We are reflecting on a year of reading by tallying up the books that we just can’t stop thinking about. Two professional readers – Miwa Messer, host of Barnes & Noble’s book podcast Poured Over, and Andrew Limbong, host of NPR’s Book of the Day podcast – join us to share their best of the year lists.

Here are the books mentioned in the episode. For pictures, links and more details, head to our website!

Andrew’s picks:

‘Landscapes’ by Christine Lai

‘Poverty by America’ by Matthew Desmond

‘Roaming’ by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki

‘Ringmaster’ by Abraham Josephine Riesman

Miwa’s picks:

‘Loot’ by Tania James

‘Ordinary Notes’ by Christina Sharpe

‘Open Throat’ by Henry Hoke

‘Chain Gang All-Stars’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Greta’s picks:

‘The Vaster Wilds’ by Lauren Groff

‘The Country of the Blind’ by Andrew Leland

‘The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi’ by Shannon Chakraborty

‘Same Bed Different Dreams’ by Ed Park

Listener picks:

‘The Fragile Threads of Power’ by V.E. Schwab

‘Shrines of Gaiety’ by Kate Atkinson

‘Land of Milk and Honey’ by C Pam Zhang

‘In the Lives of Puppets’ by TJ Klune

‘Monsters’ by Claire Dederer

‘Black River Orchard’ by Chuck Wendig

Angel Betsill

Podcasts