Best Book Review Podcasts
A Bookish, Podcast-ish, Substack-ish Start
I am writing my first Substack post about book review podcasts because book review podcasts are what brought me to Substack. Recently, hosts of a few of the book review podcasts that I listen to mentioned that they are on Substack, where there is a vibrant bookish community. And now here I find myself wanting to join the bookish Substack conversation.
What’s so great about book review podcasts?
I enjoy listening to book review podcasts for two primary reasons. First, like many other voracious readers, I am always on the look-out for great books to read next. And second, I enjoy listening to people have fun discussing topics that interest me.
There are A LOT of book review podcasts out there and I have tried out a fair number of them.
Depending on what your reading and podcast listening preferences are, the book review podcasts that have worked best for me, might not turn out to be the ones that work best for you. If they don’t, and if you enjoy both reading books and listening to podcasts, I encourage you to open your favorite podcast listening app and browse around for some other ones to try out.
How to decide if a book review podcast is right for you
Here are some questions that may help you assess the book review podcasts that you try:
Is there a fair amount of overlap between the hosts’ reading preferences and yours?
Does the podcast have a high average rating on your podcast listening app, and does it get excellent listener reviews?
Do you enjoy listening to the hosts’ voices?
Are the hosts passionate about reading and is it obvious that they are having fun while talking about books?
Do you find their insights and analysis thoughtful, interesting, and/or entertaining?
Do you feel good when you are listening to the podcast?
Do you find yourself frequently wanting to learn more about the books the hosts discuss?
Do the books they recommend tend to get high average ratings on book tracking sites/apps like Goodreads, or do the hosts tend to recommend books that a lot of people think are mediocre?
Do you often enjoy their book recommendations when you try them?
Do the hosts mostly stay on bookish topics and avoid digressing to other topics that don’t interest you?
Is the length of the podcast appropriate for the amount of useful or entertaining content that is conveyed?
Are the hosts good interviewers? Unfortunately, there are a lot of podcasts out there that contain very boring interviews of very interesting guests.
Are the episodes well produced? Well planned, organized, and edited?
Is there an easy-to-find list available for each episode that contains all of the books the hosts discuss (so that you don’t have to stop what you are doing every few minutes to take notes while listening)?
Some book review podcast tips
You should be able to find all of the podcasts that I recommend in your favorite podcast listening app.
While listening to episodes, you can speed up or slow down the narration speed in the app. Some episodes you may want to speed through quickly, and others you may want to slow down so that you can listen more carefully. You can also just speed through the parts of episodes that don’t interest you.
Most well-organized book review podcasts make it easy for you to find lists of the books they discuss after you finish listening. You should be able to listen to the episodes while you do other things, and then look up the books that interest you after the episodes are over. Check the particular podcast episode’s notes within your podcast listening app to learn where to find a full written list of the episode’s recommended books.
If my podcast recommendations aren’t your cup of tea, you can find lots of other great book review podcasts to try simply by browsing on your favorite podcast listening app. You can scroll through the most relevant category of popular shows to look for book-related podcasts. You can see which other shows your podcast listening app recommends for people who subscribe to a book review podcast that you already like (for example, in the Apple Podcast app there are recommendations for similar podcasts on every show’s page). You can “search” within the podcast listening app for the name of a book or author you love, to learn which podcast episodes mention that book or author. Or, you can “search” for favorite genre names, among other browsing techniques.
Book review podcast recommendations
The following book review podcasts are currently ticking off most of my boxes. And all of them have average listener ratings of 4.5/5 or higher on the Apple Podcast app as of the time this was posted.
