I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still

watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you,

soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making,

Stories Without End from WBEZ Chicago. Join me as I share how the genre

began, their social impact, and why these stories endure. Listen, wherever you get your podcast.

From WBEZ Chicago, I'm Greta Johnson, and this is The Nerd at Book Club.

We are somehow in the month of August in the year 2021, and that means our selection this month is Kazuo Ishiguro's Clara and The Sun.

Stay tuned for our panel discussion later this month. I am super excited for you to hear it.

Today, we're going to do something a little different and bring you some of the best books of 2021 from two of my favorite readers. With us together, Underdot, for the first time,

we have Bethann, Patrick, a book critic who tweets as the book maven. Hello, Bethann.

Hello, Greta. So delighted to be back. Oh, my goodness, glad to have you. And we also have book riots,

amazing Liberty Hardy. Liberty, hello. Hello. Thank you for having me back. I'm very excited.

I feel like this is just like dream team material. It is. It's true. I asked each of you to show up

with your top five picks of the year so far. These are all books that have

already come out in kind of the first half of 2021. Before we get to the actual titles, I'm curious

if there are criteria for what you think makes the best book, which I don't know if that's an

obvious question or not, but I'm curious what you think. Beth Ann, let's start with you. That is a really tough question. In fact, that's my life's work. I think it's Liberty's work too, right?

Yeah, it is. What makes the best, you know, for me. And again, I know that even though Liberty,

she reads so much, but even each of us is just one person.

And so when we say the best, it's not fair for me to say these are the best.

These are the best for me.

Those are your best.

...