logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2023
1h 12m

10 Best Books of 2023

The New York Times
About this episode

It’s that time of year: After months of reading, arguing and (sometimes) happily agreeing, the Book Review’s editors have come up with their picks for the 10 Best Books of 2023. On this week’s podcast, Gilbert Cruz reveals the chosen titles — five fiction, five nonfiction — and talks with some of the editors who participated in the process.

Here are the books discussed on this week’s episode:

“The Bee Sting,” by Paul Murray

“Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

“Eastbound,” by Maylis de Kerangal

“The Fraud,” by Zadie Smith

“North Woods,” by Daniel Mason

“The Best Minds,” by Jonathan Rosen

“Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs,” by Kerry Howley

“Fire Weather,” by John Vaillant

“Master Slave Husband Wife,” by Ilyon Woo

“Some People Need Killing,” by Patricia Evangelista

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to books@nytimes.com.

Up next
Jun 27
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Mrs. Dalloway" at 100
“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”: So reads one of the great opening lines in British literature, the first sentence of Virginia Woolf’s classic 1925 novel, “Mrs. Dalloway.”The book tracks one day in the life of an English woman, Clarissa Dalloway, living in ... Show More
42m 38s
Jun 20
A.O. Scott on the Joy of Close Reading Poetry
On this week's episode, A.O. Scott joins host Gilbert Cruz to talk about the value of close reading poetry. And New York Times Book Review poetry editor Greg Cowles recommends four recently published collections worth reading.Books mentioned in this episode* "New and Collected He ... Show More
33m 55s
Jun 14
50 Years After ‘Jaws’ Terrified Filmgoers, a Reporter Looks Back
Steven Spielberg’s movie “Jaws” hit theaters 50 years ago this month, in June 1975, and became a phenomenon almost instantly. In some ways that was no surprise: The Peter Benchley novel it was based on, also called “Jaws,” had been a huge best seller the year before, and the publ ... Show More
37m 24s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
Best Books of the Year - Our 20 Favorite Books of 2023
Send us a textIn Episode 131 of Book Talk, Etc. Tina and Renee share their top 10 books of 2023. They also share what they've been loving lately, their latest reads, and have book talk about how they narrowed down their choices. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to FOLLOW /SUBSC ... Show More
1h 14m
Jan 2023
Ep. 131: The Best Backlist Books We Read in 2022 with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide)
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 reading, despite ... Show More
54m 37s
Nov 2021
Best Books of 2021- Fiction- Lily King
On our first Best Books episode, Lily King discusses Five Tuesdays in Winter (Grove, Nov. 9), one of Kirkus’ Best Books in fiction for 2021. Kirkus: “The first collection of stories from an acclaimed novelist…. Full of insights and pleasures” (starred review). Then fiction editor ... Show More
51m 24s
Dec 2021
Best Books of 2021- Nonfiction- Cynthia Barnett
On our final Best Books episode, Cynthia Barnett discusses The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans (Norton, July). This “absolutely captivating nature book” is one of Kirkus’ Best Books in young readers’ literature for 2021 (starred review). Then nonfiction edi ... Show More
50m 47s
Jul 2024
The best books to read this summer
What should you read on the beach this summer? What about if you’re stuck indoors, or if you need a break from kids? Each June, our literary editor Fred Studemann and deputy books editor Laura Battle put together the FT’s summer books special, and today they give us their recomme ... Show More
23m 25s
May 2023
Ep. 141: Spring 2023 Circle Back with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide)
Catherine (Gilmore Guide to Books) and I revisit the 12 books released in April and May featured in the Spring 2023 Book Preview.  We give updates on our reading stats, share our thoughts on the books we’ve read or attempted, and offer recommendations on which ones deserve a spot ... Show More
55m 14s
Mar 2023
Ep. 134: Deborah Goodrich Royce (Author of Reef Road) + Book Recommendations
In today’s episode, Deborah Goodrich Royce joins me to talk about her latest book, Reef Road. We discuss the personal story behind her book and the role of generational trauma in her writing niche, which she calls “Identity Thrillers.”  We also covered the explosion of true crime ... Show More
51m 24s
Dec 2023
Recommending Books For Listeners
On this week's episode Reggie, Kennedy, and Mikayla recommend books for their listeners. They put up a question box on instagram and the listeners put what kind of books they wanted the Ill read what she's reading girls to recommend for them! Books talked about in this episode: T ... Show More
38m 50s
Mar 2023
80: A List of 27 Books We Both Love
Show notes: We’re both very different readers, but it seems like lately, there’s more of a middle ground between Team Sarah and Team Mia. Here are some books that we both love and it was easier than we thought to come up with this list.   Click here to join us on Patreon to get a ... Show More
22m 9s
Jun 2024
Your Guide to Completing the Pro Book Nerds 2024 Reading Challenge
On today's episode, Emma and Joe share some tips and tricks to completing your 2024 Pro Book Nerds Reading Challenge. They also discuss the prompts they've completed and what books they read. Finally, they offer some suggestions for, perhaps, some harder to complete prompts. Let ... Show More
54m 22s