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The Book Review

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The New York Times

The world's top authors and critics join host Gilbert Cruz and editors at The New York Times Book Review to talk about the week's top books, what we're reading and what's going on in the literary world. Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

#506

Kate Atkinson on the Return of Jackson Brodie

The British writer Kate Atkinson has had a rich and varied career since her debut novel, “Behind the Scenes at the Museum,” won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 1996; her 14 subsequent books have included story collections, historical fiction and an inventive speculative novel, “Life After Life,” that landed on the Book Review’s recent survey of the [100 Best Books of the 21st Century] (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html) . But she may be best known for her Jackson Brodie series of crime novels, which began with “Case Histories” in 2004 and was later adapted into a British television show. The sixth book in the series, “Death at the Sign of the Rook,” has just been released, and from the title to the plot to the cast of characters it pays winking homage to the golden age of English cozy mysteries. Atkinson visits the podcast this week to discuss her new novel, and tells The Times’s Sarah Lyall how she approached her tribute to an earlier era. ... Read more

06 Sep 2024

44 MINS

44:48

06 Sep 2024

#505

21st Century Books Special Edition: Isabel Wilkerson on 'The Warmth of Other Suns'

26 Aug 2024

39 MINS

39:12

26 Aug 2024

#504

Book Club: 'My Brilliant Friend,' by Elena Ferrante

This July, The New York Times Book Review published a list of [The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century] (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html) . The top choice was “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein. The book is the first novel in Ferrante’s so-called Neapolitan quartet, which tracks the lifelong friendship between Lenù and Lila, two women from a rough neighborhood in Naples, Italy, even as family, relationships and work pull their lives in different directions. In this week’s episode, MJ Franklin discusses the book with fellow editors Joumana Khatib, Emily Eakin and Gregory Cowles. ... Read more

23 Aug 2024

50 MINS

50:56

23 Aug 2024

#503

21st Century Books Special Edition: Jennifer Egan on 'A Visit from the Goon Squad'

As part of its recent [100 Best Books of the 21st Century] (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html) project, The New York Times Book Review is interviewing some of the authors whose books appeared on the list. This week, Jennifer Egan joins host Gilbert Cruz to discuss her Pulitzer-winning novel about the music industry, “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” and talks, among other things, about the early challenges it faced in finding an audience, the meaning of its title and her initial reluctance to decide whether the book was a novel or a story collection. ... Read more

19 Aug 2024

41 MINS

41:08

19 Aug 2024

#502

Liz Moore on Her Summer Camp Mystery "The God of the Woods"

A summer camp in the Adirondacks. A rich girl gone missing, 14 years after her older brother also disappeared. A prominent local family harboring dark secrets. Liz Moore’s new novel, “The God in the Woods,” turns these elements into a complex and suspenseful meditation on parenting and social class and the rituals of summer friendship. On this week’s podcast, Liz Moore chats with Gilbert Cruz about her new novel. (Spoiler alert: the last 10 or so minutes address the book's ending.) ... Read more

16 Aug 2024

39 MINS

39:39

16 Aug 2024

#501

What We're Reading This Summer

It’s August, which means that Labor Day and back-to-school are just around the corner. The vacation that seemed so leisurely a month ago suddenly feels a little more frantic. But there’s still time to squeeze in a last batch of summer reading. On this week’s episode, host Gilbert Cruz chats with his colleagues Joumana Khatib and Anna Dubenko about the books that have been occupying their attention this season. Books mentioned on this episode: "Talk," by Linda Rosencrantz "Crossroads," by Jonathan Franzen "You Like It Darker," by Stephen King "Transactions in a Foreign Currency," by Deborah Eisenberg "Veronica," by Mary Gaitskill "The Bright Sword," by Lev Grossman "Asymmetry," by Lisa Halliday "Out," by Natsuo Kirino "The God of the Woods," by Liz Moore "The Devil's Grip," by Lina Wolff "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay," by Elena Ferrante "Spy Hook," by Len Deighton "All Fours," by Miranda July ... Read more

09 Aug 2024

32 MINS

32:34

09 Aug 2024

#500

21st Century Books Special Edition: George Saunders on 'Lincoln in the Bardo'

