Literary Hub has a new podcast! Hosted by LH podcasts editor Drew Broussard, this new weekly show goes behind the scenes at Lit Hub, diving deeper into everything interesting, dynamic, strange, and wonderful in literary culture. Featuring appearances by Lit Hub staff, recurring columnists like Kristen Arnett and Maris Kreizman, and special guests talking about the news of the day and so much more. New episodes every Friday, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Sep 13, 2024•1 min
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Feb 23, 2024•48 min
On this edition of The Literary Life, John Grisham is live at Books and Books in Coral Gables for a great night with a room full of readers, basking in the brilliance of a master storyteller. John's new book is The Exchange, and he brings back Mitch McDeer, the hero of The Firm -- and he talks with Mitchell Kaplan about this new book and much, much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 03, 2023•45 min
Books & Books recently had the pleasure of hosting three-time National Book Award finalist and best-selling author Lauren Groff, presenting her new novel, The Vaster Wilds. The New York Times calls it “a lonely novel of hunger and survival.” The brilliant Groff reads from her adventure novel and answers questions from her audience of fans. This new episode of The Literary Life was recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 20, 2023•44 min
Nathan Hill is the guest on this edition of The Literary Life. His new novel Wellness is one of the most anticipated books of the year: following his critically acclaimed The Nix, Wellness tells the story of a marriage at its inception and then into its future. Two days after Oprah selected Wellness for her book club, Nathan visited Books and Books and his humor, poignancy, and flat-out brilliance were on display -- on page and stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...
Sep 29, 2023•47 min
Books and Books in Coral Gables, our flagship store, is right across the street from the Coral Gables Cinema. Our indie bookstore so close to this indie cinema is my idea of heaven. Over the years, we've had many collaborations and just a few weeks ago, during the cinema's first run showing of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Kai Bird, the co-author of American Prometheus (which Christopher Nolan adapted for his screenplay) joined me for a Q&A following a screening of the film. That Q&A ...
Sep 08, 2023•37 min
Imagine this: my guest has published over 105 novels and has sold over 450 million copies of his books. That's right, 450 million copies. That's the output of Dean Koontz and my revealing conversation with him covers lots of territory: his book collection, his love of reading, his new works, his thoughts on artificial intelligence, his writing process, how he researches, his openness about overcoming his difficult childhood, the impact of his early teachers, and the incredible bond with Gerda, h...
Aug 18, 2023•47 min
Campbell McGrath is among South Florida's most revered poets recognized with the MacArthur Genius Award, a Kingsley Tufts poetry Award and by admirers from Robert Pinsky to Elizabeth Alexander. His newest collection is Fever of Unknown Origin and on this edition of The Literary Life, we celebrate its publication with a reading at the Coral Gables location of Books & Books. Introducing Campbell is Scott Cunningham, executive and artistic director of OMiami, which is building community around ...
Aug 04, 2023•42 min
On this edition of The Literary Life, what makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? Robert Waldinger and Mark Schulz, the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, have just published The Good Life: Life Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study on Happiness. Their invaluable insights emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard study that forms the basis of this new important book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Jul 14, 2023•49 min
At a time when the state of Florida has become ground zero for those who want to silence the voices of so many, we at Books & Books found it critical to bring Chasten Buttigieg to the Miami area to celebrate the publication of the young-adult edition of his memoir, I Have Something to Tell You. Chasten was joined in conversation with the Deputy Executive Director of the national LGBTQ Task Force, Mayra Hidalgo Salazar. Pastor Laurie Hafner welcomed our guest on this week's edition of the Lit...
Jun 23, 2023•54 min
Anne Berest, the author of The Postcard -- one of the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years -- came to Books & Books and dazzled a room full of readers. Let's join those readers on this episode of The Literary Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 09, 2023•44 min
Ana Veciana-Suarez is the author of several books, including the historical novel Dulcinea, the young adult novel, Flight to Freedom, and a collection of essays, Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Life, Love, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart. A previous novel, The Chin Kiss King, was nominated for the prestigious IMPAC Award. In 2019 she won a Cintas Fellowship for Creative Writing for her novel-in-progress. Two of her nonfiction books about the Hispanic media were published by the The...
May 26, 2023•48 min
On this edition of The Literary Life, an evening of readings at Books and Books from the 2022 Prison Writing Awards Anthology. The evening was sponsored by PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program along with Exchange for Change, a Miami-based organization whose mission is as follows: "We believe in the value of every voice, and we give our students an opportunity to express themselves without the fear of being stigmatized. When everyone has the ability to listen and be heard, strong and ...
May 12, 2023•51 min
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder is confirmation yet again of David Grann's prodigious talent. Like he did in Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, David has taken a story that, while not unknown, is not known enough, and he brings it to life in all its exoticism and savagery. David Grann is my guest on this episode of The Literary Life, and his talk was recorded in front of a live audience at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida. Learn more about your ad choic...
Apr 28, 2023•47 min
Photographer, model, and muse to two of the greatest musicians of our time, Pattie Boyd is Mitchell’s guest on this edition of The Literary Life. Her new book, My Life In Pictures (published by Real Art Press) is a stunning collection of her personal photographs capturing the essence and zeitgeist of the Bohemian rock and roll world of the 1960s and early ‘70s. Mitchell spoke to Pattie about all of this and more in front of a live audience at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida. Learn more ...
Apr 14, 2023•31 min
On this edition of The Literary Life, it's my hope that listening to Shelly Read (Go as a River) talk about her life in Western Colorado and its influence on her engaging story of Victoria and how she perseveres over three decades, confronting love and disappointment and the harsh and beautiful reality of her life, will compel you to take a chance on this debut. You won't be sorry. As Bonnie Garmus, the author of Lessons in Chemistry, writes: Go as a River is completely unforgettable. My intervi...
Mar 24, 2023•32 min
On this edition of The Literary Life, join Ruth Dickey, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, and a live audience at Books and Books for an evening honoring Alexandra Chang, Joseph Hahn, Crystal Hana Kim and Alyssa Songsiridej, all recipients of the five under 35 prize selected by past National Book Award winners and finalists, or previous five under 35 honorees. Unfortunately, Claire Sestanovich was not able to make the trip to Coral Gables. This award recognizes young debut f...
Mar 17, 2023•49 min
Alisha Fernandez Miranda is the author of a coming-of-middle age memoir, My What If Year, coming from Zibby Books in 2023. Detailing her year of unpaid internships in the dream jobs of her childhood, the book follows Alisha on her quest to figure out what might have happened if her life had taken a different path. Her story has been featured in Business Insider and Moms Don’t Have Time to Write. Alisha is also a co-author of 50 Years: Kinloch Lodge, a culinary celebration of one of the Isle of S...
Feb 17, 2023•38 min
Patricia Engel is the author of Infinite Country, a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club selection; The Veins of the Ocean, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris, winner of the International Latino Book Award; and Vida, a finalist for the Pen/Hemingway and Young Lions Fiction Awards, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of Colombia’s national book award, the Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Gug...
Feb 10, 2023•40 min
Tracy Kidder has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Award, among other literary prizes. His books include Mountains Beyond Mountains, Strength in What Remains, The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, Old Friends, Hometown, and A Truck Full of Money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 03, 2023•37 min
Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of four other novels--All Adults Here, Modern Lovers, The Vacationers, and Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures--and the short story collection Other People We Married. Her books have been published in twenty countries. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 27, 2023•43 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Quentin Tarantino to discuss his first work of nonfiction, Cinema Speculation, out now from Harper. Quentin Tarantino was born in 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the writer-director of nine feature films, the winner of two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, and the author of the novel Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Cinema Speculation is his first work of nonfiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...
Dec 02, 2022•39 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Dani Shaprio to discuss her latest novel, Signal Fires, out now from Knopf. ________________________________ Subscribe now to The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you find your podcasts! Dani Shapiro s a best-selling novelist and memoirist and host of the podcast Family Secrets (now in its seventh season). Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Time. ...
Nov 04, 2022•41 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by David Maraniss to discuss his latest book, Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe, out now from Simon & Schuster. David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times. Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, an...
Oct 21, 2022•39 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Cory Doctorow to discuss his latest book, Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We’ll Win Them Back, out now from Beacon Press. Cory Doctorow is a bestselling science fiction writer and activist. He is a special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, with whom he has worked for 20 years. He is also a visiting professor of computer science at the Open University (UK)...
Oct 14, 2022•1 hr 4 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Dr. Precious Symonette, Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year and creative writing teacher, is joined by Ibram X. Kendi to discuss his latest book, Magnolia Flower, out now from One World. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. He is the host of the n...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Jonathan Escoffery to discuss his debut collection, If I Survive You, out now from MCD. Jonathan Escoffery is the recipient of the 2020 Plimpton Prize for Fiction, a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, and the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction. His fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, AGNI, Passages North, Zyzzyva, and Electric Literature, and has been anthologiz...
Sep 23, 2022•47 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Christopher M. Finan to discuss his new book, How Free Speech Saved Democracy: The Untold History of How the First Amendment Became an Essential Tool for Securing Liberty and Social Justice, out now from Steerforth Press. ________________________________ Subscribe now to The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you find your podcasts! Christopher M. Finan has been involved in the fight agains...
Sep 16, 2022•39 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Javier Zamora to discuss his memoir, Solito, out now from Hogarth Press. Javier Zamora was born in El Salvador in 1990. His father fled the country when he was one, and his mother when he was about to turn five. Both parents’ migrations were caused by the U.S.-funded Salvadoran Civil War. When he was nine Javier migrated through Guatemala, Mexico, and the Sonoran Desert. His debut poetry collection, Unaccompanied, explores the...
Sep 09, 2022•45 min
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Dwyer Murphy to discuss his debut novel, An Honest Living, out now from Viking. Dwyer Murphy is a New York-based writer and editor. He is the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub’s crime fiction vertical and the world’s most popular destination for thriller readers. He practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, where he was a litigator, and served as editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was previously ...
Aug 13, 2022•42 min