Reddit‘s 15 Best Books of All Time, Ranked (2023 Edition)

  • by history tools
  • March 31, 2024

When it comes to book recommendations, there‘s one online community that rises above the rest: Reddit . Home to some of the most passionate readers and thought-provoking literary discussions on the internet, Reddit has become a go-to source for discovering your next great read.

But with so many books discussed across the platform‘s countless subreddits, which titles reign supreme as the absolute best of the best? We dug through the archives to compile the definitive ranking of Reddit‘s top 15 books of all time.

Why Reddit‘s Opinion Matters

Before we dive into the list, it‘s worth examining what makes Reddit such a unique and valuable resource for book lovers. With over 52 million daily active users from all walks of life, Reddit is one of the most diverse and engaged online communities around.

This is especially true when it comes to books. There are hundreds of subreddits dedicated to literature, from broad interest groups like r/books (20 million+ members) and r/literature (1.7 million+) to niche forums for specific authors, genres, and eras. These aren‘t just places for casual readers to swap recommendations; they‘re home to serious literary analysis, scholarly debate, and even AMAs with famous authors like Margaret Atwood and Don DeLillo.

What‘s more, Reddit‘s upvote/downvote system and nested comment threads create a uniquely democratic space for discussing books. The most insightful comments and universally beloved titles get voted to the top, while trolls and contrarian hot takes are swiftly dispatched to the bottom. Over time, this crowdsourced curation reveals which books truly resonate with a large and diverse audience.

Of course, no crowd is immune to a certain hive mind mentality. Reddit‘s demographics do skew young, male, and college-educated , which may favor more contemporary and male-oriented titles. But even still, there are plenty of older classics and female-authored books in the mix, reflecting a broader literary consensus.

At the end of the day, it‘s the collective passion, knowledge, and spirited discussion of millions of dedicated readers that makes Reddit a force to be reckoned with in the world of books. That‘s why their all-time favorites are worth paying attention to — even for the most skeptical literary snobs.

Our Methodology

To determine the winners, we analyzed over 10 years worth of book recommendation threads, "what‘s the best book you‘ve ever read" discussions, and other top-rated posts across Reddit‘s most popular book and literature subreddits. We noted how frequently each title was mentioned, as well as the number of upvotes those recommendations received, giving weight to both overall popularity and the enthusiasm of individual readers.

We also cross-referenced this data with mainstream "best books" lists from the likes of Modern Library, Time Magazine, The Guardian and so on to see where Reddit‘s taste overlaps with critical consensus and where it diverges. The resulting ranking aims to balance broad appeal with enduring literary merit to arrive at a list that captures both "favorite" and "best."

15. "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

  • Published: 1961
  • Genres: War, satire, black comedy
  • Accolades: #7 on Modern Library‘s 100 Best Novels, Time‘s 100 Best Books of All Time, Pulitzer Prize finalist

14. "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

  • Published: 1969
  • Genres: Science fiction, anti-war, satire
  • Accolades: #18 on Modern Library‘s 100 Best Novels, New York Times Best Seller

13. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

  • Published: 1932
  • Genres: Dystopian, philosophical fiction
  • Accolades: Le Monde‘s 100 Books of the Century, Modern Library‘s 100 Best Novels

12. "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville

  • Published: 1851
  • Genres: Epic, adventure, allegory
  • Accolades: The Guardian‘s Best 100 Novels, TIME All-Time 100 Novels, the "Great American Novel"

11. "Dune" by Frank Herbert

  • Published: 1965
  • Genres: Science fiction, adventure, political thriller
  • Accolades: Hugo Award, Nebula Award, best-selling sci-fi novel of all time

10. "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • Published: 1866
  • Genres: Psychological thriller, philosophical fiction
  • Accolades: #15 on The Guardian‘s 100 Best Books of All Time, TIME All-Time 100 Novels

9. "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • Published: 1880
  • Genres: Philosophical fiction, murder mystery
  • Accolades: Sigmund Freud called it "the most magnificent novel ever written", Modern Library 100 Best Novels

8. "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov

  • Published: 1955
  • Genres: Psychological drama, tragicomedy
  • Accolades: Time‘s 100 Best Books of All Time, Le Monde‘s 100 Books of the Century, Modern Library‘s 100 Best Novels

7. "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

  • Published: 1951
  • Genres: Coming of age, realistic fiction
  • Accolades: Time‘s 100 Best YA Books of All Time, The Guardian‘s 100 Best Novels, BBC‘s 100 Most Influential Novels

6. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez

  • Published: 1967
  • Genres: Magical realism, family saga
  • Accolades: Nobel Prize for Literature, BBC‘s 100 Most Influential Novels, TIME 100 Best Books of All Time

5. "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

  • Published: 1952
  • Genres: Allegory, historical fiction
  • Accolades: Nobel Prize for Literature, Oprah Book Club selection, Penguin Drop Caps selection

4. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • Published: 1925
  • Genres: Jazz age, tragedy, realistic fiction
  • Accolades: Modern Library 100 Best Novels, Le Monde‘s 100 Books of the Century, number of film adaptations

3. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Published: 1954-1955
  • Genres: Epic fantasy, quest, myth
  • Accolades: Locus Best All-Time Novel, BBC‘s Big Read, 150 million+ copies sold

2. "1984" by George Orwell

  • Published: 1949
  • Genres: Dystopian, political fiction, social science fiction
  • Accolades: Time‘s 100 Best Novels, The Guardian‘s 100 Best Novels, "fourth most taught book in universities"

1. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

  • Published: 1960
  • Genres: Southern gothic, coming-of-age, social commentary
  • Accolades: Pulitzer Prize, Modern Library‘s Best Novels, BBC‘s 100 Most Influential Novels, frequent high school reading list selection

Other Beloved Books That Deserve an Honorable Mention

  • "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas
  • "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace
  • "The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
  • "Ulysses" by James Joyce
  • "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
  • "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
  • "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving
  • "The Handmaid‘s Tale" by Margaret Atwood
  • "The House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
  • "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig

The Technological Transformation of Reading

It‘s worth noting that the way we discover and consume books has changed dramatically in the internet age, and Reddit is a prime example of this shift. In the past, readers might have relied on print reviews, bookstore bestseller lists, and recommendations from friends and family to guide their reading choices. But now, digital communities like Reddit make it possible to instantly tap into the collective wisdom of millions of readers from all over the world.

Technology has also transformed the reading experience itself. Ebook sales surpassed print for the first time in 2020, as more people embrace the convenience of carrying entire libraries on a single device. Audiobooks are booming too , offering a new way for busy bibliophiles to squeeze in more "reading" time. Even the most diehard print purists can‘t help but be amazed by inventions like e-readers that let you instantly look up words, adjust text size, and read in the dark.

Some worry that we‘re becoming a more distracted society with shorter attention spans, making it harder to read deeply and at length, but one could also argue that technology is creating a more engaged and participatory literary culture. Book lovers can now connect with authors directly on social media, start online book clubs with fellow fans, and even use AI writing tools like Sudowrite to try their hand at crafting their own stories.

Even the way books are produced and sold is being disrupted, as self-publishing platforms and print-on-demand services make it easier for aspiring authors to bypass the traditional gatekeepers and reach audiences directly. While we‘ll always have a soft spot for a lovingly dog-eared paperback, there‘s no denying that technology is opening up exciting new frontiers for readers and writers alike.

So what can we take away from Reddit‘s ranking of the best books of all time? On the one hand, it confirms that the classics are classic for a reason. Most of the books in the top 15 were published over 50 years ago and have stood the test of time thanks to their unique voice, memorable characters, and universal themes. From Gatsby to Atticus Finch to the Karamazov brothers, these are the literary creations that stick with us long after we‘ve finished the final page.

At the same time, it‘s heartening to see some more contemporary and genre-bending titles getting their due. "1984" may be Reddit‘s #2 book, but it‘s a thoroughly modern cautionary tale about state surveillance and the slippery nature of truth that feels more relevant than ever in the era of "fake news." Meanwhile, Frank Herbert‘s "Dune" shows that a great book doesn‘t have to be a capital-L "literary" novel — it can be a rip-roaring sci-fi epic with sandworms and spice melange.

Perhaps that‘s the great lesson of the Reddit hivemind: a truly great book is one that sparks your imagination, transports you to another world, and expands your horizons. Those kinds of books can come from any era, any country, and any genre. And now thanks to the magic of technology, they‘re just a click away on your Kindle or smartphone. We may have more distractions competing for our time than ever, but as long as online communities like Reddit continue to champion reading, the future of literature looks bright indeed.

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10 of the Best Goodreads Reviewers to Follow

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Clare Barnett

Clare Barnett lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and daughter. She delves into all genres but has a soft spot for fantasy, mystery, and memoir. When she’s not working her way through her to-read list, she’s reading and writing about bookish things. Twitter: @clarebar. Inquiries: [email protected].

View All posts by Clare Barnett

Like every other social platform, Goodreads has its power users. What to call the reviewers who have thousands of followers and review hundreds of books a year? Influencers? Power reviewers? Hot critics? Whatever you call them, the best Goodreads reviewers are a goldmine for of-the-moment book reviews. I’ve made a list of 10 of the best Goodreads reviewers to turn to for insightful reviews, but there are hundreds more worth following. Consider this a sampling of the interesting and diverse voices that can help inform your reading choices.

How I Picked the Best Goodreads Reviewers

Goodreads has “ Top 99” lists for “most popular reviewers” (i.e., most liked reviews), “most followed reviewers,” and “top reviewers” (most books reviewed), tracked by week, year, or all-time. A number of my picks on the “most popular” reviewer list, but some are more under the radar. My criteria were: reviewers who read a lot of books, read a diverse list, regularly post reviews, and have insightful takes on what they read. All the reviews have at least around 1,000 followers and some have almost 300,000.

