The Book Case

Danzy Senna Creates Worlds She Wants to See Oct 31, 2024

Danzy Senna has written a seriously funny and thought provoking book in Colored Television. It will make you laugh, but also make space for anger, pain and frustration as she skewers race, Hollywood, authentic voice, the publishing industry, the Kardashians, navel gazing, philosophy….you name it, there is satire in this book for everyone. Great writing and a great conversation with the author. We are also joined for our fourth writer in residence conversation with J. Ryan Stradal. He tells us why he is working so hard on the first draft of his new novel. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week’s podcast:

Colored Television by Danzy Senna

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

New People by Danzy Senna

You are Free: Stories by Danzy Senna

Where did you Sleep Last Night by Danzy Senna

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Colours of the Mountain by Da Chen

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Beloved by Tony Morrison

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dwayne Betts Is Proof That A Book Can Change Your Life Oct 24, 2024

Reginald Dwayne Betts is on a mission is to put a curated library in the cell block of every prison in America. A survivor of the system himself, he has obtained a college degree, a law degree from Yale, and a MacArthur Genius grant. Looking to bring hope to America’s most hopeless places, Bates has founded Freedom Reads, an organization that brings free curated library collections to every prison system that agrees to it. His partner in the endeavor, Debbie Leff, also talks to us about what inspired her about this tremendous organization. No one better personifies the power of reading to change a life, so join us for what we believe is an important discussion about the vitality of libraries and the power of books to heal.

Books mentioned in this week’s podcast:

The Circumference of a Prison by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Doggerel by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Felon: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Redaction by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paula Hawkins is a Mystery Master Oct 17, 2024

Paula Hawkins is a master of the mystery, and her new one, The Blue Hour, has one of the best opens and closes to a mystery we have ever read. An author who knows mood and atmosphere, this book will keep you turning the pages long after you told yourself to go to bed. Our bookstore this week is a revisit with one of our favorites, Beacon Hill Books. Join us!

Books mentioned in this week’s podcast:

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Osman Begins a New Series Oct 10, 2024

Richard Osman has one of the most successful literary mystery series of all time: The Thursday Murder Club (just finished filming as a major motion picture too). So why start a new series and why do we love it so much? First, we will read anything this man writes, including his address book, but second, because it’s good, AND funny. We ask Richard what inspired him, why he was crazy enough to start a new series and how. Our bookstore this week is Collected Works in Santa Fe. Join us!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman

The Man who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

Fade Away by Harlan Coben

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wright Thompson Investigates His Home State Oct 03, 2024

This week's book case: Emmitt Till’s murder has been a seminal moment in American history ever since it occurred in 1955. Wright Thompson’s new book “The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi” looks at the horror through a whole new prism. Thompson loves his native land of Mississippi but is haunted by the barn where Emmitt Till was murdered. Why is it that we still know so little about one of the ugliest chapters in the history of American race relations? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week’s podcast:

The Barn: The Secret History of A Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson

Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon and the Things that Last by Wright Thompson

The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business by Wright Thompson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katherine Rundell Believes in Children’s Lit Sep 19, 2024

The United Kingdom has given us some amazing children’s authors: C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Beatrix Potter...and may we add Katherine Rundell. Her newest, Impossible Creatures, is a sensation in Britain, and was declared an instant classic even before its U.S. release. It delivers all the magic promised in the fantastical title. Tune in to our conversation with this fascinating Renaissance literature and Dunne scholar as we talk to her about what’s so addicting about writing for middle schoolers, and where we can find the magical lands she creates.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
The Girl Savage by Katherine Rundell
The Zebra’s Great Escape by Katherine Rundell
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Dunne by Katherine Rundell
The Golden Mole: And Other Living Treasure by Katherine Rundell
Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Strout Unites Beloved Characters Sep 12, 2024

If you aren’t an Elizabeth Strout fan yet, Tell me Everything, her newest novel, is going to wow you. If you are already devoted fans, like we are, then you are in for a real treat. In Tell Me Everything, she brings together two beloved characters: Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge. The results are truly magical. Our bookstore this week is Snowbound Books in Marquette, Michigan.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spoken Word Poets Write Their Catharsis Sep 05, 2024

This is a special episode dedicated the art of spoken word poetry. One of our listeners wrote to us mentioning the name of Rudy Francisco and from there we fell down the rabbit hole of spoken word and slam poetry. We talk to Rudy and two other greats of the art, Bianca Phipps and Neil Hilborn. They are going to perform one work each and we will round it out with a conversation with Sam Van Cook. Sam is a founder of Button Poetry that represents and publishes so many of these great artists. Trust us, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Helium by Rudy Francisco
Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky by Rudy Francisco
Crown Noble by Bianca Phipps
The Future by Neil Hilborn
About Time by Neil Hilborn
Mill, Railways and General Castings by Sam Van Cook

Watch their poems online:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Fei-Fei Li Explains AI Aug 29, 2024

Dr. Fei-Fei Li is one of the most important scientists of our time. Her book, The Worlds I See, chronicles her pioneering efforts in Artificial Intelligence. Does AI scare you? Us too. But read this book and listen to this episode. The book is not just the compelling story of Dr. Li herself, who immigrated as a girl speaking no English but who understands physics like Michael Jordan plays basketball. She is now a worldwide authority on AI and its development. Second, if you are scared of AI, this book explains it and the issues surrounding it both with beauty and with hope. She believes AI is the next step in our evolution, but that it MUST be rooted in humanity. What does that mean? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Dr. Fei-Fei Li
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jodi Picoult Envisions A Woman Behind Shakespeare's Work Aug 22, 2024

Have you ever heard the rumor that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays? So had we, but By Any Other Name, the new novel by Jodi Picoult, may make the best case for it we have ever read. This novel puts forth a theory that Emilia Bassano wrote at least some of them, and she is an unforgettable character. This book succeeds on so many levels — a polemic, a great piece of feminist AND historical fiction, AND it’s a page turner. This is the book Jodi says she was born to write…and we think it’s her best to date.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Mermaid by Jodi Picoult
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Where There’s Smoke by Jodi Picoult
Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emily Nussbaum Explains Why We Should Take Reality TV Seriously Aug 15, 2024

Love it or hate it, the genre of “reality tv” has now shaped American history. That means no matter how you feel about it, you cannot ignore it. Enter Cue the Sun!, the most comprehensive, thoughtful and well written book about the history and development of the genre we have come across. We talk to the book’s author, Emily Nussbaum about how the genre has come to take up so much space in American pop culture and what that means for our country as a whole. We also talk to Ferguson Books' owner Dane Ferguson about how his shop serves rural communities in the upper midwest. You don’t want to miss it.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum
Black Bear Lake by Leslie Liautaud
Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman
Alter Ego by Brian Freeman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan Friss Traces the History of American Bookstores Aug 08, 2024

Today we talk about a book that seems tailor-made to our show, given our conversations with independent booksellers. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore is a book that, if you are a book lovers like we are, will give you the same warm, smiling feeling you get when you walk into your favorite bookstore. And we talk to Toby Cox, the owner of Three Lives & Company, one of Evan’s favorites.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

On Bicycles: A 200-Year History of Cycling in New York City by Evan Friss

The Cycling City: Bicycles and Urban America in the 1890s by Evan Friss

All Fours by Miranda July

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports by Tim Noakes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whoopi Goldberg Hails Her First Loves Aug 01, 2024

When you say the name Whoopi Goldberg it’s hard not to smile. The name is filled with heart, laughter, and a joyous sense of fun, just like the woman herself. Born Caryn Johnson, her memoir Bits and Pieces is a love letter to her mother and brother, the two people who molded her into the hilarious, honest and morally centered person she is today. She has also written a graphic novel about menopause (sure, why not?) called The Change, which is a declaration that women of a certain age (and color) can don a cape and fight bad guys with hot flashes, if they so choose. Join us for a laugh and some terrific storytelling.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
The Change: A Graphic Novel by Whoopi Goldberg, Jaime Paglia and Sunkanmi Akinboye
Is It Just Me?: Or Is It Nuts Out There? By Whoopi Goldberg
If Someone Says "You Complete Me,” RUN!: Whoopi’s Big Book of Relationships by Whoopi Goldberg
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Shattuck's Short Stories Span Time and History Jul 25, 2024

Ben Shattuck is a renaissance man of sorts, which might be why we dedicated the whole episode to him. He wrote The History of Sound, a thought provoking and beautiful collection of short stories that spans the Eastern Seaboard as well as eons of time. Then there's his general store, which, on top of being the oldest general store in the country also boasts an independent bookstore curated by, you guessed it, Ben Shattuck. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

The History of Sound: Stories by Ben Shattuck
Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hope Jahren Expands on Mark Twain Jul 18, 2024

Every so often, a new author tackles the work of expanding a classic novel to expand its reach. Even more rarely, they succeed beautifully. This week’s book, Adventures of Mary Jane is just such a rare gem. Mary Jane's author, Hope Jahren, is a scientist (a geochemist, no less) who decided to write the story of Mary Jane, a character that haunted her from the pages of Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn her entire life. It is both a magical adventure story and an authentic and well written coming of age drama. This week’s bookstore is Where the Sidewalk Ends, which is also run by two generations in tandem. We talk to them about how they do it…and we commiserate on working with daughters and parents. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Adventures of Mary Jane by Hope Jahren
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals that Helped him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Constantine Croke
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames-RELEASES 7/23/2024
More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova-RELEASES 1/14/2025

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J. Ryan Stradal Tackles His Next Novel Jul 11, 2024

Our third check in with J. Ryan Stradal, author extraordinaire and our writer in residence. He has begun to write in earnest, and has lots to tell us about his progress. We are loving these conversations with J., and every time we learn something new. For our bookstore we talk to Next Chapter Booksellers in St. Paul, J. Ryan's homeland. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn
For The Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes by Klancy Miller
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel Khong Asks, 'Who Is A Real American?' Jul 04, 2024

The Magician’s Hat by Malcolm MitchellThis week we talk to Rachel Khong. Her new novel, Real Americans, asks probing questions about the reality of America’s “melting pot” mythology, and is also being a mysterious and compulsively readable family saga. We also talk to Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer at Scholastic, in our continuing discussions on the importance of getting children to read. We hope you will join us.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Perfecto Pet Show by Judy Newman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joseph Kanon Conjures WWII Shanghai Jun 27, 2024

Do you like a good spy novel? Do you love le Carré and Graham Greene? Then we hope, with great sincerity, that you are reading the work of Joseph Kanon. His latest, Shanghai, centers around the city’s lesser known freewheeling WWII history and some of the lawless people who escaped the war to be there. Tune in to find out why he is fascinated by spy novels, and what he calls “spy adjacent novels”, that capture such rich moments in history.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Shanghai by Joseph Kanon
The Good German by Joseph Kanon
Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon
Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
The Prodigal Spy by Joseph Kanon
The Berlin Exchange by Joseph Kanon
Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon
Defectors by Joseph Kanon
Alibi by Joseph Kanon
The Accomplice by Joseph Kanon
The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Barry
Winter Work by Dan Fesperman
The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman
Safe Houses by Dan Fesperman
The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman
Unmanned by Dan Fesperman
The Double Game by Dan Fesperman
Layover in Dubai by Dan Fesperman
The Arms Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman
The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman
The Warlord's Son by Dan Fesperman
The Small Boat of Great Sorrows by Dan Fesperman
Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Catherine Newman Brings Us to Cape Cod Jun 20, 2024

Sandwich: A Novel by Catherine Newman is full of great characters, evocative nostalgic imagery and a love for Cape Cod that we share with her. It is full of thoughts on what it means to be a woman, why we keep secrets from our family, and what it is we love about the yearly vacation traditions we cherish if we were lucky enough to have them in our lives. For our bookstore this week, Bookshop West Portal, who for independent bookstore day brought in llamas. Because....well, tune in.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Sandwich by Catherine Newman
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family by Catherine Newman
The Worst Noel: Hellish Holiday Tales by Catherine Newman
Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years by Catherine Newman
The Beans of Egypt, Maine, by Carolyn Chute
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Long Island by Colm Toibin
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt
Shopkeeping: Stories, Advice, and Observations by Peter Miller

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarah Langan Crafts a Dystopian Mystery Thriller Jun 13, 2024

Want a great summer read? We have it. A Better Place by Sarah Langan is a page turning mystery/thriller….like if The Stepford Wives met Shirley Jackson in The Lottery. The story is original, the characters are well written, and the mysteries presented will baffle you as they unfold. It’s a terrific ride. We also talk also talk to John Mendelson, president of Nosy Crow Books, an independent publishing house for kids, who took the entire bike trail laid out by our Massachusetts guests from last week at Whitelam Books. Why did he do it, and how? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Better World by Sarah Langan
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
The Keeper by Sarah Langan
The Missing by Sarah Langan
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
My Antonia by Willa Cather
House of Leaves by Mark. Z. Danielewski
The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A Horse Called Now by Ruth Doyle and Alexandra Finkeldey
Dig, Dig, Dinosaur by Anjali Goswami and Maggie Li

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scott Preston Writes a UK Western Jun 06, 2024

