Wrap Up 2024: Books and Bites Podcast, Ep. 96

It's time to wrap up the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! On this episode, we discuss books published in 2024. Our picks include a suspense novel that is also an immersive alternate reality game, a National Book Award-winning adaptation of an American classic, and a YA mystery by a bestselling author.

Michael's Pick

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

Eve Palmer answers the door on a cold, snowy night to a family wanting to know if they can take a quick look around since the father, Thomas, used to live there as a child. 

Eve, still waiting for her partner to get home, reluctantly invites them in. As they’re touring the house, Thomas’s daughter goes missing. Eve and Thomas begin their search in the basement, and that’s when Eve notices some disconcerting things.

We Used to Live Here is part of an ever-evolving immersive alternate reality game that allows you to hunt clues and decipher messages in web code, message boards, and social media accounts long after you've finished the book.

Pairing: A hot dish of Totchos (Loaded Tater-Tot Nachos)

Carrie's Pick

James by Percival Everett

This National Book Award-winning novel retells Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the point of view of Jim, the enslaved man who travels down the Mississippi River with Huck. 

While the novel pays homage to the original, it also challenges some of Twain's nineteenth-century conventions and deepens Jim's humanity. The risks Jim--who prefers to be called James--faces on this journey, his love for his family and for Huck, all make for a compelling, suspenseful read.

Pairing: Grilled Catfish with Tomato Blackberry Salsa, a dish that combines the two foods most readily available to James and Huck.

Jacqueline's Pick

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

In this YA mystery, 18-year-old Bel Price was just two years old when her mother, Rachel, disappeared. Now, a struggling British documentary filmmaker is making a film about her disappearance.

One evening, Bel sees a  woman who looks just like her mother stumbling around in front of her house. At first, Bel thinks it's the actor playing Rachel during a reenactment scene, but the woman claims she is the real Rachel. Bel thinks the woman is lying and works to uncover the truth.

Pairing: A salty, sweet, rich recipe for peanut butter cookies.