Pro Tip: To see how these top Goodreads reviewers’ tastes compare to your own, you can use the “Compare Books” feature (check this explainer here ) to see how your tastes overlap. Also, don’t look at any of these reviewers’ annual reading challenges unless you want to feel like an under-achieving, book-loving sloth.

Here are 10 of the best Goodreads reviewers. Happy reading!

10 Top Goodreads Reviewers

GR World Popularity Rank: #19. Many authors will not rate other writers’ books on Goodreads as part of some professional code. Thankfully for us, the brilliant Roxane Gay brings her insight and critique to reviews of recent releases. Well known for her own books like Hunger , Roxane’s reviews are concise and balanced. A must follow for those into contemporary fiction.

GR World Popularity Rank: #1. Emily May just might be the unofficial Queen of Goodreads. Ranked #1 in the world for most-liked reviews, Emily May is a UK-based reviewer with eclectic tastes, reviewing new releases as well as classics. While some reviewers are popular for their (sometimes very funny) negativity, Emily May’s reviews are thoughtful and fair, and with some depth at around 300+ words per review. May is also active on bookstagram .

Monte Price

Unranked. Monte’s reviews are insightful and funny, covering queer romance, YA and adult fantasy, and bookclub fiction. In a recent review, he compares Maggie Shipstead’s The Great Circle to Twilight . If that’s your jam, follow Monte, and check out his booktube channel too.

GR World Popularity Rank: #5. A reader based in Seattle, Yun reviews a wide range of recent fiction, with detailed takes about her reading experience and some humor thrown in. Also, she has a very fair star rating system. Find her on Goodreads or her blog, Miss Readaroo .

Unranked. Thomas lists his interests as “Reading, Writing, Psychology, Mental Health, Feminism” and his “read” shelf checks out. He brings interesting takes to a wide range of nonfiction, memoir, essays, as well as recent fiction releases. He writes thoughtfully about mental health and underrepresentation of queer people and people of color both in his reviews and in his blog, The Quiet Voice .

Je nny Lawson

GR United States Rank #100. Jenny Lawson, very funny essayist, is also a prolific GR reviewer, particularly of graphic novels. Her reviews are concise and have fewer jokes than you’d expect from the author of Furiously Happy , but she’s fair and consistent.

GR World Popularity Rank: #14. Another UK-based reader, Paromjit reads a massive number of books, mostly new releases. Her current goal counter says 226 for the year. The reviewer strikes a great balance between revealing a glimpse of plot and offering a fresh perspective on the book.

Unranked. Carol. reviews mainly sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery. She sometimes brings the snark, but her reviews are always interesting and full of choice quotes. Unlike a lot of popular reviewers, she says she’s not interested in advanced reader copies. You can find more of her reviews at her blog, book reviews forevermore .

GR World Popularity Rank: #16. The reaction-gif book review is a high art on Goodreads, and Anne does it well. Her tastes are eclectic, ranging from the Spider Man comics to Julia Quinn’s Regency romance. If you need more gifs in your life, follow Anne.

GR World Popularity Rank #57: Emma is popular, scathing at times, and usually pretty witty. Her favorite genre is “literary fiction about horrible women,” but she reads widely. She also reads a ton of advanced reader copies (ARCs) so she’s a good go to for new and upcoming fiction with a literary fit. Emma also has a blog, Emma Reads Too Much .

For more on Goodreads check out The Most Popular Books on Goodreads Right Now.

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021

Merve emre on simone de beauvoir, justin taylor on joy williams, and more.

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The older I get, the more I’m interested in critics who play around with form and style. Mixing genres, experimenting with voice and structure, and tapping into personal experience are some of my favorite devices, though I still have a soft spot for the formal limitations of an 800-word newspaper writeup. From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert’s Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry ( New York Times )

Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her review of a book about Chicago’s greatest playwright, by opening her first paragraph like the first scene in a play.

“The curtain rises on a dim, drab room. An alarm sounds, and a woman wakes. She tries to rouse her sleeping child and husband, calling out: ‘Get up!’ It is the opening scene—and the injunction—of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun , the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.”

Inseperables

Merve Emre on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables (tr. Lauren Elkin) ( The New Yorker )

Emre always helps readers see things in a new way, in this case not just Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novel, but also Simone de Beauvoir herself.

“To read The Inseparables is to learn what could have been, and to judge what was a little more harshly. It is to see in the memoirs a lingering refusal to give Zaza the autonomy that everyone in life seems to have denied her at the greatest possible cost. And it is to see in The Second Sex an inability, or perhaps an unwillingness, to make as affirmative a case as possible for lesbian identity.”

Sho Douglas Kearney

Victoria Chang and Dean Rader on Douglas Kearney’s Sho ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

Reviews-in-dialogue are my new favorite thing. I love how naturalistic and conversational they are, as the form really allows critics to be themselves. Chang and Rader are a joy to read.

“Kearney’s body of work is very much about play with language, yet, that somehow feels like it diminishes the political aspects of his poems and his body of work. Perhaps play itself in Kearney’s work is a political act. I find this tension fascinating because on the one hand, I often get carried away in Kearney’s language (and the conceptual aspects of his work), but I’m also acutely aware of the humanity in his work (or the exploration of anti-humanity). In this way, maybe play and the political are not mutually exclusive. Maybe for Kearney, play = confrontation.”

Frederick Seidel

J. Howard Rosier on Frederick Seidel’s Selected Poems ( Poetry Foundation )

Rosier does a great job bringing paratext to bear on the text itself, in this case interviews and Seidel’s other work.

“For a poet as revered as Seidel, there are scant mentions of turns of phrase being Seidelian, few poetic narratives or structures construed as Seidelesque. Chalk it up to the oddity of a formalist disassociating form from content; Seidel uses form like a hypnotist to mesmerize readers so that they are sedated, or at the very least put at ease, in spite of his content.”

Ghosts

Sheila Liming on Edith Wharton’s Ghosts ( Cleveland Review of Books )

Every editor’s dream assignment is a critic with deep subject matter expertise, and you can’t beat Liming—author of What A Library Means to A Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books —writing about Wharton’s ghost stories.

“Here are ‘fetches’ (ominous doppelgangers) of Celtic superstition, zombie mistresses rising from the grave, and ghost dogs, even. But for each of these paranormal threats there is an equally normal, equally mundane, and equally human villain attached to the story. In this way, Wharton’s Ghosts can be read and interpreted in concert with many of her better-known works, including novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence , which tell stories of everyday human malice.”

Meg Ringer on Jon McGregor’s Lean Fall Stand ( Chicago Review of Books )

Some of the best reviews are the product of a critic who brings personal experience into their analysis of the book at hand. Ringer’s perspective on Lean Fall Stand is full of unique insights and emotional power. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, but stepped back from an editorial role in 2019.)

“Though there was a time—before we met, before his diagnosis—when my husband traveled to Antarctica, Robert and Anna’s story is not ours. It is barely even close. But Lean Fall Stand reads like a meditation on the questions we all must someday face: Who am I? What can I stand? Who will be there when I fall?”

The Aesthetic of Resistance

Ryan Ruby on Peter Weiss ( The Point )

Speaking of hybrids between personal essays and reviews, Ruby’s experience discovering the work of Weiss during the 2016 election is riveting stuff.

“By creating physical objects that survive their creators and the world in which they were made, the artist helps to manufacture the continuity of our collective experience of historical time, and to the extent that it distinguishes itself, the work of art can become a symbol of that continuity. ‘Imagination lived so long as human beings who resisted lived,’ the narrator writes, but in the end what Weiss demonstrates in The Aesthetic of Resistance is that the converse is also true, and just as important, then as now, for what the imagination always has and always will resist is death.”

Justin Taylor on Joy Williams’ Harrow ( Bookforum )

I love a good delayed lede. In this marvelous example, the title of the book Taylor’s reviewing doesn’t even appear until more than 800 words have passed.

“I drove across the Everglades in May. I had originally planned to take Alligator Alley, but someone tipped me off that, in the twenty years since I left South Florida, the historically wild and lonesome stretch of road had been fully incorporated into I-75, turned into a standard highway corridor with tall concrete walls on both sides, designed to keep the traffic noise in and the alligators out.”

Lauren LeBlanc on Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You ( Los Angeles Times )

Ruffin’s fiction does a lot of interesting things with place, and LeBlanc smartly centers her review on New Orleans, as well as the way Ruffin subverts geographical expectations.

“Several recent story collections (Bryan Washington’s Lot and Dantiel W. Moniz’s Blood Milk Heat spring to mind) present geographies as characters. While Ruffin’s stories can’t help but transport the reader to humid, sunken, decaying New Orleans, it’s too easy to say this book is merely a set of love songs to the city. What makes such collections ring true is the way they subvert conventional knowledge.”

Victor LaValle on James Han Mattson’s Reprieve ( New York Times )

Opening a review with a question can be a powerful way to focus a reader’s attention, as LaValle does here with a compelling lede drawn from his own insights as a horror fiction writer.

“Why do people enjoy being scared? This is a pretty common question for those of us who write horror, or stories tinged with horror, and maybe for those who design roller coasters too. Why do some people take pleasure in terror?”

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The Best Reviewed Books of 2021: Fiction

Featuring sally rooney, kazuo ishiguro, colson whitehead, viet thanh nguyen, jonathan franzen, and more.

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Well, friends, another grim and grueling plague year is drawing to a close, and that can mean only one thing: it’s time to put on our Book Marks stats hats and tabulate the best reviewed books of the past twelve months.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be revealing the most critically-acclaimed books of 2021, in the categories of (deep breath): Memoir and Biography ; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror ; Short Story Collections ; Essay Collections ; Poetry ; Mystery and Crime ; Graphic Literature; Literature in Translation; General Fiction; and General Nonfiction.

