Poured Over

Amy Tan on THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan allows readers to experience through the author's eyes and taps into the fascination we share with our avian f...

Crystal Hana Kim on THE STONE HOME

20 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Stone Home by Crystal Hana Kim is a story of mothers and daughters, secrets and lies, complicity and betrayal set in 1980s South Korea. Kim joined...

Amanda Montell on THE AGE OF MAGICAL OVERTHINKING

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell combines witty and playful analyses of the way our brains work in the nonstop information age with p...

Sarah Hart on ONCE UPON A PRIME

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Once Upon a Prime by Sarah Hart connects mathematics and fiction, encouraging readers to dig deeper into why they like to read what they like to read,...

Carys Davies on CLEAR

13 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Clear by Carys Davies is a beautifully written short novel about the price of isolation and the desire for community. Davies joined us to talk about t...

Maggie Nelson on LIKE LOVE

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like Love by Maggie Nelson features essays and conversations, advice and introspection, spanning the decades of her career. Nelson joins us to talk ab...

Anne Lamott on SOMEHOW

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott is full of empathy, heart and humanity, drawing on personal struggles and triumphs to showcase the wider trut...

Xochitl Gonzalez on ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez is a sharp and rollicking read about the power of art and the lasting legacy of those who make it. Go...

Julia Alvarez on THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez is a funny, life-affirming novel about storytelling, friendship and death. Alvarez joins us to talk ab...

Leif Enger on I CHEERFULLY REFUSE

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger is a big-hearted, hopeful novel that's part adventure story, part love story — with unforgettable dialogue, charac...

Lisa Ko on MEMORY PIECE

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Memory Piece by Lisa Ko is an unforgettable story of art, friendship and coming-of-age that cuts across decades from the 1980s to the 2040s. Ko joins ...

Vinson Cunningham on GREAT EXPECTATIONS

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham is a clear-eyed, charming coming-of-age-story set in the world of power, money, and political campaigns. Cun...

Hanif Abdurraqib on THERE'S ALWAYS THIS YEAR

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib plays with time and memory, intimacy and vulnerability, going away and coming home — and leaves everyth...

Poured Over Double Shot: Tessa Hulls and Griffin Hansbury

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tessa Hulls' Feeding Ghosts is a richly woven and visually stunning graphic memoir about three generations of Chinese women exploring themes of grief,...

Percival Everett on JAMES

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

James by Percival Everett flips the script on an American classic as Huck Finn steps to the side and Jim takes center stage in a powerful and often ve...

Téa Obreht on THE MORNINGSIDE

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Morningside by Téa Obreht is a story of mothers and daughters and finding home, set in an unforgettable building and a near-future world. Obreht...

Lottie Hazell on PIGLET

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Piglet by Lottie Hazell is a taut and propulsive novel about women's ambitions and the quest for fulfillment at any cost. Hazell joins us to talk abo...

Sloane Crosley on GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sloane Crosley's Grief Is for People grapples with challenging subjects of friendship and profound loss with humor and empathy. Crosley joined us to t...

Tommy Orange and Roxane Gay on WANDERING STARS

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is a multigenerational saga of Native American heritage and culture, and a stunning follow up to his previous work, Th...

Cristina Henríquez on THE GREAT DIVIDE

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I'm not here to tell the story. I'm here to find the story…"   Cristina Henríquez's new novel, The Great Divide is a deeply meaningful, chara...

Brad Gooch on RADIANT

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring is biographer Brad Gooch's compassionate and comprehensive look at the artist's work and archives. Gooch j...

Tana French on THE HUNTER

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"The big reveal isn't 'who done it', the big reveal is why and what effects does it have?"   Set in an insular small town in the Irish countryside,...

Idra Novey on TAKE WHAT YOU NEED

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I do think it was freeing for me to write about a female character who has been relegated to a corner, but she takes over the whole house." Take What...

Ilyon Woo on MASTER SLAVE HUSBAND WIFE

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I think the question has to do with American memory and what, as a nation, we are prioritizing in that memory…" Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyo...

Maurice Carlos Ruffin on THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"If my mother and my grandma were in this book, how would they be? And what kind of love can I show them as a writer…"  The American Daughters b...

Poured Over Double Shot: Katherine Arden and Yangsze Choo

24 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two historical novels with elements of fantasy and folklore will bring readers from the battlefields of World War One to the last years of the Qing D...

