Annie is joined by friend and bookstagrammer from @shelfbyshelf, Hunter, to discuss their top ten reads of the year thus far.

The books mentioned in today’s episode are available for purchase from The Bookshelf:

Annie’s Top Ten

1. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

2. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

3. House Lessons by Erica Bauermeister

4. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

5. A Burning by Megha Majumdar

6. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

7. Here for It by R. Eric Thomas

8. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

9. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

10. Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Hunter’s Top Ten

1. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

2. Fairest by Meredith Talusan

3. Real Life by Brandon Taylor

4. How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

5. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

6. Kept Animals by Kate Milliken

7. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

8. Shiner by Amy Jo Burns

9. Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

10. Cleanness by Garth Greenwell and I know You Know Who I Am by Peter Kispert

Also mentioned: Memorial by Bryan Washington, Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland, Daddy by Emma Cline, and What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.

A full transcript for today’s episode is available here.

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Memorial by Bryan Washington, and Hunter is reading A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online books orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.