The Book Review

Talking Barbra Streisand and Rebecca Yarros

Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz talks to reporter Alexandra Alter about Rebecca Yarros, author of the smash "romantasy" hit "Fourth Wing," and critic Alexandra Jacobs, who reviewed Barbra Streisand's sprawling new memoir.

Happy Halloween: Scary Book Recommendations

It's scary story season. The Book Review's Gilbert Cruz talks to fellow editors Tina Jordan and Sadie Stein about their favorites.

What Big Books Have Yet to Come Out in 2023?

Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz is joined by Joumana Khatib to talk about the biggest titles yet to arrive in 2023.

Audiobooks are the Best

You love books. You love podcasts. Ergo, we assume you love audiobooks. This week we’ve devoted our entire episode to the form.

Elon Musk's Biography and Profiling Naomi Klein

Times critic Jennifer Szalai talks about Walter Isaacson's biography of the world's richest man and her recent look at the writer and activist Naomi Klein.

Amor Towles Sees Dead People

The novelist discusses his career and his recent essay about cadavers in crime fiction, and the actor Richard E. Grant talks about his memoir and his love of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Ann Patchett on Her Summery New Novel

Ann Patchett returns to the podcast to talk about her new novel, "Tom Lake," and waxes poetic on Thornton Wilder.

Colson Whitehead and His Crime Novel Sequel

Colson Whitehead joins the podcast once again, this time to talk about his new novel "Crook Manifesto."

The Magic of Literary Translation and 'Bridget Jones' at 25

The editors of The Book Review talk about the nitty gritty of literary translation. And then, a conversation about the novel “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” which was published in the U.S. 25 years ago.

What It’s Like to Write an MLK Jr. Biography

Jonathan Eig discusses his new book about the life and times of Martin Luther King.

On Reading ‘Beloved’ Over and Over Again

Salamishah Tillet, a Pulitzer-winning critic, discusses the book she has read the most over the course of her life — Toni Morrison’s classic novel of slavery and trauma.

Essential Neil Gaiman and A.I. Book Freakout

Where to start with one of today’s most prolific and beloved fantasy writers, and the robot who wrote a murder mystery.

Book Bans and What to Read in May

Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth Harris talk publishing news, and Joumana Khatib previews the month’s big books.

David Grann on the Wreck of the H.M.S. Wager

The New Yorker staff writer discusses his new book, “The Wager,” about the harrowing circumstances and conflicting stories surrounding a 1741 shipwreck.

What We're Reading

In this episode, Gilbert Cruz talks to the Book Review editors Tina Jordan and Greg Cowles about what they're reading, and loving.

What We're Reading

Gilbert Cruz talks to Book Review staff members about the books they’ve been enjoying lately.

Revisiting 'Wisconsin Death Trip,' 50 Years Later

The Times's critic Dwight Garner looks back on Michael Lesy's cult classic of documentary literature, which was first published in 1973.

Public Libraries, and Profiling Paul Harding

Erica Ackerberg and Elisabeth Egan talk about community libraries, and MJ Franklin talks about the novelist Paul Harding.

A Look Ahead at the Season's Big Books

Gilbert Cruz and Tina Jordan discuss the upcoming books they're most excited to read in the next few months.

The 10 Best Books of 2022

On a special new episode of the podcast, taped live, editors and critics from the Books desk discuss this year’s outstanding fiction and nonfiction.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner Discusses “Fleishman Is in Trouble”

N.K. Jemisin on Multiverses, Revolution and the ‘Soul’ of Cities

Ezra Klein talks to the science fiction and fantasy novelist N.K. Jemisin about her latest book, “The World We Make.”

Siddhartha Mukherjee Talks About ‘The Gene’

The oncologist and Pulitzer-winning science writer discusses his 2016 book about the history of genetics, and the novelist Kate Atkinson talks about her spy novel “Transcription.”

Revisiting Baldwin vs. Buckley

Nicholas Buccola talks about “The Fire Is Upon Us,” and Lydia Millet discusses “The Children’s Bible.”

The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone

Joe Hagan discusses “Sticky Fingers,” his 2017 biography of Wenner, and a panel of Times critics talks about their 2019 list of outstanding memoirs.