Episode · The Book Review · 2019-11-26
Books mentioned on 10 Best Books of 2019
Gilbert Cruz recommended Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips, The Topeka School by Ben Lerner, Exhalation by Ted Chiang, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, Night Boat To Tangier by Kevin Barry, Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, The Club by Leo Damrosch, The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom, No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder, and Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. John Williams recommended Antisocial by Andrew Marantz. Gal Beckerman recommended The Last Whalers by Doug Bock Clark. Elisabeth Egan recommended The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and Know My Name by Chanel Miller. Emily Eakin recommended What You Have Heard Is True by Carolyn Forché. Tina Jordan recommended Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. Greg Cowles recommended Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky and The Body in Question by Jill Ciment. Barry Gewen discussed The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells and The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson. Also mentioned: Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Disappearing Earth
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips is a compelling novel that explores the mysterious disappearance of two young sisters in the remote and rugged landscape of Kamchatka, Russia, examining the profound ripples the event creates through a close-knit community.
Recommended“so beginning with fiction we are going to start with disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips and to talk about this wonderful debut novel”
Where to get it
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The Topeka School
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner is a deeply resonant and intricate novel that explores the shifting tactics and complex politics of high school debate in the American Midwest during the 1980s and 1990s.
Recommended“we're going to go to number two the topa school by Ben learner”
Where to get it
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Exhalation
Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a critically acclaimed collection of philosophical science fiction short stories.
Recommended“the next book is exhalation by Ted Chang”
Where to get it
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Einstein's Dreams
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman is a short, imaginative novel by an MIT professor and physicist that playfully explores various alternate conceptions of time and its fundamental nature.
Discussed“there were times because time travel is and the nature of time itself is so much at the center of of a lot of these stories that it put me in mind of um Alan Alan lightman's Einstein's dreams”
Where to get it
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction novel that reimagines the antebellum South by turning the secret network of abolitionist routes into a literal subterranean railway system utilized by an enslaved woman named Cora seeking freedom.
Discussed“this book reminded me of Coulson white house uh Whitehead's Underground Railroad in a way and that he created this world that was so rich with possibility that every choice that the writer makes you think oh my God that's so interesting”
Where to get it
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Lost Children Archive
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli is a sweeping, structurally inventive novel that weaves together themes of family road trips, the migration crisis at the southern U.S.
Recommended“it is lost children archive by Valeria lelli”
Where to get it
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Night Boat To Tangier
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry is a darkly humorous and atmospheric novel that follows two aging, weary Irish gangsters as they wait in a Spanish ferry port for news of a missing daughter.
Recommended“I'm going to go to our fifth and final book on our fiction side which is nightboat to Tangier by Kevin Barry”
Where to get it
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Say Nothing
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland that investigates political violence, justice, and the heavy personal cost of what individuals kill and die for.
Recommended“the first book is staying in Ireland for a moment say nothing by Patrick Ren Keefe”
Where to get it
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The Club
The Club by Leo Damrosch is a captivating historical non-fiction book that explores the brilliant eighteenth-century London dining club founded by literary figures like Samuel Johnson and Joshua Reynolds.
Recommended“it is the club by Leo Dam Rush”
Where to get it
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The Yellow House
The Yellow House by Sarah M.
Recommended“we'll go to our third book which is the yellow house by Sarah M”
Where to get it
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No Visible Bruises
No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder is a deeply reported investigative non-fiction book that examines the hidden epidemic of domestic violence in America.
Recommended“it is no visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snider”
Where to get it
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Midnight in Chernobyl
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham is a gripping historical account documenting the untold story of the world's greatest nuclear disaster.
Recommended“but before that number 10 is midnight in Chernobyl by Adam higgenbotham”
Where to get it
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Antisocial
Antisocial by Andrew Marantz is a non-fiction book that explores online extremists, techno-utopians, and how digital platforms have hijacked the American conversation.
Recommended“but I'm not sure any book speaks to right now like Andrew Moran's book antisocial which is not something you might think you'd want to read about”
Where to get it
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The Last Whalers
The Last Whalers by Doug Bock Clark is a work of immersive journalism documenting the lives of the last traditional whale hunters on a remote Indonesian island as the modern world encroaches on their ancient way of life.
Recommended“it's called the last Whalers by Doug Bach Clark”
Where to get it
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The Dutch House
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is an immersive, decades-spanning family saga that traces the complex bond between a brother and sister locked out of their childhood home.
Recommended“okay the first one is the Dutch house by Anne patchet and it is I would describe it as a modernday fairy tale”
Where to get it
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Know My Name
Chanel Miller's memoir Know My Name provides a powerful, moment-by-moment account of her experience and healing following sexual assault, reclaiming her narrative with profound eloquence and courage.
Recommended“the other book that I wanted to tell you about actually Lauren Christensen wanted to tell you about also is called know my name and the author is Chanel Miller”
Where to get it
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What You Have Heard Is True
What You Have Heard Is True by Carolyn Forché is a haunting and powerful memoir that chronicles the author's harrowing experiences in El Salvador at the onset of the Salvadoran civil war when she was just twenty-seven years old.
Recommended“so the book I want to mention today is what you have heard is true by Carolyn forche”
Where to get it
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Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson's novel Nothing to See Here is a darkly humorous story about a woman who is hired to babysit twins who spontaneously combust when they become upset.
Recommended“um I loved nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson”
Where to get it
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Deaf Republic
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky is a powerful collection of poetry that tells the story of an occupied town where the inhabitants become deaf after a tragedy, using silence as a form of resistance.
Recommended“it's called deaf Republic”
Where to get it
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The Body in Question
The Body in Question by Jill Ciment is a remarkably short novel, described almost as a novella, featuring precise and artistic construction.
Recommended“and in fiction similarly a very small um beautifully constructed artistically book um almost a noela more than a novel an a book called The Body in question by a writer named Jill cement”
Where to get it
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The Uninhabitable Earth
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells is a stark non-fiction book that examines the catastrophic impacts of global warming and climate change.
Discussed“the first book I want to talk about is uh the uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace wills and to continue the green theme of of midnight in Chernobyl this is an alarmist book”
Where to get it
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The British Are Coming
The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson is a detailed historical narrative chronicling the military and political events of the first year of the American Revolution.
Discussed“the second book I want to talk about is Rick Atkinson's the British are coming which is well let me Begin by saying”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“this episode of book revieww is supported by Chanel the legendary fashion house founded by Gabrielle Chanel a Visionary woman who created on her own terms and continues to inspire women today”
“in recent years we have had Birds H is for Hawk the evolution of beauty”
“we should also say that his real life mother is Harriet learner uh the author of the dance of anger and other books and and so she is in a way perhaps the mother in this book yes”
“um his first book was called stories of your life and others”
“she also did book that was just about teeth story of my teeth”