[music]

Speaker: Listener supported, WNYC Studios. [music]

Kousha Navidar: You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar, I'm in for Alison Stewart today. We are approaching the end of our All Of It Summer Reading Challenge. The deadline to finish your fourth book is Labor Day, and so many of you, almost 200 of you, have already finished and written into us, which is awesome. We know there are more of you out there making that final push this weekend, so if you have finished, head to wnyc.org/getlit to fill out the completion form and to get a prize.

Since so many of you have already finished the challenge, we thought we would take this time to share some of the books that you all, our listeners, our readers, have really enjoyed this summer. Listeners, what was the best book you read for the summer reading challenge? What category did you like best? For those of you who aren't doing the challenge, you can still call in and just tell us the best book you read this summer. We're here at 212-433-9692, that's 212-433 WNYC. You can also hit us up on social, on Instagram, on X, we're @AllOfItWNYC. While we wait for some calls to come in, I am lucky to be joined right across the desk by All Of It and Get Lit producer Jordan Lauf. She spearheaded this challenge and she's going to read some reader responses and reflections with us. Jordan, welcome.

Jordan Lauf: Thank you so much. I have to say, I was clearly in Get Lit brain when I wrote this prep for you for myself. It's wnyc.org/summerreading, not Get Lit.

Kousha Navidar: Summer reading.

Jordan Lauf: We said Get Lit, I meant summer reading. If you do go to wnyc.org/getlit, you can get tickets to our September 30th event with Erik Larson. If you went there by accident, there's still a great thing for you there, you can sign up for that, but if you want to fill out the thing that says that you finished the challenge, it's wnyc.org/summerreading.

Kousha Navidar: Wnyc.org/summerreading. If you want to give us a call, it's 212-433-9692. A lot of great places to go to find things out. It's all great. Tell us, how is your summer reading challenge going, Jordan?

Jordan Lauf: Okay. I did come on here and tell listeners something bold, which is that I was going to go for the full seven. I made it through my first four really quickly, and then I made a fatal error. I selected 2666 by Roberto Bolaño as my translation. It is nearly 900 pages long and I'm in the final 30. The end is in sight. I can feel it in front of me and I just haven't gotten there yet. It remains to be seen if I can somehow finish that one and get through two more books this long weekend, but I'm going to try. If my listeners and our readers are trying, I got to make a good faith effort.

Kousha Navidar: Could you make the next two, maybe little novellas or something? Would that still count?

Jordan Lauf: Yes, exactly. If anyone has a good recommendation for anything under 200 pages, please call in.

Kousha Navidar: Usually we hear recommendations from you, but we're going to do things a bit differently today, right?

Jordan Lauf: Yes, I think that our listeners have had heard enough from me. It's been so fun getting on here to share some recommendations of my own, but I was so thrilled to see so many great responses come in. We asked our readers when they finished the challenge to tell us the four books that they read and then tell us which was their favorite and why.

I thought some people might write like, "Oh, I really loved Demon Copperhead because it was so good, but I underestimated our readers.

People wrote these really awesome, moving book reviews and it was so lovely looking at them and compiling them. I thought what we would do today is just read through some of them, take your calls and discuss what people have been reading.

Kousha Navidar: I love that. Let's dive into it. Were there any books that seem to be very popular with our readers?

Jordan Lauf: Yes, it's very interesting. Looking through, there were a bunch that stood out as being read by many, many people. I won't go through all of them because it's a long list, but a couple that stood out, Long Island by Colm Tóibín, which was the follow up to his novel, Brooklyn. Our engineer, Juliana, is indicating that she read Long island for the summer reading challenge.

Kousha Navidar: Big thumbs up.

Jordan Lauf: She liked it, I think. Yes, she's nodding. It's got a really fun love triangle. That's a good one. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett came up again and again and again. That's a great one. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I think this one made it so many times because I said I was going to read it and then I didn't read it, so I'm so glad that other people did.

Another thing I'll just say is it was really interesting to see how I think The New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century list influence people's reading. A lot of people picked My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante as their translation, and I think that's because she was picked as the best book of the 21st century so far by The New York Times. It was cool to see how that influenced our readers' selections.

Kousha Navidar: It's really interesting to have that perch to see the trends that are happening in 2024 through this challenge, which is awesome. Can we get into some of the reader responses and recommendations?

Jordan Lauf: Let's do it. The first one comes from Bob in Manhattan. He wrote in to say that his favorite was The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. "I originally heard about it on All Of It and it sounded interesting, had it on a list to check out. When the challenge came up, I decided to go ahead and read it. I really liked it, found the plot intriguing and well executed. I liked the style. I could really visualize the action as it unfolded. Could see this as a limited miniseries. I would certainly recommend this to friends."

Bob, the good news for you is that it's being turned into a miniseries by A24, so that's already in the works. For those who don't know, this is a debut novel. It's a time travel romance story set in London. It's really great. Kaliane actually came on our show earlier this year to talk about it. I reached out to her to say, "Hey, so many of our readers loved this book." This was one that came up again and again and she sent us a little message back.

Kousha Navidar: Here it comes.

Kaliane Bradley: Hello, All Of It listeners. This is Kaliane Bradley, the author of The Ministry of Time. I just wanted to say I'm so glad to hear that so many of you chose to read my book for the All Of It Summer Reading Challenge. It is truly an extraordinary privilege and a real dream beyond a dream to know that so many of you felt moved to pick it up. I'm sorry if while I was recording this, you heard a lot of banging noises. I live in an extraordinarily haunted house. Sometimes I hear doors going at 3:00 AM, so if I get got by a ghost, please know I died happy. Good luck finishing the challenge this weekend.

Kousha Navidar: That's so lovely. Thank you so much for sending that note to us. Listeners, if you're just joining us, we're speaking about our summer reading challenge, you have until Labor Day to finish. Head to wnyc.org/summerreading to fill out the completion form and call in and tell us what book you read for the challenge. Give us a call. We're at 212-433-9692, that's 212-433 WNYC. We did just get a text that said my New York book was the sequel to Brooklyn by Colm Tobin, Long Island, and that wasn't as good as Brooklyn. Now I am reading Long Island, so shout out because you mentioned that as well. You have another message from a listener named Esther, is that right?

Jordan Lauf: Yes. Esther wrote in to say that she really loved Erasure by Percival Everett. For those who don't know, that is the novel that inspired-- I believe, the movie's titled American Fiction, which came out last year, an excellent movie that was Oscar nominated. She said, "Interesting to read the book after seeing the movie. Exactly the same in some details but very different in others." She gives a detail about the sister, which is a spoiler and I will not share. She says, "I recommend for anyone who saw the movie or who would rather read the book than see the movie."

I will say another big book that came up again and again for our readers was James, Percival Everett's newest novel, which is sort of a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who travels with him. You interviewed Percival on the show, Kousha, to talk about James. What stood out to you from that conversation?

Kousha Navidar: I was so happy to see this book come up because that was one of my favorite conversations that I've had. I remember talking to Mr. Everett, I was really interested in etymology and the use of language because James, the character, switches back and forth. I mentioned to Percival how interesting it was that James is an elevated version of the name Jim. He checked me and said, "Actually, Jim is a diminished version of the name James," which really struck me and I was really happy with that coming up in the conversation.

Jordan Lauf: That was an excellent interview, I remember, and just a really stunning read. If you haven't read it already, that's a good one to pick up this weekend.

Kousha Navidar: Let's go to some calls. We've got a bunch of folks coming in that want to share their favorites. Let's go to John in Manhattan. John, hey, welcome to the show. I hear some sirens in the background. Is everything okay?

John: Oh, I'm just in New York talking about a New York centric book, so that's what's happening. Kousha, I want to say it's been a pleasure listening to you these past several months. Jordan, this is John of John and Molly calling in.