Andrés N. Ordorica on HOW WE NAMED THE STARS

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I describe this as a love story steeped in loss."  How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica is a heartbreaking yet hopeful debut novel of fi...

Phillip B. Williams on OURS

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"To have freedom you have to give something up, to have love — to experience love as an action — there has to be something that you're willing to...

Bora Chung on YOUR UTOPIA

17 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"The peril actually comes from us — our prejudice, our biases, and our conceived threats, not from artificial intelligence, so we need to reconsider...

Lucy Sante on I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"You can write all the books you want — they are going to be very pretty, but if they don't tell the truth, comprehensively, it's just not worth th...

Kelly Link on THE BOOK OF LOVE

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"If you write about a person, you're writing about that person because they're special." The Book of Love by Kelly Link combines fantastical elements...

Kiley Reid on COME AND GET IT

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I am of the mind that a novel should not leave you with a thesis … I think a novel should reflect the deep parts of human behavior in such an accu...

Sheila Heti on ALPHABETICAL DIARIES

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I'm interested in the limitations of the mind — like that your brain really does only go down so many paths, and then there's a million paths that...

Kwame Alexander on THIS IS THE HONEY

03 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I feel like these poems tell stories in and of themselves. And perhaps as an entire collection, they tell a greater story. … We're human beings —...

Dolly Alderton on GOOD MATERIAL

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can we do when our storybook romance ends? Good Material lets us laugh our way through the thick of heartbreak with sharp wit, the warmth of fri...

Ruha Benjamin on IMAGINATION: A MANIFESTO

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"My writing is always trying to open that up and to say — you can start here; you can start now."  Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin rem...

Kyle Chayka on FILTERWORLD: HOW ALGORITHMS FLATTENED CULTURE

27 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Filterworld by Kyle Chayka investigates one of our most prevalent yet often unnoticed influences — the algorithms that shape our online experiences...

Sabrina Imbler on HOW FAR THE LIGHT REACHES

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I really wanted to find connection with these creatures that I'll never meet…"  Sabrina Imbler's How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea C...

Kaveh Akbar on MARTYR!

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I hope that when there is laughter, it's laughter made wise by having known real grief — and when there is grief, it is made wise by having known ...

Poured Over Double Shot: Marie-Helene Bertino and Claire Oshetsky

20 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Marie-Helene Bertino's Beautyland gives insight into the human experience through the eyes of a young woman (who may or may not be an extraterrestria...

Jericho Brown on HOW WE DO IT

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill is edited by Jericho Brown and contains diverse and expansive essays and other works on the...

Dan Kois on VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Vintage Contemporaries by Dan Kois is a fiction debut that blends a coming-of-age story with the themes of lasting friendship and what it takes to be...

Bonnie Jo Campbell on THE WATERS

13 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bonnie Jo Campbell's The Waters follows the interwoven and often complicated lives of a family of women inhabiting an island in a Michigan swamp. Cam...

Hisham Matar on MY FRIENDS

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"I think it is a moment where we are thinking a lot about our relationship to the places and the societies that we have … wanting to create deeper ...

Kayla Min Andrews on THE FETISHIST by Katherine Min

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Fetishist by Katherine Min is a darkly humorous and provocative novel of love, revenge, and identity published after her death in 2019. Min's dau...

Julie Myerson on NONFICTION: A NOVEL

06 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Julie Myerson's newest novel Nonfiction is intricate and raw, featuring themes of motherhood, addiction and what it means to write. Myerson joins us...

Ashley Flowers & Alex Kiester on ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"People always asked 'what made you want to write fiction?' And I'm like, this isn't a departure. I feel like this is me going back to how it actuall...

Vanessa Chan on THE STORM WE MADE

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Our ancestors, our grandparents, love us by not speaking…"    The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan follows one family in 1945 Malaya as they fac...

Colson Whitehead on CROOK MANIFESTO

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"New York is a character in the book, and I hate it when people are like 'the city's almost a character'"  One of our favorites of 2023, Colson Wh...

Gilbert Cruz, NYT Books Editor

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I think it's actually good for discussion, because you want to see a range of variety of books on these top 10 lists."  It's been a great year fo...

Ned Blackhawk on THE REDISCOVERY OF AMERICA

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction, The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk puts Indigenous history at the center to create a fulle...

Sowmya Krishnamurthy on FASHION KILLA

09 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fashion Killa by Sowmya Krishnamurthy offers an in-depth look at the significant cultural intersection between hip-hop music and the world of fashion...

Lindsay Hunter and Roxane Gay

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter is a raw and visceral novel that explores primal desires, shocking secrets and the effects they have on those tha...

Emily Wilson on THE ILIAD

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Emily Wilson's new translation of The Iliad brings to life this divine tale of conflict, love and honor in a way that feels fresh and compulsively re...

Merlin Sheldrake on ENTANGLED LIFE: THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION

02 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"It's important for us to examine those inherited perspectives that … guide the way that we think and feel and imagine with regard to other life fo...

Ed Park on SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Park's Same Bed Different Dreams blends history, technology and pop culture in a novel that spans time and reality in an unforgettable way. Park j...

Helen Garner on THE CHILDREN'S BACH and THIS HOUSE OF GRIEF

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With recent reprints of The Children's Bach and This House of Grief, Helen Garner's voice returns in two of her best works — a novel featuring the ...

Jeff Tweedy on WORLD WITHIN A SONG

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Jeff Tweedy's newest book World Within a Song, the accomplished musician shares fifty influential songs that have shaped his life and career and s...

Tracy K. Smith on TO FREE THE CAPTIVES

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith's To Free the Captives combines the beauty of a memoir with a grander look at America's history and future....

Gabriel Bump on THE NEW NATURALS

18 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"My favorite parts of this book are when you have two characters … talking about what they want from the world and how they can achieve it."    Th...

Sigrid Nunez on THE VULNERABLES

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez reflects our complicated and constantly changing world, featuring unlikely connections and even a parrot named Eureka...

Michael Cunningham on DAY

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Set on one day in April in three different years, Day by Michael Cunningham is an intimate analysis of family love and connection. Cunningham joins us...

Melissa Broder on DEATH VALLEY

11 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"Shift in perception is a miracle"   Death Valley by Melissa Broder is part desert survival story, part examination of grief — mixing the absur...

Stephanie Land on CLASS

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I think the bigger stuff isn't going to happen if we can't change the fact that we're not really seeing each other."   Class by Stephanie Land is a...

Viet Thanh Nguyen on A MAN OF TWO FACES

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Viet Thanh Nguyen's new memoir, A Man of Two Faces, is an unconventional and impeccable personal narrative that tackles the author's own life alongsi...

Alix E. Harrow on STARLING HOUSE

04 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a haunted house story for those of us who love books, creepy fairy tales and Southern Gothic themes. Harrow ...

Alice McDermott on ABSOLUTION

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"It does come down to that moment, when as a reader or as a writer entering into a story we say — it's not about me, it's about you."    Alice ...

Amanda Peters on THE BERRY PICKERS

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"There's nothing truer than fiction, because you can always find yourself in the work." The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters is the story of a Mi'kmaq ...

Poured Over Double Shot: K-Ming Chang and Anbara Salam

28 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang connects lyrical, dreamy prose and visceral reality in the story of two girls who navigate their complicated friendship i...

Jhumpa Lahiri on ROMAN STORIES

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Roman Stories Jhumpa Lahiri translates her own writing from Italian in a feat of language and a love and connection to Rome itself. Lahiri joins u...

Jesmyn Ward on LET US DESCEND

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I think that messy, sort of evolving spiritual element of Black Americans' lives ... has allowed us to survive, and not only to survive, but also to ...

Rick Riordan on THE CHALICE OF THE GODS

21 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Percy Jackson returns at long last in The Chalice of the Gods. Rick Riordan brings back the characters that started it all in a new adventure as they...

Poured Over Double Shot: Sy Montgomery with Matt Patterson and Margaret Renkl

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery with illustrations by Matt Patterson brings these wondrous creature...

Jacqueline Woodson on REMEMBER US

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I expect my reader to meet me halfway with their own experiences and fill in the white space, fill in what's left unsaid." Remember Us by Jacquelin...

Poured Over Double Shot: Bryan Washington and Curtis Chin

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Family Meal by Bryan Washington features the importance of food, friends and connection with a cast of characters working through the transitions in ...

Jean Kwok on THE LEFTOVER WOMAN

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I want people to read it with joy, just for the story. But I do hope that they'll pick up something else along the way about … deeper things." The...

