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Pamela Paul’s book recommendations in 2020

119 books · 37 episodes · Pamela Paul’s most recommended books, all years →

Every episode from 2020, newest first

The Listeners’ Episode: Editors and Critics Answer Your Questions

The Book Review · 2020-12-25

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James · discussed · at 8:47
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James · discussed · at 9:01
Hard Times by Charles Dickens · discussed · at 9:44

Jo Nesbo Talks About 'The Kingdom'

The Book Review · 2020-12-11

Broken Harbor by Tana French · discussed · at 54:16
In the Woods by Tana French · discussed · at 54:16

David Sedaris on a Career-Spanning Collection

The Book Review · 2020-12-04

The Best of Me by David Sedaris · discussed · at 2:01
Naked by David Sedaris · critiqued · at 23:23

Joy Williams and Unique Views of America

The Book Review · 2020-11-20

Apollo's Arrow by Nicholas A. Christakis · discussed · at 18:06
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar · discussed · at 55:57

David Byrne on Turning 'American Utopia' Into a Book

The Book Review · 2020-11-13

American utopia by David Byrne · discussed · at 0:57
Stay Up Late by Maira Kalman · discussed · at 5:21
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo · recommended · at 46:12
Deacon King Kong by James McBride · recommended · at 47:54
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride · recommended · at 47:54
On Writing by Stephen King · recommended · at 48:11

The Birth of the Animal Rights Movement

The Book Review · 2020-11-06

A Traitor to His Species by Ernest Freeberg · discussed · at 0:09
The Age of Edison by Ernest Freeberg · discussed · at 1:27
You Matter by Christian Robinson · discussed · at 19:51
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña · discussed · at 20:09
Harlem's little blackbird by Renée Watson · discussed · at 20:31
Another by Christian Robinson · discussed · at 26:31
Leo by Mac Barnett · recommended · at 33:51
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige · recommended · at 45:48
Schroder by Amity Gaige · discussed · at 47:13
Passing for human by Liana Finck · recommended · at 47:46

Real-Life Political Violence Fuels Fiction in ‘The Abstainer’

The Book Review · 2020-10-23

The North water by Ian McGuire · discussed · at 10:37
The Abstainer by Ian McGuire · discussed · at 13:22
Dear Child by Romy Hausmann · book club pick · at 17:53
Room by Emma Donoghue · discussed · at 21:57
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim · discussed · at 27:09
Real life by Brandon Taylor · discussed · at 45:35
The Elephant in the Room by Tommy Tomlinson · discussed · at 45:47

The Ottoman Empire’s Influence on the Present Day

The Book Review · 2020-10-16

God's Shadow by Alan Mikhail · discussed · at 0:10
The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr · discussed · at 18:01
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah · discussed · at 53:04
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders · discussed · at 53:20

The Fate of Refugees After World War II

The Book Review · 2020-10-09

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff · recommended · at 57:06

Jeffrey Toobin on Writing About Trump

The Book Review · 2020-09-04

True Crimes and Misdemeanors by Jeffrey Toobin · recommended · at 19:07
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante · discussed · at 19:26
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante · discussed · at 19:59
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala · discussed · at 22:28
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler · discussed · at 56:00

Kurt Andersen on ‘Evil Geniuses’

The Book Review · 2020-08-28

Evil Geniuses by Kurt Andersen · discussed · at 0:06
Hiroshima by John Hersey · discussed · at 0:16
Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen · discussed · at 0:55
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway · discussed · at 38:02
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet · discussed · at 52:25

The Life of a Brilliant, Suffering Scientist

The Book Review · 2020-08-21

The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson · recommended · at 0:25
A Dominant Character by Samanth Subramanian · recommended · at 20:09
H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald · discussed · at 23:51

The 'Seductive Lure' of Authoritarianism

The Book Review · 2020-07-31

Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum · discussed · at 0:18
Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick · discussed · at 0:27
Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson · recommended · at 47:15
Readings in the Making of American Foreign Policy by Andrew MacKay Scott · recommended · at 47:15

The Yearning for the Unexplained

The Book Review · 2020-07-24

The Unidentified by Colin Dickey · discussed · at 0:14
The King of Confidence by Miles Harvey · discussed · at 0:23
Ghostland by Colin Dickey · discussed · at 17:39

Newt Gingrich and the Start of an Era

The Book Review · 2020-07-17

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah · discussed · at 58:51

A Short Guide to 'The World'

The Book Review · 2020-06-26

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo · discussed · at 56:47
The American by Henry James · discussed · at 1:00:10

André Leon Talley on 'The Chiffon Trenches'

The Book Review · 2020-06-18

The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley · discussed · at 3:51
A Burning by Megha Majumdar · discussed · at 30:43

Stephen Fry on Reimagining the Greek Myths

The Book Review · 2020-06-12

Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann · discussed · at 1:17
Mythos by Stephen Fry · discussed · at 17:38
Heroes by Stephen Fry · discussed · at 23:39
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang · discussed · at 53:40
Exhalation by Ted Chiang · discussed · at 53:50

