Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: The Books We Still Want to Read in 2025
Hosts: Jeff O’Neill and Rebecca Shinsky
Date: November 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, Jeff O’Neill and Rebecca Shinsky take stock as 2025 winds down, discussing the books still on their personal to-be-read (TBR) lists. With the major new releases of the year behind them, the hosts talk about “mop-up” season, highlight big literary award winners, discuss notable titles they've missed so far, and dig into why some books demand urgent reading while others can (or can't) wait. The conversation ranges from Booker Prize surprises to memoirs, buzzy debuts, and the emotional calculus of reading with finite time left in the year.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

The End-of-Year TBR Ritual

• Setting the Internal Rules: Neither host strictly plans what they’ll read, preferring a flexible “theoretical stack.”
  • Rebecca: “This is not a promise. This is not a blood oath. This is just what we still have on our list that we haven't got to.” (01:20)
  • The “10 before the end” trend on BookTok inspires this year’s episode. (02:20)
• Awards & Lists Influence: Major literary awards and ‘Best Of’ lists heavily sway their priorities as the year closes.
  • Jeff: “Maybe my number one overall draft pick is because of yesterday, to be perfectly honest with you, Rebecca, me too.” (01:18)

Diving Into Specific Books

1. Booker Prize Winner — Flesh by David Zaslay

• Summary: A “young guy goes to the big city” tale, but uniquely told—no interiority, only outside perspectives.
  • Jeff: “It must be excellent because that is if not the most generic literary fiction story, I don't know what is.” (06:27)
  • Rebecca: “It strips away interiority from the stories... we meet and understand this character entirely by the observations and reactions that all of the people he interacts with have to him.” (08:20)
  • Quote: “Roddy Doyle... said... none of us had ever read anything quite like this... utter singularity of style.” (09:18)

2. Maggie: Whatever the Thing Is, I Call My Tumor — Katie

• Short, sharp, and impactful. Jeff’s intrigued by the brevity; Rebecca recommends it.
  • Jeff: “Short and I could use something short.” (10:39)

3. Kaplan's Plot — Jason Diamond

• Chicago love and literary debut: Rebecca is eager to pick it up after missing the week it released.
  • Rebecca: “It was one of the finalists for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award this year for best first novel... it’s been sitting here waiting for me.” (10:42)

4. Who Is Government? — Michael Lewis

• Why Lewis books last: Jeff views this as “always waiting for me” due to Lewis’s reliability.
  • Jeff: “There are some authors that if I don't catch them in the year, it gives me a little more of a grace period...” (12:19)

5. Some Bright Nowhere — Ann Packer

• Both see Packer as an author to dip in and out of—not urgent, but on the radar.
  • Rebecca: “If I miss this Ann Packer, I'll pick up another one in the future.” (12:36)

6. Uncool — Cameron Crow

• Unexpectedly low media presence, but Jeff’s up next on audio.
  • Jeff: “I thought there would be a huge Cameron Crow... tour. And if that has happened, it has not appeared in my feeds...” (14:15)
  • Rebecca: “He was on the New York Times interview podcast... but... not many other big [shows].” (14:51)

7. Memoir Mini-Round

• Rebecca: “Next of Kin by Gabrielle Hamilton... I have tried to avoid knowing what parts of her life she's writing about in it because I just want to go into it cold...” (16:05)
• Jeff’s bench:
  • Girl Warrior — Joy Harjo: Coming of age, Native American themes. (16:38)
  • Helen Garner memoirs: Interest in cultural crossovers and sports-adjacency. (17:10)
  • Rebecca: “I've been seeing the renaissance as well... but I don't know anything about her or where to start.” (17:03)
  • Does This Make Me Funny? — Zozian Mamet: Jeff’s on the fence. “Had I infinite time, I might.” (18:03)

8. Palaver — Bryan Washington

• Both have it on their lists, hoping it might become an award winner.
  • Rebecca: “I have my fingers crossed maybe see him win some awards later...” (18:28)

9. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter — Stephen Graham Jones

• Rebecca’s hesitating—unsure if it’s the right intro to the author’s work.
  • Rebecca: “Is this the right book to be my first Stephen Graham Jones or should I go back to some other Stephen Graham Jones?” (19:09)

10. Black Owned — Char Adams

• Deep-dive history about Black bookstores excites Jeff. (20:02)

11. Tim Berners-Lee: This Is for Everyone

• Jeff’s fascinated by Internet origins—and his “complicated relationship” with the web.
  • Jeff: “My own relationship to the Internet right now is... we’re seeing a counselor. Neither of us have much hope, but we’re going through the motions.” (21:27)

12. Every Screen on the Planet — Emily Baker White

• Books about tech/social media over-saturation; both express fatigue.
  • Jeff: “If I have any chance of salvaging the relationship with me in the Internet, I cannot read these Tick Tock [books]...” (22:05)
  • Rebecca: “At this point, [I’m] reading the reporting and experiencing how bad it is myself... I’m out on those...” (22:20)

13. Cursed Daughters — Oyinkan Braithwaite

• Both excited for a new title from author of My Sister the Serial Killer.
  • Rebecca: “Not my typical genre, but it was really funny. And I pay attention when the mystery/thriller people are like, no, this one is special.” (23:55)

14. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This — Omar El Akkad

• Rebecca recognizes its importance but dreads the emotional challenge.
  • Rebecca: “It's on the list, but we'll see. We'll see how strong I am...” (24:19)

15. Will There Ever Be Another You? — Patricia Lockwood

• Highly stylized, divisive novel. Jeff’s hesitant; Rebecca advises: “It's more Lockwoody than other Lockwoods.” (26:43)

16. Heart the Lover — Lily King

• On Jeff’s maybe list; strongly liked by Rebecca. (24:38)

17. Lonely Sunny — Kiran Desai

• Both mention length as a barrier, but intrigued by critical attention.
  • Rebecca: “If it were not 688 pages, probably you would get to it faster.” (25:00)
  • Jeff: “When readers are just self-directed... a big juicy novel about friendship like—sign me up.” (27:37)

18. The Eleventh Hour — Salman Rushdie

• Comes up as a fresh reminder of Rushdie’s literary powers.
  • Rebecca: “Old men waiting to die. Like, come on.” (28:24)

“I’m Good”/Out-of-the-Queue Books

• Hosts share books they’re okay not finishing:
  • Jeff: “I think I'm good with careless people... On the Elizabeth Gilbert book, I think I'm good.” (23:11)
  • Rebecca: “As much as I would love to receive your texts while you read [it]... I don’t want you to go through that.” (23:25)

Quirky, Off-the-Beaten-Path Picks

• Squirrel: How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World — Nancy Castellato
  • Jeff: “I don't know what that says about me. I don't know it says about Nancy here. I don't know what it says about squirrels. But... I'm in sourceled. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna get there.” (30:41)
  • Rebecca: “I'm just so thrilled for you that that exists.” (30:43)

Other TBR Mentions

• Sola — Allegra Goodman (31:02)
• We the People — Jill Lepore (“giant Constitution book” – likely for 2026) (31:09)
• The History of Money — David McWilliams (31:47)
• The Bourdain Reader — Jeff “might just buy to have” (32:30)
• Is a River Alive? — Robert Macfarlane (32:47)
• The Emergency — George Packer (34:06)
• New Ian McEwan novel — Rebecca: “I’m gonna need to hear a really compelling pitch.” (34:16)
• El Dorado Drive — Megan Abbott
• Vera or Faith — Gary Shteyngart
• Red Loaves and Bread and I's (Travis Baldree Legends and Lattes Book 3) — Jeff plans to read over Christmas. (35:45)
• Sherry Thomas’s The Librarians (mystery, wintertime read) (35:45)
• The Road to Tender Hearts — Annie Hartnett (Rebecca: “Warm and lovely is where I want to be on December 27th.”) (36:01)
• The Persian — David McCloskey (spy novel) (36:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Booker Prize Livestream:
  • Rebecca [07:03]: “The live chat on the Booker Prize livestream is a microcosm of every Internet space... First it was like, yay, book people. And then... if the nerds that come out to watch the Booker livestream can’t sit still for an extra two minutes... we are all really in trouble.”
• Jeff’s Take on Technology Books:
  • Jeff [22:05]: “If I have any chance of salvaging the relationship with me in the Internet, I cannot read these Tick Tock books...”
• Rebecca’s “I’m Good” Books:
  • Rebecca [23:25]: “As much as I would love to receive your texts while you read the Elizabeth Gilbert book, I don’t want you to go through that.”
• On Reading Fatigue:
  • Jeff [25:46]: “When I’ve got 10 days or 10 weeks or 10 books, I need a little more than ‘it’ll be interesting as an exercise’.”
• Squirrel Book Cheer:
  • Jeff [30:41]: “Squirrel: How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World. I’m in sourceled. I’m gonna go. I’m gonna get there.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:05 — Episode premise: end-of-year reading catch-up.
• 06:27 — Discussion of Flesh by David Zaslay, Booker Prize winner.
• 10:39 — Maggie and desire for shorter reads.
• 14:15 — Cameron Crow and celebrity memoirs.
• 16:05 — Gabrielle Hamilton’s memoir.
• 18:28 — Both interested in Palaver by Bryan Washington.
• 23:11 — “I’m good” books (the ones they’re letting go).
• 23:44 — Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
• 24:19 — The emotional weight of One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.
• 26:43 — The divisiveness of Will There Ever Be Another You?
• 30:41 — Squirrel book delight.
• 31:09 — Giant nonfiction on the TBR: We the People.
• 34:16 — Reluctance to try new Ian McEwan novels.
• 35:45 — Mysteries and comfort reads for the holidays.
• 37:05 — Should Jeff make time for Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid?

Tone & Atmosphere

• Warm, candid, and humorous—a blend of introspection, regret, and anticipation.
• Light competition and self-deprecating jokes about their jobs and the impossibility of keeping up.

Conclusion

This episode is a fun, relatable journey through the TBR piles of two veteran book lovers. Jeff and Rebecca capture the unique joys and anxieties of reading at year’s end, offering listeners a glimpse into professional book talk, honest reading confessions, and the unpredictable shifts of literary hype. Packed with recommendations, insights, and laughter, it’s a comforting listen for anyone feeling overwhelmed by all the books still left to read.

Contact: podcast@bookriot.com
Next up: Midnight’s Children for Zero to Well Read (Patreon bonus episode)
Show Notes: bookriot.com/listen