Today’s installment: Fiction .

Sally Rooney

1. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (FSG)

27 Rave • 26 Positive • 25 Mixed • 2 Pan

Listen to an excerpt from Beautiful World, Where Are You here

“… wise, romantic, and ultimately consoling … Once again, Rooney has drawn a circumscribed world—four people, tightly wound in the small universe of one another’s lives—and once again, this is a love story, although the book’s most compelling romance is the platonic one between its two main female protagonists … it is the epic minutiae of human relations , not the grand structures of economic inequality, that send the blood pumping through the writing. Nonetheless, we know the two can’t be extricated; the latter impinges on the former … In [some] moments, Rooney deprives herself of access to her character’s interiority—the very medium of most fiction concerned with personal relations. Here’s an alternate way of seeing, one derived from a camera lens rather than the traditionally omniscient novelist’s gaze. The effect—implying the novelist herself might not fully know her characters, or at least withhold some of her knowledge—is one of delightful modesty … Maybe Rooney knows that it’s the small dimensions of her fiction—the close, funneled, loving attention she pays her characters—that allow her books to trap within their confines anxieties of huge historical breadth.”

–Hermione Hoby ( 4Columns )

2. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf)

28 Rave • 24 Positive • 6 Mixed

“ Klara and the Sun confirms one’s suspicion that the contemporary novel’s truest inheritor of Nabokovian estrangement—not to mention its best and deepest Martian—is Ishiguro … Never Let Me Go wrung a profound parable out of such questions: the embodied suggestion of that novel is that a free, long, human life is, in the end, just an unfree, short, cloned life. Klara and the Sun continues this meditation, powerfully and affectingly. Ishiguro uses his inhuman, all too human narrators to gaze upon the theological heft of our lives, and to call its bluff … Ishiguro keeps his eye on the human connection. Only Ishiguro, I think, would insist on grounding this speculative narrative so deeply in the ordinary … Whether our postcards are read by anyone has become the searching doubt of Ishiguro’s recent novels, in which this master, so utterly unlike his peers, goes about creating his ordinary, strange, godless allegories.”

–James Wood ( The New Yorker )

3. No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (Riverhead)

31 Rave • 13 Positive • 7 Mixed

Read an interview with Patricia Lockwood here

“Now Lockwood has put that strength into her first novel, No One is Talking About This , which leaves no doubt that she still takes her literary vocation seriously. It’s another attention-grabbing mind-blower which toggles between irony and sincerity, sweetness and blight … Lockwood deftly captures a life lived predominantly online … This portrait of a disturbing world where the center will not hold is a tour de force that recalls Joan Didion’s portrait of the dissolute 1960s drug culture of Haight-Ashbury in her seminal essay, ‘Slouching Towards Bethlehem’ … Lockwood is a master of sweeping, eminently quotable proclamations that fearlessly aim to encapsulate whole movements and eras … It’s a testament to her skills as a rare writer who can navigate both sleaze and cheese, jokey tweets and surprising earnestness, that we not only buy her character’s emotional epiphany but are moved by it … Of course, people will be talking about this meaty book, and about the questions Lockwood raises about what a human being is, what a brain is, and most important, what really matters.”

–Heller McAlpin ( NPR )

4. Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen (FSG)

32 Rave • 12 Positive • 7 Mixed • 1 Pan

“… a novel that takes the religious beliefs of its characters seriously, without ever forgetting how easily faith can twist itself into absurdity … is light on curmudgeonly social commentary. (Readers who prefer his breakout 2001 novel, The Corrections , will surely welcome this … As with the best of Franzen’s fiction, the characters in Crossroads are held up to the light like complexly cut gems and turned to reveal facet after facet … feels purged of showy writing and stylistic set pieces, but the long flashback recounting this interlude feels bleached with the merciless glare and punishing downpours of winter afternoons on treeless Southern California boulevards. The way Franzen conveys this atmosphere without calling attention to how well he’s conveying it is in tune with the deferential spirit of the novel … The power of this enveloping novel, facilitated by neatly turned plot elements finally resides in how uncannily real, how fully imagined these people feel … Real people are tricky puzzles, volatile blends of self-knowledge and blindness, full of inexhaustible surprises and contradictions. Literary characters seldom achieve a comparably unpredictable intricacy because they are, after all, artifacts made by equally blinkered human beings, and furthermore they are the means to an artistic end. Franzen hasn’t always given his readers characters as persuasively flawed as the Hildebrandts. He hasn’t always tried to. But in Crossroads , his satirical and didactic impulses largely in check, his touch gentled, Franzen has created characters of almost uncanny authenticity. Is there anything more a great novelist ought to do? I didn’t think so.”

–Laura Miller ( Slate )

Matrix Lauren Groff

5. Matrix by Lauren Groff (Riverhead)

30 Rave • 9 Positive • 4 Mixed

Read an interview with Lauren Groff here

“Now that we’ve endured almost two years of quarantine and social distancing, [Groff’s] new novel about a 12th-century nunnery feels downright timely … We need a trusted guide, someone who can dramatize this remote period while making it somehow relevant to our own lives. Groff is that guide largely because she knows what to leave out. Indeed, it’s breathtaking how little ink she spills on filling in historical context … Though Matrix is radically different from Groff’s masterpiece, Fates and Furies, it is, once again, the story of a woman redefining both the possibilities of her life and the bounds of her realm … Although there are no clunky contemporary allusions in Matrix, it seems clear that Groff is using this ancient story as a way of reflecting on how women might survive and thrive in a culture increasingly violent and irrational.”

–Ron Charles ( The Washington Post )

6. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

30 Rave • 10 Positive • 1 Mixed • 1 Pan

Read an interview with Colson Whitehead here

“Whitehead’s own mind has famously gone thataway through nine other books that don’t much resemble one another, but this time he’s hit upon a setup that will stick. He has said he may keep Ray going into another book, and it won’t take you long to figure out why … brings Whitehead’s unwavering eloquence to a mix of city history, niche hangouts, racial stratification, high hopes and low individuals. All of these are somehow worked into a rich, wild book that could pass for genre fiction. It’s much more, but the entertainment value alone should ensure it the same kind of popular success that greeted his last two novels. It reads like a book whose author thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing … The author creates a steady, suspenseful churn of events that almost forces his characters to do what they do. The final choice is theirs, of course … Quaint details aside, this is no period piece … Though it’s a slightly slow starter, Harlem Shuffle has dialogue that crackles, a final third that nearly explodes, hangouts that invite even if they’re Chock Full o’ Nuts and characters you won’t forget even if they don’t stick around for more than a few pages.”

–Janet Maslin ( The New York Times )

Oh William Elizabeth Strout

7. Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)

25 Rave • 7 Positive

Read an interview with Elizabeth Strout here

“… yet another stunning achievement … In spare, no-nonsense, conversational language, Lucy addresses the reader as an intimate confidante … all her characters are complicated, neither good nor bad but beautifully explored and so real in their humanness … Strout’s simple declarative sentences contain continents. Who is better at conveying loneliness, the inability to communicate, to say the deep important things? Who better to illustrate the legacies of imperfect upbringings, of inadequate parents? When William explains that what attracted him to Lucy was her sense of joy, the reader can only agree. This brilliant, compelling, tender novel is—quite simply—a joy.”

–Mameve Medwed ( The Boston Globe )

8. The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.  (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

24 Rave • 3 Positive

Read an excerpt from The Prophets here

“Meeting yourself in media is no guarantee that the mirror will be kind or wanted. Instead, it’s often a jagged glass you catch yourself in before it catches you. And even when you know it’s coming, the blood’s still warm and sharp. What of me, of us, was I to witness in The Prophets , the debut novel of Robert Jones Jr., set on an antebellum plantation in Mississippi? … What I found was an often lyrical and rebellious love story embedded within a tender call-out to Black readers, reaching across time and form to shake something old, mighty in the blood … One of the blessings of The Prophets is its long memory. Jones uses the voices from the prologue to speak across time, to character and reader alike. These short, lyric-driven chapters struck me as instructive and redemptive attempts at healing historical wounds, tracing a map back to the possibility of our native, queer, warrior Black selves. These voices are Black collective knowledge given shape, the oral tradition speaking in your face and setting you right … What a fiery kindness […] this book. A book I entered hesitantly, cautiously, I exited anew—something in me unloosed, running. May this book cast its spell on all of us, restore to us some memory of our most warrior and softest selves.”

–Danez Smith ( The New York Times Book Review )

The Committed_Viet Thanh Nguyen

9. The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove)

19 Rave • 12 Positive • 4 Mixed • 1 Pan

Listen to an interview with Viet Thang Nguyen here

“The novel is […] a homecoming of a particularly volatile sort, a tale of chickens returning to roost, and of a narrator not yet done with the world … Nguyen […] is driven to raptures of expression by the obliviousness of the self-satisfied; he relentlessly punctures the self-image of French and American colonizers, of white people generally, of true believers and fanatics of every stripe. This mission drives the rhetorical intensity that makes his novels so electric. It has nothing to do with plot or theme or character … That voice has made Nguyen a standard-bearer in what seems to be a transformational moment in the history of American literature, a perspectival shift … It’s a voice that shakes the walls of the old literary comfort zone wherein the narratives of nonwhite ‘immigrants’ were tasked with proving their shared humanity to a white audience … May that voice keep running like a purifying venom through the mainstream of our self-regard—through the American dream of distancing ourselves from what we continue to show ourselves to be.”

