Person
Every book Sarah Lyall recommended on podcasts
Sarah Lyall is a journalist and critic who regularly discusses notable books and thrillers on literature podcasts. On episodes of The Book Review, she has recommended a variety of suspenseful and character-driven works. She pointed listeners to Jack Finney's Time and Again as a fantastic time travel thriller that plays cleverly with reality in old New York. Lyall also praised Kate Atkinson, highlighting Life After Life as an all-time favorite novel and plugging Case Histories as a great read. In translation, she enthusiastically recommended Hervé Le Tellier's The Anomaly, a French literary thriller that won top literary honors. For psychological suspense, she lauded Barbara Vine's A Dark-Adapted Eye and Ruth Rendell's The House of Stairs as among the creepiest and best books she has ever read. Additionally, Lyall recommended Molly Roden Winter's memoir More: A Memoir of Open Marriage for its chapters on family dynamics, and she discussed Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing as a compelling investigation into a historical Northern Ireland mystery.
Books recommended by Sarah Lyall
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Life After Life
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is a celebrated novel that follows protagonist Ursula Todd as she repeatedly dies and is reborn across different eras of the twentieth century, most notably the Second World War.
Recommended“and she's written some beautiful novels, especially Life After Life, which is one of my favorite books of all time.”
Where to get it
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Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow is a legal thriller centering on a prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague.
Discussed“well I think it's really old timey Thriller but my sort of ear Thrillers would be Presumed Innocent you know the scotch hero thing which I read all night long when it came out”
Where to get it
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Rebecca
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is a classic psychological thriller that follows a young second wife haunted by the lingering memory and presence of her husband's deceased first wife at a remote estate.
Discussed“So other things were like Rebecca, amazing thriller, The Turn of the Screw, and you know, you read those not knowing what genre they are, but oh my god, there are thrillers.”
Where to get it
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The Secret History
The Secret History by Donna Tartt is a psychological thriller that follows a tightly knit group of eccentric classics students at a Vermont college who become morally corrupted after committing murder.
Discussed“and it reminded me a lot of the secret history where if I'm also getting this right one of the characters comes in out of a crazy experience with someone else's blood in her hair and no one ever figures out whose blood it is”
Where to get it
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The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a seminal Gothic novella that has terrified and fascinated readers for generations with its chilling ambiguity surrounding ghosts, psychological torment, and unreliable narration.
Discussed“So other things were like Rebecca, amazing thriller, The Turn of the Screw, and you know, you read those not knowing what genre they are, but oh my god, there are thrillers.”
Where to get it
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A dark-adapted eye
A dark-adapted eye is a psychological thriller novel written by Barbara Vine, who is the alter ego of British author Ruth Rendell.
Recommended“and then Barbara Vine who is the the alter ego of Ruth renle the British author who's done this incredible psychological thrillers uh a dark adapted eye House of stairs they're among the creepiest things I've ever read those are my probably absolute favorites”
Where to get it
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A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle's beloved children's science fantasy classic, A Wrinkle in Time, follows young Meg Murry as she journeys across space and time using a tesseract to rescue her scientist father from a malevolent cosmic entity.
Recommended“so I recently start I just finished actually yesterday listening to the audio book of A Wrinkle in Time you know one of my all-time favorite books”
Where to get it
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Case Histories
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is a compelling contemporary detective novel featuring private investigator Jackson Brodie.
Discussed“and the same actually with the adaptation of the Kate Atkinson book that's on our list case uh histories which is such a fantastic book and Jason Issacs, who's a great actor, plays the main detective in that, who's wonderful, but it just couldn't do justice.”
Where to get it
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Enigma variations
Enigma Variations is a contemporary novel by André Aciman that explores complex themes of desire, memory, and lifelong emotional attachments across multiple stages of a protagonist's life.
Recommended“so I'm actually going back to a book I read last year for the first time and loved and its Enigma Variations which is the newest novel by Andre aiman who's the author of call me by your name”
Where to get it
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Going Zero
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten is a high-stakes techno-thriller that plunges ordinary citizens into a terrifying manhunt orchestrated by the world's most powerful tech surveillance company.
Recommended“so a recent book I would recommend is a delightful book called going Zero by Anthony mcarton”
Where to get it
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Little Face
Little Face is a psychological suspense novel by Sophie Hannah that explores the harrowing aftermath of a mother's claim that her infant child has been replaced by a stranger.
Recommended“it's I think her first one from 2006 kind of cruel was really good lasting damage”
Where to get it
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More: A Memoir of Open Marriage
More: A Memoir of Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter is a personal memoir detailing the author's experiences navigating an open marriage during middle age.
Recommended“right you go away and and there is a really interesting for people who and everyone should read this book but interesting chapters about your mother and your father and their marriage”
Where to get it
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Say Nothing
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland that investigates political violence, justice, and the heavy personal cost of what individuals kill and die for.