Jordan Lauf: Oh. Hi, John.

John: Nice to hear you as well. I read Nestlings by Nat Cassidy for the New York book prompt. Basically it's a horror book. The couple wins the housing lottery and they have an apartment in what I think is based on The San Remo on the Upper West Side. It's a very chilling vampire tale, but I really loved it. It's a fast read, so recommend for anyone who's looking for that and anyone who's a fan of horror. Basically, I think they pitched a Salem's Lot meets Rosemary's Baby. if that doesn't appeal to folks in the horror genre, then not sure what will.

Kousha Navidar: John, thank you so much for that call. We really appreciate it. Nestling is the book. Thanks so much. Let's go to Chambers calling us from LA. Hey, Chambers, welcome to the show.

Chambers: Thanks. Everyone in LA, every woman in LA, it seems of a certain age, is reading the book All Fours by Miranda July. Everywhere you go, women are reading that book like crazy.

Kousha Navidar: Chambers, did you read that book?

Chambers: I did. I asked women, I said, "Hey, is this a good book?" They love it. I said, "Maybe I should read it." Then they get this look on their face like, "This is really for women. This is really women of a certain age," which made me really want to read the book. Then I heard on Gilbert Cruz on The New York Times podcast that he too, women were telling him not to read the book. He said he was going to read it. I decided I was going to read it. It is amazing. I see why women don't want you to read it because it's like looking inside the brain of a woman. It's incredible. It's beautiful and very sexy.

Kousha Navidar: Chambers, thanks so much for that call. Jordan, are you familiar with that book, All Fours?

Jordan Lauf: I am. This is another one that was very popular among our readers. I believe what he was skirting around there is, there's a lot about menopause, I believe, in that novel, and also sex during menopause. Maybe that's why so many women of a certain age were feeling really called to read it because it felt representative of their experience. I have not yet read it, but it's on my list because so many people have just been loving that this summer.

Kousha Navidar: Cool. Well, thank you so much. Thanks so much, Chambers, for that. Before we go to break, I want to bring up one more because we just got a text, and I think this leads into one of the listeners, Cecil from Manhattan. The text that we got says, "My favorite, a book you heard about on All Of It, One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon.

Jordan Lauf: Yes. This was also very popular with our readers. Cecil from Manhattan wrote in to say, One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon was thrilling. Truly Get Out meets The Stepford Wives. It was an excellent book, and I would recommend that everyone read it. I'd also love people to read it so I can talk about that ending with them." Kousha, you and I both read this book. We talked about the ending, and you actually dmed the author to discuss the ending with her.

Kousha Navidar: I did.

Jordan Lauf: What did you say?

Kousha Navidar: After our interview, I said, "I've got about two chapters left, and I really want to talk to you after I finish." Nicola was very gracious and said, "Sure, talk to me once you finish it." After I finished it, I had so many big feelings about it. A great thriller for me accelerates the further in you go. This happened, but at the same time, there was this loss of agency that I felt a lot of the characters had. It made me mad, but also just a little bewildered. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but it was really surprising. I thought I knew what was going to happen, and I didn't. It was just very big feelings I would say.

Jordan Lauf: It's a very unsettling ending, but it's also a page turner, you're going to fly through that book. If you're looking, again, for something to pick up this weekend, you can say you heard about it on All Of It. One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon, our readers seem to really love that one.

Kousha Navidar: We got to take a quick break, but when we come back, we're going to talk more about other favorite books that folks who completed the summer reading challenge have said to us. We're speaking about the summer reading challenge. You have until Labor Day to finish, so head to wnyc.org/summerreading to fill out the completion form. Keep sending us calls. We're at 212-433-9692. More recommendations from you spoken by our producer, Jordan Lauf, after this.