The Currently Reading Podcast. This podcast is delightful from its happily jazzy musical opening combined with a warm greeting of “Hey Readers, welcome to The Currently Reading Podcast,” all the way to its end. I particularly enjoy the sound of co-host Meredith Monday Schwartz’s lovely voice. She and co-host Kaytee Cobb have a very enjoyable repartee. The books they discuss often interest me, and they discuss them thoughtfully and with nuance. You can tell that they are having fun reading and having fun talking with each other about what they are reading, which makes for a fun listening experience. The hosts start most episodes by chatting about their recent bookish moments, then they take turns summarizing and reviewing their recent reads, and then they delve deeply into a specific topic. Their podcast episode show notes list many of the books they mention during each episode and are included within the episode information within the podcast listening app. Over the course of about 40 minutes to an hour, each episode is likely to mention over 25 books that the hosts have read. The hosts’ bookish tastes are fairly broad and include contemporary fiction, mysteries, and thrillers.
Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. In this podcast, host Sarah Dickinson has interesting bookish conversations with well-read co-hosts and author interviewees. I particularly enjoy Sarah’s frequent bookish conversations with co-host Catherine Gilmore. They read a lot of interesting books and they talk about them insightfully. Their deep love of reading permeates their conversations. Each season they have a preview episode about books that interest them; and unlike many other bookish podcasts, they also have a circle back episode in which they report back on how those books worked out for them. My favorite episodes include their “Micro Genres We Love” episodes. Most other book review podcasts either mention a lot of books the hosts know very little about, or they dig in deeply to a small number of books. This podcast, however, manages to convey a lot of interesting insights into a lot of books, in the same amount of time it takes many other podcasts to convey a lot less information. It is also easy to find the list of books they talk about each episode via that episode’s show notes and the podcast’s website. Episodes are often around 50 minutes long and often mention more than 10 books in author interview episodes, and over 30 books in other episodes.
All the Books! is a Book Riot podcast. Its hosts alternate; and include Liberty Hardy,
, Trisha Brown, and Vanessa Diaz. Episodes switch between shorter backlist-focused episodes that are usually less than 15 minutes long and mention fewer than a handful of titles; and longer episodes about new releases that tend to be close to 50 minutes long and mention closer to 20 titles. In the new release episodes, the hosts enthusiastically and briefly summarize new release books. I mostly listen to this podcast to learn about new titles, some of which interest me enough for me to want to find out more information about them elsewhere. The episodes are well-organized and well-produced. The episode show notes listing the books the hosts mention are partially available within the podcast listening app and more fully available on the Book Riot website (which is a great resource for other book news and recommendations too).
What Should I Read Next? Anne Bogel’s podcast is a high-quality operation, backed up by a knowledgeable, book-loving team. Most episodes involve Anne interviewing one reader. She asks each interviewee to name three beloved books, and one hated book. After engaging in some bookish chatter in which more titles are mentioned, Anne makes some recommendations about what she thinks that reader should read next. It feels a bit like listening in on a private, gentle, reading therapy session; with Anne in the role of reading therapist and her patients mostly just in need of someone to whom they can confess how happy reading makes them. Anne tries to interview a different kind of reader each episode. On the positive side, this means that sooner or later she is likely to interview someone whose reading tastes overlap a lot with yours. On the negative side, this means that if your bookish tastes don’t overlap much with that week’s interviewee, that interview might not lead to any recommendations that work well for you. However, there is so much bookish joy radiating out from the lovely interviews that many listeners enjoy listening to all of the episodes. Often around 20-25 books are discussed during an episode (which usually lasts between 40 minutes to about an hour long). There are links in the podcast episodes’ show notes to the pages on Anne’s website where the discussed books are clearly listed. You can also follow Anne on Goodreads.
Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine. On most episodes, host Jo Reed is joined by an AudioFile colleague to discuss one, big, audiobook release. The quality of the audiobook narration is discussed, and a sample of the narration is included in the episode. The episodes tend to be about high-quality audiobooks and it can be very helpful for listeners to get to sample their narration and learn about the narrators. Episodes are usually 7-8 minutes long.
First Edition.
, CEO and co-founder of Book Riot, hosts this podcast that often focuses on big picture publishing issues. For example, one episode is about “The Making of the Modern Publishing Industry,” and another is about “How the Publishing Phenomenon of the Year [Fourth Wing] Was Made.” Jeff also interviews some interesting guests.Reading Through Life. Episodes of this podcast start with bookish best friends and co-hosts
(who enjoys rom coms and family dramas) and (who enjoys fantasy) chatting briefly. Then they take turns briefly summarizing and briefly reviewing books. They clearly love books and have fun talking with each other about them. They also get through a lot of information fairly concisely. They have episodes focused on specific topics like: “Books That Made Us Cry,” “Books That Make Us Laugh,” “Our New Favorite Genre: Climate Fiction,” and “Bookish Pet Peeves.” Episodes are often around a half hour long, and they tend to mention over 10 titles. They also write a Substack newsletter.
Novel Pairings. In this podcast, co-hosts
and discuss classic books and some contemporary works that pair well with them. Their analysis is thoughtful and enjoyable. Episodes are usually about an hour long and mention fewer than a dozen books. You can receive show notes automatically via the Substack newsletter, making it easy to keep track of the books mentioned on each episode. You can also learn about what Sara Hildreth has been reading on Goodreads. In addition, Sara writes the and Chelsey writes The Eclectic Reader newsletter on Substack. Readers who enjoy listening to thoughtful discussions about old favorite classics like Anne of Green Gables, A Room of One’s Own, and Middlemarch are likely to enjoy this podcast.Professional Book Nerds. This is an OverDrive podcast hosted by Joe Skelley and Emma Dwyer. You may be familiar with Overdrive’s Libby app, which many libraries use to lend ebooks and audiobooks to library members. On one episode of the podcast each month, the hosts joyfully enthuse about new releases that sound exciting to them, often discussing about 20 titles over the course of about an hour. These episodes are a bit like All the Books! new release episodes in that the hosts mostly summarize (and enthuse about) new, un-read releases. The titles discussed on this podcast are available to borrow from public libraries via the Libby app. The hosts have fun talking about books and are entertaining, so listening to them is an enjoyable way to learn about new releases. I particularly enjoy listening to Joe’s voice. There are also episodes about microgenres, like “Body positive books for kids and teens,” “Greek Myth Retellings,” and “Romantasy Reads.” Microgenre episodes often recommend about 10-15 books over the course of 30 minutes to an hour. Joe also conducts entertaining and interesting interviews.
Reading Glasses. Hosts of this podcast Brea Grant and Mallory O’ Meara answer reading-related listener questions in this well-produced show, and often recommend a handful of books along the way. The hosts discuss reading-related topics such as the ideal book bag, what to do with books that have been given to you and you don’t want, and how to review a book you don’t like. Episodes tend to be around 45 minutes long. Mentioned books are listed in the podcast episodes’ show notes within the podcast listening app.
LARB Radio Hour. Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) Radio Hour episodes are hosted by LARB editors-at-large Kate Wolf, Medaya Ocher, or Eric Newman. Most episodes contain a single, in-depth, thoughtful, almost academic interview of of a literary fiction or nonfiction author about a recent book. Episodes are usually between 40 minutes to an hour long. The interviews are often thought-provoking and interesting. Although I do not listen to every episode, I do find myself curious about their selections more frequently than I do with most other single-review-per-episode book review podcasts. The episodes are well-organized and well-produced.
Honorable mentions
The following are well-organized, well-produced, and well-hosted book review podcasts. As of the time this was posted, all of them have average listener ratings of 4.1/5 or higher on the Apple Podcast app.
SFF Yeah! by Book Riot
The Book Review by the New York Times
NPR’s Book of the Day Podcast
Great book review podcasts on the horizon
New book review podcasts come and go fairly frequently.
If you have thoughts you would like to share about the podcasts that are listed above or provide additional book review podcast recommendations; you are welcome to subscribe and share your comments and additional recommendations.
Thanks for these awesome recommendations! Looking forward to more!
On behalf of Mia and I, we’re so honored to be mentioned here! And! Welcome to Substack!