This week, a dark and funny tale of sheep farming in Rural England that reads like an American Western by Cormac McCarthy. Sound a little strange? Well, it is. But it is also compelling, suspenseful, complex and packed with great characters. Scott Preston is a debut novelist, and this book, The Borrowed Hills, may defy a two sentence description but it’s worth the read. For our bookstore this week we talk to Whitelam books in Reading, Massachusetts, who tell us about what they did to bring in folks on Indpendent Bookstore Day. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
Shane by Jack Schaefer
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
True Grit by Charles Portis
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Independent People by Halldór Laxness
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two Editors Who Changed Publishing May 30, 2024

Today we have a book that helped us to lift the curtain on the inner workings of the book business. The Editor by Sara B. Franklin tells us the story of Judith Jones, the game changing editor who changed the publishing business at a time where women weren't in the publishing business. Judith helped shape literature and change publishing, and so we pair her with one of our current favorite editors who has just announced her retirement, Beverly Horowitz. Beverly has been in the business for 50 years and has worked with everyone from Judy Blume to E. Lockhart. Join us for a wonderful insiders look at the business that sustains our minds and hearts.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Editor by Sara B. Franklin
Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original by Sara B. Franklin
The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook: Dishes and Dispatches from the Catskill Mountains by Sara B. Franklin
The Colossus and Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones
Rabbit, Run by John Updike
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland (Canons) by Nan Shepherd
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Book Store Owners Present Their Top Summer Reads May 23, 2024

We love the summer because it means trips the bookstore! We have some of our favorite bookstores recommending their favorite summer titles. If you are in need of a laugh, a thrill or just a great story to read on the beach, this is an episode of The Book Case you don't want to miss.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Short Walk Through the Woods by Douglas Westerbeke
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Same as it Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
James by Percival Everett
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Lo Fi by Liz Riggs
Central Park West by James Comey
Westport by James Comey
Table for Two by Amor Towles
Swamp Story by Dave Barry
The Backyard Book Chronicles by Amy Tan
The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Stephanopoulos Takes Us To The Situation Room May 16, 2024

This episode is a double whammy of extreme talent. First, we have George Stephanopoulos, giving us history through the perspective of one of the most mysterious and powerful rooms in the White House: The Situation Room. It's the title of his new book...and it's an illuminating read. Second, the great J. Ryan Stradal and our second installment of the Writer in Residence series. He says he is doing a lot of writing these days...and he knows most of it won't make it in the book. You don't want to miss this week's Book Case.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos
All Too Human: A Political Education by George Stephanopoulos
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Think Twice by Harlan Coben
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
Table for Two by Amor Towles

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Heidi Reimer Examines Motherhood, Sacrifice, and Redemption May 09, 2024

It's always a pleasure for us to talk to a debut author and we have a good one this week in Heidi Reimer. Her novel, The Mother Act, is the story of mothers and daughters and the heap of complexities that come in those relationships. How do we know we are going to be a good mom? Once we have a child are we ALWAYS a mother first? This book asks these questions and challenges the reader to question the concepts of motherhood, empathy and family.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

The Mother Act by Heidi Reimer
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth About Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives by Lori Leibovich
Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Erik Larson Illuminates History May 02, 2024

If you haven’t heard of Erik Larson, you don’t read enough non-fiction. A giant in the industry and an immense talent, Erik is turning his attention to the beginnings of the Civil War in his latest, The Demon of Unrest. It’s the nail biting account of how we ended up turning guns against one another, North to South, with a specific focus on the stand off at Fort Sumter. Told through the eyes of rich characters through their unique perspectives, Larson brings new learning to an oft discussed topic…how the Union tore itself apart over slavery. You won’t want to miss this one.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
Lethal Passage by Erik Larson Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
The Naked Consumer: How Our Private Lives Become Public Commodities by Erik Larson
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
No One Goes Alone: A Novel by Erik Larson
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
Mary Chesnut's Diary by Mary Boykin Chestnut
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carlos Lozada Makes the Case for Political Memoirs Apr 25, 2024

We try not to do books about politics — political discourse in this country is, currently, divisive in the extreme. However, Carlos Lozada, in his new book, The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians, gives us a survey of Washington literature that will surprise, delight and inform you. From Tocqueville to Trump, from The Muller Report to DeSantis’ plea for the presidency, Carlos has read it all, and written about almost everything he has read. This book is a compendium of his best columns about books…why does Carlos think presidents insist on writing their own biographies? Why is George H.W. Bush one of the only presidents without a presidential autobiography? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians by Carlos Lozada
What We Were Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era by Carlos Lozada
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant
An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood by Jimmy Carter
Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kao Kalia Yang Captures Her Mother's Story Apr 18, 2024

Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong writer who has written her family and country’s history through deeply personal prisms. She told the story of her family’s beginnings via her grandmother’s story in The Latehomecomer, shared the life of her father in The Song Poet and now writes her mother’s journey in Where Rivers Part. Told in the first person, Where Rivers Part is the beautiful and compelling story of Tswb, who fled Laos to Thailand, eventually fighting her way to Minnesota to give a better future to her children. It is an epic tale of mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, struggle and triumph. Our bookstore this week is a 22-year-old dynamo who has already taken Mendham, NJ by storm…watch out world, it’s Chapter One Books.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Where Rivers Part by Kao Kalia Yang
The Song Poet by Kao Kalia Yang
Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang
A Map into the World by Kao Kalia Yang
The Shared Room by Kao Kalia Yang
From the Tops of the Trees by Kao Kalia Yang
The Most Beautiful Thing by Kao Kalia Yang
Yang Warriors by Kao Kalia Yng
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tommy Orange Traces Indigenous Trauma and Triumph Apr 11, 2024

Tommy Orange has written a second novel. Although technically a sequel, you can easily read Wandering Stars without having experienced There There. But you should read at least one. Or both. Oh to heck with it, we love Tommy Orange and we will read anything he writes. He is incredibly talented. And we pair him with Birchbark Books & Native Arts, a bookstore that is a beloved Twin Cities landmark, while also serving the national and international Indigenous community. Tune in to find out how.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

There There by Tommy Orange
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
James by Percival Everett
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Waltzing the Cat by Pam Houston
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
The Iliad translated by Emily Wilson
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy
Native Love Jams by Tashia Hart

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amor Towles Writes a Novella His Way Apr 04, 2024

Amor Towles is publishing a short story collection (with a novella included) called Table for Two, and we waited with bated breath as it arrived in our mailboxes. Can he bring the same artistry in short form that he does to his novels? Is he equally talented in novella, short story and novel? Short answers are yes, yes and yes. This rich collection of stories are varied, thought provoking, funny and beautiful. Join us to find out how and why he does what he does.

Book mentioned in this week's episode.

Table for Two by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Roper Delights With New British Rom-Com Mar 28, 2024

This Disaster Loves You is the newest by Richard Roper, which we would probably best describe as a quirky British romcom, sort of... a little. But it’s also hilarious and there is both depth and humanity to it that will surprise you. We both read it in about 48 hours, and you probably will too. Read it, and then listen to this conversation; you’ll understand why we’re so charmed. Our bookstore this week is Roebling Books which has a few locations in Kentucky. Owner, Richard Hunt has some terrific recommendations you won’t want to miss.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

This Disaster Loves You by Richard Roper
When We Were Young by Richard Roper
Something to Live for by Richard Roper
Us by David Nicholls
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
The Land of the Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
Clay’s Quilt by Silas House
The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing the 'Writer in Residence' Series with J. Ryan Stradal Mar 21, 2024

THE WRITER IN RESIDENCE SHOW!

We kick off our new series, Writer in Residence, with our resident writer, J. Ryan Stradal. A great writer, a national bestseller, and a friend of Kate’s for almost thirty years, J. Ryan is going to give The Book Case a front row seat from page one to publication. Join us as he walks us through what he does to get started, and his thoughts on how the book might proceed. What does he do to get past self doubt to be the best writer he can be? He joins us once a month for about fifteen minutes to talk us through every phase. This, our first episode, he gets the whole episode. Enjoy!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Working by Robert A. Caro
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
Adventures in Screen Trade by William Goldman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tana French On Writing An Irish Western Murder Mystery Mar 14, 2024

If you are a mystery fan who hasn’t read Tana French, then you have missed one of the great modern mystery writers of our time. American by birth and Irish by residence, her Irish set mysteries will both haunt you and keep you guessing. Her newest, The Hunter, is one of her best, a rousing combination of a murder mystery and heist suspense. She tells us what motivates her and how she does what she does time and time again. Our bookstore is The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

In the Woods by Tana French
The Likeness by Tana French
Faithful Place by Tana French
The Searcher by Tana French
The Secret Place by Tana French
Broken Harbor by Tana French
The Witch Elm by Tana French
The Trespasser by Tana French
The Hunter by Tana French
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
I Will Surprise My Friend! by Mo Willems
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anna Quindlen Explores Life After Death Mar 07, 2024

We believe that Anna Quindlen should be declared a national treasure. Her new novel, After Annie, is an intimate look at a family recovering from the loss of their matriarch. Taken too young, she dies suddenly of an aneurism while making dinner. It’s funny, sad, and, like all of Anna’s work, universal in its themes and depictions of family life. We pair her this week with the Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. Join us for some great conversations.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

After Annie by Anna Quindlen
Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
Blessings by Anna Quindlen
Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen
A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen
One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Ablaze by Christopher Krovatin
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sloane Crosley Processes Her Grief With Humor Feb 29, 2024

It’s never a great idea to pigeonhole a talented writer, but you could probably call Sloane Crosley a humorist... most of the time. Her newest, Grief Is for People, is a funny, raw, introspective, and beautiful look at grief from every angle. Rocked by the suicide of her best friend, Crosley dives into her pain and loss in this slim, but effecting book that will make you laugh out loud while you reach for your tissue box. (Yes, a cliche. But, here, a true one.) We also speak with McLean and Eakin books in Petoskey Michigan, run by a husband and wife team who fell in love in the shop they now own.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley
The Clasp by Sloane Crosley
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
The Long Goodbye: A Memoir by Meghan O'Rourke
Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature and Feminism in Our Time by Vivian Gornick
The Painter by Peter Heller
The Last Ranger by Peter Heller

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diane Oliver's Posthumous Debut Feb 22, 2024

A few weeks ago Kate received an email informing her of a debut author: Diane Oliver. But this debut book stood out because the author had been dead for more than fifty years. Fascinated, we asked for copies...and Diane Oliver's work knocked us out. Her debut collection, Neighbors and Other Stories, is a compendium of her work: insightful, raw, beautiful, intimate, with character's stark and naked humanity jumping off every page. We talk to the writer Tayari Jones, who wrote the book's enthusiastic introduction, as well as Diane's agent, Elise Dillsworth and her publisher, Katie Raissian. How does one release a debut work when the author is long gone? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate and Charlie Gibson's Favorite Love Stories Feb 15, 2024

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes we just want to talk to each other. And that’s what happened this week. We spent some time reflecting on lessons we have learned from our authors and we go through our favorite love stories of all time (Valentine’s Day and all). It’s nice to pause every once in a while. We hope you will take a pause with us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Trust by Hernan Diaz
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ilyon Woo on the Self-Emancipation of Ellen and William Craft Feb 08, 2024

Have you ever heard of William and Ellen Craft? They were an escaped enslaved husband and wife whose stories read like a blockbuster action movies. Symbols in their time, Ellen (who was the daughter of an enslaved woman and her master) passed as a white man and had her husband William pass as her property. A harrowing journey gave way to their leadership in the fugitive slave movement, even though it cost them dearly. Ilyon Woo shares their incredible story in her book, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. A great read and a great conversation about American heroes of whom you might never have heard. This week we also talk to Island books in Middletown Rhode Island. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother's Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times by Ilyon Woo
William Wells Brown: An African American Life by Ezra Greenspan
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Alicia Miles
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson
The Slave's Cause by Manisha Sinha
Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live: Kate Gibson Revisits Horror Feb 01, 2024

Kate revisits her favorite genre: horror (but she prefers the moniker of dark fiction), and this one is taped in front of a live audience! Plus: you get three great guests for the price of one, which should be irresistible. In New Hampshire to celebrate the new novel by Chris Golden (do not miss The House of Last Resort!), Kate was given the opportunity sit down with Paul Tremblay, Victor LaValle and Jennifer McMahon. It was really fun, a terrific conversation, and a lot to think about. There is great writing taking place in this genre, and this episode quizzes three of the best. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay
No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay
Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye by Paul Tremblay
Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly by Paul Tremblay and Stephen Graham Jones
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay
In the Mean Time by Paul Tremblay
Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay
The Beast You Are by Paul Tremblay
The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon
The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon
The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon
Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon
Lone Women by Victor LaValle
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Big Machine by Victor LaValle
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
The Ecstatic by Victor LaValle
Slapboxing with Jesus by Victor LaValle
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (Contains the short story-“Survivor Type”)
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kaveh Akbar Finds Meaning in Martyrdom Jan 25, 2024

Kaveh Akbar weighs every word that he writes. An accomplished and published poet, any reader can tell that he understands the undeniable power of language with his first novel, called Martyr! Engaging, funny, fascinating and downright beautiful, Martyr! grabs your attention by the lapels and won’t let go. Read the book and listen to our podcast to hear how Kaveh creates his unforgettable work.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar
Portrait of the Alcoholic by Kaveh Akbar
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Pilgrim Bell: Poems by Kaveh Akbar
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inci Atrek Lives In Two Worlds at Once Jan 18, 2024

Inci Atrek is a debut novelist to watch. We recommend going out and picking up a copy of her debut, Holiday Country, a novel it would be easy to overlook and underestimate. It’s much deeper than it appears at the surface. An intimate portrait of multi-generational mother-daughter relationships, it’s also a story about growing up. Growing up is never easy, but adding two countries of origin and two female role models not born in the U.S. makes it that much harder. We are back interviewing a bookstore this week with The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont, whose owner is also a children’s author. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Holiday Country by Inci Atrek
Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
How do you Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ashley Elston On How To Write A Whodunnit Heist Novel Jan 04, 2024

Happy New Year! The first episode of the year is a truly terrific mystery. Entertaining in the extreme, this is a whodunnit that breaks the mold. Ashley Elston, its author, has written plenty of quality YA titles, but First Lie Wins is her first adult mystery. In this game of cat and mouse, the reader is constantly asking which character is telling the truth….and we never figured it out. A great start to the new year, this book invites you to just relax and enjoy the ride. We sure did. We are taking next week off…but please come back the week after when we talk to author Kaveh Akbar, who has authored the intriguing and funny novel, Martyr!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston
This is Our Story by Ashley Elston
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Trackers by Charles Frazier
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow Explores Mother-Daughter Dynamics Dec 28, 2023

Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's All the Little Bird-Hearts is a novel that will stay with you long after you close the book. It takes place in the 1980’s, and the narrator and heroine is the autistic mother of a teenage daughter. She worries she is on the verge of losing the only person she has ever really loved, and of being seduced by the magnetic social butterflies that are her new neighbors. Viktoria Barlow has autism as well, and her novel is a beautiful exploration of motherhood, friendship and one character’s experience of autism. Long listed for the Booker Prize, Viktoria’s words are lyrical and haunting. This is a great episode on which to end the year. Happy 2024!!!

