Book Riot - The Podcast - podcast cover

Book Riot - The Podcast

Book Riotbookriot.com
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.

Episodes

Americans Want To Read More Books. Or Do They?

Jeff and Rebecca talk about a big new survey of Americans' feelings about reading, before talking about a small but interesting change at PW, recent reading, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books t...

Apr 14, 202559 min

AUDITION by Katie Kitamura & and the Documentary BANNED TOGETHER

Jeff and Rebecca discuss Katie Kitamura's new novel, Audition. Then, Rebecca talks to Allyson Rice and Tom Wiggins, producers of the new documentary, Banned Together. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books to...

Apr 09, 20251 hr 12 min

National Book Critics Circle Winners, Censorship Cases on a Collision Course with the Supreme Court, and more of the week's book news

Jeff is back from vacation and joins Rebecca to talk NBCC winners, escalating legal challenges to book bans, Penguin Random House sales info, recent reading, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books t...

Apr 07, 20251 hr 5 min

The It Books of April

Jeff and Rebecca consider contenders for the It Book of April, 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Get started for only $18 at...

Apr 02, 202546 min

The Reading Life of Stephen Graham Jones

Jeff is out this week reading on a beach, so we are sharing this rerun from the First Edition podcast in which Jeff talks to Stephen Graham Jones about his reading life. Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of thirty-five or so novels and collections, and there are some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are Earthdivers and I Was a Teenage Slasher. His new book, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, is out now. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify...

Mar 31, 202558 min

5 Fascinating Stats About Modern Reading Habits, with Laura McGrath

Author, literary historian, and data scientist Laura McGrath joins Jeff and Rebecca to share some of the most interesting, surprising, and curious stats about modern reading habits. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations, who have recommended over ...

Mar 26, 20251 hr 12 min

Which Classics Should You Read to Be "Well-Read"? [Teaser]

In this bonus preview of the most recent Patreon-only episode of The Book Riot Podcast, Jeff and Rebecca tackle an impossible question. To listen to the full episode and get access to all previous Patreon-only episodes, consider joining The Book Riot Podcast Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 25, 20259 min

The Long Odds of the Slushpile, Adaptation News, and Picking Vacation Reading

Jeff and Rebecca talk about the stunning reality of getting published from the slushpile, noodle about being well-read, and try to figure out what Jeff is going to read on vacation. He is genuinely stumped. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations wh...

Mar 24, 202559 min

Things We Love and Things We Hate About Talking About Books Online with Traci Thomas

Traci Thomas of The Stacks podcast joins Jeff and Rebecca to talk about things we love (and hate) about talking about books online. Mostly it is really great! Mostly! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Discussed in this episode: Aardvark Box Giveaway! The Stacks Podcast The Stacks on Instagram Unstacked by Traci Th...

Mar 19, 20251 hr 24 min

The Book Riot Podcast Live at Powell's! [Teaser]

This is a preview of our live recording of the Most Recommendable Books of the Century (so far) at Powell's in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon. If you aren't already a Patreon member, you can listen to the full recording when you sign up. Thanks to Powell's, our family and friends, and everyone who came out (or told someone else to). Hope to do it again sometime in the not-too-distant future. Listen to the rest by becoming a member of The Book Riot Podcast Patreon. Learn more about your ad c...

Mar 18, 20257 min

The GILEAD Adaptation is Real, Meta Streisands Itself, Powells Event Debrief and More of the Week's Book News.

Jeff and Rebecca debrief a little about their live recording at Powell's last week before talking about Meta Streisanding itself, the exciting/scary news of Scorsese's for actual life Gilead adaptation, and more of the week's book news. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Ta...

Mar 17, 202554 min

Book Club: THE ANTIDOTE

Jeff and Rebecca talk about The Antidote by Karen Russell. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Get started for only $18 at mytbr.co!...

Mar 14, 202550 min

New York Report, New Harper Lee Collection Announced, Golden Ticket Strategies, and more

Jeff fills Rebecca on his recent trip to New York for publishing meetings before they talk about the newly announced Harper Lee collection and other items of note. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books to re...

Mar 10, 20251 hr 13 min

The It Books of March 2025

Jeff and Rebecca get ready for Spring with March's It Book Knockout Round. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Trust your reading list to the experts at Tailored Book Recommendations who have recommended over 160,000 books to readers of all kinds. Let TBR match you with your next favorite read! Get started for only ...

Mar 05, 202545 min

Give Me Liberty AND Give Me Jeff

With Rebecca out, Liberty Hardy joins Jeff on the occasion of the 500th episode of All the Books! They talk about being book podcasters and a host of other reading-related topics. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to ex...

