September 26, 2026

by Andrew Limbong

Hey newsletter readers! Lots of you chimed in on the big debate dominating our cultural conversation these days – is East of Eden better than The Grapes of Wrath? Some of your emails below. As always, the inbox is bookoftheday@npr.org. And if you want to hear the latest author interviews from across NPR, subscribe to NPR’s Book of the Day podcast. Here’s this week’s letter!

A short note on the shortlist

I put on a jacket this morning for the first time in months. We made it, folks. It’s here. Autumn has arrived. And with the cold front (here in Baltimore, anyway) comes the cold, hard task of objectively judging some works of art as better than others. Which is to say, it’s awards season!

Yuki Sugiura/Booker Prize Foundation

The Booker Prize shortlist came out this week. Congrats to Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout, Rebecca Perry, M. John Harrison and Luke Kennard. I was fairly surprised that Emma Cline and Kenan Orhan didn’t make the cut from the long to the shortlist, but that’s how it shakes out sometimes, eh? Orhan’s got another shot, though. His book The Renovation was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction – although Marlon James’ The Disappearers, which is also on the National Book Award longlist, sure seems to be the novel to beat this year, for both awards.

That last sentence there is mostly based on the rapturous praise the book is getting from critics. But I personally find the Booker Prize to be hard to predict. If you’d asked me last year which of the 2025 shortlisters would win the big prize, I probably would’ve picked either Andrew Miller’s The Land In Winter or Susan Choi’s Flashlight. For those without encyclopedic knowledge of literary awards history, David Szalay’s spare coming-of-age novel Flesh ended up taking the prize.

Listen, is all of this ranking and rating of art an inherently ridiculous exercise? Sure. Is it kind of fun to prognosticate which literary novel we think the dude from the Britpop band Pulp likes the most? I think so. So let’s have at it – who do we think will or should win the Booker and the National Book Awards this year? Let us know – bookoftheday@npr.org.

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TBR Pile

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers/Doubleday

Speaking of prizes, National Book Award winner Sabaa Tahir is out with a new YA fantasy novel, Empire. It’s the second in a duology, following 2024’s Heir. It’s a saga that’s jam-packed with ideas and themes and plot and emotional gut punches. In this review, NPR’s Dhanika Pineda writes that “readers can expect a satisfying shock when the events of the novel finally coalesce in one deep pit.”

And just in time for tea-and-a-blanket season, Kate Atkinson has a new book out, too. Known for her cozy thrillers, Our Noble Selves is a historical fiction novel set in 1950s Britain. Book critic Maureen Corrigan writes, “Here, Atkinson's signature gift as a historical writer is on display as she seamlessly shifts time frames, so that the past surfaces without fanfare into the present.”

Mailbag!

Gosh, lots of strong thoughts over The Grapes of Wrath vs. East of Eden. Though, generally, the answer seems to be “whichever one I read in high school.” Here’s some of what you all had to say.

Wayne S. wrote: “I have read The Grapes of Wrath multiple times. It is a great book. What makes it great? The story asks questions about America and getting by in America that are still relevant today. The blend of general chapters and plot chapters give the novel a depth that wouldn't have been possible if he'd only focused on the Joads. This is an aspect of the novel that cannot transfer to the film (as much as I love the film). The growth of Tom as he realizes what is happening in the country, similarly, is not fully carried over into the film. As for East of Eden, I have only read the novel once, although I intend to read it again. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but it does not have the depth and power of The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck's passion for the American people comes through in The Grapes of Wrath. I did not find that same passion in East of Eden.”

Dan’l D. wrote: “I think Eden to be far the superior novel. The ending of Grapes, frankly, depends too much on a combination of sentiment and shock value. Eden, for all that at times it feels like what a soap opera would be if it were written by someone who could really write, just powers through climax after climax and never cheats on any of them. Its structure of echoes and recurring callbacks kept me up thinking and feeling last night far past my bedtime. A book of saints, men and women, and monsters.”

Chris M. wrote: “I prefer East of Eden over The Grapes of Wrath, but my personal favorite of Steinbeck’s is Cannery Row ever since I read it in high school. Please don’t joke about The Pearl becoming popular though. I love Steinbeck, but The Pearl is one of my least favorite books of all time, and I read it twice just to be sure!”

See you next week!

P.S., if a friend sent you this newsletter and you want to sign up, the place to do it is npr.org/newsletter/books. :)

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