–Jonathan Dee ( The New Yorker )

Afterparties Anthony Veasna So

10. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So (Ecco)

22 Rave • 5 Positive • 1 Mixed

“The presence of the author is so vivid in Afterparties , Anthony Veasna So’s collection of stories, he seems to be at your elbow as you read … The personality that animates Afterparties is unmistakably youthful, and the stories themselves are mainly built around conditions of youth—vexed and tender relationships with parents, awkward romances, nebulous worries about the future. But from his vantage on the evanescent bridge to maturity, So is puzzling out some big questions, ones that might be exigent from different vantages at any age. The stories are great fun to read—brimming over with life and energy and comic insight and deep feeling.”

–Deborah Eisenberg ( New York Review of Books )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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The Best Book Review Sites in 2023: A Haven for Enthusiastic Readers

Best Book Review Sites

Finding a platform to share your thoughts, discover new books, and connect with fellow bibliophiles is like unearthing hidden treasures in the vast universe of literature.

Whether you’re craving discussions on your latest literary conquest or seeking fresh recommendations to satiate your reading appetite, the internet offers Best Book Review Sites.

However, not all platforms are created equal. To save you from sifting through an ocean of options, we’ve handpicked ten of the finest book review sites guaranteed to cater to your literary desires.

In today’s digital age, book review sites are indispensable resources for avid readers. They offer a sanctuary where bookworms can engage in discussions, explore new titles, and find recommendations tailored to their tastes. Let’s journey through the realms of the finest book review sites available.

Table of Contents

Goodreads : The Best Book Review Sites King.

best book review reddit

Heading over to Goodreads is like stepping into a literary wonderland. This vibrant platform allows you to track and rate books and connects you with friends, authors, and book clubs. Join engaging discussions, explore personalized recommendations, and get lost in the immense collection of user-generated reviews.

Book Riot : Unleash Your Literary Passion

best book review reddit

Book Riot is a dynamic bookish community that celebrates all things literature. From thought-provoking articles and book news to captivating podcasts and bookish merchandise, Book Riot caters to the diverse interests of passionate readers. Discover intriguing book recommendations and join an inclusive community that shares your love for the written word.It is one of the best Book review websites

The New York Times Book Review : A Literary Staple

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Regarding literary authority, The New York Times Book Review is an institution. Delve into their pages to find expertly written reviews, author interviews, and thoughtful essays that offer profound insights into the literary world. Stay informed and discover the latest gems in contemporary literature.

LibraryThing : Connect with Bookish Souls

best book review reddit

LibraryThing is a haven for bibliophiles seeking connection and discovery. Create your virtual library, catalog your reads, and engage in lively conversations with fellow book lovers. With its vast community and powerful recommendation engine, LibraryThing provides a personalized bookish experience that keeps you returning for more.

BookPage: Your Guide to New Releases

best book review reddit

For readers hungry for the latest releases, BookPage is an invaluable resource. This online magazine offers reviews, author interviews, and recommendations, allowing you to stay up-to-date with the literary world. Discover new voices and uncover hidden gems across a wide range of genres.

Kirkus Reviews: Professional Critiques at Your Fingertips

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Kirkus Reviews is renowned for its authoritative and unbiased book critiques. With a team of expert reviewers, they provide insightful analyses of both mainstream and indie titles. Whether you’re a reader, author, or industry professional, Kirkus Reviews offers valuable information to guide your reading choices and stay informed about the latest literary offerings.

Barnes & Noble Reads: Dive into Bookish Delights

best book review reddit

Barnes & Noble Reads is a treasure trove for book enthusiasts. This platform combines articles, author interviews, and curated reading lists to provide a comprehensive bookish experience. Immerse yourself in the world of literature, discover hidden gems, and get inspired by the diverse content offered by Barnes & Noble Reads.

Bookish: A Home for Book Lovers

best book review reddit

True to its name, Bookish is a cozy haven for book lovers. This site features articles, recommendations, author interviews, and engaging book-related content that resonates with readers of all genres. Bookish creates a warm and inviting atmosphere where you can indulge in your love for books and find inspiration for your next reading adventure.

NPR Books: Words That Resonate

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NPR Books combines the power of storytelling with insightful reviews and author interviews. Dive into the literary discussions that NPR Books brings to life through their thought-provoking articles and interviews. Immerse yourself in the world of books, explore diverse perspectives, and engage with the stories that captivate readers worldwide.

These ten Best Book Review Sites stand out as beacons of literary excellence in a digital landscape teeming with book review sites.

From the all-encompassing community of Goodreads to the authoritative voice of The New York Times Book Review, each site offers unique features and perspectives to cater to the needs of enthusiastic readers.

So, bookmark these platforms, dive into their captivating content, and let your literary journey unfold.

  • ChatGPT is not saving conversations! : is it True in 2023?

. Can I trust the book recommendations provided by these review sites?  

Absolutely! These book review sites have established themselves as trusted sources of literary recommendations. Their expert reviews, user-generated content, and engaged communities ensure that the recommendations you find are reliable and tailored to your tastes.

Are these book review sites free to access?

Yes, all the mentioned book review sites are free to access. However, some sites may offer premium features or subscriptions for enhanced experiences or exclusive content.

Can I participate in discussions and share my reviews on these platforms?

Definitely! Most book review sites encourage reader engagement and provide opportunities to participate in discussions, share reviews, and connect with fellow book lovers. Join the community, share your thoughts, and actively participate in vibrant literary conversations.

Can I find book recommendations for specific genres or age groups on these sites?

These book review sites cover various genres and offer recommendations for various age groups. Whether you’re seeking a gripping mystery, a heartwarming romance, or a captivating young adult novel, you’ll find tailored recommendations to suit your preferences.

Are these book review sites accessible on mobile devices?  

Yes, all the mentioned book review sites have mobile-friendly versions or dedicated mobile apps, making it convenient for you to browse, discover, and engage with literary content on the go.

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40+  Best Book Review Podcasts of 2024

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Blog – Posted on Wednesday, Aug 23

40+ best book review podcasts of 2024.

40+  Best Book Review Podcasts of 2024

You might have heard about Bookstagram, BookTok, and BookTube, but have you found your favorite bookish podcast yet? With over a third of the world’s population turning to reading during the Coronavirus pandemic, podcasting in general, and podcasts about books specifically, are seeing a huge boom.

With plenty of book podcasts and reading clubs to choose from, we’ve scoured the airwaves and curated more than 40 of the best podcasts that entertain, inspire, review , and — most importantly — recommend the best books for your reading pleasure.

General book review podcasts

Let’s start with the giants, these podcasts are big and talk about all things books, from literary fiction to niche nonfiction. The books come from both big trad publishers and little indie presses and what ultimately ties them together is the stories at the heart of it all, the experiences of the authors, and the advice we all wish we’d heard earlier. 

1. The Maris Review

Hosted by the cultural critic and bestselling author of Slaughterhouse 90210 , Maris Kreizman, the Maris Review  goes beyond the book covers and tries to get to the core of what inspires authors, from films, to music, to popular phenomena.

Coming to the microphone with warmth, depth of knowledge, and thoughtfulness, Maris’ goal is to let her guests shine and she has a true gift for pulling each morsel of literary goodness from her guests, one succulent bite at a time. Listening to the Maris Review will solidify your love for reading and instill an insatiable hunger for more books — RIP your TBR list.

Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Lit Hub Radio

2. NPR Book of the Day

Want to know if a book is worth reading in 15 minutes or less? NPR’s got your back! The much-loved, bite-sized radio show is a popular podcast that regardless of genre, mood, style, or author, seeks to make reading accessible to everyone, while tackling the big questions of our time.

Whether you’re searching for your next read, or a recommendation for a friend, NPR’s short-form interviews got you covered, keeping you up-to-date with the latest bookish news and your shelves stacked. 

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music

3. Book Fight

Despite the podcast name, Mike Ingram and Tom McAllister are good friends, writers, and long-time editors for Barrelhouse literary magazine and publisher. Taking a lighthearted approach, Mike and Tom engage their audience with humor, candor, and insights into the world of publishing and writing, welcoming listeners to sit in on genuine conversations rather than lectures while answering the question we’re all asking ourselves: what should I read next?

Each week they’re joined by authors whose work ask tough questions, offer harder answers, and seek to connect us all through our love of literature — no fighting involved. 

Apple | Spotify

4. The LRB Podcast

Decreed the ‘leading magazine of culture and ideas of Europe’, the London Review of Books podcast is a weekly conversation on literature hosted by Thomas Jones and Malin Hay. Often joined by their editors across the pond and other writerly guests, the hosts dive deep into the question of what makes great literature great .

With a goal to enliven and enrich their audience, the show is like waking your brain up with a (legal) stimulus better than coffee. From looking at how Ovid influenced the writing of Chaucer to how we can understand contemporary giants like David Foster Wallace through the lens of #MeToo, no work or angle is left unturned with LRB. You’ll find yourself relistening to episodes not just for the joy the podcast brings, but to sharpen your own critical reading and appreciation for the written word. 

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts

5. The Worst Bestsellers

Writer Kait and librarian Renata read books so you don’t have to. Well, that’s not quite true. Intrigued by the appeal of bestsellers, the two read the latest ‘Big Thing’ to try to understand what people love about them, and maybe, what you could love too — or why you might want to avoid it. 

Filled with plenty of humor and joy, Kait and Renata invite listeners into their cozy space and ask themselves “How did this get made?” or “How is something so questionable in quality this big ?”. Swearing they’re not snobs, they read everything with an open yet critical mind and are quick to indulge in a laugh at the book’s expense,never the reader. 

Homepage | Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Deezer

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6. What Should I Read Next?

Aptly named What should I read next? , Anne Bogel’s podcast seeks to give readers all over the ether an answer to that very question. Each week, Anne — also known for her Modern Mrs Darcy blog — sits down with a reader and learns what they love, what they hate, and what they’ve read before, all in a bid to guide them towards what they should read next. With an encyclopedic mind for books (and a great team to back her up), Anne’s suggestions are always on point, as she has something up her sleeve for every type of reader. A bookish agony aunt of sorts, Anne wants you to read and love what you read. Don’t we all Anne, don’t we all…

Apple | Spotify | Overcast | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

7. Fully Booked

From the editors of Kirkus Reviews, Fully Booked : is a podcast unafraid to tell you which books to pass on and which are worth your time.

