The beginning of a new year is a good time to think about how we want to better ourselves over the coming year. Maybe your New Year's resolution is to eat healthier, or go for more walks outside, or try meditation.

Year after year, the "Sound of Ideas" team thinks about their reading habits, how much they want to read, and how to share that love of reading with the listeners.

On Wednesday's "Sound of Ideas," we'll be talking to some local bibliophiles and have them give us some of their favorites book recommendations from the past year. The panel will be made up of librarians, book shop owners, writing instructors, and the former book editor for The Plain Dealer.

They'll tell us about the best literary works, including novels, non-fiction, poetry, and more, that should be on your reading list to feed your soul, inform you about the world, and just make you think.

We'll also discuss how to get children more interested in reading, and how to combat the pervasiveness of screen-time.

GUESTS:
- Karen Long, Manager, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards; Former Book Editor, The Plain Dealer
- Wendy Bartlett, Collection Development and Acquisitions Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library
- Kate Schlademan, Owner, The Learned Owl Book Shop
- Michelle Smith, Program Director, Literary Cleveland

Book recommendations from our panel:
"Big Swiss" by Jen Beagin
"A Day in he Life of Abed Salama" by Nathan Thrall
"The Family Chao" by Lan Samantha Chang
"Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World" by John Valliant
"The Other Eden" by Paul Harding
"The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story" by James McBride
"Whalefall" by Daniel Kraus
"The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of American History" by Ned Blackhawk
"Black Folk: the Roots of The Black Working Class" by Dr. Blair LM Kelley
"The Isles of the Gods" by Amie Kaufman
"Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and The Teenagers Whose Lives it Changed" by Dashka Slater
"Daisy Woodworm Changes the World" by Melissa Hart
"The Children's Book of Birdwatching" by Dan Rouse
"Big Swiss" by Jenn Beagin
"Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America" by Heather Cox Richardson
"Unto Dogs" by Stephanie Ginese

Book Recommendations from our listeners:
"The Book of Delights" and "Inciting Joy" by Ross Gay
"Picasso's War" by Hugh Eakin
"The Tiger in the Attic" by Edith Milton
"Good Night, Irene" by Luis Alberto Urrea
"Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros
"The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies" by Alison Goodman
"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn