In this episode of Book Dreams, our very own Julie Sternberg offers a behind-the-scenes look at her brand new middle-grade novel. Summer of Stolen Secrets is Julie’s most personal book to date, set in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Join Eve as Julie guides her to a cemetery where coffins protrude from the earth, human bones visible through holes in their sides, in heat so thick and heavy that women drive across the street to preserve their silk blouses. Julie describes her family’s depa...
May 27, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 55
What happens when a novelist takes on complicated and often controversial issues that consume her? And what's the payoff for the reader when she succeeds? Laurie Frankel--a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of four novels, including the newly released One Two Three--shares with Eve and Julie some of her thoughts about the challenging and important topics that she brings to life in her books. They discuss the connection between Laurie’s third novel and a parenting experience tha...
May 20, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 54
What does your collection of toilet paper say about you? Rebecca Falkoff--author of Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding, assistant professor of Italian studies at NYU, and stand-up comedian--unpacks the methods and madness behind hoarding with Eve and Julie. They discuss how her family experiences inspired her academic book on hoarding; how her fear of becoming a hoarder herself complicates her writing process; how we can differentiate hoarding from collecting; and why hoarding is both a w...
May 13, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 53
(RE-RELEASE) How do we find hope even in the most difficult of times? How do we thrive after experiencing trauma? Dr. Edith Eger--eminent psychologist, Auschwitz survivor, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Choice: Embrace the Possible and The Gift: 12 Lessons to Change Your Life--talks with Julie and Eve about how to escape the prison of victimhood, fight feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness through choice, and learn to turn hate into pity as we journey through uncertain time...
May 06, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 52
What’s it like to be a New York Times bestselling author and the editor of bestselling books by authors like Chelsea Clinton, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Vice President Kamala Harris? Jill Santopolo--associate publisher of Philomel Books and acclaimed author of Everything After, More Than Words, and The Light We Lost (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick)--shares with Eve and Julie why she only wants to edit for kids while simultaneously writing for adults, and how editing, sales, and marketing i...
May 05, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 51
What are the downsides to the way we tell stories? Do we need to re-imagine the craft of writing and the way it’s taught? Matthew Salesses--English professor and bestselling author of The Hundred-Year Flood and The PEN/Faulkner finalist, Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear--takes on these questions in his new national bestseller, Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping. Matthew discusses with Eve and Julie how the format of traditional writing workshops was defined by s...
Apr 29, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 50
When’s the last time a book made your skin crawl? Megan Rosenbloom--a collection strategies librarian at the UCLA library, president of the Southern California Society for the History of Medicine, research team leader of The Anthropodermic Book Project, and author of Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin--delves into the who, what, when, where, and, most importantly, why of books bound in human skin. She discusses with Eve and Julie ...
Apr 22, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 49
“Trail Weight,” a new podcast from the Podglomerate network, follows host Andrew Steven on an ambitious, surprising, and transformative journey as he tries to get in shape for a month-long backpacking trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Through audio diaries, recordings from the trail, and conversations with authors, experts, Olympians, and more, Andrew takes listeners through an eye-opening adventure of self-discovery. You can listen to Trail Weight on Apple podcasts or wherever you’re li...
Apr 20, 2021•8 min
If we humans can't own the air or sea, why can we own land? And what happens when we do? Simon Winchester--an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and acclaimed author of the New York Times bestsellers The Professor and the Madmen, The Map That Changed the World, Krakatoa, Atlantic, and Pacific--explores with Julie and Eve how he addressed the man-made notions of land ownership and dispossession in his latest book, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World. They discuss ho...
Apr 15, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 48
When was the last time you let yourself feel the power of poetry and a poet’s voice? Here’s the perfect chance! Jasmine Mans--author of the poetry collections Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels and, most recently, Black Girl, Call Home; resident poet of the Newark Public Library; and viral sensation behind the poem Footnotes for Kanye--talks with Eve and Julie about how she discovered her own narrative through poetry. They discuss how being raised in a competitive family led Jasmine to the battlefiel...
