The Night Tiger (Flatiron Books, 2019) is much more than just a fantasy novel—it’s also a mystery, a historical novel, and a love story. Yang-Sze Choo accomplishes all this in one deft package. Set in Malaysia in the 1930s, in the state of Perak, The Night Tiger closely follows three narrators, mysteriously interlinked by their names. There is a clever orpha ... Show More
Jan 25
Lesley Chamberlain, "The Mozhaisk Road" (Austin Macauley, 2025)
In The Mozhaisk Road (Austin Macauley, 2025) the time is 1978 and Moscow is still the capital of a Communist country. The political police continues to suppress the protests of dissident leader Alexander Razumovsky and his tiny group of supporters. Western observers Howard Wi ... Show More
1h 1m
Jan 20
Linda Wilgus, "The Sea Child" (Ballantine, 2026)
Cornwall, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was best known for its smuggling. The combination of an insular and impoverished countryside, a rugged coastline characterized by numerous inlets and coves, and price hikes caused by the ongoing wars between Britain and France ... Show More
36m 6s
Dec 18
162 Carlo Rotella's Books in Dark Times (JP)
For our Pandemic-era Books in Dark Times series, RTB spoke in 2020 with Carlo Rotella of Boston College. Rotella is the author of such gems as Good With Their Hands: Boxers, Bluesmen, and Other Characters from the Rust Belt and most recently has come out with What Can I Get out o ... Show More
24m 39s
Jan 2022
378 Liu Xinwu and the "Scar Literature" of China (with Jeremy Tiang) | Bharati Sneak Preview (with Mira Sundara Rajan)
In this episode, Jacke talks to Jeremy Tiang about his new translation of The Wedding Party, a Chinese classic contemporary novel written in the early 1980s by Liu Xinwu, one of the originators of what has been termed "scar literature." PLUS we feature a sneak preview of our conv ... Show More
49m 26s
Feb 2022
A Spiritual, Dangerous Quest in the Himalayas
<p>Harley Rustad’s new book, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/books/review/lost-in-the-valley-of-death-harley-rustad.html" target="_blank">“Lost in the Valley of Death,”</a> is about an American adventurer named Justin Alexander Shetler, who went on a quest in the Hima ... Show More
55m 3s
Jul 2021
A Heartbreaking Novel About Mothers, Daughters and Secrets
<p>The latest pick for Group Text, our monthly column for readers and book clubs, is Esther Freud's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/books/i-couldnt-love-you-more-esther-freud-group-text.html" target="_blank">“I Couldn’t Love You More,”</a> a novel about three generati ... Show More
56m 44s
Jun 2022
Sensing the World Anew Through Other Species
<p>Ed Yong’s new book, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/books/review-immense-world-animal-senses-ed-yong.html" target="_blank">“An Immense World,”</a> urges readers to break outside their “sensory bubble” to consider the unique ways that dogs, dolphins, mice and other ... Show More
45m 53s
Sep 2023
Interview with Ana Huang
Ana Huang is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and #1 Amazon bestselling author. Best known for her Twisted series, she writes New Adult and contemporary romance with deliciously alpha heroes, strong heroines, and plenty of steam, angst, and swoon sprinkled in. He ... Show More
53m 40s
<p>Chang-rae Lee’s new novel, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/books/review/chang-rae-lee-my-year-abroad.html" target="_blank">“My Year Abroad,”</a> is his sixth. On this week’s podcast, Lee says that his readers might be surprised by it.</p><p>“It’s kind of a crazy bo ... Show More
