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Anne’s best books of the year

What Should I Read Next episode 361: 2022 reads that stood out

Happy 2023, everyone! For our first episode of 2023, we’re trying something new, something I can’t believe we’ve never done before. For many years now, I’ve shared my favorite reads of the year here on Modern Mrs Darcy, as I did here with my favorite books of the year and favorite audiobooks of the year. Now, for the first time, we’re doing so on the podcast. Of course it’s always fun to take one more shot at the difficult task of deciding what I loved best in a really great reading year, but I especially enjoy the opportunity to share more color and nuance for the why of my selections than I’m able to relay on the blog.

To tell you a bit more about what I loved and why, I invited my husband and WSIRN Executive Producer Will Bogel to host today’s show. With his help, I’m taking you on a guided tour of my 2022 reading life, from the genres I was most drawn to, the themes I found myself returning to again and again, and the titles I loved the most.

We cover a lot of ground today, and share a different selection of titles than I previously did on Modern Mrs Darcy. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Let us know in the comments if any of these books were on your own best list for 2022, or if you’re planning to pick up one (or a few) of these in 2023.


Anne Bogel [00:00:17] Hey, readers, I'm Anne Bogel and this is What Should I Read Next. Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader, What Should I Read Next? We have a special episode for you today. I'm sharing the books I loved most in 2022, with a little help from my most frequent reading companion, my husband, and What Should I Read Next executive producer Will Bogel.

Today I'm talking about my favorite books of 2022. But if you're a member of our Modern Mrs. Darcy book club, you recently got to hear from the entire What Should I Read Next team about their top reads of the year. Our December best books gathering was a blast. But if you missed out, don't despair. Over in our book club community, we have big book bashes like this all the time and we record all our events so you can watch them on your schedule. Our Spring Book Preview, in which I share 42 noteworthy titles coming out from January to April, is just a week away. Now is a great time to become a book club member to enjoy community, classes and conversation with people who love to read as much as you do. Find out more and sign up at Members,modernmrsdarcy.com. Of course, I shared a few of my favorites and our team best books events, but in today's episode we're talking about the wide ranging variety of titles I loved most in 2022. Will is sitting in the host chair today, which means I get to share what my reading life was like, what themes hold up most often, and what titles really stood out and why.

Will Bogel [00:01:53] So let's get to it and welcome to the show.

Anne Bogel [00:01:57] I'm happy to be here.

Will Bogel [00:01:58] I'm happy to be here. This going to be fun episode. I think listeners will enjoy it a lot, but this is actually fun conversation for me too, because we talk books quite a bit and I know what you're reading most of the time. I usually read a little quicker than I can keep up with where I'm like, wait, what are you reading now? But I don't think we recap the year much.

Anne Bogel [00:02:18] No, we really don't. I mean, we do it in our team best books events. And then I feel like I have these conversations with you when I say things like, William, I need your help verbally processing. Come with me and verbally process what my best book of the year was. Like I need somebody to talk this through with so I can figure out what I think. But other than that, no. We have lots of sit downs about what worked in this past year and what didn't and what are your highs and lows. But we don't really do that for our reading lives.

Will Bogel [00:02:43] Well, so I don't know if this was a high or low or what worked or didn't. But you mentioned the other day that you've not read nearly as much as you have in previous years.

Anne Bogel [00:02:52] No, actually, if we were to chart my reading since 2020, we would show a precipitous decline year after year, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Will Bogel [00:03:03] No, I wouldn't think so. You've talked to a couple of people that didn't read anything in 2020 and then they sort of recovered. But we also know there are a lot of people that read a ton, and so I'm not surprised that it's a little bit different.

Anne Bogel [00:03:17] Yes, I think what we've heard on the show is that readers respond differently to stress. And in 2020, I had a really hard year and I ended up reading a lot. I went into my introvert recovery book cave and read like a book a day during some really hard months. So I don't think I've ever read as many books as I did in 2020. I read 300 books that year. And in 2021 I read 250. And as we're recording this, the end of the year is approaching but is not quite here. And I'm just barely over that 200 mark-- barely, which is still a lot of book 200.

Will Bogel [00:03:58] Two hundred. Yeah, that's still a lot of books.

Anne Bogel [00:03:59] But it's a lot less than the past couple of years.

Will Bogel [00:04:02] So we're not at the end of the year. It's mid-December, but we're talking about your best books of the year. And in our team, we've seen a couple of articles from different people that have put out their best books of the year, even just like a couple of weeks ago already. How do you feel about like not getting to the end of the year and having to name the best thing you read?

Anne Bogel [00:04:22] Well, you know what this reminds me of? Is the talk I gave at the Strand about my at the time new release, Don't Overthink It when it came out in 2020. And the topic was don't overthink your reading life. And something I shared there was the thing that keeps me from just total clenched up, paralyzing fear about recommending superlatives and talking about my best books is that there's always another episode, there's always another blog post, there's always another opportunity to read something that I really loved. And I'm not a major media outlet whose best books of time will stand forever and be referenced decades to come, like, oh, this was a New York Times noteworthy book of 2021. I know that I can give myself a little grace. And when I started looking for my best books of 2022 that I was going to share here and that I was going to share on the blog, I really started looking in late December. And as it turns out, I didn't read anything I really loved. Like that was my top 5 to 10% of reads in late December. I thought about including Emily Saint John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility. I did really enjoy it, but it didn't quite elevate to the very tiptop of books I read last year. But I have the freedom to do that. Like there's never not an opportunity for me to talk about a book I loved. So when it comes to that question, those are the things I tell myself to make myself feel better.

Will Bogel [00:05:42] To feel better, yes. Because you feel terrible if you left off a favorite book.

Anne Bogel [00:05:46] Which I do every year. Every year I'll realize, oops, that one didn't make it into my reading Journal or somehow I didn't get into the blog post. That does happen. But we have opportunities here to talk about great books like 325 days a year. You'll hear about it. Keep tuning in, you'll hear about the books that I love.

Will Bogel [00:06:05] So you're talking about missing things. How do you keep track? Like, how do you know what is your favorite?

