Person
Every book Elizabeth Egan recommended on podcasts
Elizabeth Egan is a warm and enthusiastic regular on The Book Review podcast, where her reading choices often lean toward deeply personal memoirs, evocative essay collections, and character-driven contemporary fiction. Through her thoughtful contributions, Egan reveals a preference for books that examine human resilience, emotional honesty, and intricate family dynamics. She frequently champions works by authors she admires, such as Carol Shields's beautifully observed novel Happenstance, which she recommended as a group text companion read. Egan also brought attention to Terry Tempest Williams's powerful essay collection Erosion and explored the memoirs of influential public figures, including Demi Moore's Inside Out and Chanel Miller's harrowing, courageous account Know My Name. Additionally, she shared her profound appreciation for Lily King's novel Writers & Lovers, noting it as a favorite step forward from the author's previous work, and revisited Margaret Renkl's contemplative nature writing in Late Migrations. Egan's selections on the podcast consistently emphasize empathy, lyrical prose, and the quiet triumphs found within everyday human experiences.
Books recommended by Elizabeth Egan
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Know My Name
Know My Name is a powerful and courageous memoir by Chanel Miller that details her experience of surviving sexual assault and navigating the flaws of the legal system.
Recommended“this her Memoir is called know my name and it's a you know Moment by moment account”
Where to get it
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition by Charlie Mackesy is a heartwarming, beautifully illustrated modern fable that explores themes of kindness, friendship, and vulnerability for readers of all ages.
Recommended“but the book is called the boy the mole The Fox and the horse and it's by a British writer named Charles Maxie and it is a picture book that is intended for human beings of all ages ages 8 to 88 I believe is how the author puts it in his introduction”
Where to get it
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Friends and Strangers
Friends and Strangers by J.
Recommended“I am reading for the second time in one year a book called friends and strangers it's by Jay Courtney Sullivan”
Where to get it
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Late Migrations
Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl is a collection of essays reflecting on nature, family, loss, and the passage of time through observations of the natural world.
Recommended“it's a book called late migrations and the author is Margaret wrinkle who's a contributing opinion columnist here at the times”
Where to get it
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Writers & Lovers
Writers & Lovers by Lily King is a contemporary novel about a young woman grieving her mother's sudden death while trying to finish a novel and navigating complicated romantic feelings for two very different men.
Recommended“this one is a big departure from Euphoria and I think and I may be in the minority on this I don't know I love this one even more than I loved Euphoria”
Where to get it
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A life's work
A Life's Work by Rachel Cusk is an unflinching and provocative memoir that explores the complex, often difficult realities of early motherhood.
Recommended“and the other was a life's work by Rachel kusk”
Where to get it
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An exact replica of a figment of my imagination
An exact replica of a figment of my imagination is a deeply moving memoir by Elizabeth McCracken that chronicles her profound grief, resilience, and emotional journey following the stillbirth of her first child.
Recommended“one book was Elizabeth McCracken's an exact replica of a figment of my imagination”
Where to get it
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Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery is a beloved classic novel that follows the spirited orphan Anne Shirley as she makes her home in Prince Edward Island.
Recommended“I also have a series that I return to again and again which might not fall into people's traditional Classics list but I go back to Ann of green gaes again and again I just love the an books and also a lesser known series by LM Montgomery who wrote an of green Galls called Emily of New Moon”
Where to get it
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Cowboys Are My Weakness
Cowboys Are My Weakness is a critically acclaimed collection of short stories by Pam Houston that examines the lives of independent, outdoor-loving women navigating romantic relationships with complex, rugged men across the American West.
Recommended“also it sounds like you need to reread Cowboys are my weakness by Pam Houston and that book by Elizabeth Hyde where they go canoeing in the Grand Canyon”
Where to get it
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Day
Day by Michael Cunningham is a poignant novel that unfolds across three successive Aprils—2019, 2020, and 2021—capturing the profound shifts in a family's life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended“and the third one is another pandemic novel and it's called Day by Michael Cunningham”
Where to get it
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Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon is a charming coming-of-age novel by L.M.
