Episode · The Book Review · 2025-12-12
Books mentioned on Our Book Critics on Their 2025 in Reading
Gilbert Cruz discussed What We Can Know by Ian McEwan and Flesh by David Szalay. Dwight Garner recommended The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, Playworld by Adam Ross, and I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally, and discussed Atonement by Ian McEwan, Saturday by Ian McEwan, When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter and others, and Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon. Alexandra Jacobs recommended When All the Men Wore Hats by Susan Cheever and Notes to John by Joan Didion. Jennifer Szalai recommended A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland and More everything forever by Adam Becker.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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What We Can Know
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan is a contemporary novel by the acclaimed British author that generated substantial literary discussion upon its release.
Discussed“One of the ones that stood out to me this fall was your your review of the new Ian Mchuan book, which is a novel called What We Can Know.”
Where to get it
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Atonement
Atonement by Ian McEwan is a sweeping and intricately structured modern classic that follows the devastating lifelong consequences of a single childhood misunderstanding across multiple historical eras.
Discussed“and it's a return to form in the sense that it takes you back to his great novel Atonement and the historical waves this novel ripples out upon and and yet it's in the way that is my favorite novel of Ian Mchuan.”
Where to get it
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Saturday
Discussed“My favorite is Saturday and the book that starts with that remarkable dinner party and he's cooking that that booya base at the start.”
Where to get it
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Flesh
Flesh by David Szalay is a sprawling, contemporary novel following its protagonist across various international locations.
Discussed“A big book from this year, and I say big because it won one of the year's big literary awards, the Booker Prize, was a novel called Flesh by a Hungarian British author named David Zoloy.”
Where to get it
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The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is a major, highly anticipated novel by Kiran Desai that explores complex personal and social themes.
Recommended“Well, I feel like The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunonny should have won the Booker Prize, should have won the National Book Award.”
Where to get it
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Playworld
Playworld is an intricate, immersive novel by Adam Ross set against the backdrop of New York City, exploring modern relationships, family dynamics, and psychological depth.
Recommended“Yes, and yet the one I actually want to talk about is Playworld by Adam Ross which I think maybe suffered slightly by coming out in January.”
Where to get it
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When the Going Was Good
When the Going Was Good is a memoir by Graydon Carter and James Fox that chronicles Carter's storied career and experiences in media.
Discussed“Graden Carter's book was called When the Going Was Good.”
Where to get it
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I Regret Almost Everything
I Regret Almost Everything is a witty and candid memoir written by restaurateur Keith McNally.
Recommended“or Keith McN, the restaurant tour owner operator of Balthazar, His memoir called I regret almost everything is just riotously mean and funny and hilarious right down the line.”
Where to get it
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When All the Men Wore Hats
When All the Men Wore Hats by Susan Cheever is a multifaceted literary work that blends memoir, biography, and literary criticism to explore the life and legacy of the author's famous father, John Cheever.
Recommended“and she gives us new details from their life, the chiever's lives, but also sort of shows how she figured into his fiction and his diaries. It's just fascinating because it's, you know, it's two genres in one and it's literary criticism and it's memoir and it's a little bit of biography.”
Where to get it
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Notes to John
Notes to John is a posthumous collection of personal writings by Joan Didion that offers intimate glimpses into her thoughts and life.
Recommended“Another memoir that captivated me, although I don't even know if it could correctly fit into the memoir category, is Joan Ddian's Notes to John because when this this book came out, this is the kind of book that lights me a fire when there's a controversy preceding its publication or around its publication”
Where to get it
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A Flower Traveled in My Blood
A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland is a powerful non-fiction book that explores the profound historical and human rights impacts associated with the Abuelas of the Plaza de Mayo.
Recommended“The first one I'd like to talk about is called A Flower Traveled in My Blood, and it's by Haley Cohen Gilland.”
Where to get it
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Shadow Ticket
Discussed“The new pinchion novel came out this year, Shadow Ticket, he says that everything is destined to be a Broadway play.”
Where to get it
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More everything forever
More Everything Forever by Adam Becker is a critical science and technology book that examines Silicon Valley culture, space empires, and the ideological underpinnings of endless growth.
Recommended“It's called More Everything Forever, AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity. And it's by a science writer named Adam Becker.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Susan Chver, who I really applaud. She's written memoirs before, most famously Home Before Dark and she's written other many other across genres.”
“and her as I was reminded I think of her as the author of the prime of Miss Gene Brody. She was so prolific and there's a there's an element of the supernatural”
“Yeah, there's a new biography of Dennis Johnson, the writer of Jesus Son and other books. It's not a great biography, but it's good enough.”
“I feel like we're in pinchion mode because of the loose film adaptation of Vinand, but as you say, he put out Shadow Ticket, a long anticipated novel.”
“And she's she becomes a major leftist activist and she wrote the American Way of Death. And she just was a fascinating sizzling creature.”