As much as we love hearing from authors on “The Book Review” podcast, there are precious few who have read more than our staff book critics — Jennifer Szalai, Alexandra Jacobs and Dwight Garner. The three came on the show to talk about some of their favorite books of the year so far, as well as a few of the titles that helped shape their reading lives. Books discussed on this episode: • “Nothing Random,” by Gayle Feldman (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/books/review/nothing-random-bennett-cerf-gayle-feldman.html) • “Will and Attention,” by Meghan O’Gieblyn (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/books/review/will-and-attention-meghan-ogieblyn.html) • “The Disappearers,” by Marlon James (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/books/review/the-disappearers-marlon-james.html) • “American Hagwon,” by Min Jin Lee (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/books/review/american-hagwon-min-jin-lee.html) • “Lives Other Than My Own,” by Emmanuel Carrère • “To the Lighthouse,” by Virginia Woolf • “The American Way of Death,” by Jessica Mitford • “Class: A Guide Through the American Status System,” by Paul Fussell • “The Great War and Modern Memory,” by Paul Fussell • “American Fried,” by Calvin Trillin • “Alice, Let’s Eat,” by Calvin Trillin • “Third Helpings,” by Calvin Trillin • “On Fire,” by Larry Brown • “Betsy-Tacy,” by Maud Hart Lovelace • “Betsy-Tacy and Tib,” by Maud Hart Lovelace • “Rabbit, Run,” by John Updike • “Into the Wood Chipper,” by Nicholas Enrich • “Cool Machine,” by Colson Whitehead • “The Oyster Diaries,” by Nancy Lemann • “Biological War: A Scenario,” by Annie Jacobsen (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/books/review/biological-war-annie-jacobsen.html) • “Nuclear War: A Scenario,” by Annie Jacobsen • “The Story of Your Life,” by Kathryn Jezer-Morton (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/books/review/the-story-of-your-life-kathryn-jezer-morton.html) • “Transcription,” by Ben Lerner • “The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek,” by Andrew Durbin • “Contrapposto,” by Dave Eggers (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/books/review/dave-eggers-contrapposto.html) • “Brother of the More Famous Jack,” by Barbara Trapido (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/books/review/barbara-trapido-brother-of-the-more-famous-jack.html) • “Love and Hydrogen,” by Jim Shepard • “Trash!: A Garbageman’s Story,” by Simon Paré-Poupart (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/books/review/simon-pare-poupart-trash-garbagemans-story.html) Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.