On a special new episode of the podcast, taped live, editors and critics from the Books desk discuss this year’s outstanding fiction and nonfiction.
Yesterday
The Best Books of the 21st Century: Ryan Holiday on ‘The Road’
In 2024, The New York Times Book Review gathered more than 500 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets and literary enthusiasts to help pick the best books of the 21st century so far. One of those books was Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Road,” which came in at ... Show More
36m 43s
May 30
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Transcription,' by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner’s slender new novel, “Transcription,” is just 130 pages long, yet it cracks open some of our most colossal and enduring philosophical questions. The novel is told in three parts. We open with an unnamed narrator going to interview his mentor, Thomas — an acclaimed arti ... Show More
47m 21s
Nov 2019
Ep 210: Book gifts are the BEST gifts
Break out the wrapping paper, because our yearly WSIRN holiday recommendation episode is here! Listeners wrote and called in to let us know who they wanted to give the gift of reading to this Winter, and today, Anne is joined by Holland Saltsman of The Novel Neighbor in St Louis ... Show More
57m 7s
Sep 2019
Ep 202: The art (and awfulness) of the cliffhanger
In today's double-feature, Anne chats books with sisters Mia & Micah. But unlike most of our episodes with multiple guests, they aren’t looking to find titles they’ll enjoy together. Mia & Micah already read the same books frequently, so we’re looking to individualize their readi ... Show More
55m 53s
Oct 2019
Ep 204: Nonfiction that reads like a thrilling novel
Today Anne talks books with David Krohse, an Iowa reader who’s woven a love of literature into all aspects of his life — the waiting room of his chiropractic practice, the bar with a group friends, and quality time spent with his wife. David loves larger than life nonfiction, esp ... Show More
42m 12s
Jan 2023
Ep. 131: The Best Backlist Books We Read in 2022 with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide)
<p><strong>In Episode 131, Catherine (@gilmoreguide) and I share the best backlist books we read in 2022. We each share our top 5 backlist books from 2022, some underrated backlist gems, and our backlist reading stats. Catherine and I both had a successful year of backlist readin ... Show More
54m 37s