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Every book MJ Franklin recommended on podcasts
MJ Franklin’s book club picks
MJ Franklin has picked 13 books for the book club on The Book Review. The latest is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, first picked in August 2026. Every pick, newest first:
MJ Franklin’s most recommended books
- James by Percival L. Everett
- My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani
- Hollywood, Ending by John Green
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- In Memoriam by Alice Winn
- Kin by Tayari Jones
- The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
MJ Franklin is a podcast guest who appeared on The Book Review to preview upcoming releases and discuss book club selections. Franklin discussed and praised Emma Cline's upcoming novel about assisted dying, titled Switzy, and enthusiastically recommended Leigh Bardugo's Dead Beat as the third and final book in the Ninth House trilogy. Franklin also praised Tananarive Due, whom they described as horror royalty, and previewed her upcoming horror novel Mazywood. Additionally, Franklin previewed Barbara Kingsolver's upcoming coming-of-age novel Partita and introduced Emily St. John Mandel's upcoming dystopian mystery Exit Party. Franklin introduced and praised T. Geronimo Johnson's experimental new novel, The Occidental Book of the Dead, noting that it is really tricky to explain. In a book club episode focusing on London Falling, Franklin recommended Anand Gopal's Days of Love and Rage as a portrait of the Syrian revolution and companion piece, and gave an additional recommendation of immersive narrative non-fiction with John Carreyrou's Bad Blood, an investigation into the scam blood testing company Theranos founded by Elizabeth Holmes.
Books recommended by MJ Franklin
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James
James by Percival L.
Discussed“I'm thinking about previous years. There were books like James and Martyr of course last year but also Chain Gang Allstars The Beasting Demon Copperhead Trust Hamnet The Vanishing Half They're There The Underground Railroad books that seem to rise up and kind of dominate the conversation and the culture.”
Where to get it
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My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani, Elena Ferrante, and Mara Cerri is the acclaimed opening volume of the Neapolitan quartet tracking the lifelong friendship of two women in Italy.
Book club“and now on to our book my brilliant friend my brilliant friend is the first book in Alena fante's Neapolitan quartet”
Where to get it
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Hollywood, Ending
Hollywood, Ending by John Green is a contemporary novel centering on two young actors who find themselves navigating the intense pressures of sudden fame and survival.
Discussed“In the past few years, he's published two non-fiction books, but now he is back with a new novel, Hollywood Ending, about two young actors on the brink of fame.”
Where to get it
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Ulysses
James Joyce's landmark modernist novel Ulysses chronicles an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mapping human consciousness and daily existence through a revolutionary stream-of-consciousness technique.
Discussed“that happens in ulyses James Joyce's ulyses and it happens in hernand Diaz's trust do also spoil aler for that book”
Where to get it
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In Memoriam
In Memoriam by Alice Winn is a poignant historical novel that charts a complicated romance and deep friendship between two young men set against the brutal backdrop of the First World War.
Recommended“and I'm going to flash through one title too and that is in memorium by Alice win this is a complicated friendship set during World War I”
Where to get it
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Kin
Kin by Tayari Jones is an engaging novel that has earned enthusiastic praise from critics and readers alike.
Recommended“I have a book that I've been stumping for hard this year, and that book is Kin by T Ari Jones.”
Where to get it
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The Rachel Incident
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is a witty, contemporary Irish coming-of-age novel that explores the complex dynamics of young friendship, romance, and ambition against the backdrop of the economic crash in Cork.
Recommended“My last book recommendation is a book that I think went kind of under the radar, but I love it so much not just because it is about bookstores, but because it's such a snappy, smart, coming-of-age story, and that is The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue.”
Where to get it
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Bad Blood
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou is an investigative non-fiction book that exposes the massive fraud and corporate deception at the heart of Elizabeth Holmes's blood-testing startup, Theranos.
Recommended“One is Bad Blood by John Keroo, which is an investigation into Theronos, the scam blood testing company that Elizabeth Holmes founded.”
Where to get it
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To the Lighthouse
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is a modernist novel exploring themes of art, time, family, and the human condition through the experiences of the Ramsay family.