Apr 08, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 47
How do you write a trailblazing woman back into history after her iconic colleagues wrote her out? Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner--founder and executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Center for Social Justice Dialogue; a founder of one the first college-level women’s studies programs in the United States; and author of The Women’s Suffrage Movement and Sisters in Spirit--introduces Eve and Julie to Matilda Joslyn Gage, the should-be household name of the suffrage movement whom Glor...
Apr 01, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 46
What’s it like to delve into the origins, psyche, and after-effects of evil, and set it all on the page? Author Ashley Audrain, whose debut novel The Push became an instant New York Times bestseller, shares with Julie and Eve her thinking behind her remarkable thriller. Together, they explore whether malevolence is inherited, if a child can be truly monstrous, and what it’s like to be, simultaneously, the daughter, granddaughter, and mother of a person who may (or may not) be truly evil. Hear th...
Mar 25, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Family is forever, and so, it appears, is our fascination with reading about them. Allegra Goodman--author of The Family Markowitz, Kaaterskill Falls (National Book Award finalist), Intuition, Paradise Park, The Chalk Artist, and short stories included in The New Yorker, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and Best American Short Stories--dishes with Eve and Julie about why families remain such a compelling subject for literature. They discuss how age and experience change our perspective on family-rela...
Mar 18, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Can a compelling novel positively and radically change the way we think about living? Matt Haig--author of the bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive; the novel and upcoming major motion picture A Boy Called Christmas; and, most recently, The Midnight Library, a New York Times bestseller, winner of the Good Reads Choice Award for Fiction, and a Good Morning America Book Club pick--shares his philosophy on the futility of regret with Julie and Eve. They talk about radical optimism and self-acce...
Mar 11, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 43
How can books help us discover uncelebrated trailblazing women? Janice P. Nimura--author of the biography The Doctors Blackwell, for which she received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities--shares with Eve and Julie the long neglected history of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, who were the first and third women respectively in America to receive medical degrees. Together the Blackwell doctors opened the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first...
Mar 04, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 42
MINI EPISODE: After 40 episodes of book dreaming together, Eve and Julie know each other’s preferences as well as they know their own. In this one-on-one conversation, our two best book friends swap book recs. And although they’ve chosen these titles with the other in mind, we hope you’ll like them too! Join Eve and Julie as they commiserate over the pressure of being on the receiving end of a book recommendation and explore what makes a good one. Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagra...
Feb 25, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Couldn’t we all use some heartwarming tales from bookstore aisles right about now? Eve and Julie have plenty to share after speaking with VaLinda Miller--the owner of Turning Pages Bookshop, the only African-American female-owned bookstore in South Carolina and only the second African-American owned bookstore in South Carolina--and Jamie Rogers Southern--the interim executive director of Bookmarks, a nonprofit bookstore in North Carolina. They discuss the joys of running a bookstore with a best ...
Feb 18, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 40
There’s no place like home, but does it need to have an address? Deirdre Mask--lawyer, academic, and author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power--explores with Julie and Eve how the seemingly narrow topic of street addresses underpins a powerful book that addresses (no pun intended) some of the most formative issues of our time. Deirdre discusses the benefits and detriments (yes, you heard that right) of having a street address; what Martin Lu...
Feb 11, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
How do you use historical and speculative fiction to tell the truth when America has fabricated its own fictions about its history, and particularly its ongoing racial inequities, for centuries? Bethany C. Morrow--one of USA Today’s “100 Black novelists and fiction writers you should read” and the indie bestselling author of the novels Mem, A Song Below Water, and the upcoming So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix--discusses with Eve and Julie the challenges that stem from blending “history” ...
Feb 03, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Self-help books: How helpful are they? Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer--co-hosts of the highly acclaimed By The Book podcast and co-authors of How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books--pull up their handcrafted (not really) armchairs to discuss with Eve and Julie the keys to picking the right self-help book, the reality of diversity (or lack thereof) within the genre, and the importance of self-awareness for both the author and the reader. They even pl...
