The Books You Turned to in 2022

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When people say publishing is a dying industry, Brad Johnson begs to differ. East Bay Booksellers, which Johnson owns, had its best sales in the store’s history during the past two years. So, it’s fair to say that in some pockets of the world, and particularly in Oakland, books are very much still a thing. And, as the world opened up, people are not only enjoying solitary reading time, but have returned to filling seats at literary readings and in-person book festivals. As the year comes to a close, we’ll talk to booksellers like Johnson, critics and writers about the books that we couldn’t put down. Guests: Brad Johnson, owner, East Bay Booksellers in Oakland Anita Felicelli, editor, Alta Journal‘s California Book Club; 2022-2023 fiction chair, the National Book Critics Circle board; author, "Chimerica: A Novel" and the short story collection "Love Songs for a Lost Continent" Vauhini Vara, author, "The Immortal King Rao;" former business editor, NewYorker.com; former reporter, the Wall Street Journal in San Francisco Carlos Lozada, opinion columnist, New York Times; author, “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era;" former nonfiction book critic, The Washington Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:00.1	One of the great pleasures of this job is that I get to read so many great books by authors
1:04.9	from here and all across the world.
1:06.9	And that makes today's show a particularly fun endeavor.
1:09.4	We're joined by authors, a bookseller, and a critic to talk about their favorite books of the year.
1:14.3	I'll share some of my favorites from authors we hosted here on the show,
1:17.4	and we'll take your calls on the books that you couldn't stop talking about.
1:20.9	Maybe we'll even help you pick a few last minute gifts.
1:23.7	It's one of our last live shows of 2022, and it's all about the year in books.
1:28.2	That's all coming up next after this news.
1:54.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. There are so, so many books published each year.
2:00.8	Thousands and thousands of authors' hopes pressed between covers and sent out into the cruel world.
2:04.8	We talked about dozens of books on the show this year, and I'll be sharing a few faves of mine as the hour goes on. But first, let me introduce our panel of book lovers and readers
2:10.0	who will help us sort through the galleys and find the gold. First, we're joined by Brad Johnson,
	...

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