[music]

Kousha Navidar: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar, and we are here with Jordan Lauf, a producer on All Of It, and the Get Lit producer. We're talking about our summer reading challenge. You have until Labor Day to finish, so this long weekend is the finish line. Head to wnyc.org/summerreading to fill out the completion form. We're taking your calls about your favorite books if you have participated in this challenge, and if you haven't, and we're also hearing from some people who have finished the challenge, what books really stood out to them. Give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692. Let's go to Laura in Mount Vernon. Hey, Laura. Welcome to the show.

Laura: Hi. Thanks for having me on. Jordan, I loved my bookmark. Thank you. I used it all summer for all my reading challenge books.

Jordan Lauf: Yay.

Laura: A book that I had no plans to ever read just because I read a lot and didn't think I'd have time to fit it in, was Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. I actually picked it up at the, "leave one, take one," bookshelf in my coffee shop, and every page, I loved it more and more. It was such a great book. I can't say enough good things about it. It was awesome. I hope he writes more novels. I can't wait to read more by him. That was an unexpected, awesome joy of my summer reading.

Kousha Navidar: Thank you so much, Laura, for that. It seems like that was pretty popular among our listeners, right, Jordan?

Jordan Lauf: It really was. I have this response from Angela in Grand Rapids. She said, "I feel fortunate to have read Martyr! when I did. I happened to start reading the book one day before a close friend passed away, and somehow the time I spent with the book made me feel better, particularly the end. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but in its way, it is an incredibly uplifting book, especially when you're grappling with mortality."

I was just so glad to see so many people read this debut novel. It's about a young poet who is thinking about ending his life, who then meets an artist who is spending her final days in the Brooklyn museum. Kaveh Akbar is himself a poet, and you could really tell in your interactions with him the way that he talks and his way with words, was just incredible. When I was waiting to bring him into the studio, I had asked him, "Oh, are you so excited to have this book physically out in the world? How does that feel?? In his response, I think he used five different words, I had to go to the dictionary to look up. I just was like, "This is a poet. This is a poet, you guys, because he's using the most beautiful language, and I have no idea what he just said." I know what he meant was that he was really happy to have this book in the world. I'm sure he'd be really happy to hear that so many of you guys loved reading it.

Kousha Navidar: Absolutely. Laura, thank you so much for that call. All right, what have we got next, Jordan?

Jordan Lauf: All right, Kousha, we got a Power Broker reader.

Kousha Navidar: Really? [laughs]

Jordan Lauf: Someone did it. Someone did it. I don't think they did it in two weeks, which was the challenge I issued a little bit while ago. Dylan in Brooklyn wrote to say, "I've been trying to finish The Power Broker by Robert Caro for well over a year now. It was dense to say the least, but so incredibly well researched. It feels like required reading living in New York, as it provides so much context for the landscape of the city today. I'm happy I can say I finished it, all 1,162 pages this summer. I'd certainly recommend it to a friend who has ample free time and an unbreakable attention span. Just know that I did get made fun of by roommates for saying it's starting to get really good at around page 900."

Kousha Navidar: Oh my gosh. [laughs]

Jordan Lauf: Dylan, [chuckles] I celebrate your accomplishment. That's an achievement. Kousha, have you ever thought of tackling The Power Broker?

Kousha Navidar: I have thought of tackling The Power Broker. Dylan, I stand in your shadow. The longest book that I read this summer was Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. That clocks just under about 700 pages, not quite the plus 1,000 that we're talking about. Dylan, that is very impressive. How about you, Jordan?

Jordan Lauf: I have a copy of The Power Broker, as most literate New Yorkers like to say. I have it on my shelf, but have I read it? No. I really love Alison Stewart's fun fact that she was going to dedicate a room to The Power Broker where she was just going to have it open somewhere, like how people display a Bible or something.

Kousha Navidar: Right. The Gutenberg Bible.

Jordan Lauf: Exactly, so she could just walk up to it when she felt like and page through and then say, "Okay, I'm done reading," and just leave it on the table. I don't know. If you're thinking about trying it maybe that's one way to tackle it.

Kousha Navidar: Absolutely. We got some texts that I'd love to read. The first one said, "I loved reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore."

