Podcast: Great Books from The First Half of 2023

Gilbert Cruz is joined by fellow editors from the Book Review to revisit some of the most popular and most acclaimed books of 2023 to date. First up, Tina Jordan and Elisabeth Egan discuss the year’s biggest books, from “Spare” to “Birnam Wood.” Then Joumana Khatib, MJ Franklin and Sadie Stein recommend their personal favorites of the year so far. Books discussed on this week’s episode: “Spare,” by Prince Harry “I Have Some Questions for You,” by Rebecca Makkai “Pineapple Street,” by Jenny Jackson “Romantic Comedy,” by Curtis Sittenfeld “You Could Make This Place Beautiful,” by Maggie Smith “The Wager,” by David Grann “Master, Slave, Husband, Wife,” by Ilyon Woo “King: A Life,” by Jonathan Eig “Birnam Wood,” by Eleanor Catton “Hello Beautiful,” by Ann Napolitano “Enter Ghost,” by Isabella Hammad “Y/N,” by Esther Yi “The Sullivanians,” by Alexander Stille “My Search for Warren Harding,” by Robert Plunket “In Memoriam,” by Alice Winn “Don’t Look at Me Like That,” by Diana Athill Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.