Person
Every book Dave Kim recommended on podcasts
Dave Kim appears as a guest and contributor on literary programs such as The Book Review, where he participates in listener Q and A sessions, shares seasonal reading round-ups, and discusses standout works of contemporary fiction, translation, and short stories. As a perceptive reader with an eye for international literature and narrative structure, Kim recommends a wide variety of critically acclaimed titles. For readers seeking inventive plotting, he highlights Susan Choi's Trust Exercise for its brilliantly executed and unsettling trick ending, while also praising the bittersweet resolutions found in Edmund White's A Saint from Texas and Adania Shibli's short novel Minor Detail. Kim frequently champions translated fiction and short story collections, introducing listeners to works such as Lydia Davis's collected stories, Semezdin Mehmedinović's novel My Heart, Paulo Scott's Brazilian novel Phenotypes translated by Daniel Hahn, and Yevgenia Belorusets's powerful collection Lucky Breaks. Additionally, he shares personal favorites from major publishing years, such as Jonathan Franzen's Crossroads, showcasing a broad literary curiosity spanning multiple continents and styles.
Books recommended by Dave Kim
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A Saint from Texas
A Saint from Texas by Edmund White is a novel that traces the divergent paths of two stepsisters from Texas, following one into high-society Parisian art circles and the other into a life of religious devotion in a convent.
Recommended“but a couple of titles that I read this year Edmund whites a saint from Texas has a nice bittersweet ending to it”
Where to get it
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Crossroads
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen is an expansive contemporary novel that delves into the intricate dynamics of a suburban Chicago family and their church group during the turbulent social landscape of the early 1970s.
Recommended“and it was a tough book to to put down and the title is is Crossroads by Jonathan fransen”
Where to get it
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Lucky Breaks
Lucky Breaks is a short story collection by Yevgenia Belorusets, translated by Eugene Ostashevsky, that portrays the lives of women in the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine.
Recommended“I am reading a short story collection from Ukraine actually called lucky Breaks by yenia beruset”
Where to get it
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Man in the Holocene
Man in the Holocene is a compelling novella by Max Frisch that traces an elderly man named Mr.
Recommended“I am reading man in the hallos scene by Max frish”
Where to get it
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Minor Detail
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, is a haunting, powerful short novel that bridges two distinct historical eras in the Middle East through the experiences of two women whose lives mirror each other in striking and devastating ways.
Recommended“in minor detail by Adonia shii which is a short novel about two Palestinian women separated by several decades but who mirror each other in really interesting ways those had some really nice endings”
Where to get it
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My Heart
My Heart by Semezdin Mehmedinović is a poignant, autobiographical novel that explores themes of displacement, illness, and survival as the author navigates life in America following exile from war-torn Sarajevo.
Recommended“I am reading a novel called my heart art by the Bosnian writer seisin movich”
Where to get it
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Phenotypes
Phenotypes is a contemporary Brazilian novel by Paulo Scott, translated into English by Daniel Hahn, that explores race, politics, and family dynamics in modern Brazil.
Recommended“I'm reading phenotypes by Paulo Scott it's a Brazilian novel translated by Daniel Han”
Where to get it
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Time Shelter
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov is an inventive novel by a Bulgarian writer, translated by Angela Rodel, that explores a clinic of the past offering a promising treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers by recreating decades past down to the finest detail.
Discussed“I'm reading time Shelter by the Bulgarian writer Yori gospodinov and it's translated by Angela Rodell”
Where to get it
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Trust Exercise
Susan Choi's novel Trust Exercise is a complex narrative that explores a high-pressure performing arts high school while constantly upending reader expectations through startling structural shifts.
Recommended“trust exercise by Susan Choy has probably one of the strangest and best executed trick endings I've read in recent memory this is a book that's constantly throwing you off and revealing new layers right up until the final pages”
Where to get it
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Varieties of Disturbance
Varieties of Disturbance is a thought-provoking collection of short fiction by acclaimed writer Lydia Davis that showcases her trademark minimalist style and sharp observational wit.
Recommended“Lydia Davis also did this for me my my introduction to her began with her Story collection varieties of disturbance but these days you're much better off just getting her collected stories and leaving it on your bedside table”
Where to get it
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Rejection
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte is a sharp, contemporary collection of short stories that delves deeply into modern isolation, internet subcultures, and the psychological weight of rejection.
Discussed“the book I want to talk about is rejection by Tony tulam Moody”
Where to get it
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The birth partner
Discussed“the next book is the birth partner by penny simkin with Katie Ross and I am rereading this”
Where to get it
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The mezzanine
Discussed“I have very distinct memories of reading Nicholson Baker's the mezzanine in my 20s and being utterly fascinated by it I loved being able to get lost in the minutia of the world”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and you know what can top gats be with like the boats against the current”
“Bain actually does get his wish in the end John because his last book is uh it's called last letter to a reader and it's sort of liner notes to all of his books”
“I'm reading phenotypes by Paulo Scot translated by Daniel Han”