Hey, everyone, it's the holiday season, and as 2024 comes to an end, we're taking a look back at some of our favorite reads and literary trends from the year.

I sat down with my friends, authors, and book lovers, Emma Straub and

Isaac Fitzgerald to get their 2024 book recommendations. Isaac Fitzgerald is a frequent guest on

today, and he's the author of the best-selling memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts, which tells

the story of self-discovery, family, and forgiveness.

Emma Straub is a New York Times best-selling author, her novel, All Adults Here, was a read-with-Genna

Book Club pick, and she owned the independent bookstore in Brooklyn. Books are Magic.

Emma and Isaac share how their families instilled their love of reading, the power of independent

bookstores, and how to make reading a habit in the new year. They answer questions from Read with Jenna

readers and share their recommendations for what to read in 2025. I'm Jenna Bush Hager. Welcome to

my podcast, Open Book with Jenna. Well, I've been really looking forward to this because I feel like I'm just sitting with two friends whose work I admire Emma Straub and Isaac Fitzgerald.

You guys are kind of the book prom king and queen of the today show. I've met you both here years ago, really,

but have really fallen in love with both of you because of the way you talk about books.

So we're kind of having like an end of the year, 24 conversation and what we have to look forward to. But I also want to just

dive in a little bit to what makes you all readers. So if you can answer for me the question,

why do you read what you say? That's a biggie. That is a big one right out of it sounds soft but actually

it's actually incredibly complex incredibly yeah i can take a crack i can try and something tells me

you both want to answer this flawlessly oh come on now and now the pressure's up and now the pressure's

up first off just want to say it's two-, though, the way you talk about books, what

you've done for books is just incredible.

It's really lovely to be part of the culture here at the Today Show talking about books.

You guys making space for books on television is so, so important.

...