Anne Bogel [00:06:10] Well as we sit on the couch and read together, you see me log the books in my reading journal. So I used to record these in my life term where at minimum I would jot down the title, author, dates read, and then I'd put a little star next to the ones that I really, really love. So now I use the My Reading Life Book Journal, which many of you have seen and you use and you love and thank you so much if that is you. And to those of you who have not seen this, let me tell you what it's like. So the My Reading Life Reading Journal has 100 book logs, each has its own page, which is what you may expect. But there's also a do it yourself table of contents that just occupies a few pages in the very front of the book where I get to see in just a span of it's actually three pages, all 100 books that are logged in the journal. So when it comes to assembling my favorites, I just scan that list and I can see all the books I read. And now my reading does span more than one journal, and I'm fine with that. But I can see what I read, see how I felt about it. But also along the way, if I finished a book and said like, oh, yes, that was an incredible reading experience, I put a little star next to it. So it's really interesting. I automatically include on my best of the year long list all the books that got stars. But it's interesting to go through and see the ones that I didn't star at the time, but that I know, oh, hey, I read that book in February and I found myself thinking about it, talking about it, or recommending it. So a book staying with me over the period of months and years is the sign of a really significant read, so I capture that as well. And then I just look at all those handwritten notes I've made on my legal pad with all these titles and face the difficult decision of separating reading experiences I really enjoyed from the top of the top.

Will Bogel [00:08:04] The very best. Yeah. So you're talking about one star on that that page where you highlight them. I keep track of mine and put a star rating on what I read. And it is funny when you get to the end of the year and you're like, okay, well that was weird. I said that was four stars and I don't even remember what it was about. It clearly was a great reading experience at the time, but maybe not the best book I read if I don't remember that much about it. So I did get to talk about my best books of the year during the 10 best books event in the book club. And you shared a couple, but how many did you bring today?

Anne Bogel [00:08:36] This might be a self preservation strategy, but I didn't actually count them up. I think there might be about 20 titles in front of me.

Will Bogel [00:08:45] Okay, well, are you ready to get into your books?

Anne Bogel [00:08:48] I'm ready.

Will Bogel [00:08:49] So I asked how you tracked these and know which ones are your favorite, but how did you pick them?

Anne Bogel [00:08:54] Well, at first I made a list of all these titles I loved, but the end of the year or the beginning of a new one is a good time to step back and assess and say what is really working for me. And it was so interesting to see the different themes that kept emerging, like, the kinds of books. Some of my favorite books, like, I have a little category here that's just kind of one offs, books that were just out of character that I don't know how to categorize. And I really enjoy reading the occasional book that makes me go, I never read anything like that. But I could also see some very definite patterns in my reading. If you've listened or read for a long time, you know this. I always love a really juicy story about a complicated family, and I read a lot of those kinds of books in 2022. I read a lot of books in translation this year on purpose, and a couple of those made their way to the top of my reading list. I read some really excellent nonfiction. I have one category called really long and totally worth it. To a small degree, one of the reasons I read fewer books in 2022 was I spent a lot of time reading books that were really, really long. So instead of finishing four books in a week, I finished one. And you know if I only finished a book in a week-- like that's an amazing pace for a lot of people-- that feels really slow for me. I have so many to get through, how I'm going to do it if I spend eight days reading a single book. But many of that, not all of them. But many of them I was so glad I spent that time with. But then I have a balancing category of short and sweet. I feel like I read several books that just really packed a huge punch in this really tiny little literary package. And then another few [Inaudible]. I have notes that say these titles are really great stories that I happened to fly through.

Will Bogel [00:10:41] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:10:41] That's a little bit-- it's not completely all over the place.

Will Bogel [00:10:46] You read pretty widely. So that's not surprising to have that much variety.

Anne Bogel [00:10:50] I might read widely, and yet I could see that one common theme that I came to again and again was people making sense of their life and their relationship, and that really showed up in a lot of these different categories.

Will Bogel [00:11:01] Okay. Well, if you broke them down by categories, what's the first group of books you want to talk about?

Anne Bogel [00:11:07] The one that stood out the most to me. Like if you said, "Anne, if you had to tell me in one phrase what you read and what kind of book you read in 2022?" I would say it was those complicated family stories and some of my best books of the year were absolutely here. So the first book I read in 2022, which really got my reading year off to a great start, was Memphis by Tara Stringfellow. And if you read our Summer Reading Guide, this may sound familiar because this is one of the first books I knew would definitely go in the 2022 Summer Reading Guide. And this is such a great family saga that spans three generations of black women living in the historic city of Memphis, Tennessee, from 1937 to 2003. And I also really love the story behind the story here, because Stringfellow, who is a prize winning poet (this is her first novel) her grandfather was a World War Two veteran who served as the first black homicide detective in Memphis before being lynched by his own all white police squad. And her grandmother was among the first black nurses in Memphis. And that family history really influenced her characters on the page and the things she puts them through in this book. Oh, this was so hard to read and also so beautiful. I did not want to put it down. It really set such a good tone for the year to come. And, William, you have also heard me say many times on the couch, "Oh, my goodness. It's another story about a painter. It's another story about an artist." Like what is up with this weird trend? This was also one of the first books I read last year that featured a painter and an aspiring wanted to be professional artist as a main character, and I thought that was really interesting. It set the tone for the year in more ways than one.

Will Bogel [00:12:43] Well, that is amazing for the first book to be one of your best. It can also set you up where you're like, wow, it's all downhill from here. So I'm glad to hear you say that set up the rest of the year really well. Because you could also look and go, man, I read one great book and then nothing's matched it.

Anne Bogel [00:13:01] You know, that's a real possibility. But you know that I tend to be an optimist when it comes to reading. I feel like there are always so many great books on the horizon is just a question of finding the ones that are going to be perfect for me. And luckily there were lots of these complicated family stories coming out in 2022, and the one I really loved was French Braid by Anne Tyler. This was also in the Summer Reading Guide, and this was another multi-generational family story. Although, unlike Memphis and unlike a lot of the stories I really love this year that share these characteristics, this one just gave little vignettes that happened in this garret family history settled in Baltimore as so many of Anne Tyler stories are. But every 10 years you get a little glimpse at what the current generation was up to right now. So the story begins in 1959. It ends in the early days of the COVID 19 pandemic. And I just love when an author can portray something like a conversation that unfolds over an ordinary Tuesday night at dinner. And make you go, oh, wow, I can see how that conversation changed this family's trajectory. I just really love this book. And if you're a regular, What Should I Read Next listener, I know that I recommended this on the podcast. Another family book I really loved that at this point I feel like I have talked about it multiple times, so I will keep it short, is Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout. This came out in the fall. This is her pandemic novel and I loved it so much. Another book that I didn't even capture on this list, but another Elizabeth Strout one I loved early this year was the audiobook of Oh William!, which precedes Lucy By The Sea. I would totally read those as a duo, consider them part one and part two in the same story. I really enjoyed that for the same reasons. A question I get asked regularly that sometimes kind of stumps me because there's no easy way to search for this is what are some good books that incidentally show people parenting really well or wrestling with being good parents? And I didn't know I was seeking that out when I picked up these Elizabeth Strout novels, but I really enjoyed those books, I think, for that reason.

Will Bogel [00:15:03] So through those being a duo, do you recommend reading Oh William! first?

Anne Bogel [00:15:07] Definitely. These are in the Lucy Barton books and now Elizabeth Strout has written four of them and I don't think you need to go all the way back to My Name is Lucy Barton, but the events of Oh William! and Lucy By The Sea are so intimately tied and they're both so short too. It does feel like volume one and two of the same edition. I don't know if Elizabeth Strout agrees, but that's definitely my experience as a reader and my recommendation. Oh, gosh, actually I have three books here that are very long and totally worth it, although they're not even in that category. They're in the family novel category. I really enjoyed rereading The Arsonist City this Year by Hala Alyan and I just read this again recently. We hosted her in Modern Mrs. Darcy book club, which is the reason I picked it back up again because I hadn't read this novel since it first came out in early 2021. I listened the first time, I read it in print the second time, and I think I enjoyed it even more the second time through. I just loved the multi-generational story so much. This one is also very much about complex sibling dynamics, which I really enjoyed. Will, you and I talked about how a really fun pairing that was completely inadvertent that I enjoyed right here at the end of the year was my two books in a row that just both happened to revolve around Irish-owned family bars.

Will Bogel [00:16:28] Right.

Anne Bogel [00:16:29] Those were We Are The Brennans. And I think this is going to be the one 2023 release that I talk about today, because usually when I compile my best books, even if some of the best books I read aren't coming out until 2023, I'll leave those off the list and just talk about the ones that you can read now that were published in 2022. And, honestly, it's a way that helps me keep my list a little bit shorter when I'm trying to make the agonizing decisions of choosing favorites. But The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane was another book that's not coming out so spring, but it's about a family that owns a bar and all the complications involved there of. And I really enjoyed not only each of those books, but that inadvertent pairing.

Will Bogel [00:17:08] Yeah, that's fun to have an accidental book flight like that. And you recommended that I read I will say one of those, but I don't know that I remember which.

Anne Bogel [00:17:15] Okay. I think what I said was I know that family stories are not completely your jam like they are mine. But if you were interested in the idea of reading a book that is set in a bar owned by an Irish family, like if that setting piece is compelling enough for you to want to pick it up for that reason, I got two for you to choose from.

Will Bogel [00:17:37] I don't think that's my jam, but I have liked a lot of the family sagas stories that you've passed along my way: The Nest, A Place For Us.

Anne Bogel [00:17:46] That's interesting because I remember some books that are among my lifetime favorites like Maggie O'Farrell's This Must Be the Place. And I remember you liked it and you gave it maybe like three stars, but I'm not sure if that's out of four or five now.

Will Bogel [00:18:00] Well, right. I remember really liking that.

Anne Bogel [00:18:03] Did you? Okay. I was thinking It's fine for you. Okay. Well, maybe just [Crosstalk].

Will Bogel [00:18:08] It's possible that I was comparing it to how excited you were and it wasn't that exciting to me.

Anne Bogel [00:18:12] No..

Will Bogel [00:18:13] Because I do know that is one of your favorites, like, just ever. So those are our family stories. So what's your next category?

Anne Bogel [00:18:21] Next, I wanted to share two books in translation that I really loved, and I've talked about both of these on the podcast. But readers, you know that I talk about so many books on the podcast. This is our opportunity to revisit and reiterate the ones that I love the most, not just the ones I thought would be perfect for the guest I was talking to. So the first one I chose came out in late summer. It's called Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. This is translated by David Boyd and Lucy North. Is this an interesting time to say that people think my last name is Boyd all the time, but it's just because I can't write my Gs and my Ds in cursive.

Will Bogel [00:18:55] Oh, only in print? Only when they see your name like when you write it?

Anne Bogel [00:19:00] In cursive. People say Anne Boyd all the time.

Will Bogel [00:19:03] No, that makes sense.

Anne Bogel [00:19:03] That my handwriting is bad?

Will Bogel [00:19:04] To me who's had his name my entire life. So that's not so surprising to me.

Anne Bogel [00:19:10] So you will hear this about this book a little more in an upcoming What Should I Read Next episode. Because I don't feel like I saw this anywhere and I loved it so much. So the premise of this book is so great. There's a 34-year-old woman, her name is Miss Shibata, and she takes a job at a factory where she works mostly with men. And in this position, she's the only woman in her department. So her colleagues expect her to do the things that they think a woman should do, like serve the tea, and do the dishes, and just sundry other menial tasks that don't have anything to do with her actual job. And I know that I am just one of many women who found that so very relatable. And one day she sat up and she's like, "No, I can't clear your stinky, dirty dishes because I am pregnant and I have morning sickness and I am actually going to vomit if I don't get away from the smell right now." But the thing is she's not pregnant, but she just told everybody at work that she was pregnant. And they're like, oh, my gosh, really? And she's like, oh, it's only five weeks. So she has about as much time as she possibly can to figure out how she's going to play this out. And the direction of the story goes is just clever and subversive and also very weird in a wonderful kind of way. I really enjoyed it.

Will Bogel [00:20:27] I remember you talking about that it was clever, but what's the name of it? Because when you gave the title I did not remember this book at all.

Anne Bogel [00:20:33] Diary of a Void. And something readers that you will have to deep dive a little bit is how clever the plays on words are. If you're reading this in the original Japanese, that is worth a Google if you're interested in picking this up. I also read a lot of French novels this year, so a book that I really loved is by Valerie Perrin. It's called Fresh Water for Flowers. And one of my favorite books in 2021, maybe two of my favorite books were by Maylis de Kerangal Painting Time and the Heart. And I just really loved the sensibility of those works and was interested in reading more French fiction specifically in 2022. So this one, William, I think you would say this doesn't sound like me.

Will Bogel [00:21:19] I don't know what it sounds like cause I don't remember you reading this book either way.

Anne Bogel [00:21:22] Well, I listened on audiobook.

Will Bogel [00:21:24] Okay. It's hard for me to tell when you listen.

Anne Bogel [00:21:25] Right. I mean, you can see me listening and you can probably see me going, like, am I sending off the don't talk to me vibes because I just want to know what happens next, and I just want to finish the chapter before I move on with my day. But this story revolves around a woman named Violette, and her job is to work as a cemetery caretaker for the cemetery in a small French town. And I don't typically gravitate towards the dark, but fortunately for me, Violet doesn't see the cemetery as a scary place, but is a garden of souls where she gently tends the dead and really cares for those who come to pay them tribute. So this story is so sad, but also really tender and contemplative. And it really combines the heavy and the light, the highs and the lows. And it's about friendship. I love friendship as a primary or secondary plot and loss and love and new chances. There's a little bit of poetry in the book. I really enjoyed it and I know I talked about this on What Should I Read Next. And I did listen on audio, which was a little tricky in places because the narrative jumps through time and sometimes I had to back up and say, wait, where am I in the story? What is happening? But I still loved experiencing the story in that format, not least because I never studied French. I studied Spanish and German, and I do not know how to pronounce these names in these places. And as a reader, I'm able to enjoy the story so much more if I know I'm getting those details right. This book has such an amazing opening. So if you're curious, if you want a taste, just search online and just read the very opening chapter. I was just transfixed right from the beginning. I loved the voice and couldn't wait to hear what was coming next.

Will Bogel [00:23:11] That's fun. And that's interesting that two of your best books of the year were both in translation. So what's the next category?

Anne Bogel [00:23:17] Next, I have the very generic category of nonfiction which I think covers a lot of ground here. The first one I read early in the year. Oh, goodness, I have set myself up to see an Irish name and I don't think I can do this. But readers, I'm going to try. So this book is A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ghriofa. This is a good time to remind you we put every title in the show notes, and I listened to this on audio.

Will Bogel [00:23:45] I was just going to ask after the conversation about the French towns and stuff, did you listen to the Irish?

Anne Bogel [00:23:51] Yes. And I'm so glad I did, because there is so much poetry in this book, which I'm afraid I lost some of you. But let me just say, this is so good. The story is not like anything I've ever read. And I love when I can say that about a book, like the uniqueness I think is a big reason why it stood out and why it stands now on my favorites list. But it's part memoir, part meditation on the female creative process, part biography of a long dead Irish poet. Plus, it's a translation of the poet's best known work, and the story was just so immersive. At the beginning, I didn't realize it was a memoir. I thought it was a novel. And I could have read the whole thing and completely believed that the author had just created a completely realistic character. But this really gave me a glimpse inside a writing mind. Like, here we have a modern Irish poet who's grappling with her brilliant predecessors and also trying to figure out her place in the world and what it means to be a creator. And she talks a lot about her children and she talks a lot about the pain of losing a pregnancy that is in this book too. And I loved it so much. Talking about it now makes me want to read it again immediately.

Will Bogel [00:25:04] That is so interesting. It just have that much going on in one book.

Anne Bogel [00:25:08] Yes. Although it's not long and it doesn't feel scattered. It just feels completely like what it needs to be.

Will Bogel [00:25:16] Well.

Anne Bogel [00:25:17] Another book that I feel like was cooked up just for me is Also A Poet by Ada Calhoun. This one kind of jumped out at me because I really loved Why We Can't Sleep was about Gen Xers, especially Gen X women, and why it feels so stinking hard sometimes. So this was a book we featured in a Winter Spring Book Preview a couple of years back. So I remember reading that and enjoying it. But then when I started reading the publicity on this book, I was so intrigued and I think read it the next day. I discovered because of that prerelease publicity, that Calhoun is the daughter of art critic Peter Schjeldahl. And I've been quoting him for years, especially at modern Mrs. Darcy book club, because he has a certain approach he takes to [Inaudible] what he calls immediately hospitable. And this is another book that is just completely genre bending in a way I really enjoyed. So it is a memoirish look at Ada Calhoun's complex relationship with her father, who she makes look like a fascinating man and a completely terrible parent, except they are still very much in relationship. And, will, you know that I am fascinated by that dynamic, by people who have just what can be at times really horrible relationships, but who still maintain that bond. So it's all those things, but it's also a profile of sorts about the poet Frank O'Hara, who I knew nothing about. But I just devoured this book. I wrote in my journal, or I wouldn't remember. But I finished this in 36 hours and immediately was like, oh, yeah, this is definitely going to be one of the best things I read this year. Top 5%. Easy. And I don't say that very often.

Will Bogel [00:26:56] Well, I remember you liking it that much. This is also a book that sounds like it has a lot going on between the the memoir aspects about her dad and then your connection to his work as an artist and then the poet as well. So I remember you talking about that, but I didn't realize you read it that fast.

Anne Bogel [00:27:13] I did. And after I finished this, I really wanted to read more from Calhoun. So I hopped on Libby and saw That Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give was available. I'm trying to think if she referenced it in the pages of Also A Poet or if I just thought, you have an interesting perspective on relationships; tell me more. But I just flew through her essay collection on marriage, relationships, infidelity, divorce, and also personal growth. And I didn't realize that this book was inspired by, based upon her viral Modern Love column that has that same title. But I highlighted this so much. I really think this is an example of a book that I was prime to read right then. And to anyone who's intrigued by reading about relationships, especially marriage, I just have to tell you that, like, Will, you and I have now been married 22 years. That's kind of a long time, but not exactly according to some of the people in the pages of this book. But if I had read this 20 years ago, I would have been completely horrified. But, instead, I was just so intrigued and nodded along. And sometimes I thought, oh my goodness, I wouldn't want to live like that. Or I just can't understand quite that perspective, but I still really enjoyed her walking me through these topics. I loved it so much. Actually, I think that is true of all my nonfiction. It's very much story driven. These are just really fascinating stories. This is not like let me learn about an important topic through a nonfiction book. This is like, oh, tell me something riveting.

Will Bogel [00:28:48] So for those keeping count at home, does Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give count as one of your best books?

Anne Bogel [00:28:53] Definitely. In fact, I'll just tell you, it's one of the books I shared at our team best books.

Will Bogel [00:28:58] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:28:59] Which is saying a lot because I loved Also A Poet, but I think this one surpasses that just a little tiny bit for that right book at the right time factor. I need to thank the What Should I Read Next Patreon community for my next favorites. And sometimes there's so much on my nightstand that I do succumb to a little bit of writerly paralysis. So there was a point the summer where I finished an audiobook and I just had no idea what to read next. I had so many possibilities that were already downloaded in my Libro.fm app, and apparently I was just really tired and couldn't decide. So I popped into the What Should I Read Next Patreon community and said on the fly, "Hey, this is the situation. This is what I just read. Tell me what to read next. I'll do it." So that led me to Becoming Duchess Goldblatt. The author is anonymous. This had been on my radar for a while, but I hadn't read it yet. I had actually been under the mistaken impression that this was a work of comedy, but it turns out that misconception was keeping me from a good book that was completely wrong. So I plunged in as advised, knowing little about the book, but definitely intrigued by the inclusion of Lyle Lovett as a narrator. It just made no sense to me. I knew he played himself, but it just didn't make any sense. So many of you already know this, but this is a memoir written by an anonymous author who explains how and why she came to operate the pseudonymous Twitter account at Duchess Goldblatt. So it sounds like, okay, this is a book about social media, but it's not. It's about being in a hard place and grief. And, William, It's actually about people making sense of their relationships. I know you're shocked.

Will Bogel [00:30:43] Surprised.

Anne Bogel [00:30:44] Yeah. And it's really about finding community and connection in your three dimensional life, but also in unexpected places like in this case, Twitter. And it covers the heavy and the light. It made me teary. It made me laugh out loud on my walks. I loved it so much. Actually, I loved it so much that we're reading this in February in Modern Mrs. Darcy book club, we're pairing it with Platonic by Marissa G. Franco, which is very much about friendships and relationships. It's going to make such a good pairing, and I'm really excited to keep spreading the word about this book and find myself some more friends I can talk about it with. Can I share one more nonfiction title?

Will Bogel [00:31:18] Yes. What's your one more nonfiction title?

Anne Bogel [00:31:21] I have Tell Me Everything: The Story Of A Private Investigation by Erika Krous. I have a little bit of a hard time talking about how much I loved this book in the same way that it can be hard to talk about true crime podcasts. Not that I listen to any because you know me, but I guess I listened to serial back in the day, but that was the beginning and end of my relationship with true crime. But just as a reading experience, I found this is [Inaudible] as any thrilling novel. And it's a really fascinating blend.

Will Bogel [00:31:55] Is this a story about the P.I.?

Anne Bogel [00:31:56] Yes.

Will Bogel [00:31:57] So this was a summer reading guide pick, right?

Anne Bogel [00:31:58] Yes, it was. So it came out in March. I read it probably early last winter, but the beginning just hooked me immediately. She said, I became a private investigator because of my face. And I think the concept of some people just having the kind of bearing in demeanor and appearance that strangers just start pouring out their secrets to you because they can't help themselves. I was just so intrigued by that opening. But she talks about how that character trait, (which she had never actually liked because it can be kind of weird to have strangers baring their souls to you in the grocery checkout line) leads her to a job. What happens in the beginning-- and I just thought the setup was amazing, like, you can't make this stuff up. If you did, you would get paid the big bucks to write novels. But this is nonfiction. She's in a bookstore. She and a stranger reached for the same book. And all of a sudden this attorney is talking about how unhappy he is in his job and how he thinks he's going to quit, but he's not sure what to do. And then he goes, oh, my, why am I telling you? I could get fired if anybody finds out. You can't tell anybody. And she says, "Oh, it's fine. People tell me these kinds of things all the time." And he says, "Wait, really? I want to hire you. I want you to research my cases." So this is how she becomes a private investigator. But many of us know from the news the horrible things that happened at the University of Colorado Boulder involving the football team and sexual assault. And after a variety of cases in which Erika Krouse learned to do the work of a P.I to research the background on these cases. Her boss takes on a new clients who were sexually assaulted by college football recruits and decides that he doesn't only want to prove to school was aware of, but that it was complicit in the program's culture of violence. So, so crucially important to all of us. But Krouse has her own history of sexual abuse, and so she knew it was a really bad idea for her to take this case, but she felt like she couldn't not do it. So in the pages, she talks about the case, but she also talks about her own personal history. So in this book, the lawsuit in her own story moved forward in tandem. And you see how her past trauma and its present repercussions just nestle up alongside the investigation. And it's just so good. It's very much in the same vein like the emotional tenor and the content of Chanel Clayton's Know My Name, another book that really was hard to read sometimes but really loved and feels really important.

Will Bogel [00:34:19] Yeah, I remember this being a hard read and a hard topic, but you did feel like, as you said, the beginning about the true crime just handled really well.

Anne Bogel [00:34:30] It doesn't feel provocative. And I also really appreciated how the ending was gently hopeful. That was not necessarily expected, but deeply appreciated at the end of a story like this.

Will Bogel [00:34:40] So that was Tell Me Everything?

Anne Bogel [00:34:41] Yes.

Will Bogel [00:34:43] Okay. I know that was your one last nonfiction? What's the next category?

Anne Bogel [00:34:47] Really long and totally worth it.

Will Bogel [00:34:50] This is the one I've been waiting for. So I can totally appreciate what you're saying about not really wanting to read long books or feeling like you've committed all this time to a too long book. And it's always exciting to hear one of those penned out as just a great read. So I know one of these. How many do you have?

Anne Bogel [00:35:08] I have two and I've talked about both of these on the podcast. I'm going to keep it short and sweet, but I loved Babel by R.F. Kuang. So good. And I loved another book you really loved; Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

Will Bogel [00:35:21] That was one I was counting on. Yes, I love Demon Copperhead as well. And you really had to talk me into reading it because it is long and I shy away from long books, less so about like I've committed so much of my reading time to that one thing, but more about sometimes they get bogged down and it's long and I'm not resolving quickly I kind of lose interest.That one just really caught my attention.

Anne Bogel [00:35:42] Well, you were at a real disadvantage here because I read the [Inaudible] before it came out on my iPad and so the length was largely invisible. But you read the doorstop hardcover where you can see at a glance, oh, that is a big book. That's going to take me weeks..

Will Bogel [00:35:57] And not just see, when I was holding it I could feel like it is an actually heavy book.

Anne Bogel [00:36:02] Well, I was really glad that you enjoyed it as much as you did. I was really glad you gave it a try. And also I was really glad you enjoyed it as much as you did, especially because I did really urge you to read this one. I thought you'd really enjoy it. Like sometimes you heard me talking about We Are The Brennans and the Half Moon and say, "Oh, I think this might be right for you if aliens appeal to you." But with Demon Copperhead, I think I was basically like read this next.

Will Bogel [00:36:28] Yeah. And you've recommended a lot of Barbara Kingsolver to me and I have only read I think one of hers previously.

Anne Bogel [00:36:36] I didn't remember that I recommended past books before. This is definitely my favorite of hers now, and I don't think that's just because it's the freshest. Now, after really long and totally worth it, how about some short and sweet books.

Will Bogel [00:36:49] To balance out?

Anne Bogel [00:36:50] Exactly. The ones I'm about to share will add up to maybe half the length of Demon Copperhead. The first I read early in the year is The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka and this book is so original. Once again, I've never read anything like it. So this book is many things all at once. The story begins with the collective narrative of the devoted regular swimmers at a community pool. Oh gosh, it's been a long time now, so I can't quote it. But it's like we gather early, we go to the lanes, we know no one understands us. We know no one understands why we need to be here and do this thing with a regularity we do as much as those of us who were at the pool together. You know, we swim our laps, we check our goggles, all that. So that collective third person is so unusual and just really, really interesting to read when a writer can do well. But in the story, one day a crack appears in the bottom of the pool and the pool close for repairs. And so the swimmers can't gather for their laps anymore and they're completely thrown off their routine. They just spend the beginning of the book telling you collectively how much swimming means to them. Not just that it's something they love to do, but the regularity and routine are deeply important to each of these swimmers. But now they scatter and they go their own ways. So we see a little bit of the individual swimmers and we see them bump into each other at places like the grocery store and not recognize each other because they're used to seeing each other at the pool. And that felt so true to life. I really appreciated that. But we learned that no one is more affected by this disruption to routine than Alice, who is elderly. And her story from that point takes over the narrative. So I felt like I had been reading this like, oh, clever, like making me kind of chuckle story about these swimmers at a pool who are united by their just fierce love for this niche interest. Suddenly it becomes this just completely devastating portrait of encroaching dementia. And you know that I have watched someone suffer from dementia and, oh, this story. I mean, I went from like kind of giggling at the way Otsuka portrayed the swimmers at the pool to just weeping finishing the final pages. It was beautifully done and so moving. And also it was really difficult to read.

Will Bogel [00:39:06] And I remember you talking about that difference, the switch, and it sounds like that could be a little off balance, but you really did finish thinking this this was so beautifully done, the transition and then attaching to Alice as a character.

Anne Bogel [00:39:23] Yes. And one of the things that we always seek to do on What Should I Read Next is to describe what the reading experience is like so you can decide if you want to have that experience. And this is an experience some of you will definitely want too. You want to hop in the pool and see what that's like and take this ride with Julie Otsuka. And some of you will say maybe I'll check in with you in five years. Maybe I will never read that book. I feel like such a nerd, but I do really love to see how writers accomplish the things they do on the page. And Otsuka is just a master of the tiny detail that makes the story, that really makes it real in front of you. That makes you go like, oh, yes, that is exactly what that is like. And whether they were witty and fun or heartbreaking, she just nails the tiny details in this story.

Will Bogel [00:40:16] That sounds great.

Anne Bogel [00:40:17] I loved it. I feel like I should keep my short and sweet list short. So let me tell you about Foster by Claire Keegan. William, I just read this not this long ago, so you watched me go wow. This book is less than 100 pages and that's in small format, large font. This is actually a short story that came out in 2010. When I first saw that they were repackaging a short story, I thought, well, oh, isn't it interesting to see how [Inaudible] press is seeking to capitalize on the success of that work while there is an audience receptive to Claire Keegan. But as soon as I started reading this, I was so grateful that they did that, so I had the opportunity to read this. It's never been published as a standalone book in the U.S. before, but talk about master of the small details. This is a short story. I've seen it called a novella in some places. But it is really short, you could definitely read this in a sitting. I happened to read it in two, but only because I started it very late at night and had the self-control to put it down and then finish the next day. But it is a short story, but it feels so packed full of life. Her writing is really lush and she does get those details right that make you feel like you are standing on the drive in rural Ireland watching this anxious young girl get taken by her father to live with a distant relative that it seems like she has never met. But her mother is preparing to deliver another child. The family is stressed out. The family does not have the resources, financially or otherwise to care for the children they have, let alone a new one. So they are trying to ease their load by leaving their daughter with a distant relative. I read this with my heart in my throat and it's just so good. It's so good. That's all I'm going to say about that. My final one is only 38 pages. This is also a newly re-issued short story that came out in book form. It's only 38 pages, but there's an introduction by Zadie Smith that is longer than the actual short story. This is Recitatif by Toni Morrison. Yes, I think it had to be that long or they wouldn't be able to package it as a book.

Will Bogel [00:42:20] Thirty eight pages doesn't make a book, yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:42:22] No, that font has to be enormous and like picture book size. So the introduction by Zadie Smith is amazing, but don't think of it as an introduction. I think it gives too much away. So read the story first and then go back to the beginning and read the introduction.

Will Bogel [00:42:37] That's good to know.

Anne Bogel [00:42:38] That's a good thing to know. So this is a brain bender by design. It's this ingenious little puzzle box of a story, and it's about two girls named Twyla and Roberta. One is black and the other is white. And when they are eight years old, they meet in a shelter and become wards of the state. And we find out that it's because one of their mothers danced all night and the other is sick with an unspecified illness. So during the four months they spend together at the shelter, they become fast friends. And then we see after they leave their paths intermittently cross during the following decades, and we see what they're up to and a couple distinct moments in life. But the question Toni Morrison is asking her readers is which character is black and which is white? And this question has never been answered, though readers have hotly debated it for decades now. And this is the kind of book where you get to the end and you want to go back to the beginning and read again and then go back to the beginning and read again.

Will Bogel [00:43:33] Well, at 38 pages you can do that.

Anne Bogel [00:43:35] Yes. And then your book club could wrestle with this story forever.

Will Bogel [00:43:38] That's so interesting. What year was it originally published?

Anne Bogel [00:43:41] It was originally published in the eighties, but early this year was the first time it was released as a standalone book. And I was kind of kicking myself for not picking it up until now because it's been sitting on my shelf for a year, but I was glad I finally got to it. All these short and sweet books I felt were just an amazing use of a tiny amount of reading time. Just such a memorable reading experience from just a tiny amount of time.

Will Bogel [00:44:08] Yeah, that's great to have those really compact stories that still provide all the pleasure of a full length novel. So you told me you have a couple more books that I remember, actually, a couple of titles that you said you flew through. Think you can fly through a couple of descriptions for us here at the end?

Anne Bogel [00:44:27] Yes, I can. So I loved and inhaled these books. I just read them so fast. The first was the Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. And I listen to this on audio. When I think of reading this book, I picture myself in our upstairs laundry room just folding clothes. Because when I'm doing like a lot of dishes or cleaning the baseboards or folding clothes, it's because I have something good to listen to. There is no other reason that I want to do that work. It's narrated by J.T. Jackson, who is phenomenal. I'll listen to him read anything. And this story, it's a fine arts thriller, is just unlike anything I've ever read. And I didn't know this at the time, but Brendan Slocumb and I get to do an event together. You've heard him on the podcast in our book club favorites episode from Bookmarks and Z, and she's our Modern Mrs. Darcy book club selection author in January. So we get to talk to him. And I loved it so much. Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman is, I think, maybe the only romance novel among my favorites. This was just the right book at the right time for me. I picked this up at an indie bookstore. That's Birmingham's little professor on vacation this summer. We were on our way to the beach, and it was just the perfect, smart and sexy beach read. The main character is a writer. This is a celebrity-normal person romance, which seems to be a trend now. It's one I really enjoy and I read the story so fast. Just really strong writing, the format was interesting, strong narrative drive. It was just tons of fun.

Will Bogel [00:45:56] That was a great stop. And I remember you feeling rewarded by picking that up right before we got to the beach.

Anne Bogel [00:46:02] Yes, it was perfect. And then I told you that when I go through my reading journal at the end of the year, something I'm really looking for are books that I think about all the time that have really stuck with me. And a great example of a book like that is Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez. This is so timely, more timely than Dolen Perkins Valdez could have expected when it released early this spring. It's loosely inspired by a real life groundbreaking court case. And I'm not going to say more. I'm just going to say I loved it so much. And I have this one book, Will, that's not in a category that I want to tell you about.

Will Bogel [00:46:41] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:46:42] And I feel kind of torn because is this one of the very best books I read this year? I don't know, maybe. But it's one that I find myself thinking about all the time. So I want to share it here. And that is a Bluff by Michael Curtis. This is definitely a What Should I Read Next made me do it read because I picked this up on the recommendation of Julia Whalen. She narrated the audiobook. And so when we chatted for that episode, she described his work as really great books that don't get the recognition they deserve. If you want to construct an irresistible and bogel book pitch, this author does not get the attention they deserve, definitely going to be in there. But at first this book reminded me of another nonfiction book I really enjoyed this year, and that is Maria Konnikova The Biggest Bluff, which is about learning to play poker. Actually, I read several books about card sharps this year and this is one of them. So our protagonist is a 20 something magician who gets into financial trouble and decides that the only way to raise the extra cash she needs-- no other option-- is to learn to cheat at cards. So she finds a mentor who will teach her how to manipulate the deck and deal from the bottom and dupe fellow players into giving her all their money. But then the stakes keep changing and she decides actually she's going to embark on a really big con. But I think the reason I keep thinking about this book is that the story that I thought I was in kept changing. So at first I thought I was reading a heist book, but at a certain point and I didn't even recognize this until Brenna pointed out to me, at a certain point it takes a turn that feels more akin to the horror genre. And I think you probably remember sitting next to me reading in bed and I might have like tossed the Kindle away and got like, oh, that's not what I thought was going to happen. I'm done with this story. Oh, my goodness. What in the world? Do you remember that?

Will Bogel [00:48:43] I remember you going back to it. Yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:48:44] Yeah, I did. So it takes this turn that's abrupt and grisly, and I just was not expecting it. And I thought, what am I even doing reading this? Julia Whalen, what have you done to me? But then I decided to pick it back up and the reveal that was to come just made me forget everything and made me so glad I picked it up.

Will Bogel [00:49:06] I remember you thinking it was really worth it. And I remember you talking about it at the time. But I'm surprised that you're saying that it stuck with you like all year and that you're still thinking about it.

Anne Bogel [00:49:16] Well, I didn't see that at the time. And that's why I'm talking about it now, is because at the time I thought, well, that was a lot more entertaining and a lot different than I expected. But something we say a lot on What Should I Read Next is those reading experiences that are atypical for us tend to be the ones that really stick with us. And this is such an excellent example of a reading experience like that that I had to share it here. That's Bluff by Michael Curtis.

Will Bogel [00:49:42] The uncategorizable.

Anne Bogel [00:49:43] Yeah, I mean the wild card. The scrappy book that won't let itself be forgotten.

Will Bogel [00:49:50] Well, that was a lot of titles. I'm glad you got to share all of those with us.

Anne Bogel [00:49:55] This is fun. I don't usually get to talk so much about books I loved in a What Should I Read Next episode. You know we are all about matching the right reader to the right book, and usually I'm the one doing the matching, not gushing about my favorites. So thank you, Will. And thank you everyone to let me do this today. It was a lot of fun.

Will Bogel [00:50:11] It was fun. And we're always glad to hear what you're reading and especially what you have loved this year.

Anne Bogel [00:50:16] We are. But you know what I'm kind of bracing for right now is all the comments that are going to say, Anne, I can't believe you didn't talk about fill in the blank with 89 different titles that I probably could have mentioned today and did not. It was a good reading year.

Will Bogel [00:50:35] Well, readers, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And if you have titles you think Anne should have included, you can find the full list of books we talked about at whatshouldIreadnextpodcast.com/361 and you can leave your comment there to tell us which titles you had hoped Anne would include.

Anne Bogel [00:50:50] And to keep up with my favorite reads throughout the year, follow me on Instagram. I'm there at an @Annebogel. Follow our show's Instagram account. We are @WhatshouldIreadnext.

Will Bogel [00:51:03] Make sure you're on our email list to get weekly updates on the show, as well as a weekly roundup of bookish links we found entertaining and also shares what she's been reading and loving in that newsletter. Sign up at whatshouldIreadnextpodcast.com/newsletter.

Anne Bogel [00:51:16] Make sure you're following on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast wherever you get your podcasts and make sure you tune in next week because it is our What Should I Read Next anniversary. So fellow podcasters, friends and What Should I Read Next alums Knox McCoy and Jamie Golden of the Popcast are joining me so we can celebrate our seventh anniversary in style. You do not want to miss it. Thanks to the people who make the show happen. What Should I Read Next is created each week by Will Bogel, Holly Wielkoszewski and Studio D Podcast Productions. Thanks also to our new What Should I Read Next community manager Sara Etter.

Will Bogel [00:51:54] Readers, that's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening.

Anne Bogel [00:51:57] William, do you want to do the honors?

Will Bogel [00:51:59] Yes, I do. And as Rainer Maria Rilke said, "Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading." Happy reading everyone.

Anne Bogel [00:52:06] Happy reading everyone.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Don’t Overthink It by Anne Bogel
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
My Reading Life by Anne Bogel
Memphis by Tara M .Stringfellow
French Braid by Anne Tyler
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (Audio edition)
The Arsonists’ City by Hala Alyan
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi 
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin
Painting Time by Maylis De Kerangal 
The Heart by Maylis De Kerangal 
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Audio edition)
Also a Poet by Ada Calhoun
Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun
Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Ada Calhoun
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous
Platonic by Marisa G Franco 
Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Babel by R. F. Kuang
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Foster by Claire Keegan
Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb (Audio edition)
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Bluff by ​​Michael Kardos
The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova

Also mentioned:
Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club 
2022 Summer Reading Guide
WSIRN Patreon Community
WSIRN Ep 351: Book Club Favorites: LIVE from Bookmarks!
Little Professor bookstore
WSIRN Ep 340: The secret life of an audiobook narrator with Julia Whelan

22 comments

Leave A Comment
  1. Pam Goen says:

    Some great reads, Anne! Wondering if there will ever be an episode where I do not add any to my TBR??!!
    Since you love complicated family dramas, I am curious if you and Will have watched the show Succession? So many people I know have recommended it, but we haven’t taken the plunge yet. Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks!

  2. Pam Goen says:

    Also, my “Anne! I can’t believe you didn’t talk about!” Book is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Pairs lovely with the series Julia about Julia Child on HBO Max.

      • Pam Goen says:

        Ok, ok I will give you a pass lol. Your MMD book club interview with the author was one of my favorite author interviews of last year! Also it was lovely having Will interview you. Fun episode!

  3. Liz says:

    I can’t wait to listen to this episode! My TBR is trembling right now. 🙂
    PS: In the post above you wrote “…for the first time, we’re doing so on the blog.” I think you meant podcast!

  4. Sue Baum says:

    I loved French Braid so much! The simplicity of the story was so deceptive and reminded me of my own family squabbles/disagreements. I kept thinking, “It takes some literary genius to write such an ordinary story.” The one title on my top 5 you did not include was Remarkably Bright Creatures…this book had all the feels and a satisfying ending (my number one requirement!)

  5. Trisha says:

    I love this episode! It would be great if you would do this twice a year. As much as I love hearing you match up books for other readers, I love to hear what you’re reading and loving!

  6. Judy says:

    Will, I’m SO glad you said you sometimes look back at a book you gave four stars to and don’t even remember reading it! I do this all the time and it drives me nuts. Glad I’m not the only one.

  7. Neelee says:

    I was so happy and surprised to hear Fresh Water for Flowers on your list! I gave it to my sister last Christmas based on a recommendation from our local bookstore. She ended up just starting it last week and sent me a text late last night raving about it. Then I wake up to hearing you talk about it!

  8. Claire Long says:

    Thank you Anne for recommending ‘A Ghost in the throat’; like you I listened to it, and initially thought it was 100% fiction … and I was similarly immersed, moved and impressed by it. It was absolutely my #1 favourite book of the year amongst some very worthy challengers. I’ve realised that my accidental theme for 2022 was ‘Islands and Ireland’ and I will be continuing this journey more deliberately in 2023. Happy reading to one and all.

  9. Annie says:

    Thank you for recommending Funny You Should Ask! We’re in the middle of a massive Midwest snow storm and this was the perfect snow day book, similarly to how it was the perfect beach read for you. I loved the writing and the chemistry between the leads!

  10. Madison Gallahair says:

    This may be my favorite episode ever. Never before have I immediately restarted an episode as soon as I finished it. I think I may listen to it a third time today. I’d heard Anne talk about a lot of these before, but hearing that they were the best of the year for her has me adding several of the titles to my TBR.

    I started listening to the old episodes of the podcast in October 2021. Once I caught up, I joined Patreon and am working my way through those. I had my best reading year ever in 2022. Thank you, Anne, for doing this work! ❤️

  11. Susan says:

    I loved this episode! I’m loving the “long but worth it” category too and just added Babel to my TBR. I want to also make a plug for Demon Copperhead on audio. I almost never would choose a super long audiobook, but the kindle wait from my library was much longer and the audio version came up first on Libby, so I went for it. Wow! I know Barbara Kingsolver did something really remarkable with this novel, but the narration was also fantastic and truly brought the voice of Demon to life.

  12. Vicki J Peterson says:

    I enjoyed this podcast, I listened one night when I couldn’t sleep and was happy to add new books to my list to read! I couldn’t catch the name of the long book you mentioned when your husband read Doorstop. 35:42 on the script. thank you

    • Jo says:

      I’m pretty sure they were discussing Demon Copperhead at that point – the difference between reading it in kindle format or the hardcover.

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