Jeff and Rebecca have gone through the lists, awards, and vibes to power rank the top 10 books of 2026.

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Jeff and Rebecca tackle the most difficult It Books month yet.

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Jeff and Rebecca note the passing of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry before talking about a data analysis of men in literature, bookstore etiquette, recent reading (including The Book of M by Rachel Cusk) and more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Last call for 25% off annual memberships. Join today (8/31) for access to the 60+ book fall preview episode.

The OG Book Riot hoodie is back for a limited time

Dan Sinykin puts data to the fears that men are disappearing from the literary landscape

Kirkus Prize finalists

RJS PSA: “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” is on PBS now

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Jeff and Rebecca do a temperature check on the books that are topping charts, winning awards, getting adaptations, stirring discussion, and otherwise in the mix this month.

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Discussed in this episode:

The Book Riot Podcast Patreon

Book Riot Hoodies are Back

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Rebecca and Vanessa discuss news of a Theo of Golden adaptation, the results of our audience survey about what counts as AI-written, a new platform for finding local literary events, and more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Tom Hanks in talks to star in Theo of Golden adaptation

Titles & covers for ACOTAR 6 and 7 revealed

Former bookseller launches book event platform

How one professor re-engaged students in an age of AI

Results of our survey about what counts as AI-written

Amazon is buying and destroying used books to train AI

Life of M looks to be all sizzle, no steak

The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw

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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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