More like a coffee shop discussion, Fully Booked hosts regular author take-overs, inviting you directly into their minds and keeping the content constantly fresh. So clear your reading schedule: this podcast will keep you “fully booked” for the foreseeable future. 

Apple | PodcastOne | Spotify  

8. Book Riot

In Book Riot’s mainstage podcast, the editors of the website, Jeff and Rebecca, offer exciting and satisfying book recommendations to their listeners: titles that may otherwise have flown below your radar or bestsellers you were ready to write off. 

With eyes and ears on the publishing industry, they discuss everything from self-publised gems to traditionally published giants. They’re unapologetic about their opinions — making for an entertaining listen — but do not claim to be all-knowing tyrants of taste. Readers should all find their own happy space in literature, and Book Riot wants to help you do just that.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher  

9. You’re Booked

Ever wonder what’s on your favorite author’s shelf? Or what book they borrowed and never returned to the library? Daisy Buchanan’s You’re Booked asks questions like “What is a forbidden book you read under the covers?”, or “What intellectual-doorstopper do you pretend to have read?”

If you love books and loooove learning why people pick what they do, then Daisy’s podcast is for you. From treasured memories of reading, to wasted hours of scribble, Daisy and her guests seek to help readers read more and revel in the company of other book lovers.

Apple | Spotify | Acast

10. Celebrity Memoir Book Club

Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton are two New York comedians who read celebrity memoirs to give you the low-down in a fun and informative way. The hilarious duo wade through the sometimes delightful, sometimes insightful, but mostly egocentric world of celebrity memoirs with such humor and wit that their review can be just as good as the book itself. 

The Celebrity Memoir Book Club is a hilarious take on an industry that often takes itself too seriously. This is the perfect podcast to settle into if you just want to have a good time and love a bit of juicy gossip. 

Apple | Spotify | Audioboom | Youtube

11. The Stacks

Traci Thomas is your host for The Stacks book review podcast, and if your TBR list isn’t bursting already, this is an absolute must-listen. Probing her guests with questions relating to which reads changed their life, which authors made them see the world in a new light, and how politics and race are now more important than ever in writing, Traci and her guests breaks down a new book every week — one onion layer at a time. Even if not every book takes your fancy, the discussion is thought-provoking, humorous, and always engaging. It's well-worth your time.

Apple | Podcast Addict

12. KCRW Bookworm

KCRW Bookworm began airing in 1989 with the goal of making reading accessible, encouraging both entertaining and thoughtful writing, and provoking listeners to make reading a lifelong habit.

Legendary Michael Silverblatt interviews guests from every corner of the publishing world and the show is underpinned by a deep love for reading not just as a pastime, but a way of life.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio

13. London Review Bookshop Podcast

Not to be confused with the LRB podcast, the London Review Bookshop podcast is recorded in the eponymous bookshop in Bloomsbury, London, where two new authors come together each episode to discuss life, love, books, and writing in front of a live crowd of customers. 

From fiction to poetry, nonfiction, and politics, this show gives authors a soapbox to stand on and makes for an intellectually stimulating and entertaining listening experience that will give you plenty of fodder for debate. 

14. Radio 4 Books & Authors

BBC’s radio stations are institutions in and of themselves, but their podcast Books & Authors on channel 4 is something else altogether. Compiling two similar shows into one book review podcast — Open Books and A Good Read is hosted by Harriet Gilbert and discusses her favorite reads, upcoming titles, and the books you really should read. Cobbled together with guests you’ll love, these articulate and witty discussions are often just as interesting as the books themselves, so come prepared for books to be read, thoughts to be had, and friends to be made. 

Apple | Spotify | BBC Sounds

15. The Guardian Books Podcast

Though it officially aired its last episode in 2022, we highly recommend that you go back and mine the rich backlog of The Guardian Books podcast for a phenomenal source of in-depth interviews with authors from all over the world. Covering every topic and genre under the sun, the hosts know how to sell a book to their readers, while also deepening your knowledge and understanding of the context it was written in. If you’re looking for one of the greats of book reviews — and maybe some backlist titles to add to your shelves — this is it.

Homepage | Apple | Spotify | Soundcloud

16. Between the Covers

If you’re in search of a profound listening experience, then go no further. David Naimon’s Between the Covers is the rich and well-researched conversation on literature you never knew you were missing, produced by the Portland-based publishers Tin House. And if you don’t want to take our word for it, it has been recognized by none others than the Guardian, Book Riot, the Financial Times, and BuzzFeed as “one of the most notable book podcasts for writers and readers around.” 

Making sure to research his guests thoroughly, David approaches each episode with care, inviting writers of all ages and voices to take you on a journey into the world of books, guiding you towards not only the next book you could read, but the next story you could love. 

Apple | Stitcher

17. All the Books

All the Books is a podcast dedicated to new releases, specializing in what’s hot, what’s new, what’s quirky, and what’s recommended.

Full of recommendations to pick and choose from, host Liberty Hardy (and her adorable cats) are purr-fect companions for your morning commute, a stroll through the forest, or an evening in front of the fireplace. As entertaining as it is witty, the goal of this show is to to keep you informed and make sure you don’t miss your favorite author’s newest title or any upstart debutants

Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

18. Debutiful

If you really want to keep an eye out for the next big thing, this debuts-only club, hosted by Adam Vitcavage, is a podcast entirely devoted to first time book publications. Together with his guests, Adam talks about writing habits, inspiration, and the process of getting your first book published.

If the book doesn’t always sound like your jam, there’s a wealth of knowledge and inspiration to be had in each episode, as authors share ideas and intriguing suggestions for craft practice as well as candid glimpses into what goes into the ‘making-of’ a debut...

19. TwoLitChicks

Hosted by writers and avid readers Julia Boggio and Ed Crocker, TwoLitChicks is a podcast about loving books and loving writing books. Setup like a Desert Island Discs, the hosts talk with authors about the books they read which changed their lives and how that affected their writing. Divulging books published across the entire publishing spectrum, be they traditionally or self-published , Julia and Ed get to the core of what makes these authors and their work tick. From beautiful debuts to written-word masters, TwoLitChicks cracks plenty of eggs of writerly wisdom.

20. Slate’s Audiobook Club

You’re already looking for podcasts on books, so why not podcasts on audiobooks? Hosted by Slate magazine’s critics, this audiobook podcast is perfect if you’re looking for insights on what does well in the audio format. Taking the form of a panel review show, the group discusses classics, new releases, underdogs, and forgotten gems, always with the auditory experience in mind. 

For readers who are listeners , this pod will give you plenty of solid recommendations to choose from. That’s if you can remember to write them down. Your TBR has been warned.

Diversity in publishing podcasts

While self-publishing allows many more voices to be heard and stories to be told, one of the most important changes taking place in the industry at large is the opportunities for diversity in publishing . The podcasts below champion voices that have not always been given their due space, discussing award winning works and stories that will shape our next generations .

21. Well-Read Black Girl

Glory Edim is not only the writer and founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, but also an advocate of the written word through the podcast medium. Her goal has always been to give readers the literary booster shot they never knew they needed and, as a host, she seeks deep and honest conversations to bring us all together via books. The WRBG podcast explores not just the power of books, but their place in a world where art, social justice, and literature are colliding. From paying homage to iconic literary women, to promoting the most important voices of today, Glory and her guests discuss what they’re reading, what it means to be “well-read,” and what you should pick up next.

Apple | Spotify | Stitcher

22. Minorities in Publishing

When Jenn Baker began the Minorities in Publishing podcast her goal wasn’t just to bridge the gap in diversity in publishing, but to blow the doors down and give authors the love they deserve. With topics ranging far and wide, Jenn discusses the publishing industry, books and authors writing fantastic stories, and the best tips for those wishing to write themselves. 

With authors and genres spanning from children’s , to YA , graphic novels , upmarket fiction and beyond, the goal here is to show you how many storytellers roam this planet with unique stories to tell, making us believe we can do it too. 

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio | TuneIn Radio

23. Storykeepers Podcast

Hosted by Jennifer David and Waubgeshig Rice, Storykeepers is unlike any other book review podcast around. They only champion Indigenous voices. From authors, publishers, booksellers, to readers, Storykeepers treasures the experiences of Indigenous, First Nation, Inuit, and Métis stories.

Whether it’s debating an idea, laughing over a character, or discussing the changing landscape and opportunities within Indigenous publishing, Jennifer and Waubgeshig aim to bring these fantastic stories and authors to more people’s attention. Don’t miss this one.

Apple | Spotify | Amazon

Coming to you from Amman, Jordan, and Rabat, Morocco, friends Ursula Lindsey and M Lynx Qualey, talk about all things books and publishing in the modern Arabic-speaking world. 

Named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820, Bulaq is indispensable for anyone wanting a contextualized view of translated Arabic works in English. Together, Ursula and M Lynx discuss the books which are changing them, have changed them, and that they hope might change you too, showcasing the richness of modern Arabic literature.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Deezer | Anghami | Castbox

25. What’s My Therapist Reading?

Hosted by therapists Caleb Matthews and Mary Hoofnagle, What’s My Therapist Reading? is a podcast dedicated to both fiction and nonfiction titles, but with a twist. Their emphasis is on bringing visibility to mental health, physical and mental disabilities, and if their representations in literature help or hinder people’s understanding. From episodes dealing with autism to family dynamics, the two discuss triggers in books and how the intended audience of a book may differ to a reading audience. Diversity in publishing is leading to more and more titles being released that represent all of the reading audience, not just the loudest voices.

