Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Winner of the Orange Prize • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21 st Century " Bel Canto is its own universe. A marvel of a book." — Washington Post Book World Ann Patchett’s spellbinding novel about love and opera, and the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural barriers in times of crisis. Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers. Patchett's lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.

Recommended on 1 episode:

Inside Trump’s ‘Royal Court’

It has been harder to get insight into the dynamics of President Trump’s White House this term compared with the first one, partly because there have been fewer leaks. But after the attack on Venezuela and the administration’s actions in Minneapolis, I’ve found myself wondering: How exactly is Trump making decisions? Who is he listening to? How does this White House work? Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer cover the Trump administration for The Atlantic and have written a series of big profiles on key figures in this administration. Parker previously won three Pulitzer Prizes for her reporting at The Washington Post.

Books recommended:

• 📕  The Secret History (Vintage Contemporaries) by Donna Tartt
• 📘  Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
• 📗  Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost by Michael C. Bender
• 📙  An Image of My Name Enters America: Essays by Lucy Ives
• 📕  Palimpsest: A Memoir (Vintage International) by Gore Vidal
• 📘  Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce by Douglas Starr

Ashley Parker , Michael Scherer Feb. 20, 2026 6 books recommended

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