Justin Torres on BLACKOUTS

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I wanted it to feel like stepping off the world..." Blackouts by Justin Torres explores love, loss and the stories we leave behind with inventive an...

Pauls Toutonghi on THE REFUGEE OCEAN

07 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our October Discover Pick is The Refugee Ocean by Pauls Toutonghi, featuring musical prose and interwoven stories that cross generations and countrie...

Safiya Sinclair on HOW TO SAY BABYLON

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"Language doesn't just exist on the page … It's about how you embody it."  How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair is a poetic memoir about growing ...

Poured Over Double Shot: Jonathan Lethem and Benjamín Labatut

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Lethem's Brooklyn Crime Novel brings readers to New York in the 70s and the cast of characters it contains. Lethem joins us to talk about cr...

V.E. Schwab on THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER

30 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"My biggest goal was to convert people who said they don't like fantasy." V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series has enchanted us with wit, wonder and a...

Ayana Mathis on THE UNSETTLED

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis follows a family through generations from small town Alabama to Philadelphia in the 80s as they struggle, succeed and l...

C Pam Zhang on LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"It really illuminates these questions of privilege and pleasure, and what kind of joy we can look forward to in the human experience as things contin...

Lauren Groff on THE VASTER WILDS

23 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"This book is the most personal because it is what I feel about the world itself." The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff is a beautiful and propulsive sur...

Poured Over Double Shot: Daniel Mason and Paul Murray

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Mason's North Woods follows one house in the woods of New England as it passes through families (with inhabitants both human and not) and endu...

Poured Over Double Shot: Nathan Hill and Ben Fountain

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Wellness by Nathan Hill follows a marriage over decades through a variety of successes, challenges and surprises. Hill joins us to talk about how lon...

Andrew Leland on THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND

16 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I feel like I could actually follow you through this journey and come out of it changed rather than abused by my ignorance."  The Country of the ...

Poured Over Double Shot: Claudia Dey and Sheena Patel

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claudia Dey's novel Daughter is a stark and beautiful portrait of the complicated dynamic between a young artist and her father. Dey joins us to talk...

Mona Awad on ROUGE

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"… this was a book about beauty, and I wanted it to be very honest."  In Mona Awad's Rouge, gothic family-drama meets fairy tale (with a hint of h...

Emma Donoghue on LEARNED BY HEART

09 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"My specialty is digging up obscure stories where there are just enough facts to really stimulate the imagination."  Emma Donoghue's newest novel, L...

Maria Bamford on SURE, I'LL JOIN YOUR CULT: A MEMOIR OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE QUEST TO BELONG ANYWHERE

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Bamford's hilarious memoir Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and a Quest to Belong Anywhere blends the honesty and compassi...

Zadie Smith on THE FRAUD

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"There's no higher version of historical fiction to me than that, the feeling of being transported." Zadie Smith's The Fraud brings all the excitemen...

Joanna Moorhead on SURREAL SPACES: THE LIFE AND ART OF LEONORA CARRINGTON

02 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I think that she would have given — to anyone who had been lucky enough to spend time with her — was just this thirst for curiosity."  Surreal ...

Isabel Cañas on VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I've been asked, why do you blend genres so much? And the simple answer is that it's what I want to read." Horror meets romance meets historical fict...

Poured Over Double Shot: Angie Kim and John Manuel Arias

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Angie Kim's Happiness Falls is a family drama with an unconventional cast of characters centered around a missing persons case. Kim joins us to talk ...

Alice Carrière on EVERYTHING/NOTHING/SOMEONE

26 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"I wrote this very simply to stay alive."  Alice Carrière's beautiful and intense memoir of her unconventional childhood, her mental health journ...

Jill Lepore on THE DEADLINE

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"Having that store of memories that history can be, if done well, is a really tremendous form of solace." Jill Lepore, historian and author of These T...

Prachi Gupta on THEY CALLED US EXCEPTIONAL: AND OTHER LIES THAT RAISED US

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"My book is really an attempt to change that conversation and begin to dismantle some of these pressures so that we don't have to be upheld to these s...

Adrian McKinty on THE DETECTIVE UP LATE

19 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Detective Up Late is the newest installment in the Sean Duffy series by Adrian McKinty following a detective solving his final case in Northern I...

Kai Bird on AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"Dr. Oppenheimer, Dr. Oppenheimer. I've been waiting decades to meet you!" The inspiration for the new movie Oppenheimer, Kai Bird's incredible biogra...