
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

May 5, 2019 • 1h 19min
#310: Filigreed Elvish
Jeff and Jenn talk about Baker & Taylor getting out of the retail distribution business (and why you might care), Audible's Alexa experiment, the Tolkien estate being utterly predictable, and more.
This episode is sponsored by:
The Great Courses Plus
Audible
Lola (use offer code BOOKRIOT for 40% off)
Kindle Unlimited
Links discussed in this episode:
Baker & Taylor exiting retail distribution
Tolkien estate disavows "Tolkien"
The Blood Heir controversy
The Smallest Barnes & Noble
Audible's Alexa Customer Support Experiment
Barnes & Noble Launches YA Book Club
1 Game of Thrones Prequel Series Bites the Dust
Companion Manuscript to A Clockwork Orange Found
James Patterson to donate $1.25 million to school libraries and teachers
Obamas' Netflix docket is decidedly bookish
The Toni Morrison documentary
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Apr 29, 2019 • 1h 1min
#309: 2019 Moms, Dads, and Grads Recommendations, Part 1
Our annual Moms, Dads, and Grads recommendation show!
This episode is sponsored by:
Libro.fm
William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher
Kindle Unlimited
TBR
Books Recommended in this episode:
Trail Like Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Buckskin by Erika Wurth
The River by Peter Heller
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Buttermilk by Ed Lee.
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
I Hear She’s a Real Bitch by Jen Agg
Blood Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Yes Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
American Spy by lauren wilkinson
The Taipei Night Market series by Ed Lin (starts with Ghost Month)
How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton Christenson
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
The Power of Meaning by Emily Eshfahani Smith,
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
Chemistry by Weiki Wang
A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC series by VE SCHWAB
Boy Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
A Study in Scarlet by Sherry Thomas
Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn
The Greatest Cook in the World by Rick Bragg
The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis,
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl,
Blueplate Special and How to Cook a Moose by Kate Christensen
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz
Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo
The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding
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Apr 22, 2019 • 1h 8min
#308: The Cargo Pants Pocket For Your Life
This week, Jeff and Rebecca talk about millennial audiobook habits, the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes, Penguin Random House's loyalty program, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by:
The Great Courses Plus
Kindle Unlimited
Libro.fm
TBR
Links discussed in this episode:
Pulitzers announced
OverDrive report on audiobooks habits
Random House begins loyalty program
The library on the moon
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Apr 15, 2019 • 1h 1min
#307: Justice for Bob
This week, Jeff and Rebecca relay listener feedback about Scribd's original content move, the most banned books of 2018, a major audiobook publisher moving into print and ebooks, progress on a Washington ban on books from non-profits in prisons, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by:
The Center of the Universe by Ria Voros
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy
Links discussed in this episode:
Update: Washington State DOC amends policy to allow prisoners to receive used books
First AI generated textbook
Blackstone moves from audio only to print and ebook. Poaches PRH authors
Audible to give out 12 million audiobooks in class action settlement
ALA’s 10 most challenged books of 2018
Hero of the week: Jeopardy champion who gets all his knowledge from children’s books
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Apr 8, 2019 • 58min
#306: A Squirt of Something
This week, Jeff and Rebecca talk about more book bans in prisons, Scribd getting into original content, listener feedback, and more.
This episode is sponsored by:
Book Riot Insiders
The Great Courses Plus
The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves
Book Riot's TBR
Links discussed in this episode:
KidLit These Days mention
Washington State DOC bans prisoners from receiving used books
Kelly’s piece
Scribd kicks off original content
Mary Norris and Swati Teerthala on Recommended
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Apr 1, 2019 • 50min
#305: Selective Tree Hugging
This week, Rebecca and Jenn discuss the latest in Jay Asher's defamation suit, a Michigan bill that would make it easier to ban books, Harper Lee's get-off-my-lawn letter, and more.
This episode sponsored by:
Internment by Samira Ahmed
The Fifth Doctrine by Karen Robards
The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Bombas
Links discussed in the show:
SCBWI attorneys seek to have Jay Asher suit thrown out
Dan Mallory, who once faked being British, nominated for British Book Award
Florida bill would make banning books easier
Michigan bill would make librarians essential school staff
Marquette University's cool oral history project about Tolkien
Harper Lee did not want her hometown to be a tourist attraction
Meanwhile, Nora Roberts has basically built a town around herself (and it sounds awesome)
Heroes of the week: Women who couldn't find bilingual books for kids published their own and made $1 Million.
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Mar 26, 2019 • 1min
Quick Note: Shenanigans and Snafus
Due to a series of scheduling shenanigans and technical snafus, there is no new episode this week. Have no fear, we'll be back next Monday, April 1, with more of what's new, cool, and worth talking about in the world of books and reading.
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Mar 18, 2019 • 60min
#304: Narrative Fissure
This week, Jeff and Rebecca talk a major change to Amazon's pricing policy, an obvious but nonetheless interesting comment from George RR Martin, a library robot, the power and responsibility of tech platforms, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by:
Book Riot Insiders
Lola
Mem by Bethany Morrow
The Great Courses
Links discussed in this episode:
Amazon changing pricing policy
George RR Martin really wishes he finished the books already
Meet the BookBot!
WH Smith reports no gender pay gap for second consecutive year
...as opposed to the gaps that exist in US publishing
Arthur A. Levine leaves Scholastic to start an independent publishing venture
Amazon pulls promoting autism cures and vaccine misinformation
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Mar 11, 2019 • 52min
#303: Durable Dirigibles
This week, Jeff and Rebecca follow-up about AI and copyright, Barnes & Noble's #bookhaul, Amazon goings-on, a genuinely interesting adaptation news story, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by:
If You're Out There
Blinkist
Girls Burn Brighter by Shoba Rao
Help Me by Marianne Power
Links discussed in this episode:
Update: the Nobel is back
Update: Court rules that Shitty Media Men list creator can’t be sued for emotional distress
Amazon closing 87 pop-up stores and rethinking brick-and-mortar retail
Students at all-boys catholic school started a feminist book club
One Hundred Years of Solitude coming to Netflix
Hero of the week: Texas principal reads books online in her PJs so students can have bedtime stories
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Mar 5, 2019 • 55min
#302: Scrolling is Fundamental
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