
Book Riot - The Podcast
News in the world of books and reading, including hot industry releases, adaptations, publishing industry events, and more with Book Riot’s Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Shinsky.Book Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America and home to a host of media, from podcasts to newsletters to original content, all designed around diverse readers and across all genres.
Latest episodes

Aug 9, 2021 • 53min
The Donkey Parade
Jeff and Rebecca talk about the coming end of big-time adaptations, the future of food memoirs, the dearth of popular on-going book series, and more.
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Discussed in this episode:
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series Gets Release Date
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Aug 2, 2021 • 1h 3min
Spicy Fun Spice
Jeff and Rebecca talk about pandemic reading habits, book sales, what it means to be a relevant author, and much more.
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For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
Discussed in this episode:
Pandemic Reading Habits Survey
People Really Did Read More in 2020
Booker Longlist
May your efforts succeed: little free diverse libraries
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Jul 26, 2021 • 1h 7min
The Canonical Dorito
Jeff and Rebecca build off listener feedback to spend more time talking about TikTok and books, how local libraries can be eaten away from the inside, have their minds boggled about a 300-year overdue library book, and more.
Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.
For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
Discussed in this episode:
The Niles Public Library is a Warning
Prince Harry memoir!
More on the TikTok book trend
Library Book overdue by 300 Years Returned
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Jul 19, 2021 • 1h 1min
Infinite Monkeys
Jeff and Rebecca parse listener feedback on what makes historical fiction, explicate the bestselling books of the year so far, and more.
Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.
For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
Discussed in this episode:
Book Riot’s best of the year so far
PW bestselling books of the year so far
The Niles Public Library is a Warning
A win! Portland Public Schools will no longer teach book containing historical inaccuracies
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Jul 12, 2021 • 46min
Convince Me I’m Right
Jeff and Rebecca talk about recent reading, proceed to debate what constitutes historical fiction, wish for the failure of the efforts of some politicians, anticipate Janelle Monae’s short story collection, and much more.
Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.
For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
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Discussed in this episode:
Texas Governor Cancels Book Event Examining History
Janelle Monae debut short fiction
Andy Serkis is recording LOTR audiobooks
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Jun 28, 2021 • 1h 14min
Ding the Basket
Jeff and Rebecca check in on summer book sales, relay another effort they hope fails, and talk about Michelle Zauner’s excellent debut memoir, Crying in H Mart.
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For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
Discussed in this episode:
Parents sue over BLM lessons in Pennsylvania school district
(Handy Vox piece explaining what critical race theory actually is)
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Jun 21, 2021 • 49min
Form-Forward
Jeff and Rebecca talk about the Pulitzer Prize announcements, things happening in conservative publishing, a sweeping Amazon investigative report, and more.
Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.
For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!
Discussed in this episode:
We’re hiring!
Pulitzer winners
Update: DoJ drops Bolton case
Big publishers unlikely to take Trump book
HarperCollins imprint signs deal for Jared Kushner’s “definitive” Trump book
And former big-5 execs launch new conservative imprint
Another Bourdain-adjacent book
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Jun 17, 2021 • 1h 11min
Our Favorite(?) Books of 2021 So Far.
Jeff and Rebecca pick their most memorable, favorite, and otherwise noteworthy reads of 2021 so far.
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Rebecca’s Picks:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Girlhood by Melissa Febos
Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraquib
Miseducated by Brandon P Fleming
Rebecca’s Honorable Mentions:
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Cultish by Amanda Montell
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Jeff’s Picks:
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley Ford
Jeff’s Honorable Mentions:
Winning the Loser’s Game by Charles Ellis
World Travel by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever
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Jun 14, 2021 • 1h 7min
Three Corners of an "It" Book
Jeff and Rebecca talk about Amazon buying MGM, Roxane Gay’s new imprint, what makes an “it” book, and more.
Discussed in this episode:
Fare thee well, Eric Carle
Amazon buys MGM
Roxane Gay imprint!
WNDB no longer using “own voices”
SHE SAID movie coming
John Steinbeck’s unpublished…werewolf novel??
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Jun 7, 2021 • 2h 15min
Summer Draft Results and SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER by Ashley Ford
Jeff and Rebecca discuss the results of their Summer Draft showdown and try a little something new with Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley Ford.
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