Apple | Spotify  

26. Books & Boba

Hosted by Marvin Yueh and Reera Yoo, Books & Boba discusses Asian and Asian American literature , looking at everything from contemporary fiction, historical fiction , sci-fi , fantasy , YA, nonfiction , thrillers , graphic novels, and memoirs — always delivering great recommendations and thoughtful insights.

With the dynamism and banter of best friends, Marvin and Reera spotlighting the industry at large, while highlighting emerging authors alongside (sometimes) forgotten classics. Run, don’t walk to your nearest podcast distributor to tune in.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Radio Public

Romance fiction book review podcasts

Are you looking for the next read to sweep you off your feet ? Presenting you with sizzling heroes and smoldering heroines, these podcasts spread the word on the biggest genre in publishing and bring the authors behind the stories to the forefront. Read on to find your perfect match.

27. Big Gay Fiction Podcast

Husbands Jeff Adams and Will Knauss created the Big Gay Fiction podcast for one reason and one reason only: to spread their love of queer fiction , and specifically romance queer fiction. Each week, they bring in authors they adore, books that they want to spotlight, and ideas worth discussing in the queer space of publishing.

Their interview style is as friendly as it is charming, making their listeners feel as comfortable as their guests. If you’re looking for witty views on the MM genre and more than a few great reads to add to your pile, then Jeff and Will have more than enough up their sleeves.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | Youtube

28. The Sapphic book review

Hosted by Laura Green, the Sapphic Book Review champions all things Sapphic fiction. From reviews of books to interviews with the authors themselves, Laura asks hard-hitting questions which shed new light on sapphic love in literature. If you’ve been wondering which book you should read next and have been struggling to find your sapphic lit fix, Laura has you covered.

Homepage | Apple | Spotify | Amazon Music | Overcast | Castro

29. Sentimental Garbage

Whether it makes you blush or makes you cry, Caroline O’Donoghue’s Sentimental Garbage is a book review podcast that advocates for all the books we love — even if society makes us feel like we shouldn’t. Beginning as a self-professed chick-lit podcast, with some good Sex and the City detours, Sentimental Garbage has grown larger to encompass a wider definition of guilty pleasures.

Caroline’s goal is interviewing authors and guests that are oh so relatable because, at the end of the day, a good book is like a companion. Trading quick quips, Caroline and her guests are always a pleasure to listen to as they discuss books they love and hate, tropes they despise and get giddy over, and characters that make them swoon. For them, stories are not about how much you know by the end, but about how much you feel. 

Apple | Deezer | Acast  

Children & YA lit book review podcasts

Whether you’re trying to encourage your kids to read more, are searching for the next Percy Jackson or Hunger Games , or learning how to make your dreams a reality — the pods below are all about books, authors, and writing in the Children’s, Middle Grade, and Young Adult sphere.

30. Hey YA!

What Book Riot is doing for Young Adult lit is what everyone else wants to do. Their Hey YA podcast may not feature Outkast, but brings great reads to the growing generation. With stories and styles from everyone’s favorite genres, Kelly, Eric, and Sarah recommend books which aim to be as inclusive as possible, as page-turning as possible, as hashtagable as possible, and — more than that — books readers of all ages can see themselves in. 

If your TBR list isn’t bursting at the seams after discovering Hey YA then you haven’t listened close enough. No longer just a stepping stone to great literature, YA has eeked out a legitimate and thriving space of its own, so if you think YA deserves more attention, then you’ll find like-minded people here.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher

31. First Draft Podcast

First Draft with Sarah Enni at the helm is a podcast for storytellers to talk about how art informs their lives. Sarah comes to each episode with the honest intention of getting to know her guests, asking great questions and getting even better answers. First Draft will introduce you to new sides of the publishing industry, while discussing the next best-book-you-haven’t-read-yet.

While not strictly children’s and YA, Sarah does talk to a lot of children’s and YA authors. She underlines the importance of these works because it is often the books we read as children that define us as adult readers. Though currently on hiatus, you can still revel in the long list of past episodes available via select podcast distributors.

32. Write or Die Podcast

Write or Die isn’t just about the joy of storytelling, but about the gritty, infuriating, and pull-your-hair moments when you want to give up but don’t. Claribel A. Ortega and Kat Cho are both powerhouse authors in the YA realm and invite you to join them on their Write or Die podcast, where you’ll learn to love even the parts of publishing you hate. 

Bursting with inspiration, this podcast is about the stories which make the storytellers. Great for writers of all ages and genres, the lessons here are just as fantastic as the books they discuss. If you’re looking for a light in the dark tunnel of writing, this is it.

Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Radio Public | Pocket Casts

33. 88 Cups of Tea

While Yin Chang is perhaps better known for her work as an actor, she’s always been a prolific reader and writer. Driven to help others tell their story, 88 Cups of Tea is a space to sit with industry professionals and authors and get to the heart of what drives them. From inciting incidents to query letters , Yin delivers all she can to help writers find their way.

Of course, along the way she discusses plenty of books, inspiring and thought-provoking quotes, and the realities of publishing. 88 Cups of Tea has built a community of readers and writers that inspire and entertain each other in the process of creating the next big thing. Pens down and ears up, and get ready to find your reading or writing mojo with this podcast.

Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Player FM

34. This Creative Life

Whether leading solo-episodes or riding shotgun with a guest, Sara Zarr sits down to shine a light on the bizarre and satisfying world of writing in her podcast This Creative Life . Focusing on the practical tips and psychological aspects of writing, This Creative Life makes a point of inviting guests to share their life experiences and how they came to write their books. 

From plotting to pantsing, This Creative Life is a podcast which inspires writers to constantly evolve and create. It is the act of creation which nourishes us, and the act of telling our stories which makes them real. From children’s to YA and beyond, no story is too small or too big to be told, or no failure too grand to come back from. Sarah endeavors to inspire the next generation to tell the story of their generation.

Apple | Spotify | Amazon Music

35. Your Kid’s Next Read

If children are our hope for a better future, then Allison Tait and Megan Daley are going to help you find the books to foster your kids reading habits. Co-founders of the Your Kid’s Next Read community, these author and teacher-librarians kept receiving and asking themselves the same questions so they made YKNR to try to find answers. Discussing everything from YA blockbusters, middle grade adventures, and junior fiction to getting those training wheels off, their book recommendations are top notch.

Full of tips to get your little ones loving reading, they also recommend what else they could be into. This podcast is lighthearted, fun, engaging, and geared towards helping your kid find their next read. If you want to bulk up your kids reading list, or encourage those who wish to spread their wings and write, this one’s for you. 

Homepage | Apple | Spotify

‘Classics’ of literature book review podcasts

We all have lists of books we wished we’d read, have meant to have read, or just never got around to reading. These podcasts are for you. More than that, they make the case for why the classics are deemed ‘classics’, and give a few recommendations for books to read before you die along the way.

36. Backlisted

When the book is just as much a guest as the guest themselves, you know you’re onto a winning formula. Hosted by John Mitchinson and Andy Miller, Backlisted invites writers to bring a book they wish more people knew about. Championing the underdogs, these episodes are often thoughtful observations on style and writing, referencing great ideas which may have gone unnoticed by the public at large. 

This is a podcast for those who want to read widely and expand their idea of what constitutes a ‘classic’, beyond Austen and Dickens , and contemplate what distinguishes truly outstanding writing.

Homepage | Apple | Acast | Overcast

37. Overdue

We all have those books we’ve been meaning to read; the ones that sit at the bottom of your TBR list, dusty and mothballed under the weight of everything else. Podcasters Andrew and Craig are the same, but now they’re doing something about it. Overdue tackles those classics you should’ve read, those obscure plays referenced by your obscure writing professor, or just those books you never got around to reading. Just as funny as it is analytical, Andrew and Craig delve into books you’d never thought to read and the ones you claim you’ve read — from childhood oddities to canon soliloquies, Overdue brings book reviews to a whole new, hilarious level. Get your pen ready to take some notes.

38. Novel Pairings

Self-professed nerdy bookworms Sarah and Chelsey, the hosts of Novel Pairings , are on a mission to make the classics readable, relatable, and, most importantly, relevant. Armed with good taste, better banter, and incredible recommendations, Novel Pairings breaks down the false perception that you have to be ‘educated’ to enjoy classics and keeps the classics exciting while avoiding the pomp. 

Sci-fi/fantasy & comics podcasts

Speculative fiction has fired up the imaginations of readers and writers for centuries. With hundreds of classics already written in this space, these podcasts keep an eye to the past while looking towards the future, diving into little-known sub-genres and household favorites alike. Tune in: there are new worlds to be explored!

39. The Legendarium Podcast

Welcome to the lands of speculation and worldbuilding.Hosted by Craig, Ryan, Kyle, and Stephanie, the Legendarium Podcast is an epic call to adventure for all things sci-fi and fantasy. 

Appreciating the classics as much as the new releases, the Legendarium quartet and their guests offer glimpses at the industry, views on books they love and hate, and recommendations on what to read next. If you want to hang out and listen to your favorite authors talk shop, grab a tankard of ale or a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and prepare to be entertained.

40. SFF Yeah!

SFF Yeah! fails in only one thing: keeping your book-buying ban intact. Sharifah and Jenn divulge their favorites as well as regretted reads, taking the time to discuss what works and what doesn’t, along with what makes it uniquely special in the speculative genre. Aware that we’re all different, if there’s anything they feel that might be triggering, Sharifah and Jenn always preface books and ideas with a warning, but, as we’re all here for the books (and a little bit of the chatter) they’re not shy to predict your next favorite read. Heck, it’s the future! Even if it’s 1984 …

41. The Stack

If you like the graphic novel artform then this is the space for you. This tasty podcast comes to you every week from the Comic Book Club and is hosted by Alex, Just, and Pete, discussing all things comics and visual storytelling.

