Audio Book Club

Dissecting today’s best books and authors.

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About the Show

Join Slate’s critics for monthly discussions of new and important books. Read the book club selections and then listen in as our critics hold lively—and sometimes heated—debates about the works.

The Sparsholt Affair

How does Alan Hollinghurst’s multigenerational saga represent the gay experience?

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness

How does the novel hold up almost 50 years after it first appeared?

Her Body and Other Parties

Slate critics discuss Carmen Maria Machado’s vividly saturated and undefinable stories.

The Odyssey

Slate critics discuss Emily Wilson’s new translation of the great Homeric poem.

The Audio Book Club Goes to Manhattan Beach

Slate critics discuss Jennifer Egan’s mysterious historical novel, set in World War II–era Brooklyn, about divers and gangsters.

What Happened

Slate critics discuss Hillary Clinton’s gutting memoir about the 2016 election.

The Audio Book Club Converses With Friends

Slate critics discuss Sally Rooney’s astute, chatty, painful debut novel about love and friendship.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Slate critics discuss the long-awaited second novel from Arundhati Roy.

Do Not Become Alarmed

Maile Meloy’s novel about privileged kids in peril is an adventure yarn with bite.

Too Much and Not the Mood

Durga Chew-Bose’s debut collection drifts toward meaning without ever really finding it.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Slate critics debate Margaret Atwood’s harrowing novel and the television series it inspired.

The Audio Book Club Joins Lincoln in the Bardo

Slate critics debate George Saunders’ curious novelistic debut.

The Audio Book Club Reads The Art of War

As self-help.

It’s Swing Time for the Audio Book Club

Slate critics discuss Zadie Smith’s latest novel.

The Audio Book Club Gets Tangled Up in Blue

Slate critics discuss the poetry of Bob Dylan’s lyrics.

The Audio Book Club Receives Some Postcards From the Edge

Slate critics discuss Carrie Fisher’s spirited novel about Hollywood.

The Audio Book Club Basks in Moonglow

Slate critics discuss the dazzling new novel from Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon.

The Audio Book Club Travels the Underground Railroad

Slate critics discuss two novels that reimagine our racist past and present.

The Audio Book Club Gets Shrill

Slate critics discuss Lindy West’s brash, funny memoir.

The Audio Book Club Hangs Out With the Girls

Slate critics discuss Emma Cline’s feverish reimagining of the Manson murders.