Episode 509 || Best Books of the Year with Hunter Mclendon

This week on From the Front Porch, Annie and Hunter (@shelfbyshelf) discuss their top 10 favorite books of 2024.

To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 509”) or download and shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:

Annie's Midyear Favorites:

1. James by Percival Everett
2. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
3. Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
4. Even After Everything by Stephanie Duncan Smith
5. Real Americans by Rachel Khong
6. Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
7. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
8. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
9. Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
10. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley

Hunter's Midyear Favorites:

1. James by Percival Everett
2. All Fours by Miranda July
3. We Were The Universe by Kimberly King Parsons
4. In Tongues by Thomas Grattan
5. Colored Television by Danzy Senna
6. State of Paradise by Laura Van der Berg
7. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
8. Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts
9. Henry Henry by Allen Bratton

10. Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Annie's Favorite Books of 2024

1. James by Percival Everett
2. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
3. Even After Everything by Stephanie Duncan Smith
4. The Barn by Wright Thompson
5. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
6. Clear by Carys Davies
7. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
8. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
9. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
10. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley

Hunter's Favorite Books of 2024

1. James by Percival Everett
2. All Fours by Miranda July
3. We Were The Universe by Kimberly King Parsons
4. Small Rain by Garth Greenwell
5. Colored Television by Danzy Senna
6. Rejection by Tommy Tulathimutte
7. Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez
8. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
9. In Tongues by Thomas Grattan

10. Orbital by Samantha Harvey / Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Playworld by Adam Ross. Hunter is reading The Antidote by Karen Russell.

If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Our Executive Producers are...Jennifer Bannerton, Stephanie Dean, Linda Lee Drozt, Ashley Ferrell, Susan Hulings, Wendi Jenkins, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Gene Queens, Cammy Tidwell, and Amanda Whigham.