A Book Review Critics’ Roundtable

As much as we love hearing from authors on “The Book Review” podcast, there are precious few who have read more than our staff book critics — Jennifer Szalai, Alexandra Jacobs and Dwight Garner. The three came on the show to talk about some of their favorite books of the year so far, as well as a few of the titles that helped shape their reading lives.
Books discussed on this episode:
• “Nothing Random,” by Gayle Feldman (nytimes.com/2026/01/18/books/review/nothing-ra…)
• “Will and Attention,” by Meghan O’Gieblyn (nytimes.com/2026/10/07/books/review/will-and-a…)
• “The Disappearers,” by Marlon James (nytimes.com/2026/08/30/books/review/the-disapp…)
• “American Hagwon,” by Min Jin Lee (nytimes.com/2026/09/29/books/review/american-h…)
• “Lives Other Than My Own,” by Emmanuel Carrère
• “To the Lighthouse,” by Virginia Woolf
• “The American Way of Death,” by Jessica Mitford
• “Class: A Guide Through the American Status System,” by Paul Fussell
• “The Great War and Modern Memory,” by Paul Fussell
• “American Fried,” by Calvin Trillin
• “Alice, Let’s Eat,” by Calvin Trillin
• “Third Helpings,” by Calvin Trillin
• “On Fire,” by Larry Brown
• “Betsy-Tacy,” by Maud Hart Lovelace
• “Betsy-Tacy and Tib,” by Maud Hart Lovelace
• “Rabbit, Run,” by John Updike
• “Into the Wood Chipper,” by Nicholas Enrich
• “Cool Machine,” by Colson Whitehead
• “The Oyster Diaries,” by Nancy Lemann
• “Biological War: A Scenario,” by Annie Jacobsen (nytimes.com/2026/07/27/books/review/biological…)
• “Nuclear War: A Scenario,” by Annie Jacobsen
• “The Story of Your Life,” by Kathryn Jezer-Morton (nytimes.com/2026/08/02/books/review/the-story-…)
• “Transcription,” by Ben Lerner
• “The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek,” by Andrew Durbin
• “Contrapposto,” by Dave Eggers (nytimes.com/2026/06/07/books/review/dave-egger…)
• “Brother of the More Famous Jack,” by Barbara Trapido (nytimes.com/2026/10/12/books/review/barbara-tr…)
• “Love and Hydrogen,” by Jim Shepard
• “Trash!: A Garbageman’s Story,” by Simon Paré-Poupart (nytimes.com/2026/06/08/books/review/simon-pare…)

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