Jordan Lauf: That's great.

Kousha Navidar: "Although I had the same question as everybody else on Goodreads after I read it." I've also got the Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. Worth the effort. Well, worth the effort. Also Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius. Am I saying that correctly?

Jordan Lauf: I am not sure.

Kousha Navidar: Coming of age about Indigenous people of the Arctic Circle. Awesome. Listeners. We're here with producer Jordan Lauf talking about the summer reading challenge. We are take some of your calls now to hear what you are enjoying reading this summer. Let's start with Valerie in Teaneck, New Jersey. Hey, Valerie. Welcome to the show.

Valerie: Hello.

Kousha Navidar: Hi.

Valerie: Hi. How are you?

Kousha Navidar: Good, thanks. Valerie, what are you reading that you enjoy?

Valerie: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi. It takes place in Nigeria, and it's a story of a man who has three wives. He's getting ready to take his fourth wife. I think you go in with the opinion of, "What is wrong with these women. Why would they stay in a relationship with this man?"

Kousha Navidar: Valerie, it sounds like you read more than the four categories, too, for this summer reading challenge. Is that right?

Valerie: Yes, because I belong to several book clubs, so I read over a hundred books a year.

Jordan Lauf: Wow.

Kousha Navidar: Above and beyond. Valerie, thank you so much for that call and for that shoutout. Let's go to Alexander in Brooklyn. Hey, Alexander. Welcome to the show.

Alexander: Hi, there. I am still struggling to finish up my fourth book, but I wanted to call in to shout out Too Much Happiness by Alice Monroe, which I read in the category of recommended by a friend or in this case, by my mother. I had never read anything by her before, and I might be the only person under the sun to not have read any. I know she's extremely renowned, but if there is anyone else out there who hasn't read any, I highly recommend it. The short story collection and each story was beautifully devastating in a new way and just a delightful read. Very highly recommended.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Too much happiness. Alexander, thank you so much. Let's go to Mary Beth in Jones Beach. Hi, Mary Beth. Welcome to the show.

Mary Beth: Thanks a lot. It's a beautiful day at Jones Beach. I read the Promised Land by Barack Obama, and I picked it up on the spur of the moment in the library. It's a marvelous book. It's very personal. He has a lot of personal reflections or a judicious amount, but the explanation of the legislative process and who the players are and what they did and what they couldn't do, it's a trip down memory lane. Of course, it starts before his 2008 presidency and goes up to 2012. It's entertaining. It's not a real struggle to get through it. I highly recommend it. No matter what your politics is, it's a real education.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Mary Beth, thank you so much and enjoy the day at Jones Beach. I hope it continues to be nice there for you. Jordan, let's get back into some of the other recommendations that we got, some messages.

Jordan Lauf: This one from Brad from New Rochelle really made me smile. He wrote in to say, "Wicked by Gregory Maguire was a revelation. It is an adult story that tackles problems related to persecution of otherness, political violence, bias, and truth in friendships. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope the upcoming movie can cover the book more fully than the musical does. Have recommended it to both my daughters and others."

I love that he's giving it to his daughters. I'm glad to see some people read the Wicked book. I think I shouted that out on one of the times I appeared on the show. It's really so different from the musical. It's darker, it's kind of bleak, and it's a really good alternative fairy tale story. Even if you love the musical, if you're really excited about the movie, I recommend giving that one a try.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Wicked. That's wonderful. I still need to see Wicked. I've never seen Wicked before.

Jordan Lauf: You've never seen Wicked?

Kousha Navidar: Never seen Wicked, yes.

Jordan Lauf: How long have you lived in this city?

Kousha Navidar: Long enough that I should have seen Wicked. It's on my list.

Jordan Lauf: You have certainly got to.

Kousha Navidar: I'll read the book.