05 Aug 2024

41 MINS

41:21

05 Aug 2024

#499

Sarah Jessica Parker on Her Life in Publishing

Sarah Jessica Parker has been a familiar presence on TV, movie screens and Broadway stages for five decades. But since 2016 she has also been a force in the book world, initially at the helm of the fiction imprint SJP for Hogarth and for the past two years with SJP Lit, an imprint at the independent publisher Zando. Parker visits the podcast this week to chat with the host Gilbert Cruz about her lifelong love of reading, the kinds of books that excite her most and her entry into the publishing business, among other topics. “I just keep learning,” Parker says. “And I think, every time I feel ill equipped, I just recommit to the idea of what books have meant to me since, well, my entire life, literally my entire life, and how I can help an author. … Every year we do this whistlestop of going to literary agents’ offices and just reminding them of the imprint and what we've published and who we're about to publish and the mission of our particular imprint. Because I think people have every right to assume those ideas — ‘dilettante,’ ‘not deserving’ or, like I said, ‘ill equipped.’ People have spent, you know, their whole lives in higher education, and then they come out and pursue this dream of being in publishing in a variety of jobs. And I didn't. And I was very concerned about perception, but also my own concerns for myself about taking care of a writer.” ... Read more

02 Aug 2024

35 MINS

35:44

02 Aug 2024

#498

21st Century Books Special Edition: Min Jin Lee on 'Pachinko'

As part of its recent " [100 Best Books of the 21st Century] (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html) " project, The New York Times Book Review is interviewing some of the authors whose books appeared on the list. This week, Min Jin Lee joins host Gilbert Cruz to discuss her novel, as well as the book she's read the most times — George Eliot's "Middlemarch." “I’m willing to say it’s the best English language novel, period. Without question,” Lee says. “George Eliot is probably the smartest girl in the room ever as a novelist. She really was a great thinker, a great logician, a great empathizer and also a great psychologist. She was all of those things. And she was also political. She understood so many aspects of the human mind and the way we interact with each other. And then above all, I think she has a great heart.” ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

34 MINS

34:58

29 Jul 2024

#497

Book Club: Let's Talk About "The Talented Mr. Ripley," by Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 thriller “The Talented Mr. Ripley” follows a young, down-on-his-luck scammer, Tom Ripley, who is looking to reverse his fortunes. When he receives a job offer to go to Italy and retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich socialite on an endless holiday, Tom finds the perfect opportunity to work his way into the upper crust. But as he becomes more and more obsessed with Dickie and Dickie’s life, the breezy getaway turns into something much more sinister, sending them down a dangerous path. In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with his colleagues Tina Jordan, Sadie Stein and Sarah Lyall, our thrillers columnist. Caution: Spoilers abound. ... Read more

26 Jul 2024

46 MINS

46:12

26 Jul 2024

#496

21st Century Books Special Edition: Colson Whitehead on 'The Underground Railroad'

22 Jul 2024

36 MINS

36:20

22 Jul 2024

#495

What It's Like to Write a King Arthur Tale

Lev Grossman, author of fantasy novel "The Magicians" and its two sequels, joins host Gilbert Cruz to talk about writing his version of Camelot in "The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur." ... Read more

19 Jul 2024

32 MINS

32:46

19 Jul 2024

#494

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

This week The New York Times Book Review rolled out the results of an ambitious survey it conducted to determine the best books of the 21st century so far. On this week’s episode, Gilbert Cruz chats with fellow editors Tina Jordan, Scott Heller and Joumana Khatib about the results of that survey and about the project itself, including the willingness of some participants to let us share their ballots with the public. ... Read more

12 Jul 2024

37 MINS

37:05

12 Jul 2024

#493

Book Club: 'Headshot,' by Rita Bullwinkel

Rita Bullwinkel’s impressive debut novel, “Headshot,” follows eight teenagers fighting in the Daughters of America Cup, a youth women’s boxing tournament staged in a dilapidated gym in Reno. Each chapter details a match between fighters, bout after bout, until finally a champion is declared. We are thrown into the high-octane theater of each fight, as the boxers work to defeat their opponents. But we also explore each girl’s life, with flashes into the past and the future and into the girls’ minds as they reckon with their intense desires to make something of themselves. In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with his colleagues Joumana Khatib and Lauren Christensen. Caution: Spoilers abound. ... Read more