Recommended“well I'm going to start with someone I'm only slightly acquainted with who's Patrick Ren Keefe who if you've all read his amazing piece in the New Yorker a couple years ago about the IRA and a unsolved mystery from Northern Ireland at the time of the troubles and he's produced a book called say nothing”
Where to get it
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The Anomaly
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier is a genre-bending French literary thriller that explores the philosophical and societal chaos that ensues when an airplane mysteriously duplicates mid-flight, landing twice with the exact same passengers aboard.
Recommended“So I'm going to go with with a thriller in translation, The Anomaly by the French writer Elve Lutellier, which I reviewed a few years ago when it came out because I loved it so much and it won the Pri Gonko the uh France's top literary prize...”
Where to get it
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The Fraud
The Fraud by Zadie Smith is a rich historical novel set in Victorian London during the era of Charles Dickens, centering around the famous Tichborne claimant case and themes of complicity and imposture.
Discussed“we're here to talk about her sixth novel The fraud it's on the surface a historical novel set in the 19th century mostly in London”
Where to get it
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The friend
Why people recommend it: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is an acclaimed, award-winning novel that explores profound themes including suicide, grief, and the deep bond between a grieving writer and a very lovable Great Dane.
Recommended“well I just got back from vacation as many people did so I was reading books that other people had brought and I someone had brought the Friend by sigid nunz which came out a few months ago”
Where to get it
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The House of Stairs
The House of Stairs by Ruth Rendell, writing under her pseudonym Barbara Vine, is a dark and complex psychological thriller centered on secrets, past traumas, and a sprawling London home shared by eccentric lodgers.
Recommended“and then Barbara Vine who is the the alter ego of Ruth renle the British author who's done this incredible psychological thrillers uh a dark adapted eye House of stairs they're among the creepiest things I've ever read those are my probably absolute favorites”
Where to get it
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Time and Again
Time and Again by Jack Finney is a classic time travel novel that immerses an advertising illustrator in a secret government project to transport him back to the late nineteenth century in New York City.
Recommended“I love a time travel thriller because how it plays with reality and what you can change and and so I would always point people back to The Great Time and Again by Jack Finney, which has the benefit also of being set in old New York.”
Where to get it
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What Lies in the Woods
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall is a gripping thriller that follows three childhood friends who must confront the dark secrets of their past after the man they put away for a horrific crime is released.
Recommended“the next one is called what lies in the woods it's by Kate Alice Marshall”
Where to get it
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When in French
When in French by Lauren Collins is a memoir exploring cross-cultural romance, language barriers, and adaptation as an American journalist navigates life and love in Paris.
Recommended“and then since it's going to be a little bit non-fiction for me this summer because I feel I've been too sloppy with Escapist fiction in the last few months I'm going to reread my friend Lauren Collins's book when in French”
Where to get it
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A god in ruins
A god in ruins by Kate Atkinson is a companion novel and sequel to Life After Life, following the life of Teddy Todd during and after the London World War II Blitz era.
Discussed“in the 2010s two of her other novels Life After Life and its sequel a God in Ruins won the Costa Award for best novel of the year in Britain”
Where to get it
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A Pocketful of Happiness
Discussed“so let's talk about this wonderful book which is really life affirming even though its subject is so sad it's called a pocket full of Happiness”
Where to get it
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a classic nineteenth-century children's novel about a young girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantastical realm populated by peculiar creatures and nonsensical rules.
Discussed“and that brings us to the book that you've mentioned that you would like to talk about and I'm so thrilled to talk about it because it's a book I read a lot as a child as well it's one of the great examples of absurdus literature it's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”
Where to get it
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Autumn
Autumn by Ali Smith is a reflective contemporary novel that captures the shifting political and cultural landscape of Great Britain.
Discussed“so this is her seventh book and it's the first in a planned quartet beginning with Autumn around the seasons”
Where to get it
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Behind the scenes at the museum
Discussed“her debut novel behind the scenes at the Museum won the wit breeds book of the Year award in 1996”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a chilling dystopian masterpiece that envisions a technologically advanced future society sustained by pharmacological distraction, engineered conformity, and the systematic eradication of deep human emotion and critical thought.
Discussed“and she's reading Brave New World while she's waiting she practically reads the whole thing waiting in line for the passport office”
Where to get it
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Brooklyn
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín is a celebrated novel about a young Irish immigrant navigating homesickness, romantic choices, and a dual identity in 1950s New York and her native village.
Discussed“Long Island is the sequel to Brooklyn published in 2009”
Where to get it
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Death at the Sign of the Rook
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson is a captivating mystery novel that marks the return of the author's beloved private eye, Jackson Brody.