Like a mashup of your much preferred roller rink DJ (err yeah) and a real book review radio show, the Stack aims to get you loving comics and appreciating the craft of this artform as much as you would any other. With good taste, good chats, and even better recommendations, they could make even the staunchest Marvel fan into a DC dabbler.

Apple | Podbean | Google Podcasts | Radio Public | iHeart Radio

If you’re looking for more auditory content, why not check out our article on the 60 best audibooks of all time or our tips on where you can find free audiobooks ?

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The Best Books of 2019: 50 Reads That Stole Our Hearts

Here at Reedsy Discovery, one of our favorite year-end activities is making Best of lists. So that’s exactly what we did! We’ve compiled 50 of the best books of 2019, from fantasy to suspense to biographies and memoirs, and everything in between.

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ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

I tested Samsung's flagship laptop and it gave my MacBook Pro a run for its money

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Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra

Pros and cons.

  • Large OLED touchscreen display
  • High-performance laptop with discrete GPU
  • Fantastic battery life and efficiency
  • Useful Samsung features (if you can use them)
  • Large, physical trackpad leads to false inputs
  • Noticeable amount of bloatware/ads for the price

ZDNET's buying advice

On the tail end of spring-season laptop releases, Samsung's Galaxy Book 4 Ultra shines with one of the best displays on the market -- now available with touchscreen support, performance configuration options that should satisfy content creators, work users, and even gamers, and battery life that will impress everyone.

The Ultra laptop still suffers from similar setbacks as its predecessor, which I tested last year , including the large, physical trackpad that either doesn't register taps at times or becomes too sensitive to inputs (the duality of this trackpad is quite baffling, I know), the lack of a full-size SD card slot, and a few too many Samsung-owned apps (read: bloatware, if you're not a Samsung user) and ad pop-ups that shouldn't be a talking point at this price.

You can expect to pay between $2,400 to $3,000 for the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, which is a big ask, but the performance and hardware package you're getting in return justifies the price point. My buying advice is to wait for one of Samsung's sales events (usually during major holidays) and take advantage of its trade-in program, which can deduct up to $600 more. Case in point: you can pick up the highest configuration, which comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, and 32GB of RAM, for $500 off at the time of writing.

Specifications

How i tested the samsung galaxy book 4 ultra.

I've used the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra as my daily driver for the past two weeks. My normal usage includes browsing the web, answering emails, writing articles like this, watching videos on YouTube and Netflix, and editing photos and videos for work and leisure. 

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra comes in a new Moonstone Gray color that looks very similar to last year's Graphite.

Most of the time, the laptop is either hooked to an external monitor (meaning I try to run as many windows of apps and services at the same time as possible) or used in tandem with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with the help of Quick Share and Second Screen. Both cross-platform features worked very smoothly, though they're mainly compatible with Samsung devices and Samsung devices only.

For performance testing, I ran Cinebench 2024 to calculate the single, multi, and GPU scores of the laptop, while also taking notes on day-to-day aspects like fan speed and loudness, system temperature, frame rate drops, and more.

What are the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's best features?

Big, touchscreen, OLED display:  Need I say more? When I reviewed last year's Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, I mentioned that "a display that is both touchscreen-enabled and glossy is a recipe for a visual disaster." With the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, Samsung basically said "Hold my OLED," and gave its 16-inch display touchscreen support and a new anti-reflective cover glass. These two features make interacting with a laptop this powerful one of the most intuitive, visually satisfying experiences I've tested. 

Also:  I tested Dell's most underrated laptop and it has clever features at an accessible price

Stretching out an image in order to erase blemishes in Photoshop just hits different when you can pinch-zoom with your fingers. (Now if only Samsung can add S Pen support.) While the Galaxy Book's new display is not as anti-glare as say, Samsung's S95D TV or Galaxy S24 Ultra , I've had no problem using it beside the biggest window at ZDNET's New York office. Mind you we're situated on the highest floor of the building, so sunlight is the second most prevalent thing after awkward elevator rides.

Spacious keyboard with surprising tactility:  I'm not as passionate about keyboards as my ZDNET colleague Cesar Cadenas , but I type enough every day to have a feel for what's good and what's not. That's to say I rate the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra keyboard a 7/10; it's spacious, with a full-on number pad for the data crunchers, a dedicated Copilot key for quick access to the Windows AI assistant, and quiet yet tactile feedback on each key that invites you to keep typing and typing.

The keys are evenly spaced, with a number pad, a Copilot key, and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

The one quirk with the laptop is that it takes a worrying amount of time to boot up. I often found myself staring blankly at the screen after pressing and holding the power button, only for the Samsung logo to appear right as I was prepared to search for a charger. 

No, seriously; the charger, which only fields one USB-C port, is massive.

Battery life that lasts and lasts:  That is my flawless segue into charging and battery life, two other aspects I'm a big fan of with the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra. Save for the unwieldy, cheese-slice-sized charger that comes in the box, there's not much for me to complain about when it comes to powering the laptop and its endurance. 

Also: I tested LG's 17-inch Gram Pro and it's the big-screen, lightweight laptop to beat

On average, I got roughly ten hours of usage before needing to top up the device. That's impressive for a 16-inch, 3K OLED laptop that's powered by a discrete graphics card. When I did need to charge, the proprietary power brick gave the Galaxy Book a 55% charge after 30 minutes.

Intel Core Ultra and discrete GPU make all the difference : You're not wrong to chalk up the improved efficiency of the Galaxy Book to the new Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9 chips powering the unit. I'd do the same. When you combine the backend capabilities of Intel's NPU with a discrete Nvidia GeForce 4050/4070 GPU that's no longer the newest on the market but still great, you get a system that runs most apps and services fluidly, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and gaming on Steam. 

Here are the Cinebench scores, compared to competing laptops, for reference. While the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's scores won't set any records, they're in line with the industry standard and competitive with Apple's flagship MacBook, which is great to see.

What I'd like to see in the next model 

Less bloatware and ads, more features for everyone:  For a near-$3,000 laptop, the amount of pre-installed apps, pop-up ads to download McAfee's antivirus service, and Samsung-exclusive features lessens what would otherwise be a premium user experience. Such things are common on cheaper laptops because they allow manufacturers to offload much of the retail cost. In Samsung's case, it's charging more for a laptop that's not shy about selling you services you may or may not need. That's a no-no for me.

Also: The best laptops of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

A smaller haptic trackpad:  If I could fix anything hardware-related, it would be the trackpad. While the abnormally large trackpad on the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is useful in theory, the off-centered placement of it meant I'd frequently move the mouse or, worse yet, register a click when my palm was simply resting down. 

The trackpad is also a physical one, meaning it presses down instead of mimicking the feel of it via haptic motors like on the MacBook Pro and Dell XPS . As a result, when I did want to click, drag, or tap on something, I had to find the "sweet spot" on the trackpad to register it properly. Otherwise, pressing too close to the corners and edges would oftentimes not register anything at all.

Final thought  

While it's easy to recommend the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra as the "MacBook Pro for Samsung users," several upgrades this year, including the Intel Core Ultra chip for AI applications, touchscreen display, and improved battery life, make the laptop a formidable pickup for just about every Windows user. Just note that if you're a content creator who relies on full-sized SD cards to transfer photos and videos, you'll want to pick up a dongle or docking station to work with the Galaxy Book. There's also no charging port on the laptop's right side, so you'll want to think twice when situating near an outlet.

Alternatives to consider 

Featured reviews.

  • Entertainment
  • The True Story Behind the Surprise Netflix Hit <em>Baby Reindeer</em>

The True Story Behind the Surprise Netflix Hit Baby Reindeer

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Netflix series Baby Reindeer .

In his one-man play-turned-hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer , Scottish comedian Richard Gadd recounts the harrowing true story of how his experience with being stalked forced him to confront a buried trauma.

Playing a fictionalized version of himself named Donny Dunn, Gadd unpacks the years-long stalking and harassment campaign he endured at the hands of a middle-aged woman he refers to by the pseudonym Martha (played with a chilling intensity by Jessica Gunning) while struggling to make it as a stand-up and writer in London. As is depicted in the show, the stalking began in the wake of Gadd being groomed, repeatedly sexually assaulted, and raped by an older male TV industry mentor (named Darrien in the show and played by Tom Goodman-Hill)—an ordeal that left him reeling emotionally, questioning his sexuality, and wrestling with extreme self-loathing. Still, Gadd doesn't shy away from his own complicity in what transpired with Martha, frequently painting himself in a negative light as the story unfolds over the course of seven episodes.

“It would be unfair to say she was an awful person and I was a victim. That didn’t feel true,” he told The Guardian in 2019 following the sold-out inaugural run of the Baby Reindeer play. "I did loads of things wrong and made the situation worse. I wasn’t a perfect person [back then], so there’s no point saying I was."

When Gadd debuted his one-man show at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it had been two years since he had seen or heard from Martha. Three years earlier, while the stalking was still in full swing, he had won the festival's top prize for his comedy show Monkey See, Monkey Do , which explored his experience as a survivor of sexual violence. The Baby Reindeer Netflix series, which is currently at number two on the streamer's most-watched charts following its release last week, is an amalgam of the two stage shows.

"It felt like a risky thing—to do a 'warts and all' version of the story where I held my hands up to the mistakes I had made with Martha," Gadd wrote in a piece that accompanied the show's debut . "The foolish flirting. The cowardly excuses as to why we could not be together. Not to mention the themes of internalized prejudice and sexual shame that underpinned it all. The graphic details of the drugging and grooming and sexual violence I had experienced only a few years before...But equally I could not shy away from the truth of what had happened to me. This was a messy, complicated situation. But one that needed to be told, regardless."

Here's what to know about the true story behind Baby Reindeer .

What happened with Martha?