Jan 25, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 37
It takes one language to write a book; it takes many to share it with the world--so how exactly does the process of translation work? Romy Hausmann, debut German author of the thriller novel Dear Child, and Jamie Bulloch, German-to-English translator of Dear Child, discuss with Julie and Eve how the author and translator communicate (if at all) during the translation process; why conveying character voice and the natural rhythms of language are so crucial; and what it feels like when the transla...
Jan 18, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 36
How can science fiction help us radically improve the world we’re living in now? Author and activist adrienne maree brown discusses with Julie and Eve how the principles of science fiction--and particularly the work of Octavia E. Butler--can help shape movements for social change. adrienne is co-editor of the anthology Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements and co-host of “Octavia’s Parables,” which was recently named a Best New Podcasts of 2020 by The New York Ti...
Jan 06, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In our last episode of 2020, Eve and Julie reflect on some of the moments, books, guests, and friendships that have brought us (and we hope you!) joy this year. They also share a sneak peek at what’s in store for Book Dreams in 2021. Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at [email protected]. We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more. Book Dreams is a part of ...
Dec 29, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 34
How can we turn to fiction for a reality check? Mark Oshiro, the award-winning YA author of Anger Is a Gift--winner of the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award and finalist for a 2019 Lambda Literary Award--and the newly released Each of Us a Desert, discusses with Julie and Eve how the rapidly-growing genre of speculative fiction provides authors and readers alike the perspective and imaginative scope to help grapple with the reality of 2020 while envisioning a different future. Mark also explains ...
Dec 17, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Bryan Washington, the author of Lot: Stories--one of President Obama’s Favorite Books of 2019--and Memorial--a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a TIME Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, Good Morning America’s November 2020 Book Club read, and nominee for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence--takes a seat at the table with Julie and Eve to discuss how the cookbooks, foreign films, and family storytellers of his youth helped form him as a writer. Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Insta...
Dec 11, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In one of our most illuminating conversations to date, Eve and Julie explore ancient texts with Michelle Brown, Professor of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study of the University of London and former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. They examine the illustrated margins and piquant commentary of medieval texts to understand when a porcupine is just a porcupine (and when it’s not), how many British pounds it takes to restore a woman’s virtue, and h...
Dec 04, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 31
It’s the question that launched Book Dreams: What did Harper Lee do all day in the fifty-plus years between the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird and her death? Finally, after years of speculation, we have an answer! Casey Cep--staff writer at The New Yorker, graduate of Harvard University and the University of Oxford, and author of Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee--joins Eve and Julie to talk about Harper Lee’s surprising life in a conversation that ranges from ...
Nov 19, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Michelle Bowdler, Executive Director of Health at Tufts University, joins Julie and Eve to discuss her recently released book, Is Rape a Crime?: A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto, which was long listed for the National Book Award. They talk about the stifling and silencing impact of sexual assault, the healing conversations that memoir can engender, and the key steps needed to increase awareness and improve treatment of sexual assault survivors, beginning with the responses of family a...
Nov 11, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In desperate need of a distraction from 2020, Eve and Julie turn to ROMANCE. Jane Igharo--a Nigerian-born immigrant to Canada and author of the newly released debut romance novel Ties That Tether--joins to discuss why romance readers are such avid fans, what qualities make romance novels so compulsively readable, and how to embrace the shameless delights of writing erotic scenes. Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at [email protected]....
Nov 04, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 28
What are the books that have shaped some of the most famous authors writing today? Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager, co-authors of the newly released The Writer’s Library, share with Eve and Julie recommendations they’ve collected from writers such as Luis Alberto Urrea, Laila Lalami, Jonathan Lethem, Louise Erdrich, and Maaza Mengiste; surprising details about which famous novels consistently didn’t show up on those authors’ lists of formative books; and insights into the changing roles of books d...
Oct 26, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 27