28 Jun 2024

34 MINS

34:06

28 Jun 2024

#492

Griffin Dunne on His Joyful and Tragic Family Memoir

Every family has its stories, and every family has its drama — and some families, like the one the actor and director Griffin Dunne was born into, have an excess of both. His uncle was the writer John Gregory Dunne, his aunt was Joan Didion and his father was Dominick Dunne, who became famous for his Vanity Fair dispatches from the trial of the man who killed his daughter (and Griffin’s sister) Dominique. On this week’s episode of the Book Review podcast, Dunne talks about his book, “ [The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/books/review/friday-afternoon-club-griffin-dunne.html) .” Of waiting to write it until his father, uncle and aunt had died, Dunne said he needed the distance: “I had the perspective on just how remarkable those three were as writers, what an influence they had on my life.” ... Read more

21 Jun 2024

37 MINS

37:50

21 Jun 2024

#491

10 Books to Check Out This Summer

Summer is upon us and you're going to need a few books to read. Book Review editors Elisabeth Egan and Joumana Khatib join host Gilbert Cruz to talk through a few titles they're looking forward to over the next several months. Books discussed in this episode: "Farewell, Amethystine," by Walter Mosley "The Cliffs," by J. Courtney Sullivan "Horror Movie," by Paul Tremblay "Liars," by Sarah Manguso "The God of the Woods," by Liz Moore "The Bright Sword," by Lev Grossman "Pearl," by Sian Hughes "Sandwich," by Catherine Newman "The Future Was Now," by Christopher Nashawaty "An Honest Woman: A Memoir of Love and Sex Work," by Charlotte Shane ... Read more

14 Jun 2024

28 MINS

28:27

14 Jun 2024

#490

Elin Hilderbrand on Her Final Nantucket Summer Book

For many years now, Elin Hilderbrand has published a novel every summer set on the island of Nantucket. With her 30th book, 'Swan Song,' the bestselling author says she will step off that hamster wheel and try something new. On this week's episode, she and host Gilbert Cruz talk about her career, what she's reading, and what's next. ... Read more

07 Jun 2024

37 MINS

37:38

07 Jun 2024

#489

Let's Talk About Percival Everett's 'James'

The broad outlines of "James" will be immediately familiar to anyone with even a basic knowledge of American literature: A boy named Huckleberry Finn and an enslaved man named Jim are fleeing down the Mississippi River together, each in search of his own kind of freedom. But where Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” treated Jim as a secondary character, a figure of pity and a target of fun, Percival Everett makes him the star of the show: a dignified, complicated, fully formed man capable of love and wit and rage in equal measure. In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with his colleagues Joumana Khatib and Gregory Cowles. Caution: Spoilers abound. ... Read more

31 May 2024

45 MINS

45:40

31 May 2024

#488

Writing About NASA's Most Shocking Moment

The year 1986 was notable for two big disasters, both of them attributable to human error and bureaucratic negligence at competing super powers: the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Soviet Union and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in the United States. The journalist Adam Higginbotham wrote about Chernobyl in his 2019 book, “Midnight in Chernobyl.” Now he’s back, with a look at the American side of the ledger, in his new book, “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space.” On this week’s episode, Higginbotham tells host Gilbert Cruz why he was drawn to both disasters, and what the Challenger explosion revealed about weaknesses in America’s space program. “There was certainly a lot of hubris and complacency that led into this accident,” Higginbotham says. “In complex decision-making processes like those leading to the Chernobyl accident and the Challenger disaster, those concerned with making the decisions start off with a series of extremely carefully governed and defined practices for what constitutes acceptable risk and normal behavior. And then gradually over time, they subtly and almost unconsciously expand what they deem to be acceptable without even realizing it." ... Read more