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
Geek Girl by Holly Smale
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mitch Albom Wrote a Tale of Lies and Truth Dec 21, 2023

Mitch Albom became a household name with his bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie. His new novel, The Little Liar, is an original and fascinating look at the complexities of truth and what motivates us to lie. It takes place during the Holocaust, at the height of which a little boy tells a lie that affects the rest of his life… coloring all that he is and everything he does. We thought this was a fascinating book and we wanted to talk to Mitch about what drove him to write it. We get a little philosophical in this episode, although every issue is worth talking about this holiday season. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
The Five Strangers You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patricia Cornwell Dives into the Mysterious World of Kay Scarpetta Dec 14, 2023

If you haven’t heard of Patricia Cornwell you’ve never been to a bookstore, or an airport, or a library…heck. She is everywhere and there is a reason for that. Prolific AND talented, she has written 27 mystery novels centered around her medical examiner heroine, Kay Scarpetta, and she shows no sign of stopping. We talk about what it’s like to create and shepherd a character like Scarpetta, and what keeps her going. We then have a brief talk about our favorite books of the year. We hope you will join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell
All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell
Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell
From Potter’s Field by Patricia Cornwell
Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell
Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell
Scarpetta’s Winter Table by Patricia Cornwell
Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell
Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell
Dust by Patricia Cornwell
Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell
Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell
The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell
Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell
Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
Chaos by Patricia Cornwell
Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell
Livid by Patricia Cornwell
Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell
Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell
The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell
Predator by Patricia Cornwell
Spin by Patricia Cornwell
Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar
Absolution by Alice McDermott
The General and Julia by Jon Clinch
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
Central Park West by James Comey
Swamp Story by Dave Barry
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Inspire Your Kids to Love Reading Dec 07, 2023

When we first began the podcast, our main goal was to inspire more folks to read. But we also talked about how we might offer content to help parents inspire their kids become life long readers. It isn’t easy, and there is no magic bullet, but we have some of the best of the best to tell us how to do it and why it’s so important. Emma Lee is the Associate Director of the Fred Rogers Institute at St Vincent College, Kate DiCamillo is a beloved children’s author, and Holly Weinkauf is the owner of the Red Balloon Children’s Bookshop in St. Paul. We spoke with them for a piece we did for Good Morning America that aired at the end of November. But we loved these conversations so much we wanted to bring them to our podcast audience, extended. There is some great advice here, and it’s worth hearing what these remarkable women have to say.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Mercy Watson is Missing by Kate DiCamillo
The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo
Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
The Mercy Watson Series by Kate DiCamillo

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jon Clinch Explores the Final Days of Ulysses S. Grant Nov 30, 2023

The General and Julia is a wonderful novel, delving deeply into the final days of Ulysses S. Grant. Not many know this, but at the end of his life, Grant was financially destitute and in a race to write his memoirs before his death. He knew that if he wrote his memoirs and did it well, it would leave his family financially stable. His love for his wife and children knew no bounds, and his race was born of love. Like Grant Jon Clinch is a wonderful writer, and if you like this, and you will, check out Finn and Marley too (both amazing - both Clinch historical novels). For our bookstore this week, we talk to an old friend who has taken two independent bookstore road trips. What’s an independent bookstore road trip? Tune in and find out.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

The General and Julia by Jon Clinch
Marley by Jon Clinch
Finn by Jon Clinch
The Thief of Auschwitz by Jon Clinch
Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch
Grant by Ron Chernow
Personal Memoirs of US Grant by Ulysses S. Grant edited by John F. Marszalek
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Trackers by Charles Frazier
Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Absalom, Absalom! By William Faulkner
Grendel by John Gardner
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Cain
The World Below the Brine by Walt Whitman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lawrence Wright Takes On Texas Politics Nov 23, 2023

Lawrence Wright’s newest novel, Mr. Texas, revolves around Texas politics and how they relate to our national political conversation, and he knows from where he speaks. Not only is he a native Texan, but he has also written one of the definitive NON fiction books about Texas, (God Save Texas). Both books are insightful, prescient, and, this might surprise you, very funny. Mr. Texas is about modern politics, the price of selling your soul, the importance of Texas politics, how to talk to each other, and whether or not one person can make a difference in this world. Our bookstore this week is Werner Books and Coffee in Erie PA.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
The End of October by Lawrence Wright
The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright
Thirteen Days in September: The Dramatic Story of the Struggle for Peace by Lawrence Wright
The Terror Years: From Al Qaeda to the Islamic State by Lawrence Wright
Sheets by Brenna Thummler
Lights by Brenna Thummler
Delicates by Brenna Thummler

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Vanderbes Chronicles the Dark History of Thalidomide Nov 16, 2023

You might know the historical fiction of Jennifer Vanderbes, but just wait until you read Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims. Think thalidomide didn’t affect mothers and children in this country? Think again. Wonder Drug is the hidden American story of thalidomide: yes, it did get to pregnant women and yes there were children born effected by phocomelia in this country. Although the system denied their existence for decades, this beautifully researched book tells their story, as well as the deeply disturbing truth about how this drug was distributed behind the backs of the FDA. Join us.

Book mentioned in this week's episode:

Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims by Jennifer Vanderbes
Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes
The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner
Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diana Walsh Shares Her Manual on Leadership Nov 09, 2023

Being the president of anything takes vision, ambition, and leadership. Being the president of a leading academic institution takes courage (and a whole lot of smarts). Leading Wellesley College for almost 20 years while it ushered in the new millennium took Dr. Diana Chapman Walsh. In her new memoir, The Claims of Life, she gives you a front row seat to the front office of Wellesley and walks you how she got there. Diana is also one of our nearest and dearest friends….and we loved talking to her. Our bookstore this week is Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vermont.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Claims of Life by Diana Chapman Walsh
A Synthesizing Mind: A Memoir from the Creator of Multiple Intelligences Theory by Howard Gardner
Death at an Early Age by Jonathan Kozol
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Save me a Seat!: A Life with Movies by Rick Winston

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alice McDermott on the Women Behind the Vietnam War Nov 02, 2023

Alice McDermott has written one of THE great novels of 2023. Absolution is so many things…a portrait of diplomatic wives carving out lives for themselves in Saigon before the start of the war, a moralistic novel about the dangers of colonialism and good intentions, the story of the complex relationships women have with motherhood, and with each other. Why did she write it? And what has convinced so many that it's going to be a Pulitzer finalist this year? Tune in and find out. Our bookstore this week comes from one of our beloved listeners-The Lost Bookshop in Delhi, NY. Join us, and keep sending in suggestions!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Absolution by Alice McDermott
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
Someone by Alice McDermott
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
That Night by Alice McDermott
At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott
A Bigamist’s Daughter by Alice McDermott
After This by Alice McDermott
What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction by Alice McDermott
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
The Holy Bible
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Art of Seeing Things by John Burroughs
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our Halloween Horror Reading Recommendations Oct 26, 2023

So we have come to the last of our horror genre shows…although we have decided we like the moniker 'dark literature’ better. We have a game-changing author to end it with (in time for Halloween): Paul Tremblay. If you read ‘dark literature’ and you haven’t devoured A Head Full of Ghosts on a dark and stormy night, RUN, do not walk, to your nearest independent bookstore. But Kate has read seven of his books (so far) and has not been disappointed in a single one. We also talk to horror writer and Professor Michael Arnzen of Seton Hill University about the courses he teaches in the dark art of writing what scares us. We hope you have enjoyed our ‘dark literature’ series….we might dip back from time to time. Happy Halloween.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay
No Sleep Til Wonderland by Paul Tremblay
Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye by Paul Tremblay
Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly by Paul Tremblay and Stephen Graham Jones
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul Tremblay
In the Mean Time by Paul Tremblay
Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay
The Beast You Are: Stories by Paul Tremblay
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
Absolution by Alice McDermott
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Stand by Stephen King
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
Psycho by Robert Bloch
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Ulysses by James Joyce
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Film by Carol Clover

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tan Twan Eng Takes Us Through The House of Doors Oct 19, 2023

Tan Twan Eng, in some ways, has the perfect bibliography. He has written three books, all novels. All three have been on the short or long list for the Man Booker Prize. That should tell you how talented he is….and this is the first book he has published in more than a decade. The House of Doors is a lyrical and lovely read about the travels of William Somerset Maugham in Malaysia. Don’t know Maugham’s work? Doesn’t matter. Don’t know much about Malaysia? Doesn’t matter. Tan Twan Eng’s books transcend the familiar-getting to the humanity of every conflict, every story. This book transports readers….and its more than worth the price of the ticket.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
The Letter by William Somerset Maugham
Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham
The Casuarina Tree by William Somerset Maugham
Time for a Tiger by Anthony Burgess
Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writers of the Movie "Airplane!" On The Rules of Comedy Oct 12, 2023

Surely You Can’t be Serious - heard that before? Surely you have, if you have seen the movie Airplane! Made in 1980. The incredibly successful and popular movie was the brainchild of three guys from Milwaukee - then in their twenties - David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. They called themselves ZAZ. And, improbably, they got their movie made against all odds. They admit they didn’t have the slightest idea how to make a movie. Much less direct it. Much less convince Hollywood executives to invest in it. But they did and the rest is history and not to mention, a very funny book, just released. Surely You Can’t be Serious is the story behind the story of one of the funniest movies ever made.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker
The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro
Ketogenic Diets: Treatments for Epilepsy and Other Disorders by Jon Freeman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amanda Gorman’s Poetry Slays Monsters Oct 05, 2023

Amanda Gorman is an American treasure. Her inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb, stunned audiences around the world in 2021, and her tome of poetry, Call Us What We Carry, spoke to the pain and powerlessness that the world felt while locked down by COVID-19. What you might not know (and now we hope you do) is that she is also an accomplished children’s author. Her latest, Something, Someday teaches kids to make the world a better place by starting small while thinking big. Illustrated by the talented Christian Robinson (who also joins us), Amanda’s words reach out from the page to say that no one is too small to make a difference.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, Illustrated by Christian Robinson
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Change Sings by Amanda Gorman, Illustrated by Loren Long
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
You Matter by Christian Robinson
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills by Renée Watson, Illustrated by Christian Robinson
The Last Stop on Market Street by Mark de la Peña, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate DiCamillo Transforms Children's Fiction Sep 28, 2023

Kate DiCamillo has probably been honored as much or more than any living American children’s author. If her awards were all displayed on a mantle, she’d probably need dozens of fireplaces. And she’s a delightful conversationalist. Her new book is The Puppets of Spelhorst. Her most widely read book, The Tale of Despereaux, is out with a special 20th anniversary edition. Dicamillo's love with telling stories is in everything she has ever written. Since Kate is from Minneapolis, we feature one of the largest independent bookstores in the twin cities - Magers & Quinn.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo
The Puppets of Spelhorst - Kate DiCamillo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo
The Beatryce Prophecy - Kate DiCamillo
Louisiana’s Way Home - Kate DiCamillo
Paddington - Michael Bond
Hello Lighthouse - Sophie Blackall
If You Come to Earth - Sophie Blackall
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear - Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Wellness - Nathan Hill
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephen Graham Jones Writes Hopeful Horror Sep 21, 2023

We have two horror genre shows left and this week we bring you Stephen Graham Jones. Although not all of his books fall squarely in horror category, My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper are beautiful love letters to horror fans who will take much glee in all the genre conventions within which Stephen plays. The final Indian Lake Trilogy novel comes out this fall, The Angel Of Indian Lake. Kate can’t wait. Stephen brings his Blackfoot Native American culture and aspects of social justice to his writings and his writing is all the better for it. If you shy away from horror, try Mapping The Interior or The Only Good Indians. For an independent bookseller this week, we reach out to one of Stephen’s local favorites, the Boulder Bookstore in Colorado.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones
Ararat by Christopher Golden
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Come Closer by Sara Gran
Collected Poems, 1947-1980 by Allen Ginsberg
Merlin Book 1: The Lost Years by T. A. Barron
The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
Stars Go Blue by Laura Pritchett

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sebastian Barry Carries the Irish Torch Sep 14, 2023

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to great writers, Ireland seems to have had more than its fair share? Maybe it’s the difficult history, or the never ending pride for their beautiful island, but Ireland seems to be a country rife with storytellers. This week we have an Irish writer who has been nominated for the Booker Prize more than once…Sebastian Barry! His latest, Old God’s Time, is a lyrical and sprawling tale of Ireland and one man’s desperate struggle to make peace with the past. Pull up a chair by the fire and talk literature with a truly great Irish author, you will be glad you did.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry
Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
The Poems of Catallus by Catallus
The Odyssey by Homer
The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett
Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

William Kent Krueger Takes Us To Minnesota Sep 07, 2023

We don't want to pigeon hole William Kent Krueger as a mystery writer. He writes terrific mysteries that will keep you guessing, sure, but what will keep you coming back is his talent! His sweeping descriptions of Minnesota landscapes, his unforgettable characters and his roots in cultural anthropology will keep you coming back. His new novel, The River We Remember, is a terrific "who done it" that beautifully weaves in themes of PTSD, the cultures of tribal bands in Minnesota, and the joys and perils of small town living. Our bookstore this week is Page 158 in Wake Forest, NC. Why is that their name? Tune in and find out!

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
The devil’s bed by William Kent Krueger
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger
Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger
Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger
Copper River by William Kent Krueger
Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger
Red Knife: A Cork O’Connor Mystery by William Kent Krueger
Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger
Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger
Trickster's Point by William Kent Krueger
Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger
Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger
Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger
Sulfur Springs by William Kent Krueger
Destination Mountain by William Kent Krueger
Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger
Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James McBride Masters Historical Fiction Aug 31, 2023

Kate often says that if she were a writer she would have trouble reading James McBride. It's hard not to hear a mic drop when you close the back cover. He is a master of storytelling; his sentences so packed with history, humor, and meaning that at times you forget what he was talking about, but you won't mind a bit. His writing often knocks off our socks, and his new novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, is no exception. For our bookstore this week? We let James choose one of his favorites, Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Kill 'em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Song Yet Sung by James McBride
Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Ridker Writes With Hope Aug 24, 2023

Andrew Ridker is but 32 years of age - yet already he has written what promises to be his second very successful novel - Hope. The title is an acronym for a medical study, but it is also a feeling that pervades his depiction of a Jewish suburban family, the Greenspans, living near Boston. Each member of the family stumbles, and struggles to find footing. But much as they may transgress, Ridker projects a belief that family of origin has an inexorable pull on all of his characters and all of us. Ridker is wise beyond his years and this book is downright funny at times! And did we mention the book has the best cover photo seen in years? Our bookstore this week is RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, owned by the very entertaining Roxanne Coady. A bookstore that pairs well with Ridker’s novel.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Hope by Andrew Ridker
The Altruists by Andrew Ridker
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
10:04 by Ben Lerner
Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer McMahon Writes What Scares Her Aug 17, 2023

We have three horror shows left. But we are not sure Jennifer McMahon fits within the genre so neatly. If you are dipping your toe into the genre...start with the Children on the Hill, her latest. It's suspenseful, compelling, chilling and the ghoulish gore is at a bare minimum. We talk to her about why she keeps coming back to what scares her. We then talk to horror academic (yes, you heard us) Michael Arnzen, an accomplished writer in his own right.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon
The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon
The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon
Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
Jaws by Peter Benchley
Grave Markings by Michael A. Arnzen
Play Dead by Michael A. Arnzen
Dying (With No Apologies to Martha Stewart) by Michael A. Arnzen
Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction by Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Esmeralda Santiago is Back in the Book Case Aug 10, 2023

We talked to the renowned bilingual author Esmeralda Santiago a few months about her incredible trilogy of memoirs. So when she sent us her new novel, Las Madres, we couldn’t wait. Turns out she is just as good of a fiction writer as she is a memoirist. This is a searing, funny and fascinating portrait of mothers and daughters, the connection Puerto Ricans feel to their island, whether we are made up of more than our memories….and so much more. It sounds like a lot, but she does it all and she does it all well. We also talk to Lynne Phillips of Wordsworth Books, one of the plaintiffs in the case against Arkansas Act 372. She will give us her recommendations and talk about why her fight is so important.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Las Madres by Esmeralda Santiago
Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
America’s Dream by Esmeralda Santiago
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
The Turkish Lover by Esmeralda Santiago
Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
The Firm by John Grisham
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ann Patchett Juggles Writing and Bookselling Aug 03, 2023

PATCHETT PUBLISHES!! That should be big news in the literary world. Ann Patchett has a new book out as of August 1st. Tom Lake is the title - a novel influenced by COVID as three daughters come home to be with their mother during the pandemic. What do they want to talk about? Her past. And she has a past - having had a romance with a man who went on to become a famous actor. How much do you tell your kids? “I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth…those two desires do not neatly co-exist.” Ann Patchett is a wonderful writer - one of America’s best! She’s also a wonderful and amusing talker! And she owns an independent bookstore - Parnassus Books in Nashville. That makes her a perfect guest, we think, for The Book Case.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Run by Ann Patchett

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir about Writing and Life by Ann Patchett

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Markus Zusak Revisits The Book Thief's Legacy Jul 27, 2023

This week we take you back in time to a book that is so good it’s ageless. Charlie interviewed author Markus Zusak about his phenomenal novel The Book Thief many, many years ago, and it has been a discovery and an interview that has stayed with him ever since. This week, we interview Markus about the phenomenon of his book and ask him how he came to write such a remarkable modern classic. If you haven’t read The Book Thief, run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore! If you already love it then you are in for a treat as we take a deep dive into the making of one of the great books of our time.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

The Messenger by Markus Zusak

Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak

Underdogs by Markus Zusak

When Dogs Cry by Markus Zusak

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

Breath by Tim Winton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laura Spence-Ash Travels Back in Time Jul 20, 2023

Historical fiction is the genre this week, and it centers around a lesser WWII phenomenon. During the Blitz, many British families sent their children abroad to live with families in Canada or the United States to keep them safe until the war was over. Beyond That, the Sea by debut novelist Laura Spence-Ash, beautifully weaves the tale of one of these children. Sent abroad by parents torn apart by their decision, Bea lives with an affluent family with whom she falls in love. She spends the rest of her life reckoning with that love how it shapes her sense of self. Our bookstore this week is a Las Vegas Gem (yes, we said Vegas) called The Writer’s Block. We hope you will join us. The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Fools of Fortune by William Trevor

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

The Magician by Colm Tóibín

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

A Guest at the Feast by Colm Tóibín

The Guest by Emma Cline

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mihret Sibhat Writes an Ethiopian Epic Jul 13, 2023

The History of a Difficult Child is a beautiful and sprawling family story set in Ethiopia during the Socialist Revolution. It is narrated by a young girl born into a family fighting against the system for their Christian beliefs, while being systematically relieved of their wealth and livelihood due to the oppressive incoming regime. It’s riveting, ambitious, and utterly compelling. And you know what else? It’s funny. Really funny! Take a journey with debut novelist Mihret Sibhat into The History of a Difficult Child, you will be so glad you did.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Go as a River by Shelley Read

Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg

Family Sayings by Natalia Ginzburg

All our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

My Garden (Book) by Jamaica Kincaid

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Malerman Delivers the Scares Jul 06, 2023

Second Horror Thursday on The Book Case! Kicking off our month, we speak to the incredible Josh Malerman. How does one write a best selling horror novel while riding shotgun in a band van blasting Jerry Garcia from its speakers? And how did Josh decide to revisit his most famous work after living through the real life horror of Covid? The second of five deep dives into the horror genre, we invite you to take a step out of your comfort zone, explore what scares us, and learn how writers like Josh keep us up at night.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Inspection by Josh Malerman

Malorie by Josh Malerman

Daphne by Josh Malerman

Pearl by Josh Malerman

Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman

A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman

Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman

Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas by Josh Malerman

Foe by Iain Reeid

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Shining by Stephen King

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shelley Read Starts Her Second Act Jun 29, 2023

There are times where Shelley Read’s Go as a River reads less like a novel and more of a philosophical teaching. Grounded in Buddhist philosophy, this is a beautiful story of love, nature, family and changing times. A lyrical journey of epoch proportions this book has a doomed love affair, a flooded town, an illegitimate child, a heartbreaking abandonment….and Shelley Read writes it all beautifully. As first time novelist, Read has created a journey that you will enjoy every mile of. For a bookstore this week we talk to Appletree Books in Cleveland OH.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Go as a River by Shelley Read
The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
No Self, No Problem by Anam Thubten
The Magic of Awareness by Anam Thubten
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family Time and Place by Terry Tempest Williams
When Women Were Birds: 54 Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams
Homecoming by Kate Morton
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Henry

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Finkel Catches an Art Thief Jun 22, 2023

If you have never heard of Stéphane Breitwieser don’t feel bad, we hadn’t either. Turns out he is one of the most successful art thieves of all time. In his hey day, he could steal more than once a day (museums, cathedrals, chateaus…you name it); billions of dollars worth of art. That’s right, billions. Thank goodness for the writer Michael Finkel who brings us a page turning book that tells the story of the most incredible art thief you’ve never heard of. The book is called, appropriately, The Art Thief. And this book certainly proves that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. We are back with a book store this week, Head House Books.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Journalist and Murderer by Janet Malcolm
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
The 12 Live of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Outline by Rachel Cusk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate and Charlie Pick Winners Jun 15, 2023

We wanted to affectionately title this episode, Kate and Charlie are really smart and have great taste, but ABC thought that would be a little obnoxious. Maybe it is, but we are and we do. To prove it, this week we have recut Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz into one episode. Their novels Demon Copperhead and Trust (respectively) are sharing the Pulitzer this year, and deservedly so. We knew these two novels were something special, and so are their authors. We are very happy that these two talented authors share the prize. Their novels are breathtaking-one about extreme wealth, the other about extreme poverty. 2022 was a banner year for fiction, and these two novelists wrote two of the best. Enjoy!

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
King Lear by William Shakespeare
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Trust by Hernan Diaz
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Middlemarch by George Eliot

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave Eggers Crafts New Fables Jun 08, 2023

Dave Eggers is a writer who does not want to be put in a box. His writing often defies easy cataloging or genre classification and he doesn’t like to be specific about who his readers should be. His latest, THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE could be loosely described as an animal fable, but it isn’t exactly that. And it could be described as a book that is good for younger readers, but it isn’t exactly that either. Here is what we ARE certain of: It’s wonderful, funny, engaging, original and full of joy! Eggers’ words, his writing and his characters will stay with you long after you close the book. We also talk to his illustrator for EYES, the very talented and prolific Shawn Harris, whose inspirations and technique might surprise you.The Eyes and The Impossible by Dave Eggers

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris

What Can a Citizen Do? By Dave Eggers, Illustrated by Shawn Harris

The Every by Dave Eggers

The Circle by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The Parade by Dave Eggers

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers

The Wild Things by Dave Eggers

You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Speaking with the Angel edited by Nick Hornby

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Old Heart by Peter Ferry

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Busy, Busy Town by Richard Scarry

I am a Bunny by Ole Risom

Dune by Frank Herbert

Christine by Stephen King

Have You Ever Seen a Flower? by Shawn Harris

A Polar Bear in the Snow by Shawn Harris

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christopher Golden Scares Us Jun 01, 2023

Kate is dragging her father by the collar to the horror section of the bookstore and the first Thursday of every month for awhile is going to be Horror Thursday on The Book Case. And do we have a treat for our first episode: Christopher Golden! One of the great Godfathers of Horror Lit, Chris has done it all: short stories, screenplays, graphic novels, novels, fan fic...he is a renaissance talent in horror literature. We talk to him about horror, why it works, how it works and why we love it. Trust Kate, this genre has some terrific talent and if you try some of these books, you won't be sorry (scared maybe, but not sorry).

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Snowblind by Christopher Golden
Ararat by Christopher Golden
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
All Hallows by Christopher Golden
The Ferryman by Christopher Golden
The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden
Tin Men by Christopher Golden
The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden
Cemetery Girl Trilogy by Christopher Golden and Charlaine Harris
Ocean Dark by Christopher Golden
The Stand by Stephen King
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Different Seasons by Stephen King

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Comey Writes a Thriller May 25, 2023

Our principal guest this week is James Comey. Yes, that James Comey. Ex-FBI Director James Comey. Some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters think he may have cost her the election in 2016. Comey says that Donald Trump, once president, invited him to dinner and asked for a pledge of loyalty. Comey refused. Trump eventually fired him but his administration denied the president ever made the ask. That, in short, is part of the story of Jim Comey who, after being a U-S Attorney and then head of the FBI, found himself out of a job in 2017 and a controversial figure. What did he decide to do? Well, Jim Comey decided he’d like to spend the rest of his life being a novelist. His first book - a mystery, a legal thriller, and a novel demonstrating his inside knowledge of America’s justice system is “Central Park West.” It’s a good one - not just for a first effort, but a good one, period. He’s a good story teller - he’s a good conversationalist. “Central Park West” will be in book stores May 30th - he talked with us just before publication and he is very much worth a listen just as his book is worth your time. Our friend Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York published the Comey novel. He joined us as well.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Central Park West: A Crime Novel by James Comey
Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency and Trust by James Comey
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
Moral Man and Immoral Society by Reinhold Niebuhr
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexandra Robbins Studies Teachers May 18, 2023

The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Important and Vulnerable Profession by Alexandra Robbins takes us inside the classroom to show us the daily lives of teachers as they fight against incredible odds to educate our young. An eye-opening, and at times shocking look at the American Education system and its inadequacies. Robbins asks the reader to forget all of their preconceived notions of teaching. The joys you think teachers know? They are bigger than you imagined. The difficulty and pain of operating in a system that doesn’t recognize your importance? Worse than you can fathom. Take a listen, read the book, and thank a teacher in your life today!

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Important and Vulnerable Profession by Alexandra Robbins
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School by Alexandra Robbins
The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins
Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power by Alexandra Robbins
The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital by Alexandra Robbins
The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley
Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools by Dianne Ravitch
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools by Dianne Ravitch
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Dianne Ravitch
It by Stephen King
Ararat by Christopher Golden
Snowblind by Christopher Golden
The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henry Grabar Parks That Thought May 11, 2023

Henry Grabar is a writer for Slate, the online magazine, and he has written “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.” Now you probably are thinking, “I’ve never read a book about parking. A whole book? Come on.” Well, we thought the same thing but we were intrigued. So we read it and were engrossed. It is fascinating! It is funny! And it tells you so much about a subject on which we all have such strong opinions and about which we all suffer such frustrations. Just some facts he relates - major ones like “more square footage is devoted to parking each car (in America) than to housing each person” - and minor ones like Disney World has 45,000 parking spaces. 10 to 20 families lose their cars there every day.” Intrigued? Read on. The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News. Our bookstore this week is a grandaddy of second hand book stores - Second Story Books in the Washington, D.C. area.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar
Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson by Hunter S. Thompson
Volumes 1-4 of the Gonzo Papers - Essays by Hunter S. Thompson
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
The Economy of Cities by Jane Jacobs

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave Barry Makes Us Laugh May 04, 2023

Dave Barry's sense of humor should be on display at the Smithsonian; it is truly one America's great treasures. His latest novel, Swamp Story, is set in the back woods of the Florida Everglades. That's all we are going to tell you, because the plot is so wonderfully wild, you wouldn't believe us anyway. Join us while Dave makes us laugh, and then stick around for our conversation with Mitchell Kaplan at Books & Books. As a Florida bookseller, he has important things to say about why bookstores are on the frontlines in the fight against book bans.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Swamp Story by Dave Barry
Big Trouble by Dave Barry
Best State Ever by Dave Barry
Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States by Dave Barry
Lessons from Lucy by Dave Barry
Insane City by Dave Barry
Dave Barry's Complete guide to guys by Dave Barry
Tricky Business by Dave Barry
Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway by Dave Barry
Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down! by Dave Barry
You Can Date Boys When You're Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About by Dave Barry
The Benchley Roundup by Robert Benchley
Love Conquers All by Robert Benchley
My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew by Robert Benchley
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
Jeeves in the Offing by P. G. Wodehouse
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Go as a River by Shelley Read

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brendan Slocumb Finds Hidden Notes Apr 27, 2023

Brendan Slocumb is a renaissance man who writes his novels with a mission in mind. A violin virtuoso, music teacher, clarinetist AND oboist, he is also a best selling author who writes brilliantly about the world of music. His books could be classed as mysteries but they also bring into stark, painful relief the still largely white and privileged world of classical music. He reminds his readers that there is talent everywhere and anywhere, and he reminds us to look and listen closely to what we might ignore with his latest novel, Symphony of Secrets . We then talk to Afa Dworkin, President and Creative Director of the “Sphinx Organization.” “Sphinx” is doing amazing work, making sure that the country's orchestras reflect the diversity of our population. We will go back to bookstores next week, but we wanted to honor Brendan by talking to an organization doing work about which he is so passionate.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J Ryan Stradal is Back in the Book Case Apr 20, 2023

If you aren't seeing the world through the eyes of J. Ryan Stradal's fiction, you are missing out on something truly special. He writes largely about the Midwest, specifically the state of Minnesota as well as food and drink. That may sound limiting, but his talent is without limit and he fills his pages with themes of family and shared humanity. His newest is Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. It is the most personal journey he has ever taken. Take the ride with him, you won't be sorry. Our bookstore this week is Comma, a bookshop, (yes, both the word and the punctuation mark) a new bookstore in the Twin Cities that anyone who lives there should line up to visit.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott
The Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Frazier Sheds Light on American Optimism Apr 13, 2023

Charles Frazier comes across as a writer in love with America. Beyond the rolling plains and purple mountains majesty, he loves the stories of average Americans in extraordinary times and it comes across in everything he writes. His latest novel, The Trackers, is the most modern novel he has ever written and it takes place 100 years ago. His writing captures the optimism of the American ideal, and his descriptive powers continue to astound. We talk to him about his latest, and what it was about the Great Depression that inspired the book. This week, we also include an interview with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, the two founders of 826, a non profit that teaches kids to express themselves through writing.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Trackers by Charles Frazier
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Varina by Charles Frazier
Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
The Significance of the Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rebecca Boggs Roberts Unveils Edith Wilson Apr 06, 2023

Has the United States ever had a female president? An easy question to answer. Has it ever had an ‘acting’ female President? Harder to answer. Check out Rebecca Boggs Roberts' very readable biography of Edith Wilson, Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, and make up your own mind. The book is Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson. Following her husband’s stroke in 1919, Edith Wilson decided, for reasons she thought critical to her husband’s well-being, to hide the extent of his incapacities from the public, from the press, from Congress, from his cabinet, even from Wilson himself. She assumed some of the powers of the office herself. Could a First Lady get away with such audacity today in the age of social media and intense news media scrutiny? Not a chance. Was her self-justification reasonable? All those questions are what makes Edith Wilson such a complex and controversial character and a worthy subject for Rebecca Boggs Roberts.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise of and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson by Rebecca Boggs Roberts
The Suffragist's Parade: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote by Rebecca Boggs Roberts
My Memoir by Edith Bolling Wilson
Wilson by A. Scott Berg
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timothy Egan Rewrites History Mar 30, 2023

This week, we turn to non-fiction and events in a decade of U.S. history that is unknown to most Americans. The 1920’s were known for remarkable social change. In the wake of World War I, there was cultural exuberance, the first real skyscrapers, jazz age, flappers, the Charleston, and also prohibition. There was also a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, and surprising to many, it came in the north. As award-winning journalist Timothy Egan writes in his remarkable new book to be released April 4th A Fever in the Heartland, the Klan held a lot of power in the state of Indiana. As a vicious, sadistic, charlatan, Eagan says the KKK leader David C. Stephenson encouraged millions in Indiana alone to join the Klan. Egan says one in three white men in the state, not to mention women and children, took the oath. And this in a state that had lost 25,000 Union soldiers in the Civil War just 50 years previous. Egan writes that Stephenson thought himself above the law - “I am the law” he declared. But his brutal treatment of one woman, largely unknown to history, Madge Oberholtzer, brought him down and began the disintegration of the Klan, not only in Indiana, but in the rest of the country. It’s a sobering story well told by Egan. One, we felt, worthy of attention by all of us.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan
The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith by Timothy Egan
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan
Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West by Timothy Egan
Breaking Blue by Timothy Egan
The Good Rain by Timothy Egan
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harlan Coben Will Find You Mar 23, 2023

Harlan Coben is as successful a mystery writer as we have in the country today. He is probably known best for his page-turner plots. In his more than 35 books published to date he keeps you guessing throughout. I Will Find You is his latest - just out. And it’s a bit of a departure for Coben as he will tell you - a little more than half way through the book you find out who the bad guys are. That’s rare for a Coben thriller, but none the less gripping and it will still keep you guessing. Also, as you will find in this podcast, Harlen Coben is not only a good writer, but a good talker to boot.

Our book store this week is “[Words]” in Maplewood, New Jersey. By no means is this a typical bookstore - it is one with a highly commendable mission. It has pursued that mission for 15 years and now is participating in a fascinating experiment to further the mission. As a result, it is Harlen Coben’s favorite bookstore and we talk to them this week.I Will Find You by Harlen Coben

Books (and articles) mentioned in the podcast:

Tell No One by Harlan Coben
Win by Harlan Coben
Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
The Key To My Father by Harlan Coben
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/opinion/a-work-of-fiction-the-key-to-my-father.html
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The New York Times
Opinion | Opinion | A WORK OF FICTION; The Key To My Father (Published 2003)

__

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beverly Horowitz Adapts Heather McGhee for YA Mar 16, 2023

Quite a few of you have written us that you would be interested in hearing from a book editor, so we went out and find one of the best. Beverly Horowitz, Senior Vice President of Delacorte Press which is a division of Random House, joins us for a fascinating talk about what she does and how she does it. She has been editing for decades and recently has taken to adapting popular and important non fiction books for YA readers, a process that also fascinated us. After talking to Beverly, one of her authors joins us to give an author’s perspective on the process: Heather McGhee, the writer of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. The Sum of Us is not necessarily a “simple” book for YA audiences, it presents complex arguments about how institutional racism hurts our policy making and our economy. How did the two of them work with this book and adapt it to YA audiences? What does Beverly do with an author who won’t take her advice? How does a book go from the author’s printer to the book store shelves? We answer all of that on this week’s episode of The Book Case. Don’t miss it!

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee

Look Homeword, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (Born a Crime by Trevor Noah YA edition)
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor by Sonia Sotomayor
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Schulman Goes To the Oscars Mar 09, 2023

It's Oscar Week! A week we’ll always love… even if we haven’t seen the all the movies. Our guest this week is Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars, a definitive bio of the awards ceremony and the organization that created it. From the catfights of Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland to the slap heard round the world, this book has it all. Halle Berry, Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, John Wayne, Dennis Hopper, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Citizen Kanes, they are all here and you don’t want to miss any of them. We loved every moment of this conversation…and we didn’t want you to miss a thing. So, no bookstore again this week, but next week we are back with a bookstore, promise.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion
“Jumpers” by Tad Friend for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/10/13/jumpers
Hollywood: The Oral History by Sam Wasson
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Prud'homme Dines at the White House Mar 02, 2023

This week, The Book Case welcomes journalist Alex Prud’homme! His new book Dinner with the President explores the long history of food and American diplomacy. Did you know that the purchase of Pearl Harbor came about because of the first official state dinner ever? Did you know that many believe our involvement in WWII was predicated on a king and hot dog? These are all great stories and this book is packed with them. Find out why Julia Child played and still plays a central role in White House culinary philosophy and what Nixon ate almost every day for lunch….it’s all fascinating! There were so many great stories we didn’t want you to miss any of them, so we forgo a bookstore this week.Dinner with the President by Alex Prud'homme

Books mentioned in the podcast:

The French Chef in America by Alex Prud'homme
My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme
The Cell Game by Alex Prud'homme
The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century by Alex Prud'homme
Hydrofracking: What Everyone Needs to Know by Alex Prud'homme
France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child by Alex Prud'homme and Katie Pratt

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rebecca Makkai Has Some Questions For You Feb 23, 2023

Five years ago Rebecca Makkai was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award. Now, in what is a treat for readers, Rebecca Makkai has just released a brand new novel, “I Have Some Questions for You”. It is a marvelously plotted mystery/novel about a podcaster, Bodie Kane, who returns to her prep school to teach a mini-course. One of her students wants to reinvestigate, with a podcast, a murder that occurred when Bodie was a student and for which a school staffer may have been wrongly convicted. The novel investigates the vagaries of memory, the realities of violence against women, and the near-impossibility of reversing a years-old conviction. The book has received considerable pre-publication praise, deservedly so.

And our bookstore this week has a wonderful story. The brand new Beacon Hill Books and Cafe in downtown Boston, at times, has customers lined up to get in. Find out why.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
Music for Wartime: Stories by Rebecca Makkai
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Paige of Beacon Hill by Sarah S. Brannen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amity Gaige Knows How to Write Tension Feb 16, 2023

Amity Gaige is our featured author this week - her latest book is Sea Wife. But when we say latest - it’s been out for almost three years. With apologies, we just discovered it. Shame on us. It’s a book about a couple struggling with marital problems who decide (well the husband decides) to buy a sailboat and head for open waters. His wife isn’t crazy about the idea of sailing around the world so they settle on the Caribbean. That proves to be difficult enough. Amity makes marvelous use of foreshadowing. The wife Juliet is writing her remembrances of the sail. Her husband Michael is heard through his log book of the sail. Why? Well that’s part of the mystery incorporated in a good sea yarn. Our bookstore this week is a good one. Book Ends in Winchester, MA under new ownership -- Lauren Tiedemann and Jillian Hartline.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Shroeder by Amity Gaige
O My Darling by Amity Gaige
The Folded World by Amity Gaige
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
What You are Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcom
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Rabbit, Run by John Updike
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Little French Bridal Shop by Jennifer Dupee
The Paris Bookseller by Keri Maher
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julie Otsuka is a Master of Memory Feb 09, 2023

Julie Otsuka doesn't just write, she crafts. Trained as a painter, Otsuka took up writing as her second career, and man oh man are we lucky she did. Her latest, The Swimmers, is just coming out in paperback and it is one of the most lyrical rich character portraits we have read. Julie joins us to talk about her unique style, and to tell us how she has kept each one of her novels to less than 200 pages. Trust us, each page is packed with beauty. Our bookstore this week is Book Ends in Winchester Massachusetts with its two brand new owners.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
When the Emporer was Divine by Julie Otsuka
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Second Place by Rachel Cusk
A Life's Work by Rachel Cusk
The Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk
The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Camino Island by John Grisham
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Art of Cooking by Jacques Pepin

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stuart Gibbs is Back in the Book Case Feb 02, 2023

Stuart Gibbs is a man who loves his audience and his audience loves him. He has written six series of books for kids and all them offer a glimpse into the glee that Stuart Gibbs takes in the stories he tells. Whether it’s blowing up whales, going to a secretly run CIA training school for kids or a knight who never meant to become one, Stuart Gibbs takes real pleasure in entertaining his readers. One of his newest passions is turning his best selling work into graphic novels. His first series being turned into a paneled masterpiece is the Spy School series. His collaboration with illustrating Anjan Sarkar took a surprising turn. Our bookstore this week is Read Herring (soon to be New South Books) in Montgomery Alabama.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Moon Base Alpha Series by Stuart Gibbs
Once Upon a Tim Series by Stuart Gibbs
Spy School Series by Stuart Gibbs
Spy School: the Graphic Novel by Stuart Gibbs
Spy Camp: the Graphic Novel by Stuart Gibbs
The FunJungle Collection by Stuart Gibbs
Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs
The Last Musketeer by Stuart Gibbs
Hope Wins: A Collection of Inspiring Stories for Young Readers edited by Rose Brock
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews
Jurassic Park by Michael Chrichton
The Deep by Nick Cutter
Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham
Children of Dust by Marlin Barton
Tell the World You're a Wildflower by Jennifer Horne
Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ayana Gray Creates New Worlds Jan 26, 2023

Ayana Gray doesn't just write books, she creates worlds. At 29 years old, she is already one of the best selling YA authors on the market (yes, it's ok to be jealous). Her series, which became Beasts of Prey and the more recently released Beasts of Ruin, presents a lush Pan-African fantasy world that will suck you in and won't let go. As page turners with mature themes, these books are the perfect way for The Book Case to start talking about fantasy.

Books Mentioned in the podcast:

Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray
Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner
The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal
The Belgariad by David Eddings
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Karabian Red by Ashley N. Silver

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Boyne Revisits The Past Jan 19, 2023

You may have noticed that most weeks in our ‘rapid fire’ questions to featured authors, we ask if they have a favorite author. Little secret: Sometimes we are looking for ideas. A few weeks ago, John Irving told us he would read anything John Boyne has written just because Boyne wrote it. So we got busy reading John Boyne. It turns out he has a new book released just this past November, All the Broken Places, that is a continuation of sorts of a book released many years ago that was made into a terrific movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, that we both saw and admired. All the Broken Places centers around a now 91 year old woman who deals with the shame she feels knowing her father was commandant of Auschwitz, having tried to hide her past for decades. How that haunts her makes for an engrossing read. Thank you to John!

Our book store this week is Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The Absolutist by John Boyne
My Brother’s Name is Jessica by John Boyne
A History of Loneliness by John Boyne
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne
The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain by John Boyne
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne
The Echo Chamber by John Boyne
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
Snow by John Banville
The Singularities by John Banville
The Sea by John Banville
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Clay’s Quilt by Silas House
Southernmost by Silas House
Lark Ascending by Silas House
Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond
The Date from Hell by Gwenda Bond
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Sedaris is Back in the Book Case Jan 12, 2023

This week it is David Sedaris part two - or David Sedaris redux. We loved our conversation with him and as we said last week, were we to limit the conversation to just one podcast, we’d have to cut out some of the good stuff. This week David talks about his empathy for those who come to hear him speak or who ask him to sign a book, his love for reading appearances, how he tries out new material on audiences, and how those audiences don’t seem to remember any of what he read. Listen to the end for a funny anecdote.

Our bookstore this week is Arundel Books in Seattle - the store David said was his favorite ‘indie’ in the U-S.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast:

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
Calypso by David Sedaris
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris
SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris
Theft by Finding: Diaries (1997-2002) by David Sedaris
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
Naked by David Sedaris
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff
The Collected Short Stories of Tobias Wolff by Tobias Wolff
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Pulp by Charles Bukowski
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Freshwater for Flowers by Valerie Perrin
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Sedaris Journals Gold Jan 05, 2023

David Sedaris is our guest this week and next. Our conversation with him was so delightful and insightful that we could find no way to edit our conversation to just one podcast without leaving out too much of the “good stuff’. David is unique. He writes marvelous essays of observation about modern life drawing much of his material from audiences who come to listen to him read and with whom he spends considerable time interacting. He writes about serious family issues he’s encountered with great humor. He writes about playing a Christmas elf at Macy’s, and how can that fail to draw a chuckle? “Happy-Go-Lucky” is his latest collection of essays. But there are many. We loved everything of his we read. You will too.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
Calypso by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris
SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris
Theft by Finding: Diaries (1997-2002) by David Sedaris
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
Naked by David Sedaris
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Esmeralda Santiago Dreams Her Reality Dec 22, 2022

It might seem a bit presumptuous to write a three volume autobiography about the first 29 years of your life, wouldn’t you think? But Esmerelda Santiago lived an almost unbelievable first thirty years and writes in such a personal fashion, that reading her story makes you feel as if you’re in the company of a good friend speaking just to you. The first volume, When I was Puerto Rican tells the story of growing up in abject poverty in Puerto Rico with no expectations of anything more. The second volume, Almost a Woman tells of her coming to the United States terrified about what life would be like and through the most improbable of circumstances finding herself in an esteemed school for the performing arts though speaking almost no English. The third volume, The Turkish Lover finds Esmerelda realizing she is a whole lot smarter than the man in her life - applying to Harvard and graduating Magna Cum Laude! How is that for 29 years? If you’re intimidated by three short volumes, just try the first volume and see if you don’t want to go on. And if you’d like to be charmed, listen to Esmerelda’s conversation with us.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast:

When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
The Turkish Lover by Esmeralda Santiago
Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
América's Dream by Esmeralda Santiago
The Iliad by Homer
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
Free Puerto Rico by Pedro Albizu Campos

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Holiday Gift Guide Dec 15, 2022

After you’ve bought Sister Sally the alpaca sweater, brother Billy his baseball bat, Mom her mixer and Dad his golf ball retriever, what small presents should you add? A book, of course! Everyone appreciates the thought that goes into giving just the right book. So have no fear, Kate and Charlie are here with what will be our annual “just the right book for everyone’s End-of-year book list.” If you can't find it here, you can’t find it anywhere. Mitchell Kaplan of Florida’s "Books and Books" gives us fiction selections. Bradley Graham of Washington’s "Politics and Prose" on non-fiction, Celia Sack of San Francisco’s "Omnivore Bookstore" on cookbooks, Justin Colussi-Estes of Decatur, Georgia’s 'Little Shop of Stores' on young adult books broken down by age groups, Otto Penzler from New York City’s The Mysterious Bookstore” on mysteries. And best for last, Kate and Charlie ourselves on coffee table books. Why us? Well, we each occasionally drink coffee and we each have a living room table. Oh yeah, and we didn’t want to feel left out. Enjoy! And if you want to give US a present, rate us and write a comment where you get your podcasts. We read ‘em. Happy Holidays listeners! We love you all! We love you all!Non-Fiction: (Bradley Graham)

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Non-Fiction: (Bradley Graham)

Lost and Found: A Memoir by Kathryn Schulz
Path Lit By Lightening: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss
The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy and the Dawn of American Aviation by John Lancaster
Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. Ricks
Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick

Mysteries: (Otto Penzler)

Desert Star by Michael Connelly
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries Edited by Martin Edwards
The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly

Coffee Table Books: (Us)

Football: Designing the Beautiful Game by James Bird, Sam Handy, Jacques Herzog, Thomas Turner, Eleanor Watson
The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan
African Art Now by Osei Bonsu
The Space Shuttle: A Mission-by-Mission Celebration of NASA’s Extraordinary Spaceflight Program by Roland Miller
Cookbooks: (Celia Sack)
Woks of Life: Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family by Bill Leung, Kaitlin Leung, Judy Leung, Sarah Leung
What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz
BUDMO! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen by Anna Voloshyna
Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook by Illyanna Maisonet
The Bartender’s Guide to the World: Cocktails and Stories from 75 Places by Lauren Mote

Children’s Books: (Justin Colussi-Estes)

Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett
The Mouse Who Carried a House on His Back by Jonathan Stutzman
Everything in Its Place: A Story of Books and Belonging by Pauline David-Sax
A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga
Thirteen Witches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Sea of Always (Thirteen Witches Book 2) by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Two Degrees by Alan Gratz
The Star that Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
Shuna’s Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Barbara Kingsolver Grapples with American Poverty Dec 08, 2022

The book is Demon Copperhead , the author is Barbara Kingsolver. That should be enough said. If you read it and don’t come away thinking it is the best book you’ve read this year, it will be among the best. Her book is a prodigious feat on many levels. It is beautifully written. It gives you a sense of a part of America often ignored. It has wonderful characters. It is funny, and she writes it as a parallel to David Copperfield , Charles Dickens' most personal novel. She’s a great writer and a great talker. Give a listen.

Our bookstore this week is Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, where the state line runs right through the center of town.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

King Lear by Shakespeare

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

84 Chairing Cross by Road Helene Hanff

Double Agent by Tom Bradby

A Single Spy by William Christie

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

The River of Gods by John Speke

River of Doubt Candice Millard

Radical Kindness: The Life-Changing Power of Giving and Recieving by Angela Santomero

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nelson DeMille Keeps His Readers Guessing Dec 01, 2022

Nelson DeMille - to meet him you’d think of him as the prototypical grandfatherly guy, mild-of-manner with a gentle soul. And you’d be right. It would be most unlikely that you’d also spot him as a guy who has written dozens of murder mysteries, spy novels and thrillers that have gained him a devoted audience. He has devised lots of ways to bump off his characters. You must watch out for those grandfatherly types. With 23 books in circulation and over 50 million sold, DeMille still debuts on the bestseller list with each release, and his latest, The Maze, was no exception. The bookstore this week is also an American institution: The Faulkner House Bookstore in New Orleans. The store sells all kinds of books in a space that also happens to be a Faulkner landmark.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Maze by Nelson DeMille
The Gate House by Nelson DeMille
The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille
The Panther by Nelson DeMille
The General’s Daughter by Nelson DeMille
The Charm School by Nelson DeMille
The Quest by Nelson DeMille
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille
Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
The Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille
The Lion by Nelson DeMille
The Deserter by Nelson and Alex DeMille
Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille
Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
The Sniper by Nelson DeMille
The Hammer of God by Nelson DeMille
Spencerville by Nelson DeMille
Cathedral by Nelson DeMille
By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille
The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille
Mayday by Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block
Superfudge by Judy Blume
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Absalom, Absalom! By William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Some Go Home by Odie Lindsey
Welcome to our Senses by Odie Lindsey
Collected Stories by William Faulkner

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate and Charlie Talk Turkey Nov 24, 2022

Let’s do the math. A human’s average life span: 80 years. Years after Similac and Gerbers: say 75 years. At approximately 1000 meals per year, that’s a lifetime of 75,000 meals. What if you had a different recipe for every one of those 75,000 meals? Celia Sack does. She is one of the owners of Omnivore Books in San Francisco. They sell nothing but cookbooks and books about food and drink. You don’t go into her store asking, “What should I be reading?” but instead, “What should I be cooking or baking?" We ‘drop’ this podcast on Thanksgiving Day when everyone is thinking about food. Celia thinks about it every day. And, of course, we’re all thinking about things to be thankful for, including our listeners. We’re thankful for our chance to talk with Celia. She is a delight.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Small Victories by Julia Turshen
Kitchen Simple: Essential Recipes for Everyday Cooking by James Peterson
The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routines by Eleanor Ford
The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins
The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert
The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy
Mourad: New Moroccan by Mourad Lahlou
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle
The Way to Cook by Julia Child
Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking by Julia Child
The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes and Stories of My Life by Pat Conroy
The Escoffier Cookbook: and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery for Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures by Auguste Escoffier
Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes by Alison Roman
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rogers

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Goes to The Brooklyn Book Festival Nov 17, 2022

This week on the Book Case we have two more authors from the Brooklyn Book Festival. You can find Angeline Boulley's The Firekeeper's Daughter on the YA shelves of your local library or bookstore, but the book transcends the genre. She'll talk about how she approaches world-building and gives us a sneak preview of her highly-anticipated new novel coming out next spring. Kate also catches up with Book Case favorite Sidik Fofana and sits down with Jory Southurst, the manager of the bookstore at the Center for Fiction. This episode was recorded at The Center for Fiction. It's a beautiful part of the Brooklyn literary community with classes and events. Their bookstore shouldn't be missed!

Books mentioned in this podcast;

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend by Erika T. Wurth
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon
The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Babel by R.F. Kuang
A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
Greenland by David Santos Donaldson
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cleyvis Natera Finds Joy Unexpectedly Nov 10, 2022

Cleyvis Natera took 15 years to write Neruda on the Park, and you can see why when you read the novel. There many pieces of the book that speak to Natera's life: navigating America with and on behalf of her parents, seeing gentrification slowly creep into the neighborhoods she has loved, the flawed and complex relationships between generations of women within one community. Kate had a chance to sit down with Cleyvis at the recent Brooklyn Book Festival and they talked about how Cleyvis' growth and maturity contributed to the growth and maturity of her novel. We then talk to Book Ends and Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois, a book lovers bookstore in a great college town.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
The Street by Ann Petry
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Irving is Back in the Book Case Nov 03, 2022

When this podcast was in its infancy, John Irving joined us to talk about his work and what he described as “his last big novel,” that was, at the time, still being written. It is now “in better bookstores everywhere” as they say. And “big” is something of an understatement. “The Last Chairlift” is close to 900 pages! Is it worth that much an investment of time? If you’re a John Irving admirer—how can you say no? And we are among John’s many admirers. The novel has all of John’s familiar themes: the search for an unknown father, sexual politics, a highly unusual family, ghosts as well as skiing, wrestling and Exeter Academy. John even includes a couple of screenplays as part of the story. Reading “The Last Chairlift” is a significant investment of time, but it is both moving and entertaining. This is our second conversation with John Irving, and he never fails to fascinate us.

Books in this podcast:

The Last Chairlift by John Irving
Setting Free the Bears by John Irving
The Water-Method Man by John Irving
The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving
The World According to Garp by John Irving
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving
A Son of the Circus by John Irving
The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving
A Widow for One Year by John Irving
My Movie Business: A Memoir by John Irving
The Fourth Hand by John Irving
Until I Find You by John Irving
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
In One Person by John Irving
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
A Saint from Texas by Edmund White
A Previous Life by Edmund White
Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda
Dante's Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
The Absolutist by John Boyne
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
A History of Loneliness by John Boyne
The Way Home by Kardea Brown
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jon Meacham Rewrites Abraham Lincoln's Story Oct 27, 2022

A quick Google search will tell you there are over 15,000 books about Abraham Lincoln. Do we need another? Well yes, considering that none of them so far has been written by Jon Meacham who is one of America’s best biographers. “And There Was Light” has just been released. It is a most readable 420 page biography of our 16th President and it is timely. America is probably more divided now that at any time since Lincoln’s. Jon writes, “A President who led a divided country in which an implacable minority gave no quarter…has much to teach us in a twenty-first century moment of polarization.” Jon is a great conversationalist. At one point he says, "Some think I’m the love child of Mr. Rogers and Doris Kearns Goodwin.” How is that for a tease?

Books mentioned in this podcast:

And There was Light by Jon Meacham
The Soul of America by Jon Meacham
American Lion by Jon Meacham
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham
His Truth is Marching On by Jon Meacham
American Gospel by Jon Meacham
The Hope of Glory by Jon Meacham
Destiny and Power by Jon Meacham
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
The Wise Men by Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Emma by Jane Austen
The Chain by Adrian McKintey
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Doug Bauer Steps Up to Bat Oct 20, 2022

Doug Bauer has written a love story, "The Beckoning World". A man and a woman. A father and son. A love for a more innocent time. A lovely homage to America’s midwest. And a love story about baseball. It’s a simple book really—until it’s not. Boy meets girl. Boy is a promising pitcher. Girl's father says, "You pick: my daughter or baseball." He picks the girl. But then the book veers back to baseball and the protagonist pitcher and his son are barnstorming across America with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Sound implausible? Doug makes it seem perfectly reasonable. The Beckoning World is evocative of the early 20th century, conjures up small town baseball parks (you can almost smell the peanuts), and makes you feel like you know the Babe and Lou. Especially the Babe.

And speaking of small towns, this week’s bookstore is Fact and Fiction in Missoula, Montana. Give it all a listen.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Beckoning World by Douglas Bauer
The Book of Famous Iowans by Douglas Bauer
The Very Air by Douglas Bauer
Dexterity by Douglas Bauer
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Sister Noon by Karen Joy Fowler
Wild Kingdom by Vijay Seshadri
War and Peace By Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thrust by Lidia Yuknavitch
Body Grammar by Jules Ohman
Killing Custer by James Welch
Penguin Problems Jory John
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
Mother Bruce Book Series by Ryan T. Higgins
Winter in the Blood by James Welch
Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Once Sentence Journal by Chris La Tray

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Angie Cruz Teaches How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water Oct 13, 2022

Once again it was a title that caught our eye, leading us to a the book that was even more intriguing than the title. The book is How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water. The author is Angie Cruz. The book is a fascinating character study of Cara Romero, a Dominican immigrant who came to this country more than 25 years ago. She needs a job. There are 12 chapters— each a transcription of one of Cara’s meetings with a professional job counselor. You come to know Cara - or do you really? As she talks to the counselor and tells her/him not just about herself but about the immigrant community of which she is a part? A reader, we believe, will thoroughly enjoy getting to know Cara. A listener to The Book Case will enjoy getting to know Angie Cruz.

Instead of an independent bookstore this week we talk to each other about books we’ve read this year that we loved, but might not have been suited to a podcast.

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Let It Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz

Soledad by Angie Cruz

Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement

Incidents in the Life of a Slave by Harriet Jacobs

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay

Full Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Robert E Lee: A Life by Allen C. Guelzo

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Sarig King Stands Up To Censorship Oct 06, 2022

We have expressed a desire to keep The Book Case non-political. But there is one issue we feel should not be a source of contention - and that is book banning and book challenges. We have been looking for a relatively safe way to approach the issue and think we’ve found it in a book by Amy Sarig King entitled Attack of the Black Rectangles. The "black rectangles" to which she refers are those black stripes that represent redactions of language. Amy writes for young people— target audience probably 11 to 16. But this book reads well for adults as well and addresses an important subject. It is a fictionalized account of an actual book redaction that her son discovered in a school assigned novel about the Holocaust. Amy argues, persuasively we feel, that young people don’t need this kind of ‘protection’ and that it’s a slippery slope from redactions to actual book bans. She has both a lovely book and a powerful argument.

Afterwards we talk with Jonathan Friedman of PEN America who has written a thorough report about how the number of book challenges and bans are growing across the United States at an alarming rate.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King (A.S. King)
Me and Marvin Gardens By Amy Sarig King (A.S. King)
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Dig by Amy Sarig King (A. S. King)
Ask the Passengers by Amy Sarig King (A. S. King)
Reality Boy by Amy Sarig King (A. S. King)
Everybody Sees the Ants by Amy Sarig King (A. S. King)
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Osman Writes Mysteries You Can Sink Your Dentures Into Sep 29, 2022

So you’re in your mid-50s, you’ve got a great career going as a television personality in Great Britain, so what might be enjoyable to do next? Why write a hugely successful series of mysteries of course. And that is what Richard Osman has done. His novel The Thursday Murder Club is about four bold septuagenarian friends who meet to discuss about unsolved crimes in their retirement village. The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed are two riveting extensions of The Thursday Murder Club. Osman talks about casting the film adaptation of his novels and how his mother’s retirement village in England inspired his writing process. The independent bookstore this week is 27th Letter Books and we talk to Erin Pineda, the owner about their incredible story of survival.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Scorpionfish by Natalie Bakopoulos
Gag Reflex by Elle Nash
Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment by Parker Curry, Jessica Curry and Brittany Jackson
Crescenciana: An Art Book and Memoir by Crescenciana Tan + Kenneth Tan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Strout Hears her Characters' Voices Sep 22, 2022

Elizabeth Strout is our guest this week, and our conversation couldn’t be more timely. First, her novel, Oh William! has just been short listed for the Booker Prize - perhaps the most prestigious award for a writer of literary fiction. And second, her latest novel in the Lucy Barton series has just been published - Lucy by the Sea. For those who love her writing, and we are among her greatest admirers, you know that Lucy by the Sea represents a continuation of the series that includes Oh William! The book allows us to see the chaos of the last years through Lucy's eyes, and it's a tumultuous, beautiful journey. The independent bookstore this week is Tattered Cover and we talk to Jeremy Patlen, their head buyer.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
The Collected Stories of William Trevor
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Just Kids by Patti Smith
We are the Light by Matthew Quick
Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sue Miller Examines Marriage, Intimately Sep 15, 2022

Sue Miller is one of America’s finest and most admired authors. From the time of her first published novel in 1986, (The Good Mother), to her most recent, (Monogamy), Sue has developed a legion of devoted readers. Her plots often involve major events, but her greatest skill is the intimate understanding she has of her characters. She knows their head and their heart, or maybe it is that they know hers. How she writes, how she develops those characters, and what they mean to her are all subjects of our conversation. Sue Miller is one of our finest practitioners of literary fiction. We feel honored to have her in The Book Case.

This week, we also talk to the host of “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read," Zibby Owens. She invited us on her podcast, so we returned the invitation.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Good Mother by Sue Miller
Family Pictures by Sue Miller
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
Inventing the Abbotts and Other Stories by Sue Miller
Monogomy by Sue Miller
The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller
The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller
The Arsonist by Sue Miller
The Distinguished Guest by Sue Miller
The World Below by Sue Miller
The Story of My Father: A Memoir by Sue Miller
Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller
For Love by Sue Miller
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy
Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy by Dani Shapiro
Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro
Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nahid Shahalimi Gathers the Voices of Afghan Women Sep 08, 2022

It was just a year ago that the U.S. withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. On that date, Nahid Shahalimi, an Afghan female writer living in Germany, realized that she needed to hurry to record the stories of prominent Afghan women who soon would try to escape their country, or stay and risk death. She did so, and compiled their stories in “We Are Still Here.” The world’s attention has turned to the crisis in Ukraine, but Afghanistan is still there and should not be forgotten, particularly the stories of women oppressed by the Taliban. This week, a conversation with Nahid Shahalimi, as she writes, “Listen to these women. See them. See their commitment to freedom and to their rights."

Books mentioned in this podcast:

We are Still Here edited by Nahid Shahalimi
The Book of Life by Jidda Krishnamurti
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan by Atia Abawi
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi
When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi
The Sky at Our Feet by Nadia Hashimi
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stuart Gibbs Takes Kids on Wild Journeys Sep 01, 2022

Stuart Gibbs is this week’s guest and begins what we intend to be a periodic look at children's’ literature, or in the parlance of the day, “kids’ books”. Stuart has five different series of kids’s books in print - all successful, each aimed at the middle grades. His latest Spy School book is just out. Kate and I (grown-up who like to believe) loved it, as did our 12-year-old grandson and nephew, Lang (but then Stuart is his favorite author). To be a successful author of kids’ books we believe you have to be a good writer as well as a bit of a kid yourself. Stuart checks both boxes.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Moon Base Alpha Series by Stuart Gibbs
Once Upon a Tim by Stuart Gibbs
Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs
Spy School Series by Stuart Gibbs
FunJungle Series by Stuart Gibbs
Charlie Thorne Series by Stuart Gibbs
The Last Musketeer Series by Stuart Gibbs
Poached by Stuart Gibbs
Encyclopedia Brown Series Donald J. Sobol
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe
Superfudge by Judy Blume
The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster
The BFG by Roald Dahl

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Koepp Writes Thrillers Differently These Days Aug 25, 2022

Our author this week is David Koepp. You may not realize it, but you’ve been exposed to David’s writing. Probably many times. Did you see the first two Jurassic Park movies? Spider-Man? Indiana Jones? Mission Impossible? David has worked on the screenplays of some of the most successful movies ever. Indeed, movies he has written have sold almost $2.5 billion in tickets. He also writes novels. “Aurora” is his latest. It’s an enjoyable, and even thought-provoking read. Why write novels when you’re so successful with screen plays? How do the disciplines differ? Which is more rewarding? All good questions. We ask them.

Our independent bookstore this week is Interabang Books in Dallas, Texas.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast:

Cold Storage by David Koepp
Aurora by David Koepp
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
That’s Good! That’s Bad! by Margery Cuyler
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
A Queen to the Rescue: The Story of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah by Nancy Churnin
A Girl Named Carrie: The Visionary Who Created Neiman Marcus and Set the Standard for Fashion by Jerrie Marcus Smith
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Trust by Hernan Diaz
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sidik Fofana Steps Out of the Classroom Aug 18, 2022

Sidik Fofana has written “Stories from the Tenants Downstairs.” This is his first novel and very much worth a reader’s time. His book is eight interrelated short stories written by residents of a fictional tenement in New York City in a neighborhood going through gentrification. You root for his characters. You identify with their aspirations. But for each of them it is so tough to realize their dreams. For each of them it is so tough to negotiate the realities of every day life. And Sidik knows from whence he writes—for years he has been a New York City public school teacher. Many of his stories, he tells us, come from his kids. “Stories from the Tenants Downstairs” is an excellent book. One small warning—a couple of the stories are written with the voice of the street, but were that not the case, it would not be as authentic. And every inch of this book is authentic. Our independent book store this week is Women and Children First in Chicago—we talk with one of its owners, Lynn Mooney.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fafana
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
The Broken Earth Trilogy N.K. Jemisin
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Odyssey by Homer
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Native Son by Richard Wright
Trombone Shorty by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews
Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Johnson
Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenny Lawson is Broken (In the Best Possible Way) Aug 11, 2022

Jenny Lawson is a funny writer, but that label doesn’t tell the whole story. In her three books, her "parenthetical ramblings" are hilarious glimpses into her razor sharp wit that keep you laughing long after you put the book down. At the same time, Jenny Lawson deals with deep depression that has her also writing about her struggles - sometimes just to stay alive. She writes of the “monster” that at times takes over her mind. That mind works in wonderous ways - not always helpful to her own well being - but wonderous just the same. Our bookstore this week? Well that’s Jenny Lawson’s too. We talk to Elizabeth Jordon, the general manager of Jenny Lawson’s bookstore, Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Broken (in the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Twice 22 by Ray Bradbury

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky

Florida Woman by Deb Rogers

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

There, There by Tommy Orange

A Visitation of Spirits by Randall Kenan

Stories From the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Glass Reimagines the Future Aug 04, 2022

Julia Glass burst on the writing scene in 2002 when her first novel, “Three Junes”, won the National Book Award for fiction. Her newest novel “Vigil Harbor” plots current problems such as worldwide virus infections, climate change and increasing political violence as they might increase over the next twelve years, and charts their impact on a small town in coastal Massachusetts. Set in 2034, the novel includes a touch of mystery and the supernatural, and is a most enjoyable read from almost any perspective. On the show, Julia speaks about the ways climate change has shaped the novel, her experience writing with a supernatural twist for the first time, and how the book changed with the Covid-19 pandemic started. Our independent book store for this podcast is Keplers, in Menlo Park, California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hernan Diaz Trusts His Characters Jul 28, 2022

Hernan Diaz is an author, essayist, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. His newest novel, "Trust," has just this week been chosen as a finalist for the Booker Prize - one of the most prestigious of literary prizes. The head of the Booker judging panel said many of this year’s finalists involve “the elusive nature of truth”. That certainly would pertain to “Trust”. The book is intricately plotted, marvelously written, and insightful about the world of finance and the singular relationship Americans have with money. Diaz also talks about his writing process, writing a character with an "obnoxious" point of view, and the thrills and perils of releasing a book out into a world. Our conversation took place just before the Booker nominees were announced, but reading ’Trust" and listening to Diaz will leave you with no doubt that this novel deserves the high honor according it by the Booker judging committee. Our independent book store this week is Market Street Books in Mashpee, Massachusetts, a favorite vacation destination.

Books mentioned in the podcast this week:

Trust by Hernan Diaz
In The Distance by Hernan Diaz
A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Old Man in the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Emma by Jane Austen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J. Ryan Stradal Writes From the Heart Jul 21, 2022

J. Ryan Stradal is one of America’s finest young authors. His two novels have been out for some time - both highly acclaimed. Another is releasing next year. “Kitchens of the Great Midwest” was his first with “The Lager Queen of Minnesota” following four years later. Publishers conducted a bidding war for ‘Kitchens' - how rare is that for a first work? And it’s been translated into more than a dozen languages. You can argue over which is the better of the two and we have. Both are excellent. Kate likes ‘Kitchens’. Charlie is partial to “Lager Queen”. While these titles may make them sound like food books, they aren't. For J. Ryan food serves as a way of explaining different aspects of humanity, largely around themes of forgiveness. J. Ryan and Kate have been good friends since their college days (we're talking the ‘90s here folks) and she says she loves to listen to him talk. And laugh. You will too.

Since J. Ryan’s books have a Midwest setting and flavor we’ve paired him with Ann Woodbeck, one of the owners of Excelsior Bay Books to be found in Excelsior Bay Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
Elsewhere, California by Dana Johnson
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brian
Goodnight Loon by Abe Sauer
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses
Shoulder Season: A Novel by Christina Clancy
Four Dead Horses by K. T. Sparks
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
The Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anna Quindlen Wants You to Write Jul 14, 2022

Anna Quindlen can write pretty much anything – years of insightful columns for the “New York Times,” wonderful fiction as evidenced by nine widely-read novels, and non-fiction as well. The latest is her plea for all of us to write. “Write for Your Life” is the book. It’s a small volume but it’s message belies its size. Anna Quindlen wants us writing for future grandchildren and great-grandchildren, for our current loved ones, and even for ourselves. Write letters, keep journals, record your own life history – it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be personal. She asks her readers: If you could have one piece of writing from someone in your life who’s gone, who would that be? When you answer that, you’ll know why writing is so important. As you write, she argues, it may even bring greater clarity about your own problems and thoughts. After our conversation with Anna, stay for Sharon Davis of Book Bound Bookstore in Blairsville, Georgia, population 616. Talk about an act of faith! Opening a tiny town independent bookstore. Talking to Sharon was at the suggestion of one of our listeners, and we appreciate it.

Books Mentioned:

Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier by Linda Peavy
Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen
The Holy Bible
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni
The Gilded Wolves by Roshai Choksi
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Egan Plays with Form Jul 07, 2022

Twelve years ago, Jennifer Egan won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” It was wildly successful and totally original. Now she has written a companion novel - a continuation, if you will - “The Candy House.” The premise is intriguing and while impossible, it lends itself to many opportunities for Jennifer to write in different styles. The premise is that it has become possible for a person to have every one of their memories, since birth, encapsulated in a box and every one of those memories can be recalled. In fact, a person can get access to someone else’s memories if willing to share their own. Every chapter is written in a different style - but all fit together nicely. Pulling that off, and she does, is literary, a feat of no small proportion. You need not have read “Goon Squad” to enjoy “Candy House.” But listening to Jennifer may well make you want to. This week we take a pause from talking to an independent bookstore. Kate and Charlie discuss what they’ve learned from their first ten podcasts.

Books Mentioned:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Keep by Jennifer Egan
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Lavender's Blue: A Book of Nursery Rhymes by Kathleen Lines and Harold Jones
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Happy For You by Claire Stanford
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Preston & Child's Agent Pendergast Series
The Power Broker By Robert Caro
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Yes, Charles Gibson read it. And yes, I am listing it. Sorry, dad.)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Claire Stanford is Happy For You Jun 30, 2022

What if an app could quantify exactly how happy you are? That's the premise for Clare Stanford's debut novel, "Happy For You," in which a philosopher leaves academia to work as a researcher for"the third-most popular internet company" where she struggles to find belonging as a biracial woman. "Happy For You,' is a funny story of a woman searching for her identity and a satirical commentary on today's h(app)iness-obsessed world. Plus, a conversation with Mitchell Kaplan at Books and Books.

Other books mentioned in the pod:

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
The Bernstein Bears Series by Stan and Jan Bernstein
Year of Dangerous Days: Riots Refugees and Cocaine in Miami 1980 by Nicholas Griffin
Big Trouble by Dave Barry
Trust by Hernan Diaz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Gergen Knows Politics Jun 23, 2022

David Gergen says it's time for new American leadership. As a political advisor who served four presidential administrations, Gergen has a perspective on the White House that's unrivaled in the political world. Gergen wrote his new book, "Hearts Touched with Fire," to advise the next generation of political leaders. Maybe that will include you! In President Truman's words, "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."

List of books mentioned:

Hearts Touched with Fire by David Gergen

Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills

The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell

The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts

To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

Maine Beer: Brewing in Vacationland by Josh Christie

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Letters of EB White by EB White (Revised)

Charlotte's Web by EB White

Stuart Little by EB White

Sigh, Gone by Phuk Tron

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Delia Ephron Falls In Love, Again Jun 16, 2022

Delia Ephron went through hell. Her leukemia almost killed her - so did the treatments to cure it. In “Left on Tenth”, her new book that is on many best seller lists, she writes about wanting to die - pleading with the doctors to let her die. However a doctor, who perhaps knew Delia better than she knew herself, wouldn’t let her. And a late in life, second love, sustained her through the most difficult of times. Delia’s book is inspiring and is testament to the strength of the human spirit and the healing power of love. Now, remarkably recovered, she talks about her ordeal. Listen to her answer of what she wants the rest of her life to be. It will make you smile.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing 'Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley' Jun 11, 2022

You may know the story of Emmett Till. But you might’ve never heard his story if it weren't for one woman: Mamie Till-Mobley. In a new three-part season of ABC News' "Reclaimed" podcast, host Leah Wright Rigueur explores who Mamie Till-Mobley was before she lost her son: a young girl growing up in Illinois. Rigueur traces Mamie's journey after Emmett’s death, and how she turned her grief into a movement that changed the course of American history.

The first two episodes of "Reclaimed" are available now. To listen, follow the show on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3zofsOC), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3PSLBDU), Amazon Music (https://amzn.to/3tgHfNf), or wherever you like to listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Azar Nafisi Reads Dangerously Jun 09, 2022

Azar Nafisi offers you - a reader - a challenge. It is the title of her latest book - “Read Dangerously”. Azar comes with a unique perspective. She was teaching in Iran when the clerics took over, banned books, and eliminated many of the freedoms that Americans often take for granted. She caused something of a sensation when she wrote “Reading Lolita in Tehran” - contending that reading fiction can be a liberating and even subversive act. Now she teaches in the United States and worries that Americans aren’t reading enough - specifically aren’t reading works that take them outside their comfort zone. What freedoms could we lost if we don’t "Read Dangerously"? Her argument is an important one and very much worth a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shelby Van Pelt Makes Her Debut Jun 02, 2022

Odds are you’ve never heard of Shelby Van Pelt. She is a new author, and as we spoke she was just a week away from the publication of her first novel “Remarkably Bright Creatures”. Strange to say but this is a novel novel and both of us loved it. A writing advisor once told Shelby to try writing from an unlikely point of view - and has she done just that! Her narrator is an octopus. But not just any octopus. Marcellus is a captive in an aquarium and from that vantage point is an observer of we humans. He doesn’t have much respect for what he sees, but his warm, funny and wary narrative will have you hooked from the first page.

As in almost all our podcasts, you’ll also hear from an independent bookseller from somewhere in the country. We believe independent book stores are critical. In this podcast, Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York talks about mysteries as literature. Believe us, Otto knows mysteries, and is acutely aware that we all love ‘em.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Irving Reinvents The Classics May 26, 2022

John Irving has written fourteen novels, is working on a fifteenth, has been translated into more than thirty languages, and is one of America’s most popular and beloved authors. If you’ve never read a John Irving novel, how would John suggest you start? What great American writers does he loathe (spoiler alert, one is considered America’s greatest author) and why did John adopt a model for story telling that was more than a century old? And how does he draw readers into his novels so that they will read the whole book? Our conversation with John is a master class on writing, and how he tackles his craft might surprise you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Carla Hayden is the Top Librarian May 19, 2022

Dr. Carla Hayden is the Librarian of Congress. In the 222 year history of the Library of Congress there has never before been a female Librarian of Congress, nor an African-American Librarian of Congress. Carla Hayden has broken many barriers. Dr. Hayden comes from a background of having run the Baltimore public libraries and from having a critical role in running Chicago’s libraries. On her first day in the job, what did she want to see, and hold, in the Library’s incredible collection? How can any citizen utilize the Library of Congress? And how can a library absorb 10,000 new items every single day? Carla Hayden holds the most important librarian’s job in the world - and she refers to librarians as the world’s “first search engines."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary Laura Philpott Writes About Parenting May 12, 2022

Calling all parents - you need to listen to Mary Laura Philpott and read her insightful essays that speak to everyone who ever raised a child. In the vein of Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron, her new book is “Bomb Shelter” - something she wishes she could build around her two children as they prepare to leave home and begin adulthood. Like all of us, she struggles with the realization she can’t keep them safe. It’s hard to imagine a writer could say something totally original about parenting and yet she does. She is witty and wise and the angst she feels about wanting to keep her kids safe applies to all of us.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Niall Williams Tells Irish Tales May 05, 2022

Niall Williams is an Irishman who possesses the Irish knack for telling a great story, and he does this in lyrical prose that will take your breath away. He was living in America, participating in the infamous New York City rat race, when he and his wife decided 35 years ago they needed to go back to the land of their birth, Ireland, and find out if they could write. And can he ever. If you haven’t read “This is Happiness”, you must. Just for the pure beauty of Niall’s language. And if you have read it, you’ll love our conversation as his language and his gentle Irish lilt are delightful.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oprah Shares Her Favorite Books May 02, 2022

How better to begin a weekly podcast on books than with Oprah Winfrey who has, in the last quarter century, done more to get Americans to read than almost any literacy program we can think of. However the beginning of her book club was something of an accident. Oprah tells us why she didn’t believe it had a chance. She tells us what is in her personal, extraordinary collection of books, what she finds the perfect reading environment, and Oprah even takes a suggestion from Kate about how she might change her reading habits. Oprah's enthusiasm for reading has proven infectious to the entire nation, and her enthusiasm for literature is addicting. After you hear our conversation, Oprah will have you wanting to immediately pick up a book. We guarantee it

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing 'The Book Case' Apr 28, 2022

Are you stuck in a reading rut? The Book Case, a new weekly series from ABC Audio launching May 2, makes the case for books outside of your usual genre. Wander the aisles of your local bookstore with Kate and Charlie Gibson and meet fascinating characters who will open your appetite to new categories while deepening your hunger for books. The Book Case will journey cover to cover through the literary world, featuring interviews with best-selling authors, tastemakers, and independent bookstore owners.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected