I'm Gilbert Cruz. I'm the editor of the New York Times Book Review, and this is the book review.

We are ending this month and ending the summer with our monthly book club episode, posted as always by M.J. Franklin. This week, he and his panel are discussing

Wild Dark Shore. We are taking off next week for Labor Day. I hope everyone uses that time to read

something good, and we'll see you on the other side. Hello, and welcome to another book club episode of the Book Review podcast.

I'm MJ Franklin. I'm an editor here at the New York Times Book Review, and for this month's

Book Review Book Club, we're talking about Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaughey.

We chose this book for our book club because it's August, summer is winding down, people

are squeezing in their last summer vacations, and we thought, let's read a propulsive, but

still thought-provoking book, that people can sink their teeth into wherever they may be,

whether that's hiding indoors from the heat, basking in the sun at the beach, or anywhere

in between.

And joining me to discuss the novel are two of my book review colleagues,

both returning book clubbers.

First, we have Lauren Christensen,

who you may remember from our conversation about We Do Not Part by Hong Kong back in March.

Welcome back, Lauren.

Thank you for having me.

Also with us is Liz Egan, who is here last at the

end of 2024 to discuss small things like these. Liz, it's been a while. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me. I'm glad to be back. And in that episode, it was all of us together with

another colleague Jumana, so it's like getting the band back together. Thank you,

Bosh. Glad to be here. Same. Well, we have a very different book to talk about this time around,

...