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

Follow Meredith: @Ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @WomenWhoTravel

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