Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
  • Liars, Sarah Manguso
  • We Who Wrestle With God, Jordan B. Peterson
  • Intermezzo, Sally Rooney
  • The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, Christine Rosen
  • Things Are Too Small, Essays in Praise of Excess, Becca Rothfeld
  • Knife, Salman Rushdie
  • I Heard Her Call My Name, Lucy Sante
  • The Rebel’s Clinic, Adam Schatz
  • The Politics of Cultural Despair, Fritz Stern
  • Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance


    • Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher 

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