The Book Review

Tayari Jones’s new novel, “Kin,” follows two orphaned girls, Annie and Niecy, who grow up together in Louisiana in the 1950s. Annie was abandoned as a baby when her mother ran away to Memphis, while Niecy was orphaned when her father murdered her mother. The girls grow up under the shadow of loss, but at the very least they have each other, two “cradle friends” so close they’re practically sisters.

After high school, though, they take different paths: Niecy sets out for Spelman College to try to make a name for herself, while Annie flees to Memphis to seek the mother she never knew. Along the way, each must confront major questions about love and family, including what sacrifices are acceptable to achieve them.

On this week’s episode, host MJ Franklin talks about “Kin” with his colleagues Lauren Christensen and Elisabeth Egan.

Other books mentioned in this episode:

“An American Marriage,” “The Untelling” and “Silver Sparrow,” by Tayari Jones

“Clutch,” by Emily Nemens

“This Is Not About Us,” by Allegra Goodman

“Lonely Crowds,” by Stephanie Wambugu

“The Vanishing Half,” by Brit Bennett

“The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois,” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

“Sula,” by Toni Morrison

“Beaches,” by Iris R. Dart

“Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?,” by Lorrie Moore

“Cat’s Eye,” by Margaret Atwood

“The Calamity Club,” by Kathryn Stockett

“South to America,” by Imani Perry

“Witness and Respair,” by Jesmyn Ward

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Andy Weir’s first time at the Hollywood rodeo was a singular trip. His debut novel, “The Martian,” went from self-published project to blockbuster, best picture-nominated film starring Matt Damon.

His most recent book, “Project Hail Mary,” was also a sensation, and its adaptation, starring Ryan Gosling as a middle school science teacher tasked with saving humanity from slow extinction, charts warmly familiar territory: a lone man, stuck in space far from Earth, solving science problem after science problem with many a humorous aside.

Weir joined the Book Review’s podcast and spoke to the host, Gilbert Cruz, about the similarities and differences between Mark Watney and Ryland Grace (the main characters of “The Martian” and “Project Hail Mary”), his second novel, “Artemis,” and the alien character that readers have fallen in love with.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to [email protected].

“The Book Review Podcast” is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Sarah Diamond and Amy Pearl. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado.

Special thanks to MJ Franklin, Dahlia Haddad, and Paula Szuchman.

Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Taylor Glascock for The New York Times

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Since the publication of her first novel, “Love Medicine,” in 1984, Louise Erdrich has written fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work has earned multiple awards, including the National Book Award (“The Round House”) and the Pulitzer Prize (“The Night Watchman”).

On this week’s episode, Erdrich talks with Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, about her new short story collection, “Python’s Kiss.” She reflects on some of the formative experiences that shaped her as a writer, including watching “Planet of the Apes” and growing up in North Dakota, a state that housed hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

She says that writing has been her “only real way of processing” her experiences and that her creative process is full of mystery.

“There’s really no way to control everything that happens in a piece of art. Some of these stories — I wasn’t sure that I had written it,” she said, adding: “And yet, obviously, it was in my handwriting.”

Plus, Erdrich recommends the one book that always puts her to sleep.

Books discussed on this episode:

“Animal Farm,” by George Orwell

“Brawler,” by Lauren Groff

“Winter in the Blood,” by James Welch

“The Pillow Book,” by Sei Shōnagon

“The Death of the Heart,” by Elizabeth Bowen

“Save Me, Stranger,” by Erika Krouse

“The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison

“Austerlitz,” by W.G. Sebald

“The Rings of Saturn,” by W.G. Sebald

“Whistler,” by Ann Patchett

“Make the Golf Course a Public Sex Forest,” published by Maitland Systems Engineering

 

Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

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For more than two decades, Bob Crawford has toured the country as the bassist for the Avett Brothers. But long before he began his career as a musician, he was obsessed with American history. After turning that obsession into two podcasts, he has now written his first book, “America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, From President to Political Maverick.”

On this week’s episode, Crawford talks with Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, about what it was like writing a book for the first time and the authors who have inspired him. In addition to discussing what he loves about John Quincy Adams, the country’s sixth president and the son of John Adams, Crawford also talks about the research he did for the book. That included scouring Adams’s 14,000-page diary.

“He’s not a perfect man — he’s far from perfect,” Crawford said of Adams. “But he’s so human. He’s suffered depression, and just the humanness in his diary, not to mention the actual historical narrative, is just incredible.”

Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

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Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is a tale of star-crossed lovers: Catherine, the wild daughter of an aristocratic family, and Heathcliff, an orphan whom Catherine’s father brings home unexpectedly. While Catherine’s brother and mother denigrate Heathcliff, depriving him of an education and forcing him into a servant-like role, Catherine forms an intense, almost spiritual bond with her family’s new charge.

Despite their deep connection, however, she marries the scion of a nearby wealthy family — a decision that leaves Catherine yearning, Heathcliff bent on revenge and everybody in their orbit on a path to calamity.

Brontë’s classic has long been a favorite among readers, and the novel is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Emerald Fennell’s recent film adaptation. On this week’s episode, host MJ Franklin discusses “Wuthering Heights” with colleagues from the New York Times Book Review.

Other works discussed:

“Wuthering Heights,” the song by Kate Bush

“Twilight,” by Stephenie Meyer

“But Daddy I Love Him,” by Taylor Swift

“Wuthering Heights,” the 2026 film directed by Emerald Fennell

“The Safekeep,” by Yael van der Wouden

“Mexican Gothic,” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The “Wuthering Heights” comics in Kate Beaton’s “Hark! A Vagrant” series

“Villette,” by Charlotte Brontë

“Rebecca,” by Daphne du Maurier

“The Idiot,” by Elif Batuman

“The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The Count of Monte Cristo,” by Alexandre Dumas

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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