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Every book Leigh Bardugo recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Leigh Bardugo has recommended or discussed 31 books on podcasts, as of October 23, 2026.
- Leigh Bardugo has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of October 23, 2026.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of October 23, 2026.
- The 3 books Leigh Bardugo has mentioned in the most episodes, not counting Leigh Bardugo's own, as of October 23, 2026: Bunnicula, The Haunting of Hill House and Affinity.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Leigh Bardugo aired on October 23, 2026.
Updated
Leigh Bardugo’s most recommended books
- Bunnicula by James Howe
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Affinity by Sarah Waters
- Afterward by Edith Wharton
- Black Arts by Megan Giddings
- Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Ghosts by Edith Wharton
- Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
- Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Legh Bardugo is a best-selling author best known for writing fantasy literature, including the Grishaverse series. Appearing on The Book Review podcast, she shared a curated list of horror, gothic fiction, and seasonal recommendations for readers. She highlighted Barbara Casey's Night Jars, praising its setup and comparing it to Memento meets Dracula, and she recommended Sarah Waters's Affinity as a genuinely frightening introduction to Victorian ghost stories. Bardugo also praised Megan Giddings's short fiction collection The Black Arts, noting the spectacular quality of the writing. For readers hesitant to approach traditional horror, she recommended Tananarive Due's historical fiction novel The Reformatory for its deeply harrowing and atmospheric sense of place. Delving into gothic classics, she praised Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw and recommended Edith Wharton's supernatural short story Afterward alongside a collection titled Ghosts. Finally, she suggested Elizabeth George Speare's classic novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond as a fitting Halloween read for younger audiences who prefer historical drama over being frightened.
Books recommended by Leigh Bardugo
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Bunnicula
Bunnicula by James Howe and Deborah Howe is a whimsical children's mystery novel about a vegetarian rabbit suspected by the family pets of being a vampire.
Discussed“And the last one is Bicula by James How. Do you know Vanicula? Yes, I know Vanicula. Is that where he he's It's a vampire bunny, but vampire bunny sucks the orange out of carrots.”
Where to get it
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The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a celebrated 1959 gothic horror novel that tells the chilling story of four individuals staying in a notoriously sinister mansion.
Discussed“I mean so much so much of horror I think occupies I mean the kind of classics of horror already occupy that space like The Haunting of Hill House. Sure. I was thinking about this in terms of the haunting of Hill House and then we have always lived in the castle”
Where to get it
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Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House is a dark fantasy novel set at Yale University that follows a protagonist tangled up with the campus's occult secret societies.
Discussed“then I branched into novels for adults and that's where ninth house and hellbent came in”
Where to get it
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The Familiar
Discussed“and with the familiar this is my first historical fiction set during the Spanish Inquisition and it is very much a standalone”
Where to get it
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Affinity
Sarah Waters's Affinity is a gothic historical novel set in a Victorian women's prison and spiritualist circles, chronicling the intense relationship between a wealthy volunteer and an imprisoned spiritualist medium.
Recommended“I would actually point them to Affinity by Sarah Waters. It is genuinely frightening in the way of a Victorian ghost story. It's about a woman who is deeply troubled and kind of to do good works and give her life purpose.”
Where to get it
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Afterward
Afterward is a classic supernatural short story by Edith Wharton that explores haunting guilt and ghostly retribution.
Recommended“There's a short story by Edith Wharton of all people called Afterward. There's a collection, an Edith Warren collection that I believe New York Review of Books Press put out called Ghosts, and it collects all of her, she wrote many ghost stories, many more than people think.”
Where to get it
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Black Arts
Black Arts is a collection of short fiction by Megan Giddings that explores dark and imaginative themes.
Recommended“I also just started a book of short fiction by Megan Giddings called The Black Arts, and I've only read the first short story in it, and I do not want to give anything away about it, but one, the writing is spectacular.”
Where to get it
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Carter Beats the Devil
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold is an imaginative historical novel set in the 1920s that weaves the life of legendary magician Charles Carter into a sweeping conspiracy involving presidential assassination and early cinematic magic.
Recommended“I loved Carter beats the devil is one of my all-time favorite books I think it is a perfectly plotted novel and really walks the line”
Where to get it
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Dune
Dune by Frank Herbert is a sweeping science fiction epic set on the desert planet Arrakis, chronicling the rise of a young messiah named Paul Atreides amidst intergalactic political betrayal and the extraction of a valuable resource known as spice.
Recommended“Dune by Frank Herbert was really pivotal for me and I think you can see the Echoes of that in my first Trilogy in terms of this kind of teenage Messiah”
Where to get it
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Ghosts
Edith Wharton's Ghosts is a curated collection of spine-chilling supernatural tales that showcases the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's lesser-known mastery of the traditional ghost story.
Recommended“There's a short story by Edith Wharton of all people called Afterward. There's a collection, an Edith Warren collection that I believe New York Review of Books Press put out called Ghosts, and it collects all of her, she wrote many ghost stories, many more than people think.”
