new york times book review last week

484 episodes

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. Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

The Book Review The New York Times

4.1 • 3.3K Ratings
APR 12, 2024

100 Years of Simon & Schuster

The publisher has gone through a lot of changes since its founding in 1924. Its current chief executive, Jonathan Karp, talks about the company’s history and its hopes for the future.

APR 5, 2024

Looking Back at 50 Years of Stephen King

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stephen King’s first novel, “Carrie.” On this week’s episode, host Gilbert Cruz talks to the novelist Grady Hendrix, who read and re-read many of King’s books over several years for a writing project, as well as King superfan Damon Lindelof, the TV showrunner behind shows such as “Lost” and “The Leftovers.”

MAR 29, 2024

Books That Make Our Critics Laugh

Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai weigh in on 22 of the funniest novels since “Catch-22.”

MAR 22, 2024

Talking to Tana French About Her New Series

The great Irish crime novelist Tana French joins Sarah Lyall to talk about her new novel "The Hunter," a sequel to 2020's "The Searcher."

MAR 15, 2024

Talking ‘Dune’: Book and Movies

The Times’s critic Alissa Wilkinson discusses Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel and Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptations.

MAR 8, 2024

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘Erasure,’ by Percival Everett

A scathing satire about race, publishing and identity politics, Everett’s acclaimed 2001 novel is the basis of the Oscar-nominated movie “American Fiction.”

Customer Reviews

3.3K Ratings

Old format > New format

The old format wasn’t broken, why fix it? I enjoy Cruz, just bring back the old segments on publishing world, what critics are reading, etc.

Still good but room for improvement

I still find smart and interesting discussions here but I miss news from the publishing world and especially miss hearing what people at the Books desk are reading,

Go back to old format

I’ve listened to this podcast for years and I really miss the old format and length. It was great hearing from authors or reviewers about new books coming out and hearing about old books I forgot about or hadn’t heard of before in the what are we reading section. This new format feels like it forgot about the listeners and is just catered to the editor and his likes. It’s also way too short! Go back to the old format and make MJ Franklin the host!

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What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Featuring new titles by tana french, colum mccann, jennifer croft, adelle waldman, and more.

Tana French’s The Hunter , Colum McCann’s American Mother , Jennifer Croft’s The Extinction of Irena Rey , and Adelle Waldman’s Help Wanted all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.

1. The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft (Bloomsbury)

8 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from The Extinction of Irena Rey here

“The intriguing premise of Jennifer Croft’s debut novel will prompt readers to wonder what kind of book this is. A fiendish whodunit? A riddling thriller about why the lady vanishes? A slice of psychological horror in which the assembled characters get nastily bumped off, one after the other? In fact, The Extinction of Irena Rey is something quite different. It is also, to a large extent, something quite brilliant. Croft subverts expectations with a blackly comic, fiercely inventive drama that explores the cult of celebrity and the art of translation (an art this critically acclaimed, award-winning translator has mastered) while spotlighting disparate individuals working together and falling apart … However, as Croft thickens her plot, she also clutters her narrative, often impeding momentum … But during Croft’s more streamlined sections, there is much to admire and enjoy … a frequently dizzying display, which leaves the reader both disoriented and exhilarated.”

–Malcolm Forbes ( The Washington Post )

2. The Hunter by Tana French (Viking)

4 Rave • 4 Positive

“French’s dialogue is some of the best in the business, and it’s a delight to watch her move between American and Irish vernacular. In general, the novel’s greatest pleasures—genuine twists aside—reside in the specific intersection of outsider and native … French does more than show the banal evil behind a smiling face. She makes it particular as a kicked dog’s limp and dying embers in a steel barrel—and reminds us that we underestimate such places at our peril.”

–Sadie Stein ( The New York Times Book Review )

3. Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman (W. W. Norton and Company)

5 Rave • 2 Positive

“Outstrips its predecessor technically, emotionally, and spiritually but is perhaps not quite as much fun … Waldman immerses us in their world … As her characters move through their routines, Waldman maintains a kind of steady presence, attentive but not intrusive … Washes labor in a stately, almost Steinbeckian light, emphasizing its difficulty but also its dignity. That the prose doesn’t soar is the point … Rotates through the minds of nearly a dozen employees, who sail into focus one by one as they react to the scheme and to the desires and resentments it stirs up. They come thickly alive, by turns ingenious, petty, motivated, yearning, empathic, perversely self-thwarting, and defiantly playful.”

–Katy Waldman ( The New Yorker )

1. American Mother by Colum McCann with Diane Foley (Etruscan Press)

6 Rave • 2 Positive

“Part of the grace of the book is to present us with a thoughtful and impassioned woman who sits outside every stereotype … Artfully structured and delivered with propulsive intensity and heart, American Mother takes us deep into what must be every parent’s nightmare … To read the scenes in which mother and killer sit across from one another, delivered in palpitating detail, and to see Foley wonder how she might be able to help the killer’s daughters, is to be reminded that it’s those who are sure they know everything who are most reliably in the wrong. And that some souls are strong enough to step beyond even our most poisonous divisions.”

