Read or Dead

Book Riot

4.2 (207)
BOOKS
UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Read or Dead is a bi-weekly show dedicated to the worlds of mystery and thriller literature.

JAN 10

Our Most Anticipated Books of 2025

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated thriller and mystery books of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! A new year means a new Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons. To get recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. All Access subscribers get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. You can become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year to get unlimited access to all members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies of knowing you are supporting independent media. To join, visit bookriot.com/readharder. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed: The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy - Andrea Dunlop & Mike Weber The Dream Hotel - Laila Lalami King of Ashes - SA Cosby They All Fall the Same - Wes Browne The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones Immaculate Conception - Ling Ling Huang If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

37 min
12/27/2024

[Rerun] Our Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2024

We are off this holiday week, so we're sharing this rerun from the top of the year to reflect back on the titles we were most looking forward to in the first half of 2024! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. NEWS “Our Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Novels of 2024” (Novel Suspects) BOOKS DISCUSSED One of the Good Guys - Araminta Hall (January 9) The Night of the Storm - Nishita Parekh (Jan. 16th) The Hunter - Tana French (March 5) Blessed Water - Margot Douaihy (March 12th) The Woods All Black - Lee Mandelo (March 19th) The Angel of Indian Lake - Stephen Graham Jones (March 26th) Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder - Asako Yuzuki, transl. Polly Barton (April 16) One of Us Knows - Alyssa Cole (April 16) Supplication - Nour Abi-Nakhoul (May 24th) Middle of the Night - Riley Sager (June 18) If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

49 min
12/13/2024

Our Favorite Books of 2024

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books from 2024! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! At Tailored Book Recommendations, we’ve recommended over 150,000 books to readers of every type. And we’ve got good news— TBR makes a novel gift for the book lover on your list! All your gift recipient has to do is fill out a survey about their reading likes and dislikes, and our expert bibliologists will use their bookish knowledge to round up three personalized recommendations for reads we think they’ll love. Whether they’re a mystery maven, a historical fiction fanatic, or a contemporary connoisseur, we’ve got the chops to match the book lover in your life with their next favorite read. And it only takes a few clicks to gift TBR! Simply head to mytbr.co/gift to get started. You can even schedule the delivery of the welcome email, which means no more waiting on gifts to arrive last minute. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Things Mentioned Goodreads Choice Awards: Mystery / Thriller Crime Reads Best Books Washington Post’s Best Mystery Novels Washington Post’s Best Thrillers The Guardian’s Best Mystery and Thrillers Kirkus’s Best Mystery and Thrillers NYTs Best Crime Novels Books Discussed The Hunter - Tana French The Woods All Black - Lee Mandelo Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia Guide Me Home - Attica Locke Model Home - Rivers Solomon Butter - Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

49 min
11/29/2024

Mysteries and Thrillers for Indigenous Peoples' Month

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for Indigenous Peoples' Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Keep up to date with the world of books and reading with Today in Books, Book Riot's daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Our editors offer commentary, context, and the occasional clap-back to keep you informed and entertained. Visit bookriot.com/todayinbooks to subscribe for free, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Exposure - Ramona Emerson Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls - Jessica McDiarmid Bad Cree - Jessica Johns Mongrels - Stephen Graham Jones Darkly - Marisha Pessl The Rival - Jane Pek If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and BlueSky @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 min
11/15/2024

Holiday Gift Guide 2024

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their 2024 holiday gift guide! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Keep up to date with the world of books and reading with Today in Books, Book Riot's daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Our editors offer commentary, context, and the occasional clap-back to keep you informed and entertained. Visit bookriot.com/todayinbooks to subscribe for free, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. News Goodreads Choice Awards 2024 Books Discussed They All Fall the Same by Wes Browne The Alienist by Caleb Carr Bunny by Mona Awad Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey Blue Monday by Nicci French Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at ReadOrDead@BookRiot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @KDWinchester and on TikTok @KendraWinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

52 min
11/01/2024

Scary Season Send Off!

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books for a scary season send-off! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed The Spite House - Johnny Compton The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story - Olga Tokarczuk, Trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters The Hunger - Alma Katsu Model Home - Rivers Solomon This Girl’s a Killer - Emma C. Wells Pony Confidential - Christina Lynch If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 min
10/18/2024

The New York Times's Best Books of the 21st Century

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss mysteries and thrillers from The New York Times’s Best Books of the 21st Century! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! This October, Tailored Book Recommendations is giving away a pair of Beats Fit Pro headphones! TBR is the perfect way to take the guesswork out of finding your next favorite read. To get started with TBR, just fill out a quick survey about your reading likes and dislikes, and we’ll pair you with a professional book nerd— aka bibliologist— who uses their bookish knowledge to match you with three books they think you’ll dig. You can sign up to receive your recommendations via email or have your bibliologist’s picks delivered right to your door as either hardcovers or paperbacks. And if you sign up or gift TBR in the month of October, you’ll be automatically entered to win a pair of Beats Fit Pro headphones! Current TBR subscribers also have a chance to win by purchasing a drop-in round of recommendations in October. Sign up today at mytbr.co This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Things Mentioned The New York Times’s Best Books of the 21st Century Books Discussed The Guest List - Lucy Foley Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America - Erik Larson Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk, Trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones The Reformatory - Tananarive Due, Chosen by Stephen Graham Jones NYTs It Will Only Hurt For a Moment - Delilah S. Dawson The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story - Olga Tokarczuk, Trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones Curdle Creek - Yvonne Battle-Felton If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at readordead@bookriot.com. Otherwise you can: Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester and on TikTok @kendrawinchester And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

51 min
10/04/2024

The It Books of October 2024

Katie and Kendra have been affected by Hurricane Helene, so we are bringing you this episode from the Book Riot Podcast in which Jeff and Rebecca consider 10 books (including a couple of buzzy mysteries!) and crown one of them the It Book of the Month. Subscribe to the Book Riot Podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter! Check out the Book Riot Podcast Book Page on Thriftbooks! The Book Riot Podcast Patreon This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: Operation Airdrop The Message The Mighty Red Slaveroad The Bog Wife The Boyfriend The Revenge of The Tipping Point What I Ate in One Year Sonny Boy Meditations for Mortals Absolution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

57 min

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TRAILER

Welcome To Read Or Dead

Read or Dead is a bi-weekly mystery fiction podcast dedicated to the worlds of mystery, thriller, and true crime literature. Join hosts Alice and Kim for lots of recommendations, news updates, and more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/30/2020

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3 min

4.2

out of 5

207 Ratings

Corgis, cozies, crime, and so much more

07/04/2024

embowlden77

Easily my favorite of the Book Riot podcasts (even though I've been listening to the OG show since it's beginning), this podcast has led me down so many reading rabbit holes--plus the hosts are lovely.
Love it!

02/27/2024

Poppy__Flower

Always enjoy this podcast, thank you! I listen to most of the episodes multiple times. Corgi updates, tippy taps, and opinions are delightful!
Why is Katie still a host?

01/22/2024

chrbaker.mch

No offense to who she is as a person but is this really the right host for this podcast? She never reads. Every episode includes her reasoning for why she doesn’t read any more. She often just uses the same books for multiple topics. Sometimes she talks about a book before she finishes it and she’s completely wrong on where the book is going and it doesn’t even fit the topic. Also, because she doesn’t seem prepared for each show she often rambles and rambles. Book Riot has to have better options!
Just discovered, and I love it!!

11/25/2023

kathysarasota

I just discovered this podcast maybe two weeks ago, and it is very binge worthy although my TBR list is growing exponentially! One of my fave book review podcasts now!