In early April, we were both struggling to focus and looking for an escape from a shut-down world, so we turned to the National Book Foundation's Lisa Lucas and author and Books Are Magic owner Emma Straub for some reading recs. Now, exactly 99 days later, Lisa is back, this time with podcast regular and Riverhead Books publisher Jynne Dilling Martin to restock our shelves with recommendations. There's something for everyone this episode, whether you're looking for a graphic novel to keep your short attention span in check, a historical trilogy set in the court of Henry V (complete with its own plague), a sci-fi battle royale set in New York City, or a New York Times bestseller all your friends are probably reading right now. A reminder to order any of the books that make it on your must-read list from your local bookseller or one of these Black bookstores across the U.S.—or, from Bookshop.org, which gives money from sales for independent bookstores.

Here's a full list of what we talked about:

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

Weather by Jenny Offill

Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

Severance by Ling Ma

What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

12 Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Man V. Nature by Diane Cook

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans


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Follow Lisa: @LikaLuka
Follow Jynne: @Jynnnne
Follow Lale: @LaleHannah
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