The works of John le Carré, who died in 2020, are among the most beloved thrillers of all time. For some, books like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "A Perfect Spy" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" are simply among their favorite works of literature ever.So it was a perilous task that author Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré sons, set out for himself. The author of multiple well-received science fiction novels, Harkaway picked up the torch from his father to write a new tale starring George Smiley, the Cold War spy who has appeared in more than a half dozen novels. According to Harkaway, it took some work to figure out the right period to set the book in."Smiley's career is a little bit tricky in terms of the continuity because my dad, when he was writing these books, wasn't writing a franchise," Harkaway said. "He was writing one book after another, and each one was the only truth that he cared about."
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<description>&lt;p&gt;The works of John le Carré, who died in 2020, are among the most beloved thrillers of all time. For some, books like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "A Perfect Spy" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" are simply among their favorite works of literature ever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So it was a perilous task that author Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré sons, set out for himself. The author of multiple well-received science fiction novels, Harkaway picked up the torch from his father to write a new tale starring George Smiley, the Cold War spy who has appeared in more than a half dozen novels. According to Harkaway, it took some work to figure out the right period to set the book in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Smiley's career is a little bit tricky in terms of the continuity because my dad, when he was writing these books, wasn't writing a franchise," Harkaway said. "He was writing one book after another, and each one was the only truth that he cared about."&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at &lt;a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts"&gt;nytimes.com/podcasts&lt;/a&gt; or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The works of John le Carré are among the most beloved spy thrillers of all time. So it was a perilous task that author Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré's sons, set out for himself. On this week's episode, Harkaway discusses how he picked up the torch from his father, who died in December 2020, to write a new tale starring George Smiley, the Cold War spy who has appeared in more than a half dozen novels.

What It's Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel

Sally Rooney is a writer people talk about. Since her first novel, “Conversations With Friends,” was published in 2017, Rooney has been hailed as a defining voice of the millennial generation because of her ability to capture the particular angst and confusion of young love, friendship and coming-of-age in our fraught digital era.“Intermezzo,” her fourth and latest novel, centers on two brothers separated by 10 years and periods of estrangement, who are grieving the recent death of their father. Peter Koubek is a 32-year-old lawyer with a younger girlfriend, Naomi, and an unextinguished flame for his ex, Sylvia; his brother, Ivan, is a 22-year-old chess prodigy who falls into a relationship with a 36-year-old divorcée, Margaret.In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with fellow editors Joumana Khatib, Sadie Stein and Dave Kim. 
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at <a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Sally Rooney is a writer people talk about. Since her first novel, “Conversations With Friends,” was published in 2017, Rooney has been hailed as a defining voice of the millennial generation because of her ability to capture the particular angst and confusion of young love, friendship and coming-of-age in our fraught digital era.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“Intermezzo,” her fourth and latest novel, centers on two brothers separated by 10 years and periods of estrangement, who are grieving the recent death of their father. Peter Koubek is a 32-year-old lawyer with a younger girlfriend, Naomi, and an unextinguished flame for his ex, Sylvia; his brother, Ivan, is a 22-year-old chess prodigy who falls into a relationship with a 36-year-old divorcée, Margaret.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses the book with fellow editors Joumana Khatib, Sadie Stein and Dave Kim. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at &lt;a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts"&gt;nytimes.com/podcasts&lt;/a&gt; or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Sally Rooney is a writer people talk about. Since her first novel, “Conversations With Friends,” was published in 2017, Rooney has been hailed as a defining voice of the millennial generation because of her ability to capture the particular angst and confusion of young love, friendship and coming-of-age in our fraught digital era.

In this week’s episode, the Book Review’s MJ Franklin discusses “Intermezzo,” her fourth and latest novel, with his fellow editors Joumana Khatib, Sadie Stein and Dave Kim.

Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo": Our Book Club Conversation

Halloween is just around the corner, so we turned to two great horror authors — Joe Hill and Stephen Graham Jones — for their recommendations of books to read this season.Books discussed:<ul><li>"Mean Spirited," by Nick Roberts</li><li>"Maeve Fly," by CJ Leede</li><li>"Come Closer," by Sara Gran</li><li>"It," by Stephen King</li><li>"Experimental Film," by Gemma Files</li><li>"A Head Full of Ghosts," by Paul Tremblay</li><li>"Lost Man's Lane," by Scott Carson</li><li>"Fever House," by Keith Rosson</li><li>"The Devil by Name," by Keith Rosson</li><li>"The Reformatory," by Tananarive Due</li></ul>
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at <a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Halloween is just around the corner, so we turned to two great horror authors — Joe Hill and Stephen Graham Jones — for their recommendations of books to read this season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Books discussed:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Mean Spirited," by Nick Roberts&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Maeve Fly," by CJ Leede&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Come Closer," by Sara Gran&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"It," by Stephen King&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Experimental Film," by Gemma Files&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"A Head Full of Ghosts," by Paul Tremblay&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Lost Man's Lane," by Scott Carson&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"Fever House," by Keith Rosson&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"The Devil by Name," by Keith Rosson&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;"The Reformatory," by Tananarive Due&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at &lt;a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts"&gt;nytimes.com/podcasts&lt;/a&gt; or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Halloween is just around the corner, so we turned to two great horror authors — Joe Hill and Stephen Graham Jones — for their recommendations of books to read this season.

Two Horror Authors on the Scary Books You Should Be Reading

Salman Rushdie's "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," has been nominated in the nonfiction category as part of this year's National Book Awards, which will take place in mid-November. This week, we are running Rushdie's conversation with Ezra Klein from earlier this year.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at <a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Salman Rushdie's "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," has been nominated in the nonfiction category as part of this year's National Book Awards, which will take place in mid-November. This week, we are running Rushdie's conversation with Ezra Klein from earlier this year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at &lt;a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts"&gt;nytimes.com/podcasts&lt;/a&gt; or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Salman Rushdie's "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," has been nominated in the nonfiction category as part of this year's National Book Awards, which will take place in mid-November. This week, we are running Rushdie's conversation with Ezra Klein from earlier this year.

The Ezra Klein Show: Salman Rushdie

The actor-director-producer Stanley Tucci is also, famously, an avid eater, who has explored his enthusiasm for food through his travel show “Searching for Italy” and through two books: “Taste,” in 2021, and now a food diary, “What I Ate in One Year." In this week’s episode, Tucci discusses his new book with host Gilbert Cruz and talks about bad meals, his food idol and his path to tracking a year’s worth of eating.“The people at Simon & Schuster wanted me to write another book after ‘Taste,’ and I really didn’t know what to write,” Tucci says. “My wife said, Just write what you eat. So I did, because I do everything she says. And it actually ended up being such a pleasure to write. It just flowed very easily. As you start to write about the mundane, you start to mine all this stuff that you didn’t know you were thinking about, or that was happening. And that’s what the book is. It’s, in essence, the passage of time through the prism of food.”Also on this week’s episode, Gilbert chats with Joumana Khatib about the National Book Award finalists in fiction and nonfiction.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at <a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The actor-director-producer Stanley Tucci is also, famously, an avid eater, who has explored his enthusiasm for food through his travel show “Searching for Italy” and through two books: “Taste,” in 2021, and now a food diary, “What I Ate in One Year." In this week’s episode, Tucci discusses his new book with host Gilbert Cruz and talks about bad meals, his food idol and his path to tracking a year’s worth of eating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“The people at Simon &amp; Schuster wanted me to write another book after ‘Taste,’ and I really didn’t know what to write,” Tucci says. “My wife said, Just write what you eat. So I did, because I do everything she says. And it actually ended up being such a pleasure to write. It just flowed very easily. As you start to write about the mundane, you start to mine all this stuff that you didn’t know you were thinking about, or that was happening. And that’s what the book is. It’s, in essence, the passage of time through the prism of food.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also on this week’s episode, Gilbert chats with Joumana Khatib about the National Book Award finalists in fiction and nonfiction.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at &lt;a href="https://nytimes.com/podcasts"&gt;nytimes.com/podcasts&lt;/a&gt; or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The actor-director-producer Stanley Tucci is also, famously, an avid eater. He explored his enthusiasm for food in his 2021 memoir “Taste,” and now a food diary, “What I Ate in One Year." In this week’s episode, Tucci discusses his new book with host Gilbert Cruz and talks about bad meals, his food idol and his path to tracking a year’s worth of eating. Gilbert also chats with The Book Review's Joumana Khatib about the National Book Award finalists in fiction and nonfiction.

Stanley Tucci on His Year in Eating and a Look at the National Book Awards

The world's top authors and critics join host Gilbert Cruz and editors at The New York Times Book Review to talk about the week's top books, what we're reading and what's going on in the literary world.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

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