–Pico Iyer ( AirMail )

2. The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice by Alex Hortis (Pegasus Crime)

3 Rave • 2 Positive

“Hortis ably sketches the legal and journalistic wranglings that accompanied the Bodine case … Hortis, an attorney whose previous book chronicled organized crime, covers this material with workmanlike efficiency and a keen eye for courtroom theatrics. As quaint as some of the story’s details may seem, its themes feel remarkably contemporary: We still rush to judgment, resort to stereotyping and fall for all kinds of propaganda. If the narrative takes some time to get going, the reader is rewarded by the increasingly bonkers trials and their fallout. And it’s impossible to argue with the book’s thesis: ‘Tabloid justice would, one way or another, alter American law.’”

–Kate Tuttle ( The New York Times Book Review )

3. Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring by Brad Gooch (Harper)

1 Rave • 4 Positive

“Finding a chronicler with the proper combination of familiarity and detachment can be like going on a series of bad Hinge dates, but in Gooch, Haring has met his match. Radiant , referring to both Haring’s recurrent drawing of a crawling baby and his own fast-burning star, is a faithful retracing of his steps, with over 200 people interviewed or consulted: devoted and probably definitive. (The word ‘magisterial’ is too stuffy to apply to its subject, who favored jeans, sneaks and bared biceps) … [Gooch] is a poet, which shows in phrasing at once shrewd and evocative … With licensing and replication now turbocharged—you can buy Haring wares on the sale rack at Uniqlo—Gooch’s book insists readers slow down and consider the artist’s legacy. And its cover feels like a secret handshake, done in the colors of an old-fashioned New York City taxicab.”

–Alexandra Jacobs ( The New York Times )

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Your current subscription allows you to be actively logged in on up to three (3) devices simultaneously. click on continue below to log out of other sessions and log in on this device., new york times book review reveals top 10 books of 2022 | book pulse.

The New York Times Book Review revealed their top 10 books of the year in a virtual event for subscribers. More best-of-the-year lists arrive. Comedian Rob Delaney’s new memoir, A Heart That Works , gets reviewed and buzz. SFWA Names Robin McKinley the 39th Damon Knight Grand Master. Colm Tóibín will be awarded the Bodley Medal in 2023. Ulrika O’Brien wins 2022 Rotsler Award. Bob Dylan’s autopen flap causes a stir. NYT features Tanya Holland’s California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West . Plus, Merriam-Webster chooses its 2022 word of the year.

Want to get the latest book news delivered to your inbox each day? Sign up for our daily Book Pulse newsletter.

Awards, news & best of the year lists.

BookPage delivers the Top 10 Books of 2022 .

NYPL released its Best Books of 2022 list.

OprahDaily shares “Our Favorite Books of the Year.”

The Star Tribune shares 56 great books to give and receive for 2022 .

SFWA Names Robin McKinley the 39th Damon Knight Grand Master . Tor reports.

Irish novelist Colm Tóibín will be awarded the Bodley Medal in 2023, and will give the 2023 Bodley Lecture during the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival.

Ulrika O’Brien wins 2022 Rotsler Award. Locus has details.

Essence highlights the award ceremony for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winners .

For commentary on the Bob Dylan autopen flap, see coverage in LA Times , USA Today , and Vulture . Plus, The Guardian considers: “do authors use autopen?”

The Guardian reviews Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby (Riverhead): “Their creative force operated at a relentless, virtually industrial pace; Hornby’s tribute to their self-destructive genius is ardent but more than a little fearful.”

Datebook reviews Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood by Jessica Grose (Mariner: Houghton Harcourt): “The picture the book paints of American motherhood stands in stark contrast to the gauzy, Instagram world of parenting bliss, which Grose argues is also making us miserable.”

Briefly Noted

USA Today talks with Rob Delaney about writing his latest memoir , A Heart That Works (Spiegel & Grau), after the death of his son Henry.

LA Times talks with Robin Coste Lewis about her new poetry collection , To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness (Knopf).

Shondaland chats with poet Mary-Alice Daniel about her new memoir , A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents (Ecco), and “fallacies and power of borders.”

Publishers Lunch reports that Astra Publishing House is shutting down its literary journal , Astra Magazine after just two issues.

The New Yorker reflects on “The Year in Rereading.”

Lithub shares 8 new books for the week.

BookRiot highlights new releases .

The Millions has notable new releases for the week .

The Atlantic has 7 books to make you smarter.

CrimeReads recommends November’s best debuts .

ElectricLit provides 7 genre-defying books by women of color.

Lithub shares a personalized booklist from n+1’s November bookmatch service.

Authors on Air

PBS Canvas examines the significance of Merriam-Webster’s 2022 word of the year.

Misty Copeland discusses her new book , The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson , written with Susan Fales-Hill (Grand Central), on Q with guest host Talia Schlanger.

A live-action series adaptation of the Hugo Pratt Corto Maltese graphic novel series is in the works . Deadline reports.

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