Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: National Book Award Announces Host, B&N Discover Prize, and More Book News

Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky
Date: October 19, 2025

Episode Overview

This week’s episode is a lively roundup of timely literary news, awards, and industry developments as the fall publishing season heats up. Jeff and Rebecca share their takes on the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, dissect the National Book Awards’ new host and event changes, address ongoing library censorship in Texas, and celebrate notable industry releases. A few juicy diversions into their personal reading habits, podcasting projects, and evolving literary trends round out the conversation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Podcast and Project Updates

• Zero to Well Read Project:

  • The hosts promote their rapidly growing spin-off podcast, “Zero to Well Read,” focused on culturally significant and pop culture-sensation books (01:33–03:53).
  • Recent and upcoming episodes include Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), Twilight, Vineland (Thomas Pynchon), The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison), and The Great Gatsby.
  • Listeners are encouraged to help reach 150 ratings on Apple Podcasts to “unlock a special episode over the holidays.”

    "Let’s get to 150. And it’s ratings or reviews...we’re going to unlock a special episode over the holidays." — Rebecca (05:27–05:39)

• Reader Challenge & Listener Engagement:

  • Jeff and Rebecca debate review goals and how to incentivize listeners, hinting at extra content for those who participate (05:03–06:23).
  • Playful discussion about the tongue-in-cheek “Muppet Adaptation” segment on their Zero to Well Read project.

• Upcoming Patreon Content:

  • Revisiting The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion) and covering Dead and Alive (Zadie Smith).

    "I'm looking forward to talking about it. Even as it's painful subject. It's hard to remember what a phenomenon that was and how it really cemented and elevated Joan Didion's public profile." — Jeff (07:05–08:22)

2. Barnes & Noble Discover Prize

• Barnes & Noble Discover Award Winner:

  • Maggie by Katie Yee wins the Discover Prize, which gets significant in-store and online promotion but is especially notable for a debut author (12:37–13:20).
  • Rebecca details the book’s appeal and layered themes beyond its “book club” appearance:

    “If the typical Reese's Book Club reader picks it up … they will be surprised by what it does. There's a lot of Jenny Offill DNA in this book... [it’s] poetic... beautiful, funny, touching relationships in like 250 pages.” — Rebecca (13:28–15:46)

• Discussion of the Prize’s Influence:

  • Both hosts note the list is exceptionally attuned to their tastes this year and ponder the selection process behind it, expressing curiosity about who decides the finalists and winners (16:51–20:23).

    "Is this the most Jeff and Rebecca core list we've seen this year?" — Jeff (17:12) "I've had more air for debut novels this year because there hasn't been as much big literary fiction from established names." — Rebecca (18:00)

3. National Book Awards – Host and Event News

• Jeff Hiller Announced as Host:

  • Comedian and Emmy-winning actor Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere) named as the host for the November 19th ceremony (27:04–27:32).
  • The hosts are delighted by the unconventional, non-“book celebrity” choice.

    "He’ll be great and warm and such an interesting advocate for so many different things that are going on in the world of books and reading right now." — Rebecca (27:32–28:19)

• Event “Plussing Up”:

  • Ceremony will feature musical guest Corinne Bailey Rae, marking an effort to create more cultural “eventness” around the book awards (28:45–29:57).
  • Hosts brainstorm how the National Book Awards could become more like major cultural events (calling for more award categories, prominent presenters, and ways to integrate book culture more deeply into the mainstream):

    "Having a musical guest makes sense....there are a lot of things you could do. Like if you wanted some performance-based thing, maybe you get some people performing things, like doing readings of scenes." — Jeff (29:46)

4. Publishing Industry and Book News

• The Blacklist’s First Fiction Deal:
  • The Blacklist (famed for unproduced Hollywood screenplays) strikes its first traditional fiction publishing deal. Then He Was Gone by Isabel Booth (Crooked Lane Books) is the debut title to be published via this new pipeline (31:25–34:11).
  • Rebecca explains how the Blacklist’s fiction arm works and teases a future episode featuring the writer, editor, and director.

5. Book Bans and Library Censorship

• Shuttering of Texas School Libraries:

  • New Braunfels ISD closes middle and high school libraries to comply with state censorship laws (SB 13), citing the challenge of reviewing all 50,000 books in their collection (35:40–38:40).

