Gilbert Cruz

You've said that you write sometimes as an act of nostalgia, clearly as an act of remembering. What, as you look to the future, what do you think you want to remember now?

You've said that you write sometimes as an act of nostalgia, clearly as an act of remembering. What, as you look to the future, what do you think you want to remember now?

That's Isabel Allende. My name is Emilia Del Valle. We'll be out on May 6th. And you can find me every week over at the Book Review Podcast, where we talk about books new and old, and I speak with authors all the time. This conversation was produced by Wyatt Orme and Seth Kelly. It was edited by Annabelle Bacon, original music and mixing by Sophia Landman. Photography by Devin Yalkin.

That's Isabel Allende. My name is Emilia Del Valle. We'll be out on May 6th. And you can find me every week over at the Book Review Podcast, where we talk about books new and old, and I speak with authors all the time. This conversation was produced by Wyatt Orme and Seth Kelly. It was edited by Annabelle Bacon, original music and mixing by Sophia Landman. Photography by Devin Yalkin.

Our senior booker is Priya Matthew. Our executive producer is Allison Benedict. Special thanks to Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddie Mazziello, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schumann, and Sam Dolnik. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to The Interview wherever you get your podcasts.

Our senior booker is Priya Matthew. Our executive producer is Allison Benedict. Special thanks to Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddie Mazziello, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schumann, and Sam Dolnik. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to The Interview wherever you get your podcasts.

To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com slash the interview, and you can email us anytime at theinterviewatnytimes.com. Next week, David talks with writer Ocean Baum.

To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com slash the interview, and you can email us anytime at theinterviewatnytimes.com. Next week, David talks with writer Ocean Baum.

I'm Gilbert Cruz, and this is the interview from The New York Times.

I'm Gilbert Cruz, and this is the interview from The New York Times.

Melissa, hi.

Melissa, hi.

Sure. So a bunch of editors and critics over the course of the year, really, are meeting monthly. And at every one of those meetings, we're discussing books that we think are great. And these are books that sort of go through the ringer. We're really debating them over the course of the whole year. At the end of October, which is when this process ends, we take a vote.

Sure. So a bunch of editors and critics over the course of the year, really, are meeting monthly. And at every one of those meetings, we're discussing books that we think are great. And these are books that sort of go through the ringer. We're really debating them over the course of the whole year. At the end of October, which is when this process ends, we take a vote.

And these 10 books are the result of that vote.

And these 10 books are the result of that vote.

Um, the five fiction books, some of them might be familiar to you. All Fours by Miranda July, Good Material by Dolly Alderton, James by Percival Everett, Martyr by Kaveh Akbar, and You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrique.

Um, the five fiction books, some of them might be familiar to you. All Fours by Miranda July, Good Material by Dolly Alderton, James by Percival Everett, Martyr by Kaveh Akbar, and You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrique.

I do. And I think it's the smallest book on this list, actually. It is You Dream of Empires by the Mexican writer Alvaro Enrique. And it essentially imagines the first meeting between Hernan Cortes and Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor, in what is now Mexico City in 1519. It is an imaginative sort of psychedelic look at what that encounter might have been like. It's very funny.

I do. And I think it's the smallest book on this list, actually. It is You Dream of Empires by the Mexican writer Alvaro Enrique. And it essentially imagines the first meeting between Hernan Cortes and Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor, in what is now Mexico City in 1519. It is an imaginative sort of psychedelic look at what that encounter might have been like. It's very funny.