12 Books That Read Like Podcasts

What happens when science meets the supernatural? That fascinating intersection is what Mary Roach explores in Spook. Roach focuses her attention specifically on the afterlife…what we know about the afterlife, what we don’t know about the afterlife, and what we believe about the afterlife. Lovers of paranormal podcasts will enjoy Roach’s sense of humor and curiosity in this book that might hold more questions than answers…

Some of the best podcasts are miniseries that take a deep dive into a topic or theme and explore its significance over several self-contained yet still cohesive episodes. In The Address Book, historian Deirdre Mask does this by looking at a topic most know little about: street addresses. Mask uses addresses as a lens into major sociological questions, like what your street address says about your identity or wealth. This revealing book is ideal for fans of history and sociology podcasts.

One of my favorite nonfiction writers, Jon Ronson writes about life at the fringe…extremists, internet trolls, the pornography industry, and, in The Psychopath Test, the business, industry, and psychology of psychopaths. In riveting chapters so intriguing you’ll be inventing excuses to read it, The Psychopath Test will have you hooked on Ronson’s expedition into the world of psychopaths. You’ll meet industry profiteers, stone-cold killers, and larger-than-life characters in Ronson’s trip through the underbelly of psychopathology.

My must-listen pods are all political conversation and interview podcasts like Hacks on Tap, Five Thirty Eight, and Pod Save America. (I have a list of books for PSA fans here on Book Riot.) Reading Mira Jacob’s graphic memoir Good Talk fits right in. Only in this book, the conversations aren’t among politicos but instead between Jacob and her son growing up in the complex dynamics of contemporary America. An unflinching yet tender story, Good Talk helps open the dialogue between adults caring for today’s youth.

Anyone who is deeply plugged into politics and news podcasts know the sticky, hyper-partisan dynamics of the Supreme Court, both who sits on on the chair and those caught up in the world of the glorified nine. If you love current events podcasts, you’ll find much to like about While Justice Sleeps the gripping thriller from politico and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams. Twisty and addictive, this book about drama on the Supreme Court when a Justice falls into a coma to be a gritty, real look at power—who has it, and who would do anything to have it.

Some of the best podcasts are oral histories of a specific era, work of art, or interesting cultural movement. If you’re a fan of this kind of podcast, pick up the novel The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. Dawnie Walton’s debut follows the fallout of a (fictional) famed 1970s rock duo years later they split up through the lens of an oral history. Themes of race, gender, and feminism course through this captivating story.

Are you an arts and culture podcast junkie? You’ll definitely want to check out Emily Nussbaum’s I Like to Watch. A Pulitzer Prize–winning critic, Nussbaum collects her assorted writing on the highs and lows of television in the new millennium. With wide-ranging subjects like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Sopranos, and reality TV, I Like to Watch is essential reading for podcast listeners who can’t get enough of television.