The Book Case

Latest Episodes:

Dave Eggers Crafts New Fables Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

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

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Christopher Golden Scares Us Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

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

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James Comey Writes a Thriller May 25, 2023

Show notes

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

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Alexandra Robbins Studies Teachers May 18, 2023

Show notes

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

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Henry Grabar Parks That Thought May 11, 2023

Show notes

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

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Dave Barry Makes Us Laugh May 04, 2023

Show notes

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

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Brendan Slocumb Finds Hidden Notes Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

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

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

Show notes

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

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Charles Frazier Sheds Light on American Optimism Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

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

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Rebecca Boggs Roberts Unveils Edith Wilson Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

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

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