17 May 2024

43 MINS

43:03

17 May 2024

#487

Fantasy Superstar Leigh Bardugo on Her New Novel

In the world of fantasy fiction, Leigh Bardugo is royalty: Her Grishaverse novels are mainstays on the young adult best-seller list, her “Shadow and Bone” trilogy has been adapted for a Netflix series and her adult novels “Ninth House” and “Hell Bent” established her as a force to reckon with in the subgenre known as dark academia. Now Bardugo is back with a new fantasy novel, “The Familiar,” and it’s also her first work of historical fiction: Set during the Inquisition in 16th-century Spain, it deals with literal royalty (King Philip II of Spain) through the story of a young scullery maid who happens to possess some magical abilities. This week on the podcast, Gilbert Cruz talks with Bardugo about her career, her writing process and her decision to write a historical novel ... Read more

10 May 2024

41 MINS

41:44

10 May 2024

#486

Colm Toibin on His Sequel to 'Brooklyn'

Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel “Brooklyn” told the story of a meek young Irishwoman, Eilis Lacey, who emigrates to New York in the 1950s out of a sense of familial obligation and slowly, diligently begins building a new life for herself. A New York Times best seller, the book was also adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie starring Saoirse Ronan — and now, 15 years after its publication, Tóibín has surprised himself by writing a sequel. “Long Island,” his new novel, finds Eilis relocated to the suburbs and, in the opening scene, confronting a sudden crisis in her marriage. On this week’s podcast, Tóibín talks to Sarah Lyall about the book and how he came to write it. ... Read more

03 May 2024

44 MINS

44:19

03 May 2024

#485

Book Club: Dolly Alderton's 'Good Material'

How to explain the British writer Dolly Alderton to an American audience? It might be best to let her work speak for itself — it certainly does! — but Alderton is such a cultural phenomenon in her native England that some context is probably helpful: [“Like Nora Ephron, With a British Twist”] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/books/review/good-material-dolly-alderton.html) is the way The New York Times Book Review put it when we reviewed her latest novel, “Good Material,” earlier this year. “Good Material” tells the story of a down-on-his-luck stand-up comic dealing with a broken heart, and it has won Alderton enthusiastic fans in America. In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with his colleagues Emily Eakin and Leah Greenblatt. Caution: Spoilers abound! ... Read more

26 Apr 2024

46 MINS

46:41

26 Apr 2024

#484

100 Years of Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster is not growing old quietly. The venerable publishing house — one of the industry’s so-called Big 5 — is [celebrating its 100th birthday this month] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/books/booksupdate/simon-schuster-100-anniversary.html) after a period of tumult that saw it put up for sale by its previous owner, pursued by its rival [Penguin Random House in an acquisition bid] (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/simon-schuster-penguin-random-house.html) that fell apart after the Justice Department [won an antitrust suit] (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/books/penguin-random-house-simon-schuster.html) , then [bought for $1.62 billion last fall] (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/books/kkr-simon-schuster-sale.html) by the private equity firm KKR. With conditions seemingly stabilized since then, the company is turning 100 at an auspicious time to celebrate its roots and look to its future. On this week’s episode, Gilbert is joined by Simon & Schuster’s publisher and chief executive, Jonathan Karp, to talk about the centennial and what it means. “It was a startup 100 years ago,” Karp says. “It was two guys in their 20s. Richard Simon and Max Schuster. They were just a couple of guys who loved books. And they made a decision that they wanted to read every book they published. … The first book was a crossword puzzle book. It was a monster success. They’d actually raised $50,000 from their friends and family. They didn’t need it. They returned the money. And the company was up and running.” 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] (mailto:books@nytimes.com) . ... Read more

12 Apr 2024

31 MINS

31:22

12 Apr 2024

#483

Looking Back at 50 Years of Stephen King

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stephen King’s first novel, “Carrie.” In the decades since, King has experimented with length, genre and style, but has always maintained his position as one of America’s most famous writers. On this week’s episode, host Gilbert Cruz talks to the novelist Grady Hendrix, who read and re-read many of King’s books over several years, writing an essay on each as well as King superfan Damon Lindelof, the TV showrunner behind shows such as “Lost” and “The Leftovers.” Some of the books discussed in this episode: "Carrie," "Cujo," "Duma Key," "From a Buick 8," "The Tommyknockers," "The Stand," and "The Long Walk." Some of the articles referenced: --- [Grady Hendrix's Stephen King essays] (https://www.gradyhendrix.com/#/the-great-stephen-king-reread/) --- [When Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and J.J. Abrams met Stephen King] (https://ew.com/article/2006/11/24/stephen-king-meets-creators-lost/) --- [Stephen King reviews Tom Perrotta's "The Leftovers"] (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/books/review/the-leftovers-by-tom-perrotta-book-review.html) ... Read more