  • Discussion on how this is not an “unintended consequence”—for some, closure is the intent.

    "The people who say they want to protect kids... are not mourning this news... There are many people on the right who are not only not concerned, but probably happy that this is just not something that they're having to think about anymore." — Jeff & Rebecca (37:25–38:34)

  • Encouragement for civic engagement and school board voting:

    "If you're spending a lot of time doom scrolling but you haven't gone to your local school board meeting...you might think about a highest and best use of your available activist energy." — Jeff (38:40)

6. Fall Book Season and Reading Culture

• The Millions Fall Book Preview:

  • Praise for Sophia Stewart’s literary preview, which helps surface under-the-radar literary fiction and highlight small presses (39:09–42:06).
  • Both hosts list their anticipated titles, such as The Four Spent the Day Together (Chris Cross Kraus), Analog Days (Damien Searles), and Queen Esther (John Irving).

    “The very first title on the list is one that I've been seeing bubble up everywhere this week.” — Rebecca (39:55)

• Trend Watch:

  • Jeff notes a recurring literary motif of metaphorically turning partners/family members into blobs, animals, or tumors (16:03, 42:06–42:24).
  • "Can I complete my three points? Make a trend with significant others, family members as non-human beings...The Bridegroom was a Dog by Yoko Tawada..." — Jeff (42:06)

• Personal Reading Habits:

  • Both hosts discuss their philosophical and practical approaches to “the list” of things they want to read (20:45–24:30).
  • The assignment structure for “Zero to Well Read” has increased the quality and quantity of their reading, rather than “cannibalizing” free reading.

    “The quality of the reading time from the books for ‘Zero to Well Read’ is so high...it's setting my bar higher for the books that I start. So I'm having a higher DNF rate because I'm starting stuff and being like, nope, that's not gonna do it. The stuff I'm finishing is really, really good.” — Rebecca (24:30–26:06)

7. Frontlist Foyer – Recent Reads & Recommendations (47:19–53:52)

Rebecca’s Picks

• Heart the Lover by Lily King
  • “Read it in one sitting on a flight… Lily King can pack such a powerful punch... manages to give us a whole life and multiple fully realized, complex, beautiful, funny, touching relationships in like 250 pages.” (47:24–49:51)
• A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
  • “Climate fiction set in Kolkata, India, in the near future... I was so thrilled by the way that Megha Majumdar handles this... every detail was perfectly placed.” (51:10–53:52)
  • “This is now the one that I'm pulling for for the National Book Award of the ones that I've read.”

Jeff’s Endorsements

• Looks forward to Megha Majumdar’s novel and celebrates Lily King’s nuanced, compact storytelling.

Additional Noteworthy Mentions

• Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto (“Japan’s Agatha Christie”), re-released in English with an introduction by Amor Towles (43:29–44:23).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The National Book Awards has been trying ... to jump up a rung or two on the ladder of eventness in the wider cultural world. Having a musical guest makes sense.” — Jeff (28:45–29:57)
• “I've had more air for debut novels this year because there hasn't been as much big literary fiction from established names.” — Rebecca (18:00)
• “I don't remember anything specific about books... but I just assumed that Jeff Hiller was also a book person from the vibe of the memoir, but also the vibe of Somebody Somewhere.” — Rebecca (27:32)
• “It's not surprising that this has happened... Advocates, as Kelly points out in this piece, have been warning for years that this is one of the possible outcomes of these kinds of laws: that schools will not be able to manage the process quickly... and will have to shut down library access.” — Rebecca (37:32–38:34)

Important Timestamps

• Zero to Well Read Project / Review Challenge: 01:33–06:23
• B&N Discover Prize/Maggie by Katie Yee: 12:37–17:12
• National Book Awards Host Announced: 27:04–31:09
• The Blacklist’s First Fiction Deal: 31:25–34:11
• Texas Libraries and Book Bans: 35:40–38:40
• The Millions Fall Book Preview: 39:09–44:06
• Frontlist Foyer (Recent Reading): 47:19–53:52

Tone & Style

Conversational, insightful, literary yet approachable. Jeff and Rebecca keep the discussion friendly and welcoming, peppered with industry knowledge, personal anecdotes, and dry humor.

For those interested in the pulse of the book world—big awards, contentious issues, new releases, and how passionate readers really think and read—this episode is essential listening.