A.O. Scott on the Work of Wallace Stegner

The Book Review · 2020-06-05

Angle of repose by Wallace Stegner · discussed · at 6:50
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner · discussed · at 6:50
Remembering laughter by Wallace Stegner · recommended · at 13:36
Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner · recommended · at 13:36
A shooting star by Wallace Stegner · recommended · at 13:36
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan · discussed · at 46:12
The Mothers by Brit Bennett · discussed · at 54:45

A Manhunt on the 17th Century’s High Seas

The Book Review · 2020-05-29

Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson · recommended · at 0:06
The Stand by Stephen King · discussed · at 21:56
Misery by Stephen King · discussed · at 30:33

One Young Mother and the Homelessness Crisis

The Book Review · 2020-05-15

There are no children here by Alex Kotlowitz · discussed · at 23:30
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng · discussed · at 52:59
Gone-Away Lake (Gone-Away Lake #1) by Elizabeth Enright · recommended · at 58:21
The Embarrassment of Riches by Simon Schama · discussed · at 1:02:01
The Cook by Maylis de Kerangal · recommended · at 1:05:22
Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal · recommended · at 1:07:18
Dropped Names by Frank Langella · recommended · at 1:09:32

Lawrence Wright on Researching a (Fictional) Pandemic

The Book Review · 2020-05-01

The thirst by Jo Nesbø · recommended · at 55:43
The Snowman by Jo Nesbø · discussed · at 57:01

The Great Alaska Quake of 1964

The Book Review · 2020-04-24

This Is Chance! by Jon Mooallem · discussed · at 0:42
Our Town by Thornton Wilder · discussed · at 4:40
Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock · discussed · at 14:55

Samantha Irby Talks About ‘Wow, No Thank You’

The Book Review · 2020-04-17

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner · recommended · at 50:52

Robert Kolker Discusses 'Hidden Valley Road'

The Book Review · 2020-04-10

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker · discussed · at 0:13
Writers & Lovers by Lily King · discussed · at 22:49
The plague and I. by Betty MacDonald · recommended · at 50:49
The egg and I by Betty MacDonald · recommended · at 50:49

Parenting When the Family Is Locked Inside

The Book Review · 2020-04-03

Untangled by Lisa K. Damour · discussed · at 2:14
Life by Unknown · discussed · at 39:22
Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. · discussed · at 1:04:20
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers · discussed · at 1:08:22

From the Archive: Michael Lewis and Tana French

The Book Review · 2020-03-13

Melmoth by Sarah Perry · discussed · at 49:06

James McBride Talks About ‘Deacon King Kong’

The Book Review · 2020-03-06

Deacon King Kong by James McBride · discussed · at 0:11
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride · discussed · at 14:13
Untangled by Lisa K. Damour · recommended · at 53:53

The Ties That Bind Deutsche Bank and Donald Trump

The Book Review · 2020-02-28

Dark Towers by David Enrich · discussed · at 0:10
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave · discussed · at 0:20
Demonology by King James I · discussed · at 38:00

Unjust America

The Book Review · 2020-02-21

Supreme Inequality by Adam Cohen · discussed · at 0:39
Imbeciles by Adam Cohen · discussed · at 0:54
We the corporations by Adam Winkler · discussed · at 14:34
Feel Free by Zadie Smith · recommended · at 52:12
Grand Union Stories by Zadie Smith · discussed · at 52:19
The cost of living by Deborah Levy · recommended · at 56:29

A History of Seduction

The Book Review · 2020-02-14

Seduction by Clement Knox · discussed · at 0:35
Indelicacy by Amina Cain · discussed · at 16:24

Leslie Jamison on Jenny Offill’s ‘Weather’

The Book Review · 2020-02-07

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert · discussed · at 1:02:00
The Night Country by Melissa Albert · discussed · at 1:03:30
How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell · discussed · at 1:05:04

The Paradoxes of Nuclear War

The Book Review · 2020-01-31

The bomb by Kaplan, Fred · discussed · at 0:14

Andrea Bernstein on 'American Oligarchs'

The Book Review · 2020-01-24

Life isn't everything by Ash Carter · discussed · at 52:07
Good Husbandry by Kristin Kimball · recommended · at 56:06

Americans on a Financial 'Tightrope'

The Book Review · 2020-01-17

Tightrope by Nicholas D. Kristof · discussed · at 0:01
World Without Work by Daniel Susskind · discussed · at 0:28
Future of the Professions by Richard Susskind · discussed · at 17:06

Life in Tech’s ‘Uncanny Valley’

The Book Review · 2020-01-10

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell · discussed · at 26:07
Long Bright River by Liz Moore · discussed · at 27:51

Medicine in the Middle Ages

The Book Review · 2020-01-03

Medieval Bodies by Jack Hartnell · discussed · at 0:11
Tightrope by Nicholas D. Kristof · recommended · at 20:55

Other mentions in 2020 (77: passing, ad reads, own books)