2024 Recs

Written By Chelsea Holt

Please note these are all things consumed in 2024, and not things that came out in 2024. I’m an old soul. These recs are old news.

Things to read.

While this year was heavy on classic literature, it was also the year I started reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, and re-read Twilight. It’s all about balance!

  1. Self-help = Atomic Habits by James Clear

  2. Biography = Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday with William Dufty

  3. Classic = The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham

  4. Classic = The Color Purple by Alice Walker

  5. Non-fiction = In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Atomic Habits offers great insights on human behavior, as well as practical ways to build new habits. This introduced me to the concept of habit stacking - building new habits on top of ones that are already fully formed. Ex. Verbalizing things to be grateful for while pouring daily coffee. This also introduced to me the exercise of taking inventory of pre-existing habits and deciding which ones serve me and which ones do not. This book would be great for someone goal-oriented and/or someone interested in human behavior.

Lady Sings the Blues is, in a word, sad. Billie Holiday’s life was hardly a vacation and hearing about her experiences in raw form was heavy. But the important kind of heavy that makes you sit and think and feel a whole lot of things. It talked a lot about her experience as a Black singer and who was in her circle of influence. Musicians will appreciate hearing about the musicians in her orbit coming up around the same time as her (Art Tatum, Sarah Vaughan, etc.). It’s a book that reveals a different perspective and catalyzes pause.

The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham might have been my favorite book of the year. Somewhere along the way it was introduced to me by someone who credited this book for influencing beat literature (think Kerouac’s On the Road). Here’s just a sample of this beautiful writing: “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.”

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is also stunning writing. This story challenges popular definitions of love, loss, and faith by following the character Celie throughout her life. This Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning story has been adapted to film twice. I’m not going to pretend to have anything *novel* to say about this. I cried a lot while reading it and you will, too.

In the Garden of Beasts was my second Erik Larson read and my favorite so far (I’ve also read The Splendid and the Vile and Devil in the White City). History isn’t a genre I particularly reach for, but this author has a literary way of unfolding events and introducing characters like none other. In the Garden of Beasts is about the American diplomatic family stationed in Germany during the rise of Hitler before the start of WW2. A niche perspective! A window into the ideals of that time period! Good stuff.

    1. I'm Glad My Mom Died

      Jennette McCurdy

    2. Shakespeare: The World as Stage

      Bill Bryson

    3. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

      Kerry Patterson

    4. Buddhism Plain & Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day

      Steve Hagen

    5. Crime and Punishment

      Fyodor Dostoevsky

    6. Twilight

      Stephenie Meyer

    7. Breakfast at Tiffany's

      Truman Capote

    8. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

      James McBride

    9. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

      Erik Larson

    10. Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste

      Luke Barr

    11. Holly

      Stephen King

    12. The Color Purple

      Alice Walker

    13. Sharp Objects

      Gillian Flynn

    14. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

      Erik Larson

    15. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

      James Clear

    16. Foster

      Claire Keegan

    17. My Life in France

      Julia Child

    18. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know

      Malcolm Gladwell

    19. Small Things Like These

      Claire Keegan

    20. Their Eyes Were Watching God

      Zora Neale Hurston

    21. Kidnapped

      Robert Louis Stevenson

    22. Lady Sings the Blues

      Billie Holiday

    23. The Woman in Black

      Susan Hill

    24. The Darling Buds of May

      H.E. Bates

    25. Girl with a Pearl Earring

      Tracy Chevalier

    26. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

      J.K. Rowling

    27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

      J.K. Rowling

    28. The Housemaid

      Freida McFadden

    29. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

      J.K. Rowling

    30. Franny and Zooey

      J.D. Salinger

    31. The Razor’s Edge

      W. Somerset Maugham

    32. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

      J.K. Rowling

Things to listen to.

All-time Faves

The artists that never leave the inner sanctum.

  • Billy Joel - “Sleeping with the Television On”

    • Everybody knows Billy Joel always lands in my top 5 on Spotify Wrapped or Apple Replay and I’ll never shut up about it.

  • Joni Mitchell - “See You Sometime”

    • Listen to this when you get in your feels about old connections that just didn’t pan out for a cathartic cry.

  • Nina Simone - “Chilly Winds Don’t Blow”

    • Fun fact: Nina doesn’t have a lot of Christmas stuff but I found this one while putting together a Classy Christmas playlist.

Pop Loves

This is the year I continued to embrace pop music for its ability to give me something mindless to bop around about. Because even I need a break from taking life so seriously!

  • Raye - “The Thrill is Gone”

    • Raye may enter the inner sanctum soon enough. Her songs are layered thick and take me on a journey every time. Each one is like a capsule of many good things rolled up into one. Her other track “Escapism” is an even better example of this, but this is a good one you should listen to if you haven’t yet.

  • Chappell Roan - “HOT TO GO!”

    • I was beyond skeptical of Chappell when a dear friend told me I’d like her music, and it wasn’t until I was hot and sweaty in a club at 1am dancing with strangers to the song that stole the night, that I converted.

  • Olivia Rodrigo - “Brutal”

    • This is my “go-to” track when I need to hype myself up to do hard or uncomfortable things at my job. Also, if you want some hot tea, read up on the Chappell-Olivia lore.

  • Kylie Minogue - “Padam Padam”

    • Although not an artist I frequent, this was my number one listened to song in 2024 with 84 replays.

  • Noah Kahan / Hozier - “Northern Attitude”

    • A song for when it gets cold. Noah Kahan authored this, and there’s a version with just him, but I’m partial to the collab with Hozier for its richness.

(Said club.)

All That Jazz

This year I took a community jazz class and it introduced me to some great rep. From there I found my own recordings of new-to-me-tunes that are on frequent rotation.

Stay Classy

My bestie launched an album this year and it slaps! Truly amazing to be a witness to her artistry and advocacy.

  • Noémie Chemali - Opus 961

    • A gorgeous debut album of Lebanese music, this was a response to the August 2020 explosion in Beirut. Read all about Noémie on her website, and read about the launch event in my other post!

  • Anna Lapwood - Flying (from “Peter Pan” Soundtrack)

    • Anna is out here making organ music fun and exciting and you probably saw her on TikTok if your algorithm is cool enough.

  • Johannes Brahms - German Requiem, Op. 45

    • The perfect choice for when your plane is delayed by exactly 76 minutes.

  • Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony No. 6

    • Probably the best Phil Orch concert of this season so far (that we’ve attended).

Noémie Chemali, violist and advocate

Places to go

Philadelphia edition.

Recipes to enjoy

I guess we like chili.

  • Cauliflower chili from a random weight watchers cookbook

  • Vegan chili crowd-pleaser that we’ve made for our annual holiday party twice!

  • Kale juice - basically this recipe but add ginger. I can’t find the link from Ninja.

Chelsea Holt
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9 Facilitation Skills People Wish I Learned Sooner.