Friends & Fiction

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Friends & Fiction with Steven Rowley May 24, 2024

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On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome the bestselling, award-winning novelist Steven Rowley to discuss THE GUNCLE ABROAD, the long-awaited sequel to a beloved story, all about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty. Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book; The Editor, an NPR Best Book of the Year; The Guncle, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for Novel of the Year; and The Celebrants, a Today Show Read with Jenna book club pick. His fiction has been translated into twenty languages. He joins us from his home in Palm Springs before departing on book tour to tell us all about his highly-anticipated follow-up to his beloved novel in which Patrick O'Hara is called back to his guncle duties, this time for a big family wedding in Italy.

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Friends & Fiction Celebrates the Launch of Mary Kay Andrews's Summers at the Saint May 17, 2024

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On this episode, the Fab Four gather to celebrate this month’s F&F Featured Author, the NYT bestselling novelist and Queen of the Beach Reads herself, our very own Mary Kay Andrews, to discuss her brand-new novel, our May 2024 Pick of the Month, SUMMERS AT THE SAINT, a fresh new summer mystery full of romance, betrayal, and long-buried secrets. With 32 novels and one cookbook under her belt, Mary Kay has been a staple on the bestseller lists every single year for two decades running. She takes a break from her whirlwind book tour to join us LIVE from Dallas, Texas, to celebrate SUMMERS AT THE SAINT in grand F&F style. Our whole community more will learn more about the novel Publishers Weekly calls “a mesmerizing mix of mystery and romance,” and which has been named an IndieNext and LibraryReads pick. It wouldn't be an F&F launch party without some fun games and lots of other shenanigans.

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Friends & Fiction with Ruth Ware May 10, 2024

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On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome the international No.1 bestselling author of psychological crime thrillers, Ruth Ware, to discuss her latest gripping beach read, ONE PERFECT COUPLE, a high-tension and ingenious thriller which follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them. Ruth’s thrillers (In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; and Zero Days) have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times, and have sold more than six-million copies. Her books have been optioned for both film and TV, and she is published in more than 40 languages. Ruth joins us from her home on the coast of England to discuss ONE PERFECT COUPLE, her latest fast-paced, spellbinding thriller coming from Gallery Books on May 21.

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Friends & Fiction with Janet Skeslien Charles May 03, 2024

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On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcome the New York Times and internationally bestselling author, Janet Skeslien Charles, to discuss her brilliant new novel, MISS MORGAN’S BOOK BRIGADE, based on the true story of Jessie Carson, the American librarian who changed the literary landscape of France. Janet has spent the past decade researching Jessie Carson at The Morgan Library, the NYPL, and archives across France for her latest novel MISS MORGAN’S BOOK BRIGADE. The result is a “compelling ode to the astonishing power of libraries and librarians” (Marie Benedict) which our own Patti Callahan Henry calls “an astonishing novel…and a moving tale of sacrifice, heroism, and inspired storytelling.” Janet’s previous novel The Paris Library, was an instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller and named an Amazon Best Book of 2021. We are so looking forward to discussing this latest installment in her library trilogy with Janet as she heads back to the States from her home in Paris to embark on a US book tour.

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Friends & Fiction with Sally Hepworth Apr 26, 2024

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On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome the New York Times bestselling master of suspense, Sally Hepworth, to discuss her forthcoming book, DARLING GIRLS, a thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder. Sally's nine novels (including The Good Sister and The Soulmate) are available around the globe in English and have been translated into more than 20 languages. Several of her novels have been optioned for TV and film and she has sold more than one-million books worldwide. She joins us from Melbourne, Australia, to discuss DARLING GIRLS (just out from St. Martin’s Press), which has been dubbed “a rollercoaster of a novel” by Bookpage and an “unnerving thriller” by Booklist.

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Friends & Fiction with Emily Henry Apr 19, 2024

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On this episode, the Fab Four—Kristy Woodson Harvey, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harme & Patti Callahan Herny—gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the #1 New York Times bestselling author and titan of romantic comedy, Emily Henry, to discuss her forthcoming book, our April 2024 Pick of the Month, FUNNY STORY, a shimmering, joyful novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common. Emily Henry is the #1 NYT and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of HAPPY PLACE, BOOK LOVERS, PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, and BEACH READ. Known as much for her witty banter, steamy love scenes, and happy endings as she is for her sheer dominance over the bestseller lists and her millions of copies sold, Emily joins us to discuss her soon-to-be blockbuster summer hit novel, FUNNY STORY (coming 4/23 from Berkley), which has been named a most-anticipated book of the year by TIME, The New York Times, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, and Today.com among others. “This sumptuous novel is Henry at her very best,” according to Bustle, and we are so excited to welcome Emily and get the full scoop just before this book hits shelves everywhere!

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Friends & Fiction with Jo Piazza Apr 12, 2024

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On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Ron Block welcome bestselling author, podcast creator, and award-winning journalist, Jo Piazza, to discuss THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE, her transporting novel rooted in the author's own family history about a long-awaited trip to Sicily, a disputed inheritance, and a family secret that some will kill to protect. Jo Piazza is the national and international bestselling author of We Are Not Like Them, You Were Always Mine, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, The Knockoff, and How to Be Married. Her work has been published in 10 languages in 12 countries, and 4 of her books have been optioned for film and television. Jo's podcasts have garnered more than 25-million downloads and regularly top podcast charts. An editor, columnist, and travel writer, her work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, New York magazine, Marie Claire, Glamour, and many other publications. She joins us to discuss her brand-new historical novel, THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE (out now from Dutton Books), which has been called “a page-turning family chronicle,” by The Washington Post, “a joy to read,” by the New York Times, and “packed with wit and wicked twists,” by Town & Country.

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Friends & Fiction with Lisa Scottoline Apr 05, 2024

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On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristin Harmel welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline to discuss THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS, her latest pulse-pounding domestic thriller about family and justice, the ties that bind us, and the lies that tear us apart. A former President of Mystery Writers of America, Lisa Scottoline is the #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 36 novels, with 30-million books in print, published in 35 countries. Her books have been optioned for film and TV, and she has also co-authored a series of humorous memoirs with her daughter, novelist Francesca Serritella. A former lawyer, Scottoline taught a course she developed, "Justice & Fiction," at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater. She and her array of disobedient pets join us from her home outside Philadelphia to discuss THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS, a LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick which People Magazine hails as “her most emotionally intense nail-biter to date.”

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Friends & Fiction with Allison Pataki Mar 29, 2024

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On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome former news writer and producer turned NYT bestselling author Allison Pataki to discuss her highly-anticipated latest novel FINDING MARGARET FULLER — a sweeping story about America’s forgotten leading lady, an inspiring trailblazer and fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women and changed history, all on her own terms. Allison Pataki is the NYT bestselling author of ten books including The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, The Traitor’s Wife, and The Accidental Empress. She joins us to discuss the inspiration for, research, and lasting messages in her high-anticipated latest novel FINDING MARGARET FULLER which has already been featured on the Today Show and gotten starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist.

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Friends & Fiction with Anna Quindlen Mar 22, 2024

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On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews and Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anna Quindlen to discuss her latest instant bestseller AFTER ANNIE, a hopeful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways. Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, non-fiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of ten novels including, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue. Her memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, which was published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her book, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at the New York Times, she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Anna’s new novel, AFTER ANNIE, was released earlier this month and instantly landed on both the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists. Called “luminous with life, hope and the power of love” by People Magazine (who also named it their Book of the Week), AFTER ANNIE is the Barnes & Noble National Book Club selection for March, an IndieNext pick, a LibraryReads pick, and an Amazon Best of the Month.

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