Rebecca and Vanessa break down the books topping the best-of and bestseller lists as we near the halfway point of the year.

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about the growth of the number of books (and authors) vying for reader dollars, continue to lament the long 2025 award season, wonder about the expansion of PRH's audio initiatives, talk about recent reading, and more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Amazon’s best  of the year so far

US audiobooks sales increased 9% in 2025

j/k we weren’t done with 2025 book awards - Stoker Award winners and Nebula Award winners

And we’re also starting this year’s: The 2026 Barnes & Noble Discover Award finalists

Authors Guild survey looks at why author income is declining

Reese’s Book Club launches Fan Fest event series

The Marriage Plot is getting an adaptation

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Vanessa Diaz returns to regale Rebecca with the messy tale of the marriage between a well-known Harlem Renaissance poet and the daughter of a famous public thinker.

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about some new best books of the year so far lists, adaptation news, recent reading, and more before talking with the new President of the American Library Association, Dr. Maria McCauley.

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Discussed in this episode:

Barnes & Noble’s best books of the year so far

Amazon’s picks for best book of the year so far from the last 10 years

Goodreads users’ hit new books of the year so far

Open Road to publish Choose Your Own Adventure ebooks

New Franzen short story is an excerpt from his novel in progress

Anna Kendrick to direct Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo adaptation for Netflix

Netflix announces new book-to-screen hub

God of the Woods casting news

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Jeff and Rebecca select the It Book of June 2026.

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about a relatively sleepy week in book news, but James Daunt bails us out by not shutting up about AI books that don't exist.

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Discussed in this episode:

James Daunt clarifies B & N’s position on AI

GoFundMe for Gladys Books & Wine

Spotify’s audiobooks play is working

Audiobooks on YouTube are publishing’s latest piracy problem

People are not happy about publishers updating YA books w/ timely references

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Jeff and Rebecca preview summer adaptations to check out this year.

As we move through 2026, we want to make sure Book Riot remains your go-to destination for all things bookish. Whether you’re here for the curated recommendations, the latest industry news, or our deep dives into reading culture, your feedback informs our media kit and how we represent this community. It will also shape our content and make Book Riot a place you want to be.

To show our appreciation for your time, everyone who completes the survey will be entered for a chance to win a $50 USD ThriftBooks Gift Card.

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about the full Guardian Best Novels of All-Time List, The International Book Prize Winner, a whole rat's nest of AI-related stories, recent reading, and more.

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Discussed in this episode:

Kobo is integrating StoryGraph

Judge delays payout of $1.5 billion settlement in Anthropic AI case

James Daunt open to selling AI-written books in Barnes & Noble stores

Commonwealth Prize honors short story collections  that appears to have been written with AI

Book on truth in the age of AI contains quotes written by AI

Audio in Color nonprofit grants funding to independent romance authors to self-pub their audiobooks

Amazon ending support for Kindles from 2012 and prior (thanks to listener Carl for the tip) 

And here’s how some Kindle users are working around it

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Jeff and Rebecca talk about what books are making waves as summer gets rolling.

As we move through 2026, we want to make sure Book Riot remains your go-to destination for all things bookish. Whether you’re here for the curated recommendations, the latest industry news, or our deep dives into reading culture, your feedback informs our media kit and how we represent this community. It will also shape our content and make Book Riot a place you want to be.

To show our appreciation for your time, everyone who completes the survey will be entered for a chance to win a $50 USD ThriftBooks Gift Card.

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.

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Thanks to our sponsor, Merit Beauty. Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag with your first order at meritbeauty.com.

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Jeff and Rebecca note The Guardian's new collaborative list of the 100 greatest novels of all time, ponder PRH's delivery of "a strong business performance, updated our Fourth Wing Ever Gets Adapted odds, and more.

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Discussed in this episode:

The Guardian running down the 100 best novels of all time

PRH reports strong first quarter

Amazon has ordered the Fourth Wing adaptation to series, no casting news yet

Florence Pugh to star in Midnight Library adaptation

Margo’s Got Money Troubles picked up for season 2

Good Omens is back to wrap things up without Neil Gaiman

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Jeff and Rebecca wrap up recommendation season.

Discussed in this episode:

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Julie Otsuka

Susan Choi

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

The Hike by Drew Magary

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

Kin by Tayari Jones, go back to

Fates & Furies by Groff

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Siracusa by Delia Ephron

Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

From Scratch by Tembi Locke

Beautiful Runs by Jess Walter

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Go Like Hell

The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James

By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah

The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Hemingway

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Unbound by Steph Jagger

Riverman by Ben McGrath

In the Shadow of the Mountain

So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham

Life in the Three Dimensions by Shegihiro Oishi

So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport

Congratulations, By the Way by George Saunders

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

The List of Things That Will Not Change

The Vanderbeerkers of 141st Street By Karina Yan Glaser

Dragon Pearl

The Eyes of the Impossible

Daughter of the Deep

The Story That Cannot Be Told

Who is Government by Michael Lewis

Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reily

The Sparrow,

Wild Dark Shore

Whidbey

The Dream Hotel

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon

Interpreter of Maladies,

Tenth of December

Almost Famous Women

Lost in the City by Edward P Jones

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

Eat a Peach by David Chang

Life is Meals by James & Kay Salter

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Pincher Martin by William Golding

Black No More by George Schuyler

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

The English Understand Wool by helen dewitt

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tim Robbins

Transcription by Ben Lerner

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Butcher's Crossing by John Williams

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Thanks to our sponsor, Merit Beauty. Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag with your first order at meritbeauty.com.

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