Recommended“and also a lesser known series by LM Montgomery who wrote an of green Galls called Emily of New Moon which some people turn to yoga when they need soothing I turn to an and Emily”
Where to get it
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Erosion
Erosion is a powerful collection of essays by Terry Tempest Williams that addresses environmental degradation, public lands, and the urgent need for ecological conservation.
Recommended“it's called erosion it's by Terry Tempest Williams and the subtitle is essays of undoing”
Where to get it
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Happenstance
Happenstance by Carol Shields is a novel that portrays a week in the life of a university history professor navigating sudden independence while his wife is away at a conference.
Recommended“the first is a book called happens Dance by a Canadian author named Carol Shields who is really one of my favorites”
Where to get it
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I Capture the Castle
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is a beloved 1948 British coming-of-age novel told through diary entries that follows a seventeen-year-old girl growing up in a dilapidated castle alongside her sister, stepmother, and father.
Recommended“I'm going to say I capture the castle by Jodie Smith which is this amazing 1948 British Coming of Age novel about a 17-year-old girl in 1934 who's growing up in a dilapidated castle with her sister her stepmother and her father”
Where to get it
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Inside Out
Inside Out by Demi Moore is an intimate and candid celebrity memoir that explores the actress's turbulent childhood, rise to international fame, and the complex personal struggles behind her public success.
Recommended“the first is dior's Memoir it's called inside out”
Where to get it
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Olive Again
Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout is a critically acclaimed novel that revisits the complex, sharp-tongued retired schoolteacher Olive Kitteridge as she navigates aging, loneliness, and the evolving dynamics of her coastal Maine community.
Recommended“I am reading Olive Again by Elizabeth Stout”
Where to get it
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The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club)
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is an expansive, multigenerational epic novel set in Kerala, India, following a family afflicted by a peculiar affliction where at least one person in every generation dies by drowning.
Recommended“one is the Covenant of Water by Abraham vazi”
Where to get it
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The Dutch House
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is an immersive, decades-spanning family saga that traces the complex bond between a brother and sister locked out of their childhood home.
Recommended“okay the first one is the Dutch house by Anne patchet and it is I would describe it as a modernday fairy tale”
Where to get it
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The Great Believers
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai is a powerful, emotionally devastating novel that chronicles the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on the arts community in 1980s Chicago alongside a parallel storyline in modern-day Paris.
Recommended“looking at Sheila's book list the book that popped into my head was the great Believers by Rebecca McKai which is about the AIDS crisis and the Arts community in Chicago in the 1980s and it absolutely stopped me in my tracks”
Where to get it
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The Lost Child Of Philomena Lee A Mother Her Son And A Fiftyyear Search
The Lost Child Of Philomena Lee A Mother Her Son And A Fiftyyear Search by Martin Sixsmith is a poignant non-fiction book that recounts a mother's fifty-year search for her adopted son.
Recommended“and it's an older book it came out in 2009 called The Lost Child of filamina Lee”
Where to get it
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The Vulnerables
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez is a contemporary novel that follows an unnamed narrator during times of uncertainty, exploring themes of connection, isolation, and empathy.
Recommended“but it's the vulnerables by sigd Nunes oh interesting”
Where to get it
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Wayward
Wayward by Dana Spiotta is a contemporary novel exploring family dynamics and midlife transitions.
Recommended“I would love to tell you about wayward By Dana spota”
Where to get it
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Colony
Discussed“so I have also just tracked down a book that came out 20 years ago this week actually called Colony by Anne River sens who is one of the Great Southern novelists I think”
Where to get it
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Dopesick
Dopesick by Beth Macy is an investigative non-profit chronicle that explores the devastating human and systemic impact of the American opioid epidemic.
Discussed“and it puts a face on the opioid crisis in a way that I think a lot of the non-fiction we've been reading like Beth Macy's dopesick”
Where to get it
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Free Food for Millionaires
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee is a sweeping contemporary novel that follows Casey Han, a sharp-witted Princeton graduate navigating the immense economic and cultural pressures of immigrant life in New York City.
