Episode · The Book Review · 2016-12-09
Books mentioned on The 10 Best Books of 2016
Gilbert Cruz recommended War and turpentine by Stefan Hertmans and The North water by Ian McGuire. Greg Cowles recommended The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar, Zero K by Don DeLillo, and Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Jennifer Szalai recommended Evicted by Matthew Desmond, and discussed Swing Time by Zadie Smith. Aleta Becker recommended My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. Pamela Paul recommended Today will be different by Maria Semple, and discussed MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville. John Williams recommended The undoing project by Michael Lewis.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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War and turpentine
War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans is a critically acclaimed Flemish novel that blends family history, art, and the devastating impacts of the First World War through the lens of a grandfather's notebooks.
Recommended“author Stefan herzman will join us to talk about his new book War in turpentine one of this year's 10 best books”
Where to get it
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The North water
The North Water by Ian McGuire is a gripping historical novel set aboard a whaling ship in the nineteenth century, following a brutal journey into the freezing waters of 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 is a powerful memoir by Hisham Matar that chronicles the author's personal journey to his native Libya under the shadow of his missing father's political imprisonment.
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 rigorous sociological study that follows low-income families and their landlords in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shedding light on the devastating systemic cycle of poverty and housing instability in American cities.
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 by Herman Melville is an epic American novel that chronicles the obsessive, self-destructive quest of Captain Ahab to hunt down the giant white whale that maimed him.
Discussed“I had to assume that you were a fan of mville also of Conrad — um their influences are are quite clear here”
Where to get it
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Scoop
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh is a classic satirical novel that lampoons the chaotic 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 is a non-fiction book that explores the profound intellectual partnership and friendship between psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose groundbreaking work laid the foundation for behavioral economics.
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 (7) — 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”
“does this book stem from an earlier Michael Lewis book did did provide the ideas behind Moneyball”