‘The Book Review’ Podcast Turns 20

Since its first episode in April 2006, the “Book Review” podcast has played host to hundreds of authors talking about their new works and possibly as many conversations about the best (and sometimes worst) that books have to offer. In this anniversary episode, the Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz is joined by the deputy editor Tina Jordan and the critic Dwight Garner to look back at some of the titles, trends and turning points that have helped define the last two decades in publishing.

They revisit blockbuster hits, literary movements and industry-shifting moments, starting with an unforgettable Oprah-related controversy and moving through several hit genres and literary trends. To close out this two-decade retrospective, Cruz puts his colleagues’ literary memories to the test with an only slightly grueling quiz.

Books discussed on this episode:

“A Million Little Pieces,” by James Frey

“Eat, Pray, Love,” by Elizabeth Gilbert

“The Hunger Games,” by Suzanne Collins

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by J.K. Rowling

“The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy

“Twilight,” by Stephenie Meyer

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson

“My Struggle,” Book 1, by Karl Ove Knausgaard

“How Should a Person Be?,” by Sheila Heti

“My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante

“The Story of the Lost Child,” by Elena Ferrante

“Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel

“Bring Up the Bodies,” by Hilary Mantel

“The Mirror and the Light,” by Hilary Mantel

“Life,” by Keith Richards with James Fox

“Just Kids,” by Patti Smith

“Born to Run,” by Bruce Springsteen

“Chronicles: Volume 1,” by Bob Dylan

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E.L. James

“Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn

“The Sellout,” by Paul Beatty

“Where the Crawdads Sing,” by Delia Owens

“American Dirt,” by Jeanine Cummins

“Crying in H Mart,” by Michelle Zauner

“Blood, Bones & Butter,” by Gabrielle Hamilton

“Heat,” by Bill Buford

“Dirt,” by Bill Buford

“The Song of Achilles,” by Madeline Miller

“We Were Liars,” by E. Lockhart

“A Court of Thorns and Roses,” by Sarah J. Maas

“Fourth Wing,” by Rebecca Yarros

Listen to and Follow ‘The Book Review’

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We Want to Hear From You

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to thebookreview@nytimes.com.

Credits

The “Book Review” podcast is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Sarah Diamond and Amy Pearl with help this week from Alex Barron. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado.

Special thanks to MJ Franklin, Dahlia Haddad and Brooke Minters.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(600)

This Reporter Can Tell Us What Nuclear Apocalypse Looks Like (Encore)

Imagine, if you will, that for unknown reasons North Korea has just launched a nuclear bomb at the United States. What happens next? The journalist Annie Jacobsen has imagined exactly that, and spent ...

14 Aug 45min

Let’s Talk About the 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century

What are the best thrillers published since 2000? That was the question that the team at The New York Times’s Book Review posed to hundreds of writers of every kind of crime fiction, from legal thrill...

5 Aug 51min

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘John of John’

Early in Douglas Stuart’s new novel, “John of John,” the Booker Prize-winning author describes a peculiar irony: “What skinned him was that the closer he got to home, the more lost he felt.” It’s a pa...

1 Aug 55min

Let’s Talk About the Best Books of the Year (So Far)

The editors at The New York Times Book Review spend almost the entire year discussing, debating and sometimes arguing about the year’s best books. We’re halfway through 2026, which means it’s time for...

24 Jul 39min

Sophie Elmhirst on the True Story of a Shipwrecked Couple

Today we want to bring back an episode from our archives. It’s about a book that has real beach read vibes. There’s a lot of water. It’s a relationship drama. And it’s also a daring story of survival...

17 Jul 31min

This Author Says You Shouldn’t Be Intimidated by ‘The Odyssey’

If you can’t tell your Eurylochus from your Telemachus, fear not: Your primer on “The Odyssey” is here, just in time for Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of the 3,000-year-old epic. Madeline Mi...

10 Jul 43min

Jill Lepore on What to Read This Fourth of July

The United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this summer, giving Americans a chance to reflect on the nation’s past and imagine its future. Who better to help us make sense of this moment than ...

3 Jul 52min

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Yesteryear,' by Caro Claire Burke

“Yesteryear,” Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, tells the story of Natalie Heller Mills: an ultrasuccessful tradwife influencer who posts about her life on Yesteryear Ranch, a homestead where she grows...

27 Jun 58min