Discussed“she wrote a book years ago called free food for millionaires great title”
Where to get it
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Hideous kinky
Discussed“I realized I had read her first two books hideous kinky and purist flat oh hideous kinky was turned into a movie with Kate Winslet”
Where to get it
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I Couldn't Love You More
Discussed“the book is called I couldn't love you more and it's by Esther Freud this is her ninth novel and it's a book about three generations of women kind of circulating between Ireland and England”
Where to get it
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Indelicacy
Indelicacy by Amina Cain is a debut novel that explores art, ambition, class, and female creativity through the perspective of a museum cleaner who dreams of a different life.
Discussed“because this also aside from being a story about creativity and friendship and ambition and class is also a story about a marriage and I found myself wondering as I read what the husband's perspective was which of course is not the point of the book”
Where to get it
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Matilda
Roald Dahl's Matilda is a beloved children's fantasy novel about a gifted young girl who uses her intelligence and telekinetic powers to overcome neglectful parents and a tyrannical school headmistress.
Discussed“I just finished reading Matilda to my son which I had never read before and he had never read before and early in that book Matilda makes a friend with the local librarian who discovers that Matilda lives in a household that does not care about books”
Where to get it
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My Absolute Darling: A Novel
Discussed“the first was Gabriel talents my absolute darling which came out a few years ago”
Where to get it
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My Year of Meats
Discussed“yes I read her what I believe is her first book called my year of meats”
Where to get it
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Our Missing Hearts
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng is a dystopian novel set in a United States where certain books are destroyed, Asian Americans face constant violence, and children are taken from families who speak out against the government.
Discussed“I was definitely very affected by Celeste ing's portrayal of The Librarians as Heroes and our missing Hearts but then this summer in July I went to visit my in-laws who live in Cleveland”
Where to get it
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The Giving Tree
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a famous and emotionally complex children's picture book that explores the profound dynamics of self-sacrifice, unconditional love, and generosity through the evolving relationship between a devoted tree and a human boy.
Discussed“I compared it to The Giving Tree but the message of it is very different from the giving tree where the giving tree is all about somebody taking”
Where to get it
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The Prince of Tides
Discussed“and I was wondering I'm thinking I'm going to bring the prince of tithes”
Where to get it
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We need to talk about Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is a dark, epistolary psychological novel that examines the complex, chilling relationship between a mother and her estranged son who commits a school massacre.
Discussed“and the other book is Lionel schrivers”
Where to get it
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Weather
Weather by Jenny Offill is a contemporary novel that follows a young woman working in a New York City library who becomes entangled in an apocalyptic anxiety forum and the chaotic personal lives of those around her.
Discussed“another one that I recommended this month is a book called Department of speculation by Jenny oall who has a new book that just came out called weather which I think you talked about on the podcast last week”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (18: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and did you read the tender bar no J”
“I know her as the author of euphoria which was one of our 10 best books of the year a few years back”
“my my name is Lucy Barton and there was an a companion I think the Burgess boys”
“my my name is Lucy Barton and there was an a companion I think the Burgess boys or the bures”
“and yeah commencement was her first book”
“and then Maine which is about a family”
“I think the next one was the engagements and then Saints for All Occasions”
“I think the next one was the engagements and then Saints for All Occasions”
“I didn't know it until I read snowfall on Cedars do you remember that book”
“you know there was a moment where all the light we cannot see was the one book everybody was talking about”
“and and you know there was the Gone Girl era”
“there was the girl on the train era”
“the pachenko period”
“the first is heft”
“and the second is the Unseen World”
“the author of behold the dreamers brings us a second novel that is anything but sophomoric”
“this is Young yun's second book her first book is a thriller called shelter and oh beautiful follows a young woman”
“we have all of these big non-fiction books um we have lean in anarie Slaughter is coming out with a book in October”