Mar 03, 20251 hr 1 min

Who Will The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay?

Jeff and Rebecca run though the nominees for the 2025 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and assign each of them a win probability. Please do not bet on these. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our read...

Feb 26, 202555 min

Will Romantasy Get a Shot at a Big-Time Adaptation?

Jeff and Rebecca digest a bunch of high-profile adaptation news which leads them to wonder about the prospects of a big-budget romantasy series ever coming to screens, some news around book bannings and censorship, talk about recent reading, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read H...

Feb 24, 202546 min

Which Writers Could Most Benefit from a Signal Adaptation?

Jeff and Rebecca talk about authors they think would most benefit from (or they would just personally like to see have) a signal adaptation. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. Sign up at b...

Feb 19, 202558 min

Deep Dive into LIFE IN THREE DIMENSIONS by Shigehiro Oishi [Teaser]

This is a preview of our Patreon-only discussion of Shigehiro Oishi's Life in Three Dimensions. Listen to the rest by becoming a member of The Book Riot Podcast Patreon. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 18, 20257 min

The Big 5 Are Indeed Big, First Major AI Verdict Comes In, Remembering Tom Robbins, and more.

First up, Jeff offers his remembrances of reading Tom Robbins. Then, Jeff and Rebecca talk about the hardcover dominance of the Big 5, the first landmark AI fair use case, recent reading, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24...

Feb 17, 20251 hr 7 min

Everything Romance with Jessica Pryde

Jeff and Rebecca are joined by romance expert Jessica Pryde to talk about romantasy, current trends in romance, category romance, navigating commercial romance covers, and much more. Jessica co-hosts Book Riot's When in Romance. You can also find her exclamations about books and internet ridiculousness on BlueSky (JessIsReading) and instagram/threads (jess_is_reading). Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show ...

Feb 12, 202545 min

Deals Deals Deals for February 2025 [Teaser]

Jeff is back with his quarterly pile of recent book deal announcements to bounce off Rebecca. One of our favorite recurring episodes. To listen to the whole thing, check out the Book Riot Podcast Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 11, 202511 min

Gaiman Sued, Blurbs Deprecated, and A Book Sales Check-In

Jeff and Rebecca spend more time than they would like in legal-land before talking about how everybody hates blurbs, recent reading, and other book news. Then, Brenna Connor of Circana joins Jeff to talk about 2024 book sales highlights and lowlights before looking ahead to 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. ...

Feb 10, 20251 hr 21 min

The It Books of February 2025

Jeff and Rebecca consider ten contenders to be the It Book of the Month. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. Sign up at bookriot.com/readharder. Discussed in this Episode: The Book Riot Pod...

Feb 05, 202550 min

We Talk About WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang [Teaser]

Jeff and Rebecca discuss the new novel by the 2024 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Han Kang. To listen to the full episode, become a member of the Book Riot Podcast Patreon, if you aren't already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 04, 202511 min

Dark Horse Drops Gaiman, Ebooks Come to Bookshop, ONYX STORM is the Fastest-Selling Books in 20 years, and more.

Jeff and Rebecca talk about Dark Horse parting ways with Neil Gaiman, get off some hot takes about bookish social media, go through the ins-and-outs of ebooks coming to Bookshop.org, and more. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 task...

Feb 03, 20251 hr 6 min

Writers to Watch, 2025 Edition

Jeff and Rebecca talk about a bunch of early-ish career writers to keep your eye on. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. Sign up at bookriot.com/readharder. Discussed in this Episode: The B...

Jan 29, 202541 min

ONYX STORM Rolls In, It's a Very Bookish Oscars, and Making Your Own Book Fair

Jeff and Rebecca note some side-effects of Onyx Storm's huge release before talking about Oscars nominations, NBCC finalists, recent reading and more. Then, Jami Attenberg talks to Rebecca about how she put together a book fair where every kid can walk away with a book. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year...

Jan 27, 202557 min

Power Ranking the Books of 2015

Jeff and Rebecca look back and power-rank the books of 2015. Ten picks each, minimal cheating. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. Sign up at bookriot.com/readharder. Discussed in this Epis...

Jan 22, 20251 hr 23 min

Hot List Check in for January 2025 [Teaser]

This is a preview of our most recent bonus episode for Patreon members: The January 2025 Hot List Check-in. This is where Jeff offers Rebecca a list of the books he thinks are the current hot books and she tells him he is wrong. Or right. Since Patreon episodes aren't in the main feed, there is some occasional cursing, and in this preview, Jeff had to get out the horn-bleep effect. If you enjoyed this, please consider becoming a paid member of the Book Riot podcast Patreon. We have fun trying to...

Jan 21, 20256 min