
Podcast: Ep468: Our Critics' Year in Reading
Podcast: The Book Review
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[1/1] Our Critics' Year in Reading
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The Timesâs staff book critics â Dwight Garner, Jennifer Szalai and Alexandra Jacobs â do a lot of reading over the course of any given year, but not everything they read stays with them equally. On this weekâs podcast, Gilbert Cruz chats with the critics about the books that did: the novels and story collections and works of nonfiction that made an impression in 2023 and defined their year in reading, including one that Garner says caught him by surprise. âEleanor Cattonâs âBirnam Woodâ is in some ways my novel of the year,â Garner says. âAnd itâs not really my kind of book. This is going to sound stupid or snobby, but Iâm not the biggest plot reader. Iâm just not. I like sort of thorny, funny, earthy fiction, and if thereâs no plot Iâm fine with that. But this has a plot like a dream. It just takes right off. And sheâs such a funny, generous writer that I was just happy from the first time I picked it up.â Here are the books discussed on this weekâs episode: âBe Mine,â by Richard Ford âOnlookers,â by Ann Beattie âI Am Homeless if This Ia Not My Home,â by Lorrie Moore âPeople Collide,â by Isle McElroy âBirnam Wood,â by Eleanor Catton âBiography of X,â by Catherine Lacey âMadonna: A Rebel Life,â by Mary Gabriel âThe Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune,â by Alexander Stille âThe Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions,â by Jonathan Rosen âBottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State,â by Kerry Howley âThe Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight,â by Andrew Leland âFatherland: A Memoir of War, Conscience, and Family Secrets,â by Burkhard Bilger âKing: A Life,â Jonathan Eig âLarry McMurtry: A Life,â Tracy Daugherty âBiography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey,â by Robert âMackâ McCormick âRoald Dahl, Teller of the Unexpected: A Biography,â by Matthew Dennison âThe Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality,â by William Egginton âDoppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World,â by Naomi Klein âThe Notebooks and Diaries of Edmund Wilsonâ âZero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair,â by Christian Wiman âFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,â by Oliver Burkeman We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Reviewâs podcast in general. You can send them to books@nytimes.com.
Podcast

The Book Review
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. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp