For its September 25, 2026 episode, The Book Review from The New York Times brings together MJ Franklin, Elisabeth Egan, and Scott Heller to discuss Paul Yoon’s Etna, a novel following a former military dog on a journey through a country marked by war.
Podcast: NYT’s The Book Review
Participants: MJ Franklin, Elisabeth Egan, and Scott Heller
Released: September 25, 2026 · 56 minutes
Four books to explore
Our four selections begin with the book-club novel and continue with two other animal-centered stories and a nonfiction exploration of animal perception. These are our choices from the episode’s discussion, not a shared ranking by the panel.
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Etna
A dog trained for military service sets out across a country damaged by war, searching for home. Paul Yoon tells a story of survival and movement toward a life beyond violence.
Flush
Virginia Woolf imagines the life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel. A dog’s perspective offers a playful way into questions of companionship, freedom, class, and the human world.
The Eyes and the Impossible
Johannes, a free dog, observes an urban park for its animal community. His work becomes an adventure in friendship, change, and liberation as the park and its inhabitants face new arrivals.
An Immense World
Ed Yong explores how animals perceive realities that human senses cannot readily access. The book invites readers to reconsider familiar environments through sound, scent, vibration, and other forms of perception.
Books discussed in the episode*
The titles below come from the episode’s published show notes. They include recommendations, formative reading, and other works discussed; inclusion here does not mean every participant endorsed every title.
- Etna — Paul Yoon
- The Odyssey — Homer
- A Dog’s Purpose — W. Bruce Cameron
- The Vulnerables — Sigrid Nunez
- The Eyes and the Impossible — Dave Eggers
- Angel Down — Daniel Kraus
- Marley & Me — John Grogan
- Flush — Virginia Woolf
- Doggerel — Reginald Dwayne Betts
- Dog Show — Billy Collins
- Deaf Republic — Ilya Kaminsky
- An Immense World — Ed Yong
- Station Eleven — Emily St. John Mandel
- The Road — Cormac McCarthy
The show notes also refer generally to the work of E.E. Cummings and to the film adaptation A Dog’s Purpose, directed by Lasse Hallström. These references are kept separate from individual book titles.
*We compile this list from the episode’s published show notes and aim to include every book mentioned. Show notes may omit passing references, and our list may contain omissions or errors. A mention does not necessarily indicate a recommendation.
Source: Publisher-supplied notes for NYT’s The Book Review on Apple Podcasts.
This is an independent reading guide, not affiliated with The New York Times or its podcasts.