Riot Headline Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge

Choosing the “It” Book of April, Talking Publishing with Yahdon Israel, and Sarah Bakewell on Humanism

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

In this kick-off episode, Jeff O’Neal plays a game to determine the “it” book of April with Rebecca Schinsky, talks about what it means to put a book into the world with Simon & Schuster Senior Editor Yahdon Israel, and considers humanism with Sarah Bakewell, on the occasion of the publication of her new book, Humanly Possible. 

Discussed in this episode:

It Book Knock-Out Contenders

Wonder Boy by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

The Wager by David Grann

Happy Place by Emily Henry

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

Yahdon Israel’s Advance Readers Club

Soil by Camille T Dungy

Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell

First Edition on Instagram

First Edition on Twitter

First Edition on Substack

And please do email me with feedback here: firstedition@bookriot.com