It’s the last episode of 2024. Like last year, we thought we’d do a year-end wrap up and look ahead to our next year. At the beginning of 2024, we both had a couple things we thought we’d like to do. And, of course things came up for us that we hadn’t planned on. Let’s start with some of our ideas of how we’d spend 2024 Linny said she would write music, learn to play the piano, and write poetry. Linny reports that she wrote one poem and has partially set it to music. She also has talked to some friends about forming a music group to keep her accountable, but she hasn’t had a lot of success getting that done. Linny also noted that after she semi-retired, she decided she wanted to deploy three times with the American Red Cross and she has deployed twice. She has also enjoyed her unexpected work as an extra in movies. Linny continues to enjoy pickleball. She feels like she is getting better and keeping up with her friend group. Nancy reports that she did pretty well on meditating over three quarters of the year, but the last quarter of the year, it all fell apart. Nancy reports she isn’t sure exactly got out of her meditation practice. Tennis is going well. As planned, she joined a beginner’s league to reset her competitive tennis experience. In the summer she played in a USTA league again and felt pretty good about it. She is joining a USTA winter league starting in January. Unexpected additions to the year were two board commitments for Nancy: Humanities Nebraska and her country club board. Linny and Nancy turn to the podcast’s 2024 books. We read 3 non-fiction books this year: The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery by Adam Gopnik Stories for My Kids: Learning to Yodel and Other Life Lessons by Ileen Dunivent Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe Linny says The Real Work has stayed with her and she continues to think about mastery and goals. She also was struck by Empire of Pain was painful for her because of the tragedy of the Sackler family’s actions. Nancy also thought Empire of Pain has stuck with her and continues to infuriate her. Nancy mentioned that 2024 included to older books whose authors are deceased. They were: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, published in 2001. He died in 2020. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958. He died in 2013 Linny says Things Fall Apart was a real highlight for her. She enjoyed reading and understanding why this book has become a classic. Nancy also really liked Things Fall Apart. Our more contemporary fictional works were: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Hello Beautiful by Anne Napolitano. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Nancy could not identify a favorite because she loved them all. Linny really loved The Song of Achilles and getting to know the story of The Iliad. Nancy liked the themes of our children’s book, The King Penguin. Linny says she can imagine Nancy reading this book to a child and really getting into it. Linny also noted that the illustrations were great. Nancy and Linny talked about how great our experts were this year. Our scholars were: Dr. Terryl Hallquist (Vanderbilt) joins us to discuss Tom Lake and Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN. Dr. Thomas Jay Lynn (Penn State) joins us to discuss Chinua Achebe and his revolutionary view of colonial Africa. Dr. Karen Roggenkamp (Texas A &M) joins us to talk murder, mayhem, and mysteries. Dr. Jennifer Cumming (University of Birmingham in the UK) discusses the mental skills needed by athletes and others. Dr. Sara Brenneis (Amherst) joins us to discuss 20th century Spain, the setting for The Shadow of the Wind. Dr. Kenneth Kiewra (University of Nebraska) joins us to discuss research about talent development, and teaching and learning generally. We also had two journalists join us: KFF Health journalist Aneri Pattani brings us up to date on the progress of legal action against the Sackler family. Anne Boyd Rioux, author of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters. We enjoyed welcoming to authors: Linny talked about how inspiring Ileen Dunivent was. Nancy talked about how sweet and down-to-earth Shelby Van Pelt was, especially given all her success. Nancy quizzes Linny on what she thought the top three most listened episodes were. Linny guesses were wrong! Our most listened to 2024 episodes were: Episode 71: Remarkably Bright Creatures Episode 72: Author Shelby Van Pelt Episode 83: The Thursday Murder Club Linny and Nancy reveal our 2025 books. Our non-fiction books are: Atomic Change by James Clear. Life of a Parasite by John Janovy. Educated by Tara Westover. Our fiction books are: The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty. The Leavers by Lisa Ko. Catching Stars by Laura Rudacille. Half of the Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Nancy likes that we continue to select books that explore cultures other than ours. There are two books that focus on the Native American experience. Three are set in other countries. Two deal with immigration and racism. Our December book will be a YA classic: The Giver by Lois Lowry. Linny explained that it is hard to narrow down all the suggestions we receive down to twelve selections. She emphasizes that all the suggestions we receive stay on our list. Some of our 2025 books have been on our long list for a couple years before we finally were able to choose them. Our first book in 2025 is Atomic Change by James Clear. This book reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.