46 | What are you reading? The best book recommendations of 2021

James and Ashley Stay at Home

The best (and most!) book recommendations of the year! We share the 'What Are You Reading?' highlights from a wide range of our 2021 guests, including Nardi Simpson, David Vann, Kavita Bedford, Luke Stegemann, Ruhi Lee, Joanna Nell, Fiona Murphy, Heather Taylor Johnson, Jacinta Dietrich and – of course – James and Ashley.

Books discussed in this episode (all 44 of them):

• Bindi by Kirli Saunders
• The Road to Woop Woop by Eugen Bacon
• The End: My Struggle Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard
• Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
• Shadow Child by PF Thomése
• Eight Lives by Susan Hurley
• The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
• Disoriental by Négar Djavadi
• The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
• Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
• Deepfakes by Nina Schick
• The Possessed by Dostoevsky
• Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias
• A Heart So White by Javier Marias
• The Stranger and short stories by Albert Camus
• When We Dead Awaken by James Robins
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
• Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
• We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
• Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
• The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell
• On Quiet by Nikki Gemmell
• Beautiful Kate by Newton Thornburg
• The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
• The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
• The Animals in that Country by Laura Jean McKay
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
• Ghost Species by James Bradley
• The Past by Tessa Hadley
• The Iceman by John Sandford
• Storm Prey by John Sandford
• Love, Clancy by Richard Glover
• Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover
• Prosopagnosia by Sonia Hernandez
• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
• Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow
• The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan
• Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

What about you – what are you reading? Get in touch and let us know!

• Ashley's website: ashleykalagianblunt.com
• Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt
• Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt
• James' website: jamesmckenziewatson.com
• James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson
• James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson