Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on The 10 Best Books of 2016
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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War and turpentine
War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans is a deeply moving biographical novel that reconstructs the life of the author's grandfather, Urbain Martien, a painter and decorated soldier whose existence was indelibly scarred by the unspeakable traumas of the First World War.
Recommended“it's a war in turpentine by Stephan hertman who was on the podcast earlier anyway”
Where to get it
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The North water
The North Water by Ian McGuire is a gripping historical novel that follows a disgraced army surgeon aboard a brutal whaling ship bound for the Arctic.
Recommended“chances are you'll want to turn to the northwater Ian Maguire will tell us about his latest novel also one of our 10 best books”
Where to get it
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The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar is a poignant memoir detailing the author's journey back to Libya to uncover the fate of his missing father under the Qaddafi regime.
Recommended“I think I've talked about it on the podcast while I was reading it — and that book is Hisham matar's the return”
Where to get it
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Evicted
Evicted by Matthew Desmond is a Pulitzer Prize-winning immersive non-fiction book examining poverty and the housing crisis through the lens of families in Milwaukee.
Recommended“one of the books that I was really taken by is a book by Matthew Desmond who's a sociologist he now teaches at Harvard and his book is called evicted”
Where to get it
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Swing Time
Swing Time by Zadie Smith is an intricate novel that explores themes of race, class, friendship, and cultural identity through the lens of young girls dreaming of becoming tap dancers.
Discussed“I really was hoping to see Zade Smith's swing time on the list”
Where to get it
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My Name is Lucy Barton
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout is an intimate, sharply observed novel that examines the delicate, complicated emotional landscape shared by a mother and her hospitalized daughter.
Recommended“well my name is Lucy Barton is a small book but I think one with so many different layers”
Where to get it
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Zero K
Zero K by Don DeLillo is a thought-provoking contemporary novel exploring themes of cryonics, mortality, and modern alienation.
Recommended“a book that I really loved this year was um D dilo's zero”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville is a classic American novel detailing Captain Ahab's obsessive quest for revenge against the giant white sperm whale.
Discussed“listeners who have not read the book should know that unlike Moby Dick — which is as we know a long book with some shall we say slower passages”
Where to get it
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Scoop
Scoop is a satirical 1938 novel by Evelyn Waugh that famously lampoons the world of journalism and foreign correspondence.
Recommended“well John last week talked about — uh a novel that he just read called schlump and in a kind of spasm of free association it led me to order — uh Evelyn W's great 1938 novel scoop”
Where to get it
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The undoing project
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis explores the profound intellectual partnership between psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose groundbreaking work in behavioral economics transformed our understanding of human decision-making.
Recommended“uh I am reading the new book by Michael Lewis which I'm sure everyone has heard about called the undoing project”
Where to get it
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Today will be different
Today Will Be Different is a darkly comedic novel following a frantic woman trying to transform her life and manage her chaotic family over the course of a single day in Seattle.
Recommended“so the book I finished was Maria simples today will be different”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (8) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“she wrote the novel Water for Elephants”
“I mean she's been writing she's still quite young but she's been writing I think white teeth came out when she was 24 so it's been more than a decade now”
“both on beauty and and W made our 10 best”
“that was um what I thought Dilo did so well and under world and has done intermittently well — throughout his career”
“well John last week talked about — uh a novel that he just read called schlump and in a kind of spasm of free association it led me to order — uh Evelyn W's great 1938 novel scoop”
“Conan himself had a book a few years ago called Thinking Fast and Slow which was on our 10 best books of the year list that year — which I'm also sort of Dipping into”
“Conan himself had a book a few years ago called Thinking Fast and Slow which was on our 10 best books of the year list that year — which I'm also sort of Dipping into”
“does this book stem from an earlier Michael Lewis book did did provide the ideas behind Moneyball”