Discussed“it made me think of Virginia wolf into the lighthouse which I feel feels like Galaxy brain number one I mentioned how much I loved um till lighthouse in the last book club episode”
Where to get it
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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is a rich, character-driven novel that explores community, race, and humanity within a tight-knit Pennsylvania neighborhood during the mid-twentieth century.
Discussed“at the end of last year we chatted about the Heaven and Earth grocery store and that was a lot of fun so go check that out”
Where to get it
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Erasure
Erasure by Percival Everett is a sharp, satirical novel that follows a frustrated African American author whose cynical parody of stereotypical Black literature unexpectedly becomes a massive, mainstream bestseller.
Discussed“the novel was critically acclaimed when it first came out in 2001 and now the movie has catapulted eraser back to the top of the Zeitgeist and introduced it to even more readers”
Where to get it
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a foundational American novel that follows a young boy and an escaped slave navigating moral dilemmas along the Mississippi River.
Discussed“James is personal effort's latest novel and it's a retelling of Huckleberry Finn this time told from Jim's perspective or I should say James as the character specifies a lot of the Beats of Twain's original are here”
Where to get it
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Baldwin
Baldwin by Nicholas Boggs is an intimate and comprehensive biography exploring the life, relationships, and literary legacy of the iconic American writer and activist James Baldwin.
Discussed“we're talking to Nicholas Boggs about his new book Baldwin, A Love Story. This book is many things at once.”
Where to get it
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Good Material
Good Material by Dolly Alderton is a sharp and humorous contemporary novel that explores the messy aftermath of a breakup from the perspective of a heartbroken male comedian.
Book club“that may change with her new book good material the book we're here to discuss which is getting a little bit buzzier in the states”
Where to get it
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Headshot
Book club“and for this month's book club we're talking about Rita bowinkle's new novel headshot”
Where to get it
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Heartstopper
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman is a critically acclaimed young adult graphic novel series that follows the romantic journey of two British schoolboys navigating friendship, identity, and adolescence.
Discussed“so I have been reading two books side by side and it's funny because they are completely different one is Young the new book by Douglas Stewart and the other is the heart stop series The ya graphic novel series by Alice oan”
Where to get it
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Asymmetry
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday is a structurally innovative and critically acclaimed novel exploring power dynamics, ambition, and global politics through two seemingly distinct narratives that ultimately interconnect.
Recommended“the first I wanted to mention this came out a few years ago was a symmetry by Lisa Halliday there's in the very very last section there's just this like small like if you're reading fast you might miss it line that makes you rethink the entire book”
Where to get it
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Big Swiss
Big Swiss is a darkly comic and unconventional novel by Jen Beagin that follows a transcriber for a sex therapist who becomes infatuated with one of the clients.
Recommended“but the other book I wanted to talk about is Big Swiss by Jen Bean”
Where to get it
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Catch and Kill
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow is a deeply reported investigative account detailing the efforts to uncover widespread sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups in media and entertainment.
Recommended“And then the other is Catch and Kill by Ronan Pharaoh.”
Where to get it
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Chain Gang All Stars
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a gripping futuristic dystopian novel that explores institutionalized violence and the American prison-industrial complex through a high-stakes gladiatorial combat program.
Recommended“yes I'm excited to talk about Chang gang allars by naname AJ BR”
Where to get it
- Cleanness by Garth Greenwell
- Daughter by Claudia Dey
- Days of Love and Rage by Anand Gopal
- Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo
- Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff
- Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
- Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
- Fear and Fury by Heather Ann Thompson
- Florida by Lauren Groff
- Friday black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
- Godwin by Joseph O'Neill
- How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith III
- Language as Liberation by Toni Morrison
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Lot by Bryan Washington
- Mazywood by Tananarive Due
- Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
- Monogamy by Sue Miller
- On Morrison by Namwali Serpell
- Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
- Splinters by Leslie Jamison
- Sula by Toni Morrison
- Switzy by Emma Cline
- Tenth of December by George Saunders
- The Bookshop by Evan Friss
- The Guest by Emma Cline
- The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
- The Keeper by Tana French
- The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson
MJ Franklin’s latest episodes with books
MJ Franklin’s book recommendations by year
All 94 books MJ Franklin recommended or discussed across 30 episodes, filed by the year each episode came out. Each year goes episode by episode, with the minute every book came up.