Discussed“it's called Death at the sign of Rook”
Where to get it
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Kind of cruel
Discussed“it's I think her first one from 2006 kind of cruel was really good lasting damage”
Where to get it
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Lasting Damage
Discussed“it's I think her first one from 2006 kind of cruel was really good lasting damage”
Where to get it
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Lost and Wanted
Discussed“I've never read any books by n freudenberger have you nor have I”
Where to get it
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Murder On The Orient Express
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express is a celebrated detective novel featuring Hercule Poirot investigating a murder aboard a snowbound luxury train.
Discussed“so if you look at a book like I'm trying to think of a murder classic murder mystery where many people had a motive to kill the the victim let's say murder on the ordan express you learn after the murder how many people wanted the victim dead”
Where to get it
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My Murder
Discussed“I want to jump ahead to one that sounded particularly interesting which is called my murder”
Where to get it
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My sister, the serial killer
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is a darkly comedic thriller that explores complex sibling dynamics against the backdrop of unusual crimes.
Discussed“I was surprised and delighted to see My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oen Ken Braithweight. It came in so high. It came in so high. I think it's at number six, right?”
Where to get it
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Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects is a dark thriller by Gillian Flynn that follows a troubled reporter returning to her hometown to cover the murders of two young girls while confronting her own deeply dysfunctional family and traumatic past.
Discussed“so for people who like that kind of thing like if you like Jillian Flynn's sharp objects I was just going to mention that one”
Where to get it
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Started Early, Took My Dog
Discussed“and of course one of the titles of your one of your Jackson Brody books comes from a poem of hers I long time I wanted to write a novel had an Emily diggson first line line as the title for no good reason part of him to amuse myself and that's the reason in that book that Jackson gets”
Where to get it
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The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's devastating debut novel that explores the destructive impact of societal beauty standards and systemic racism on a young Black girl growing up in mid-century America.
Discussed“you said recently that your favorite novel to teach was The Bluest Eyes by Tony Morrison which weirdly I just read last week”
Where to get it
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The Firm
The Firm by John Grisham is a gripping legal thriller published in 1991 that follows a young lawyer who joins a prestigious firm, only to discover it is a front for the mafia.
Discussed“I remember maybe 13 or so picking up an early John Gisham. Might have been around the time that the movie version of The Firm came out.”
Where to get it
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The Hunter
The Hunter is a contemporary mystery novel by Tana French that is set in the same fictional Irish town as her previous book, The Searcher.
Discussed“back here with Tana French to talk about her new novel The Hunter T you did something quite bold after your first six novels”
Where to get it
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The Killings at Kingfisher Hill
Discussed“there's one called the monogram murders there's the killings at king fisher Hill and I would say the little face is one of my favorite”
Where to get it
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The monogram murders
Discussed“there's one called the monogram murders there's the killings at king fisher Hill and I would say the little face is one of my favorite”
Where to get it
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The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief by John Grisham is a legal thriller novel that follows a young law student who uncovers a dangerous conspiracy involving the assassinations of two Supreme Court justices.
Discussed“So, you know, the firm I think at the time it probably was the firm went back to a time to kill then it had to the client and then I picked up several other oh pelican brief. I really love that book.”
Where to get it
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The Quiet Tenant
Discussed“so there's one that's been getting a lot of early Buzz called The Quiet tenant by clol michelon”
Where to get it
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The Red Lotus
Discussed“so the one I I reviewed God not that long ago it seems like forever was called the Red Lotus”
Where to get it
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The Turn of the Key
Critiqued“so I read recently a thriller Ruth wear's turn of the key which I really didn't love”
Where to get it
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Views of Learning in the Lives of Middle Age Female Graduates of a Non-traditional Degree Program
Discussed“I read I read her first one the water this was better than something in the water I mean something in the water to me wasn't that exciting of a setup”
Where to get it
Books Sarah Lyall wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (15: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So, you know, the firm I think at the time it probably was the firm went back to a time to kill then it had to the client and then I picked up several other oh pelican brief.”
“So, you know, the firm I think at the time it probably was the firm went back to a time to kill then it had to the client and then I picked up several other oh pelican brief.”
“because I know from my own reading I think I have never yet C over the death of ginger in Black Beauty”
“Sarah I read n freudenberger lost and wanted”
“who's the author of call me by your name this one has a lot of the same themes as call me by your name”
“books that might be similar that that people might have read would be the Martian”
“I'm Sarah Lyle from The New York Times and I'm joined by the British actor Richard E Grant the author of a new Memoir a pocket full of happiness”
“he teaches literature among other things at Columbia University and he's here to talk about his new book Long Island”
“and she's out of college now and she asked me to read to her from Charlotte's Web”
“and I remember the war between the Tates or the other side of midnight”
“and I remember the war between the Tates or the other side of midnight”
“she wrote the little friend”
“and she wrote The Goldfinch”
“it's better than Gone Girl”
“it sounded a little bit like The Lovely Bones remember that book”