Where to get it
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Golem and the Jinni
The Golem and the Jinni is a critically acclaimed historical fantasy novel by Helene Wecker that weaves Jewish and Arabic folklore into the bustling immigrant landscape of 1899 New York City.
Recommended“some of the books I've really loved reading are the miniaturist the gollum and the genie I loved Carter beats the devil”
Where to get it
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Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a whimsical and enchanting fantasy novel that operates as a modern fairy tale filled with magic, transformation, and unexpected adventure.
Recommended“and I think the book I've returned to again and again in my life is how Moving Castle by Diana wi Jones which again operates as a kind of fairy tale”
Where to get it
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Night Jar's Promise
Night Jar's Promise is a suspenseful thriller novel by Barbara Casey that blends mystery and psychological terror.
Recommended“And I'm thinking of Night Jars. It was pitched as Momento meets Dracula. And that's not a bad description. It has a great setup where basically this guy is handed a horrifying picture of a childhood he doesn't remember.”
Where to get it
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Our Share of Night
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez is a sprawling, dark horror novel that uses supernatural terror as a powerful parable for the shadows of Argentine political history.
Recommended“But I might if they if they look like an NPR listener, then I might direct them to Our Share of Night by I think it's Mariana. And if they're not ready to commit to a sprawling novel that is a parable for Argentine politics, then I would direct them to her short stories.”
Where to get it
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Rita Hayworth and Shawshank redemption
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is a compelling novella by Stephen King that explores themes of hope, resilience, and institutional survival within the confines of a harsh prison system.
Recommended“the book I read again and again when I was in junior high school college was Rita Hayworth in the Shashank Redemption by Stephen King that was my comfort read”
Where to get it
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Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King is a celebrated novella about hope, resilience, and endurance within an oppressive prison system, originally published in the collection Different Seasons.
Recommended“the book I read again and again when I was in junior high school college was Rita Hayworth in the Shashank Redemption by Stephen King that was my comfort read”
Where to get it
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The Miniaturist
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is an atmospheric historical novel set in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, following a young woman who receives a cabinet-size replica of her new home that begins to mirror real-life events in eerie and prophetic ways.
Recommended“some of the books I've really loved reading are the miniaturist the gollum and the genie I loved Carter beats the devil”
Where to get it
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The Reformatory
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is a harrowing historical fiction novel that blends a deeply atmospheric sense of place with supernatural elements set within a terrifying Jim Crow-era reform school.
Recommended“She's fantastic and actually she's another good one for people who don't know if they are ready for horror because I would say that the reformatory is closer to historical fiction but is deeply horrifying and harrowing and also has a tremendous sense of place”
Where to get it
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The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a classic gothic novella that follows a governess who becomes convinced that the remote estate where she cares for two children is haunted by malevolent spirits.
Recommended“I mean, obviously Turn of the Screw. It's so good. It's a beautiful a beautiful novela, Turn of the Screw by Henry James.”
Where to get it
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare is a celebrated historical children's novel set in colonial Connecticut that follows a young orphan navigating strict Puritan society and accusations of witchcraft.
Recommended“Although, I will say too, if you have a kid who's afraid of horror and you want a Halloween read, um I remember loving The Witch of Blackbird Pond. This was a classic when I was a kid and it's about witch trials and persecution and being a young woman again sort of trapped in this environment.”
Where to get it
The other 11 books Leigh Bardugo recommended or discussed, ranked
- 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
- Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
- King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
- Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Books Leigh Bardugo wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| What to Read This Halloween, According to Two Best-Selling Writers | The Book Review | 2026-10-23 | 19 |
| Fantasy Superstar Leigh Bardugo on Her New Novel | The Book Review | 2024-05-10 | 16 |
Other mentions (8: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I did an event recently where I was talking about the fact that I could see myself in like the the stories of Stephen King made more sense to me than say Sweet Valley High. The fantasy of that world did not seem like fantasy to me.”
“It was pitched as Momento meets Dracula. And that's not a bad description. It has a great setup where basically this guy is handed a horrifying picture of a childhood he doesn't remember.”
“I I don't think Queen of the Damned was out yet, or maybe I didn't know it was out, but I got her Interview and The Vampire Lat. I read the back and I thought, "Oh, I'm going to read this before I give it to her."”
“If it's a kid, I'm giving them Bicula and possibly The Invisible Parade by Lee Bardugo and John Picassio. Lovely picture book.”
“this very real historical Scandal that had surrounded King Phillip and his secretary Antonio PES who is thought to possibly be the inspiration for one of the characters in Shakespeare's love labor loss”
“and then there's heavier fantasy like a discovery of witches I certainly grew up reading magical realism”
“the next book I going to be writing is the third in the Alex Stern series that's ninth house and then hellbent and this will be the concluding book in that trilogy”
“the next book I going to be writing is the third in the Alex Stern series that's ninth house and then hellbent and this will be the concluding book in that trilogy”