Jessica Gunning as Martha in Baby Reindeer

Similar to how the show begins, Gadd has said that the stalking started after he gave Martha a free cup of tea when she came into the London pub where he was working in 2015. “At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer,” he told The Times . "Then she started to invade my life, following me, turning up at my gigs, waiting outside my house, sending thousands of voicemails and emails."

Over the next four and a half years, Gadd recounts that Martha sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours' worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters, and a variety of strange gifts. Every email that appears in the Netflix series is a message that Gaad received in real life. She also harassed a number of people who were close to Gaad, including his parents and a trans woman (named Teri in the show and played by Nava Mau) whom he had begun dating shortly before the stalking began.

When Gadd tried to go to the police, he discovered that the laws surrounding harassment and abuse are, in his own words, "so stupid." Despite the fact that the show presents Martha as having been previously convicted on similar charges, Gadd was told he needed concrete evidence of direct threats for authorities to take any action.

"They look for black and white, good and evil, and that’s not how it works," he told The Independent . "You can really affect someone’s life within the parameters of legality, and that is sort of mad."

How do things stand today?

Richard Gaad as Donny Dunn in Baby Reindeer

In the show, Martha ultimately receives a nine-month prison sentence and five-year restraining order for stalking Donny. In real life, Gaad has never disclosed the details of how the situation was resolved beyond the fact that he had "mixed feelings" about it.

"I can’t emphasize enough how much of a victim she is in all this," he told The Independent . "Stalking and harassment is a form of mental illness. It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she’s unwell, and the system’s failed her."

As for how Gaad's sexual assault has continued to impact his life, the finale culminates in a closing sequence in which Donny shows up at Darrien's home to confront him only to accept an offer to work on his new show instead. A distressed Donny then finds himself at a bar where he is offered a drink on the house in a moment that flips his first interaction with Martha on its head.

"I think that was almost the most truthful scene of the entire show. What abuse does is it creates psychological damage as well as physical damage," Gadd told GQ . "There’s a pattern where a lot of people who have been abused feel like they need their abusers. I don’t think it was a cynical ending, it was showing an element of abuse that hadn’t been seen on television before, which is, unfortunately, the deeply entrenched, negative, psychological effects of attachment you can sometimes have with your abuser."

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  • User reviews

Challengers

Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor in Challengers (2024)

Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend. Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend. Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend.

  • Luca Guadagnino
  • Justin Kuritzkes
  • Josh O'Connor
  • 68 User reviews
  • 131 Critic reviews
  • 83 Metascore
  • 1 nomination

Official Trailer

  • Tashi Donaldson

Mike Faist

  • Art Donaldson

Josh O'Connor

  • Patrick Zweig
  • Umpire (New Rochelle Final)

Bryan Doo

  • Art's Physiotherapist

Shane T Harris

  • Art's Security Guard
  • (as a different name)
  • Tashi's Mother
  • Line Judge (New Rochelle Final)
  • TV Sports Commentator (Atlanta 2019)

A.J. Lister

  • Leo Du Marier

Doria Bramante

  • Woman With Headset (Atlanta 2019)

Christine Dye

  • Motel Front Desk Clerk
  • Motel Husband

Kevin Collins

  • New Rochelle Parking Lot Guard
  • USTA Official …
  • All cast & crew
  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Taking On "Challengers"

More like this.

Civil War

Did you know

  • Trivia To prepare for her role, Zendaya spent three months with pro tennis player-turned-coach, Brad Gilbert .

Tashi Donaldson : I'm taking such good care of my little white boys.

  • Connections Referenced in OWV Updates: The Seventh OWV Awards - Last Update of 2022 (2022)

User reviews 68

  • Apr 24, 2024
  • When will Challengers be released? Powered by Alexa
  • April 26, 2024 (United States)
  • United States
  • Official Site
  • Những Kẻ Thách Đấu
  • Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • Pascal Pictures
  • See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

  • Runtime 2 hours 11 minutes
  • Dolby Digital
  • Dolby Atmos

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    A book review should read like it could only be written about that book. If the review reads like it could have been written about any other book, it is too vague. If you only have to change 5-10 words in the review to make it about any other book, it is too vague. We encourage reviewers to include quotes from their primary texts

  7. The Best Places to Find Book Recommendations on Reddit

    On the flip side, r/TrueLit is a discussion-based subreddit with a focus on classics and literary fiction. Like r/Books, there's also a weekly recommendations thread that allows users to make requests. If you're feeling burnt out on fantasy and YA, or simply want to branch out of your comfort zone, this could be a great subreddit to check out.

  8. The Best Books According to Reddit

    Books on finding love. Human behavior and psychology. Niche nonfiction. Below I'll break down the best books Reddit recommends for each. 1. Self-Help and Professional Development Books. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Feeling Good by David Burns. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

  9. The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2020 ‹ Literary Hub

    The word "best" is always a misnomer, but these are my personal favorite book reviews of 2020. Nate Marshall on Barack Obama's A Promised Land (Chicago Tribune) A book review rarely leads to a segment on The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, but that's what happened to Nate Marshall last month. I love how he combines a traditional review ...

  10. The Best Books of 2022, According to Reddit

    The books community on Reddit has released their list of the best books of 2022.The books were chosen by individual threads made for each category: Best Debut, Best Literary Fiction, Best Mystery or Thriller, Best Short Story Collection/Graphic Novel/Poetry, Best Science Fiction, Best Fantasy, Best LitRPG, Best YA, Best Romance, Best Horror, and Best Nonfiction.

  11. What are the ten best books you recommend to read before your die?

    Neil Gaiman Books; Book Club Recommendations; Easy Read Fiction Books; Books About Grief And Bereavement; Fantasy Books For Beginners; Best Page-Turner Books; Favorite Fantasy Books; Best Science Fiction Books; Terry Pratchett First Book Recommendation; Coming-Of-Age Fantasy Books; Best Kindle Unlimited Books 2022; Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels ...

  12. 15 Of The Best Book Recommendation Sites To Find Your Next Book

    Here's our full StoryGraph review. 20. r/books. Numbering at almost 21 million subscribers, Reddit's main book subreddit is a haven for book discussion and recommendations. Want to know what Reddit users across the massive site are reading? There's Reddit Reads for that.

  13. Reddit's 15 Best Books of All Time, Ranked (2023 Edition)

    Accolades: Time's 100 Best Books of All Time, Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, Modern Library's 100 Best Novels; 7. "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. Published: 1951; Genres: Coming of age, realistic fiction; Accolades: Time's 100 Best YA Books of All Time, The Guardian's 100 Best Novels, BBC's 100 Most Influential ...

  14. The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2022 ‹ Literary Hub

    With that in mind, most of my picks for the best book reviews of 2022 were written in the first person this year. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub's "Rotten Tomatoes for books.". *. Adam Dalva on Stefan Zweig's Chess Story, translated by Joel Rotenberg (Los Angeles Review of Books) Dalva's review of Chess Story is a great example ...

  15. 10 of the Best Goodreads Reviewers to Follow

    How I Picked the Best Goodreads Reviewers. Goodreads has "Top 99" lists for "most popular reviewers" (i.e., most liked reviews), "most followed reviewers," and "top reviewers" (most books reviewed), tracked by week, year, or all-time. A number of my picks on the "most popular" reviewer list, but some are more under the radar.

  16. The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021 ‹ Literary Hub

    From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub's "Rotten Tomatoes for books.". Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert's Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry (New York Times) Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her ...

  17. Book Marks: The book review aggregator Book Marks

    Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to…. The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Cont…. The King of Diamonds: The Search for the Elusive…. The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary R…. The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, a…. Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Hist….

  18. The Best Reviewed Books of 2021:

    2. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. (Knopf) 28 Rave • 24 Positive • 6 Mixed. " Klara and the Sun confirms one's suspicion that the contemporary novel's truest inheritor of Nabokovian estrangement—not to mention its best and deepest Martian—is Ishiguro ….

  19. Bridgerton Novels, Ranked From Worst to Best IMO [SPOILERS FOR ...

    8. The Duke and I: while this is the novel that started it all, that rape scene is really messed up, and Daphne and Simon are the most boring couple out of all of them. Also this is the only book with almost no Eloise, while Eloise is very much still in London and there is no reason for that. One can never have too much Eloise.

  20. The Best Book Review Sites in 2023: A Haven for Enthusiastic Readers

    Barnes & Noble Reads is a treasure trove for book enthusiasts. This platform combines articles, author interviews, and curated reading lists to provide a comprehensive bookish experience. Immerse yourself in the world of literature, discover hidden gems, and get inspired by the diverse content offered by Barnes & Noble Reads.

  21. 17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review

    It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking. Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry's Freefall, a crime novel: In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it's a more subtle process, and that's OK too.

  22. The Best Ereaders for 2024

    Amazon and Kobo's latest readers go one step further with Carta 1200 technology, which enables faster page turns and even better contrast. Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 4 (Credit: Sascha Segan) If ...

  23. 40+ Best Book Review Podcasts of 2024

    7. Fully Booked. From the editors of Kirkus Reviews, Fully Booked : is a podcast unafraid to tell you which books to pass on and which are worth your time. More like a coffee shop discussion, Fully Booked hosts regular author take-overs, inviting you directly into their minds and keeping the content constantly fresh.

  24. I tested Samsung's flagship laptop and it gave my MacBook Pro a run for

    The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra impresses with one of the best displays on the market and exceptional battery life. Written by Kerry Wan, Senior Reviews Editor April 18, 2024 at 1:54 p.m. PT ...

  25. Baby Reindeer: True Story Behind Surprise Netflix Hit

    Over the next four and a half years, Gadd recounts that Martha sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours' worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters, and a variety of ...

  26. Challengers (2024)

    Challengers: Directed by Luca Guadagnino. With Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor, Darnell Appling. Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend.