Jeff and Rebecca open the show by discussing President Obama's forthcoming book podcast, before digging into the ramifications of Libro.fm selling ebooks, triaging 2025's book sales, talking some more about AI. And then in Frontlist Foyer, Jeff workshops his INSIDE OUT theory of reading personalities.

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Discussed in this episode:

Final number: publishing sales increased 2.5% in 2025

Libro.fm to introduce ebooks

Barack Obama is releasing a books podcast

An interesting data point: AI use is not disqualifying for the Pulitzer, provided it is disclosed and assistive -- and 5 of the 2026 winners disclosed it

And Hank Green has rolled out a personal AI policy that is very reasonable

Study shows AI-generated stories have bias to male characters

Claude is rolling out watermarks on AI-generated text

Certified human writing panopticon gymnastics

A 30-day protocol/bootcamp for reading more

NYT tests Pangram in a serious way

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A little bonus preview of our August edition of Deals, Deals, Deals, a format in which Jeff unleashes book deal announcements of notes on Rebecca. Listen to the full episode, and every bonus episode we have ever done, by becoming a member of The Book Riot Podcast Patreon.

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Jeff and Rebecca check in the last gasp of Emily Wilson's The Odyssey discourse, The New York Times' list of the Best Thrillers of the Century so Far, on-going developments in AI accusations in publishing, recent reading, and much more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Update: The Wilson pan of The Odyssey is so big that The Onion parodied it, and Emily Wilson wrote another one!

Book with $2.4 million advance pulled over AI allegations

NYT names the 50 best thrillers of the century so far

Apple is developing an adaptation of Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy

Naomi Alderman’s “couch to 5k” for reading

GRRM issues our regularly scheduled reminder that The Winds of Winter is never happening

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Jeff and Rebecca try to identify the It Book of August 2026. And are pretty sure they didn't succeed.

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about Emily Wilson's pan of Nolan's The Odyssey, before checking in on the Booker longlist, Obama's summer reading picks, and the most troubling AI/publishing story yet.

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Discussed in this episode:

Emily Wilson hated The Odyssey, actually, and her unedited remarks to the AP

Joyce Carol Oates has entered the chat

And everybody wants to learn Greek

Booker Prize longlist

Obama summer reading list

The most read books on Goodreads this year

A viral BookTok hit might be largely AI-generated

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Rebecca sits down with Portland State University researchers Kathi Inman Berens and Rachel Noorda to discuss the findings in their new book, How Gen Z Discover and Consume Books.

You can download How Gen Z Discover and Consume Books free from Cambridge University Press through August 6.

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Jeff and Rebecca enjoy The Odyssey afterglow, lament AI slop biographies, cover a bunch of adaptation news, recent reading, and much more.

Jeff gets off some takes before the show gets going to talk about Amazon’s best-selling books of all-time, a formidable new AI lawsuit, sales of THE ODYSSEY editions, recent reading, and much more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Emily Wilson’s comments on Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey

Book Riot’s best adaptations of the century so far

Judge approves settlement in Anthropic copyright case

Scammer caught after publishing 5,000 AI slop biographies

New Taylor Jenkins Reid novel in March (same day as Percival Everett)

Apple already has the rights to adapt Rebecca Yarros’s next (non-Fourth Wing) novel

Sony picks up The Silent Patient for fast-tracked adaptation

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Jeff gets off some takes before the show gets going to talk about Amazon's best-selling books of all-time, a formidable new AI lawsuit, sales of THE ODYSSEY editions, recent reading, and much more.

Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Join The Book Riot Podcast Patreon for bonus content and ad-free listening.

Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life.

The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

Discussed in this episode:

Amazon’s 50 bestselling books of all time

Publishers launch new suit against Google for using digital  to train Gemini

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Jeff and Rebecca go over what books are selling, being talked about, and otherwise generating a little heat this month.

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Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life.

The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Jeff and Rebecca note the fever-pitch buzz for Nolan's The Odyssey, before talking about the state of book sales, mention some new book announcements, discuss recent reading, and much more.

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Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life.

The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

Discussed in this episode:

Book sales flat in H1

New Leslie Jamison novel next year!

The Millions Summer Book Preview

The Most Read Kindle Books of 2026 So Far

Booker Prize award money doubles with new funder

Brandon Sanderson’s theory of the 20-year dragon nostalgia cycle

Hachette employees unionize

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Nolan's The Odyssey looms. Today we are sharing the episode we did on The Odyssey for Zero to Well-Read. Be careful out there on the wine-dark sea.

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The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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