05 Apr 2024

1 HR 05 MINS

1:05:01

05 Apr 2024

#482

Books That Make Our Critics Laugh

Earlier this month, the Book Review’s staff critics — Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai — released a [list of 22 novels they have found reliably funny] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/books/funny-novels-humor.html) since Joseph Heller’s landmark comic novel “Catch-22” came out in 1961. On this week’s episode, they tell Gilbert Cruz why “Catch-22” was their starting point, and explain a bit about their process: how they think about humor, how they made their choices, what books they left off and what books led to fights along the way. (“American Psycho” turns out to be as contentious now as it was when it was first published.) “There are only a very few number of books in my lifetime that have made me laugh out loud,” Jacobs says. “And some of them no longer make me laugh out loud, because the thing about humor is it’s like this giant shifting cloud, this shape-shifting thing that changes over the course of our lives and also the life of the culture.” 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] (mailto:books@nytimes.com) . ... Read more

29 Mar 2024

30 MINS

30:33

29 Mar 2024

#481

Talking to Tana French About Her New Series

If you're familiar with Tana French, it's likely for her Dublin Murder Squad series of crime novels that kicked off in 2007 with "In the Woods." But her new book, "The Hunter," a sequel to 2020's "The Searcher," takes place outside of that series. In this episode of the podcast, speaking to Sarah Lyall about her shift to new characters, French said, "I wasn't comfortable with sticking to the detective's perspective anymore. I think from the perspective of a detective, a murder investigation is a very specific thing. It's a source of power and control. It's a way that you can retrieve order after the disruption that murder has caused. But I kept thinking there are so many other perspectives within that investigation for whom this investigation is not a source of power or control or truth and justice. It's the opposite. It's something that just barrels into your life and upends it and can cause permanent damage." ... Read more

22 Mar 2024

43 MINS

43:34

22 Mar 2024

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#506

Kate Atkinson on the Return of Jackson Brodie

#505

21st Century Books Special Edition: Isabel Wilkerson on 'The Warmth of Other Suns'

#504

Book Club: 'My Brilliant Friend,' by Elena Ferrante

#503

21st Century Books Special Edition: Jennifer Egan on 'A Visit from the Goon Squad'

#502

Liz Moore on Her Summer Camp Mystery "The God of the Woods"

#501

What We're Reading This Summer

#500

21st Century Books Special Edition: George Saunders on 'Lincoln in the Bardo'

#499

Sarah Jessica Parker on Her Life in Publishing

#498

21st Century Books Special Edition: Min Jin Lee on 'Pachinko'

#497

Book Club: Let's Talk About "The Talented Mr. Ripley," by Patricia Highsmith

#496

21st Century Books Special Edition: Colson Whitehead on 'The Underground Railroad'

#495

What It's Like to Write a King Arthur Tale

#494

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

#493

Book Club: 'Headshot,' by Rita Bullwinkel

#492

Griffin Dunne on His Joyful and Tragic Family Memoir

#491

10 Books to Check Out This Summer

#490

Elin Hilderbrand on Her Final Nantucket Summer Book

#489

Let's Talk About Percival Everett's 'James'

#488

Writing About NASA's Most Shocking Moment

#487

Fantasy Superstar Leigh Bardugo on Her New Novel

#486

Colm Toibin on His Sequel to 'Brooklyn'

#485

Book Club: Dolly Alderton's 'Good Material'

#484

100 Years of Simon & Schuster

#483

Looking Back at 50 Years of Stephen King

#482

Books That Make Our Critics Laugh

#481

Talking to Tana French About Her New Series