I'm Gilbert Cruz, editor of the New York Times book review, and this is the book review podcast.

The holidays are nigh, and this is our last new episode of the year. We're going to take a very brief break for Christmas and for New Year's,

and we'll see you on the other side. Before that, however, we have our final book club episode

of the year. I'm going to let our host, MJ Franklin, tell you all about it.

Hello, and welcome to another book club episode of the Book Review podcast.

I'm MJ Franklin.

I'm an editor here at the New York Times Book Review,

and for this month's Book Review Book Club,

we're talking about small things like these.

Claire Keegan's 2021 novella about one Irishman's Crisis of Conscious during the Christmas season.

It's a slim book, just over 100 pretty small pages with large margins, but it's a thought-provoking

one and one that really seems to have secured a spot in the public imagination.

It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and earlier this year it was made into a movie

starring Killian Murphy.

So, we thought, a book that is seasonal, a book that is adapted, and a book that is

getting accolades is the perfect book for a book club discussion.

And joining me in discussing the novel are a handful of my wonderful colleagues.

First, we have a voice you may not have heard on the show in a while, Liz Egan. Liz was last on the book club in February for our

Demon Copperhead conversation. Welcome back, Liz. Hi, MJ. Thanks for having me. Thank you. And Liz,

in the intervening months, your job has changed. You were previously

a review editor and now you're a features writer, correct? I am indeed. I wanted to bring this up,

because I want listeners to know. Liz has written a ton of incredible features about some really

...