The Guest List 2020


We asked the past year’s podcast-guests for the favorite books they read in 2020 and the books they hope to read in 2021 for our special year-end Guest List episode! Thirty guests participated, so listen to the show to hear about their picks, and use this page to check out all the books, as well as their past episodes! And visit our Bookshop.org page for many of this year’s Guest List books!

Photo of many of my 2020 books (not incl. comics) by me. There were a LOT of electronic versions this year

If you’d like a guide to the episode, detailing the order of the speakers and when their segments begin, please scroll to the bottom of the page.


APPLE PLAYER TK

The Guests

Derf Backderf – 27:20

Derf’s 2021 goals

Philip Boehm – 41:40

Philip’s 2021 goals

Ruben Bolling (aka Ken Fisher) – 10:15

Ruben’s 2021 goals

Betsy Bonner – 5:45

Henri Cole – 16:45

Joan Marans Dim – 19:30

Joan’s 2021 goals

  • Nothing about Trump

Emily Flake – 9:35

Emily’s 2021 goals

Jonathan W. Gray – 14:10

Jonathan’s 2021 goals

  • He hopes to tackle James McBride’s work

Tom Hart – 14:35

Tom’s 2021 goals

Arthur Hoyle – 6:40

Rian Hughes – 7:15

Rian’s 2021 goals

  • His own novel!

Richard Kadrey – 12:55

Richard’s 2021 goals

Ben Katchor – 26:40

Kathe Koja – 18:05

Kathe’s 2021 goals

  • She’ll know it when she sees it

Tess Lewis – 38:50

Tess’ 2021 goals

  • EEG – Dasa Drndic, Celia Hawkesworth (Translator)
  • Belladonna – Dasa Drndic, Celia Hawkesworth (Translator)
  • Doppelgänger – Dasa Drndic, SD Curtis & Celia Hawkesworth (Translators)

Ellen Lindner – 22:15

Ellen’s 2021 goals

Margot Mifflin – 42:25

David Mikics – 11:20

David’s 2021 goals

Otto Penzler – 36:55

Woodrow Phoenix – 29:20

Darryl Pinckney – 25:50

Darryl’s 2021 goals

Alta Price – 24:10

Alta’s 2021 goals

Steve Ronin – 40:00

Steve’s 2021 goals

Dmitry Samarov – 3:45

Dmitry’s extremely tentative 2021 goals

Michael Shaw – 37:55

Michael’s 2021 goals

Stoya – 7:45

Stoya’s 2021 goals

Benjamin Taylor – 10:55

Benjamin’s 2021 goals

Jeff Trexler – 20:40

Jeff’s 2021 goals

John Vercher – 35:40

John’s 2021 goals

Sheila Williams – 36:15

Gil Roth – 43:00

Gil’s 2021 goals