Jordan Lauf: All right, there you go. Up next, I've got from Allegra in West Orange, New Jersey. She read Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. That's translated from Japanese. "I found a lot to think about here. I liked the way she kept doubling down, including research and costumes, to fully commit to her deception. I like all the questions it raised about a range of topics. As a childless woman, I liked the way she worked the system. I will absolutely recommend this book to friends. I need to find one willing to discuss and help me unpack." Allegra, I just wanted to let you know I have also read Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. I was glad to see someone pick it up.

That is about a young Japanese woman who learns that if she pretends to be pregnant at her office, she gets to get out of all these little sexist things that the men in her office require of her, like making them coffee in the morning and serving people during meetings. She gets to leave work early. Obviously the longer this goes on, she has to physically start to show that she's pregnant, and it goes from there. It's a slim little book. It's translated from Japanese, and it's a great one to pick up this weekend.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Let's keep going. Do you have Elga in East Brunswick?

Jordan Lauf: I do. Elga really loved You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue. That's translated from Spanish. "It is a creative mélange of historical fiction and psychedelic fantasia. It's funny and dark and puts a whole new spin on the tales of conquistadors. Truly an enjoyable read." This one has also been on my to-be-read list. It's an alternative history where conquistadors and Hernán Cortés get stuck in the palace of Moctezuma and I think have a trip of some kind. They get confused. They get lost. I've heard really great things about this one. If you're looking for a translated work, that's a good one to pick up.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. We've got a text here that I want to read. It says, I read The Power Broker twice. Amazing book, as are all Robert Caro's works.

Jordan Lauf: Twice?

Kousha Navidar: Twice. Here's what it says, "Try the audiobook. It's easier on your eyes and hands." Maybe that's a little tip for folks.

Jordan Lauf: That's a good tip, but twice for The Power Broker, you are made of stronger stuff than I.

Kousha Navidar: That's funny. We're wrapping up here. As we go out, I want to ask you, what are you hoping to do with all of these messages? What can folks do if they want to get in on some of the action now?

Jordan Lauf: I am hoping to compile a lot of these. I asked people who shared if they would be fine with us sharing their selections on social media. Most people said yes, so thank you for that. I'll be posting this on social @AllOfItWNYC on our Instagram at some point, hopefully. If you want to send a response in, you can go to wnyc.org/summerreading. That's where you can tell us what you read, what you liked. If you have a comment about what you enjoyed, what you didn't enjoy about the challenge, any feedback for the future, you can type that into me. I'm happy to take a look.

it just has been a true joy to see how much fun people had with this over the summer. People wrote in some really nice things, and I am so grateful to everyone for participating and going along with this.

Kousha Navidar: Jordan, we are also grateful for the enormous amount of work that you have put in. Listeners, she stuffed every envelope with those bookmarks, [unintelligible 00:25:54]

Jordan Lauf: Oh, with lots of help.

Kousha Navidar: With lots of help. Also, Jordan, I just want to say, since I am leaving soon from this show as well, I just wanted to say I am personally grateful for all of the work and partnership you've given to me to help do this show every day. Thank you very much.

Jordan Lauf: Kousha. It's been an absolute joy working with you, and we'll miss having you here.

Kousha Navidar: Jordan Lauf is our Get Lit producer, and we thank you so much for being here. There is more All Of It on the way. Coming up, Gabe [unintelligible 00:26:17], staff writer at the Infatuation, will talk to us about boba tea. If you have a place where you love to get boba in the city, give us a call. That's coming up on All Of It. Stay with us.

Speaker 3: At Radiolab, we love nothing more than nerding out about science, neuroscience, chemistry.

Speaker 4: We do also like to get into other kinds of stories, stories about policing or-

Speaker 3: Politics.

Speaker 4: Country music.

Speaker 3: Hockey.

Speaker 4: Sex of bugs.

Speaker 3: Regardless of whether we're looking at science or not science, we bring a rigorous curiosity to get you the answers

Speaker 4: Hopefully, make you see the world anew.

Speaker 3: Radiolab, adventures on the edge of what we think we know.

Speaker 4: Wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Copyright © 2024 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.