Person
Every book Brandon Taylor recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Brandon Taylor has recommended or discussed 9 books on podcasts, as of October 10, 2025.
- Brandon Taylor has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of October 10, 2025.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of October 10, 2025.
- The 3 books Brandon Taylor has mentioned in the most episodes, as of October 10, 2025: Conversations With Friends, Normal People and Madame Bovary.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Brandon Taylor aired on October 10, 2025.
Updated
Brandon Taylor’s most recommended books
- Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
- Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
- Fierce Poise by Alexander Nemerov
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- Ninth Street women by Mary Gabriel
- Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion
Brandon Taylor appears on The Book Review to discuss his fiction, his research methods, and the literary works that inform his writing life. When asked about his current reading, Taylor shares that he is reading Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, which he calls a great hot take. Throughout his discussions, Taylor frequently highlights how other authors and books inspire his creative choices, particularly his habit of naming characters after figures in works he admires. He explains that a character in his own work is named after a character in Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays, and that another character name traces back to Ann Patchett's Commonwealth. Discussing the research process behind his writing, Taylor mentions reading Alexander Nemerov's biography of Helen Frankenthaler, Fierce Poise, as well as Mary Gabriel's Ninth Street Women. He also notes how his characters engage with classic literature, such as discussing Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and the trope of the tragic mulatto. Additionally, Taylor has spoken on the podcast about the literary phenomenon surrounding Sally Rooney, discussing her debut novel Conversations with Friends and the massive success of Normal People.
Books recommended by Brandon Taylor
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Conversations With Friends
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney is a celebrated contemporary debut novel that explores complex interpersonal relationships, modern romance, and youthful identity among a circle of characters in Ireland.
Discussed“Sally Rooney is a young Irish writer who burst onto the scene with her debut novel conversations with friends a few years ago now and then she followed it up with a mega bestseller normal people which was made into a very successful television show”
Where to get it
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Normal People
Normal People by Sally Rooney is a bestselling contemporary novel that chronicles the complex, evolving relationship between two Irish teenagers, Marianne and Connell, as they navigate class differences and university life.
Discussed“Sally Rooney is a young Irish writer who burst onto the scene with her debut novel conversations with friends a few years ago now and then she followed it up with a mega bestseller normal people which was made into a very successful television show”
Where to get it
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Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert's classic 19th-century novel tells the tragic story of Emma Bovary, a provincial doctor's wife who engages in extramarital affairs to escape the banalities of her daily life.
Recommended“Well, I'm reading Madame Bovery, which hot take so good.”
Where to get it
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Beautiful World, Where Are You
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney is a contemporary novel exploring the romantic and intellectual lives, friendships, and existential anxieties of four characters in their thirties.
Discussed“great conversation in beautiful world where are you”
Where to get it
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Commonwealth
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett is a sweeping novel that explores the complex dynamics of two intertwined families over several decades following an unexpected kiss at a christening party.
Discussed“Even in my first book, Wallace is named people thought it was like Wallace Stegner, but it was in fact Wallace named after a character in Anne Patchet's Commonwealth.”
Where to get it
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Fierce Poise
Discussed“I read this really wonderful book called Fierce Ambition by Alexander Nimmerov that it's a biography of Helen Frankenthaler.”
Where to get it
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Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a celebrated Victorian novel following the turbulent life and emotional maturation of its eponymous orphaned protagonist.
Discussed“it had to have joking around with his friend Bernard and them riffing on Jane Air and the trope of the tragic Mulatto.”
Where to get it
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Ninth Street women
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel is a sweeping and acclaimed biography that details the lives and artistic triumphs of five pivotal abstract expressionist painters, including Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning.
Discussed“I read Ninth Street Women, which is another really great biography.”
Where to get it
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Play It as It Lays
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion is a stark and haunting 1970 novel that captures the profound existential alienation and emotional desolation of a former actress adrift in the desolate landscapes of Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Discussed“But no, he's named after Mariah Wyth from a Joan Ddian novel from Play It As Lays, I believe it is.”
Where to get it
Books Brandon Taylor wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Taylor On His New Novel, 'Minor Black Figures' | The Book Review | 2025-10-10 | 6 |
| Brandon Taylor on the Sally Rooney Phenomenon | The Book Review | 2021-09-10 | 7 |