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It’s the holiday season, which means NPR has published, as it does annually, “Books We Love,” an interactive online book list and gift guide of NPR staff recommendations. For this mini episode of The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with NPR’s Andrew Limbong—about the Books We’ve Loved limited podcast series, writing that evokes certain feelings from listeners and readers, and what books top his year-end list, as well as something readers can anticipate next year, too!
About Andrew:
Andrew Limbong is a reporter for NPR’s Arts Desk. He started at NPR in 2011 as an intern for All Things Considered, and was a producer and director for Tell Me More. He is now the host of NPR’s Book of the Day podcast, the author of the NPR Books newsletter, and a frequent host on Life Kit.
From the Books We Love list, and mentioned in this episode, Andrew Limbong recommends:
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott (Riverhead Books)
The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers (Simon & Schuster)
Andrew is looking forward to:
A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam Morgan (Atria/One Signal Publishers)
From the Books We Love list, Lauren Korn recommends:
Indian Country by Shobha Rao (Crown Publishing Group); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Shobha here.
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart; listen to an excerpt from Lauren’s conversation with Lorissa here, and keep an ear out for the full episode in the new year!
Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely (Canary Street Press); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Sally here.
Culture Creep: Notes on the Pop Apocalypse by Alice Bolin (Mariner Books, HarperCollins); listen to Lauren’s two-part conversation with Alice on Montana Public Radio on Thursday, December 11th (encored on the 14th) and December 18th (encored on the 21st), 2025.
A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews; keep an ear out for Lauren’s conversation with Miriam in the new year!
Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age by Leah Sottile (Grand Central Publishing); keep an ear out for Lauren’s conversation with Leah in the new year!
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage (Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Eliana here.
We Survived the Night by Julian Brace NoiseCat (Alfred A. Knopf); keep an ear out for Lauren’s conversation with Julian in the new year!
Heart the Lover by Lily King (especially via audiobook; Grove Press)
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (especially via audiobook; Alfred A. Knopf)
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (especially via audiobook; Crown Publishing)
Island Storm Brian Floca, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books)
Lauren is looking forward to:
The Negroes Send Their Love: Poems, Perspectives, and Possible Futures by Sean Hill (Milkweed Editions)
A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith (Washington Square Press)
Superfan by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Flatiron Books); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Jenny, re: Four Treasures of the Sky, here.
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
American Fantasy by Emma Straub (Riverhead Books)
Canon by Paige Lewis (Viking Books)
Afternoon Hours of a Hermit by Patrick Cottrell (Ecco Press)
Country People by Daniel Mason (Penguin Random House)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, producer, and editor.
The Write Question’s 2025-2026 season is supported by a co-op of four independent bookstores, encouraging a lifetime of learning through storytelling and conversation: Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton, Montana; Montana Book Co. in Helena, Montana; Fact & Fiction Books in Missoula, Montana; and Bookworks of Whitefish.
Additional funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
