We're back! ...and with some brand spanking new recommendations of the best, most memorable books we devoured all last year. What reads lived up to the hype? What let us down? Plus, what surprised us the most! Listen to us agree (and disagree!) in one of our fave eps each year.

BOOK RECS

Jacinta’s -

Book I expected to like and didn’t: The Mistletoe Mystery: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose

Book I expected to like and loved: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Book I didn’t expect to like and loved: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Jacinta’s top 10:

1. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

2. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

3. Orbital by Samantha Harvey

4. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

5. Parade by Rachel Cusk

6. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

7. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

8. Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger

9. Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha

10. All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

Emma’s -

Book I expected to like and didn’t: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Book I expected to like and loved: Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

Book I didn’t expect to like and loved: Things Will Calm Down Soon by Zoe Foster-Blake

Emma’s top 10:

1. Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

2. Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

3. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

4. Know My Name by Chanel Miller

5. The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan

6. The Work by Bri Lee

7. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

8. What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

9. Let us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

10. Runt by Craig Silvey