Book Riot - The Podcast

Vanessa Diaz is back to talk with Jeff and Rebecca about what magical realism is, where it comes from, and how to talk about it. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriela Garcia Marquez Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende Labyrinths or Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar The Storyteller’s Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez Magical/Realism by Angelica Villareal The Week of Colors by Elena Garro, Megan McDowell (trans.) The Queen of Swords by Jazmina Barrera, Christina MacSweeney (trans.) This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vanessa Diaz sits in for Rebecca this week and talks to Jeff about the challenges of making a best books of the year list before getting into the news of the week. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Amazon’s best books of the year David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker Prize for his novel Flesh B&N’s best book of the Year is Mona’s Eyes The 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards.  I’m bookmarking this deep dive into the fashion industry’s recurrent interest in literature for knife-and-fork reading this weekend Reader’s Digest asked three professional designers to pick the best book covers of the year Kindle translate Somebody is Walking On Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez Stolen Crown by Tracy Borman Devouring Time by Tod Goddard One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai Flashlight by Susan Choi This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a bonus preview of our ⁠Patreon-only⁠ episode in which Jeff and Rebecca talk about what they've been doing with their lives recently, outside of the world of books. To listen to the full episode and all previous bonus content, ⁠become a Patreon member here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca talk about the books they still want to get to before 2026 gets here. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this Episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Flesh by David Szalay Maggie by Katie Yee Kaplan's Plot by Jason Diamond Who is Government? by Michael Lewis Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer The Uncool by Cameron Crowe Joyride by Susan Orlean A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews Trying by Chloe Caldwell Next of Kin by Gabrielle Hamilton Girl Warrior by Joy Harjo The Season by Helen Garner Does This Make Me Funny? by Zosia Mamet Palaver by Bryan Washington The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Black-Owned by Char Adams This is for Everyone by Tim Berners-Lee Every Screen on the Planet by Emily Baker-White Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad Heart the Lover by Lily King The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie Squirrel by Nancy Castaldo Isola by Allegra Goodman We The People by Jill Lepore The History of Money by David McWilliams Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane The Emergency by George Packer What We Can Know by Ian McEwan El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree The Librarians by Sherry Thomas The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett The Persian by David McCloskey Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're in a lull of current publishing industry news, so Jeff and Rebecca speculate about upcoming book awards, year-end announcements, and the book of the year, as well as touch on the impact of AI on writing. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this Episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon New Report Examines Writers’ Attitudes toward AI [Publishers Weekly] My Students Use AI. So What? [The Atlantic] The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers Erin Somers interview on First Edition The Running Ground by Nicholas Thompson Craftland by James Fox Make your Holiday Book Recommendation requests to podcast [at] bookriot.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca talk Zadie Smith's Dead & Alive. Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff talks to Dhonielle Clayton and Caroline Richmond of We Need Diverse Books about censorship, book bannings, and the ongoing drive to diversify books and reading in the U.S. Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: We Need Diverse Books Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca consider 10 contenders for the title of It Book of November. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood The Look by Michelle Obama The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes The Emergency by George Packer The Eleventh Hour: Stories by Salman Rushdie Palaver by Bryan Washington The Pelican Child by Joy Williams Brimstone by Callie Hart This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca put on their rain gear as the best books of the year storm approaches. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Barnes & Noble kicks off Best Books of the Year season Amazon revisits 25 years of #1 Book picks We might have called it wrong about Frankenstein: the reviews are good Federal judge finds Texas READER Act unconstitutional A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin Replaceable You by Mary Roach The Unveiling by Quan Barry This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book Riot's managing editor, Vanessa Diaz, returns to re-examine the strange and influential life of Edgar Allan Poe. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Check out Zero to Well-Read! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca applaud the news that Jeff Hiller will be hosting the National Book Awards in November before talking about more book news from the week. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Discussed in this episode: The Book Riot Podcast Patreon Maggie by Katie Yee wins the Barnes & Noble Discover Award Jeff Hiller will host the National Book Awards First book acquired from The Black List Texas school district bars students from school libraries The Millions fall book preview i Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Guillermo del Toro's Netflix adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in the news, we thought we would bring out an episode we did for Annotated several years ago. It's a great story and we had fun doing this one. Enjoy. This episode of Annotated was written by me, Jeff O’Neal, and directed by Jeremy Desmon. Sound editing and design by Kyle O’Neal. Our thanks to Mahvesh Murad for being our Mary Shelley, Bob Schinsky for being our Lord Byron, Amanda Nelson for being our Jane Clairmont and Kyle O’Neal for taking on the role of Percy Shelley. Further reading recommendations: Mary Shelley by Miranda Seymour The Lady and Her Monsters by Roseanne Montillo Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality by Emily W. Sunstein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prof. Laura McGrath joins Jeff and Rebecca to talk about what some studies can tell us about just how much readers care (and don't) about genre. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Laura's newsletter: TextCrunch English, James and J.D. Porter, "The Eclectic Reader." JCA: The Journal of Cultural Analytics. August 20, 2025 Peterson, Richard A. “Understanding Audience Segmentation: From Elite and Mass to Omnivore and Univore.” Poetics, vol. 21, no. 4, 1992, pp. 243–58 Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharifah Williams joins Jeff to talk about the 2025 Nobel for Literature, National Book Award finalists and more award season news. Then, Hachette CEO David Shelly talks to Jeff about book banning, inclusivity, and other issues facing the publishing world. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature 2025 National Book Award Finalists Kirkus Prize Announced Baker & Taylor going away? The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson Audition by Katie Kitamura Near Flesh by Katherine Dunn This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A drop-in of the most recent episode of Zero to Well-Read, in which Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinksy are joined by Book Riot editors Vanessa Diaz and Kelly Jensen to talk about Stephanie Meyer's cultural juggernaut: Twilight. This was a lot of fun. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Apply to write for Book Riot This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca talk about the opening of the portal to submit claims against the $1.5 Billion Anthropic settlement, Reading Rainbow's relaunch, One Battle After Another, and more of the week's book news. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Apply to write for Book Riot Authors can find out if they’re eligible for a settlement from Anthropic Reading Rainbow is coming back with a new host Publishing has a gambling problem Florida district judge rejects first amendment argument in book banning base Kamala Harris’s 107 Days on track to be best-selling memoir of the year 107 Days by Kamala Harris Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung Replaceable You by Mary Roach Enshittification by Cory Doctorow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca consider 10 candidates for the title, It Book of October 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers King Sorrow by Joe Hill The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays by Harper Lee A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar Enshittification by Cory Doctorow The Unveiling by Quan Barry Joyride by Susan Orlean Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith Tom’s Crossing by Mark Danielewski This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca talk about The Booker Prize finalists, a judicial brow-beating, soft book sales, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. Booker Prize finalists Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against NYT, PRH Book sales dropped in first half of 2025, romantasy losing steam The Fourth Wing adaptation has a showrunner Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood 107 Days by Kamala Harris Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have for you an episode from the Brooklyn Public Library’s Borrowed & Returned podcast series, looking back on Ezra Jack Keats' trailblazing picture book and how it continues to resonate with readers. You can find Borrowed & Returned wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca talk about the week's book news, from Trump flimsy lawsuit against PRH and The New York Times (and why it matters, flimsy as it is), break down a couple of award lists, do some Jefftionary entries, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Check out Zero to Well-Read! Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The National Book Awards fiction longlist is here Finalists for the 2025 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Trump sues NYT and PRH  How “actual malice” works in defamation Scholastic launches streaming service Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arudhati Roy Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices