On our 2022 Fall Preview episode, Beth Macy discusses Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis (Little, Brown, Aug. 16), “a profoundly disconcerting book that, with luck, will inspire reform to aid the dopesick and punish their suppliers” (starred review). Then our editors highlight a few of their favorite titles from the Fall Preview issue of Kirkus Reviews. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priv...
Aug 16, 2022•50 min
In this episode, sponsored by Amazon Original Stories, Mohsin Hamid joins us to discuss the novel The Last White Man (Riverhead, Aug. 2), “a provocative tale that raises questions of racial and social justice at every turn” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 09, 2022•51 min
Monique Roffey joins us to The Mermaid of Black Conch (Knopf, July 12). Kirkus: “In this Costa Award–winning novel, the discovery of a mermaid makes waves on a fictional Caribbean island….A mournful tour through Caribbean history via one of its most indelible legends.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 02, 2022•51 min
Oscar Hokeah joins us to discuss Calling for a Blanket Dance (Algonquin, July 26), an outstanding debut novel about the life of Ever Geimausaddle, a Kiowa-Cherokee-Mexican American man, artfully told from the perspectives of 11 family members, as well as his own. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 26, 2022•42 min
Chrysta Bilton joins us to discuss Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings (Little, Brown, July 19), the debut memoir Kirkus calls “a wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 19, 2022•40 min
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan joins us to discuss Big Girl (Liveright, July 12). Kirkus: “In this debut novel set in 1990s Harlem, a young girl learns—and redefines—what it means to take up space….A lyrical and important coming-of-age novel.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 12, 2022•51 min
New York Times-bestselling author Tom Perrotta joins us to discuss Tracy Flick Can’t Win (Scribner, June 7). In this 10th novel from the “master of dark comedy,” “the campaign to create a Hall of Fame at a suburban New Jersey high school lures a few skeletons out of their closets” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 05, 2022•49 min
Literary critic and cultural historian Joanna Scutts joins us to discuss Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club That Sparked Modern Feminism (Seal Press, June 7), “an enlightening contribution to the history of feminism” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 28, 2022•47 min
Ada Calhoun joins us to discuss Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me (Grove, June 14). Kirkus: “Art critic Peter Schjeldahl's daughter takes a shot at finishing her father's derailed biography of Frank O'Hara and ends up writing a fascinating memoir….A wonderfully convoluted, catty, candid, and clever piece of work” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at http...
Jun 21, 2022•41 min
Joseph Han joins us to discuss the novel Nuclear Family (Counterpoint, June 7), “a raucous and adroit debut” in which “an immigrant family is haunted by the past” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 14, 2022•50 min
Julio Torres joins us to discuss I Want To Be a Vase (Atheneum, June 7), illus. by Julian Glander, a gorgeous debut picture book about the self-actualization of everyday objects. Kirkus: “Great for stimulating creative thinking and art activities: What else can ordinary objects be?” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 07, 2022•41 min
Ann Leary joins us to discuss The Foundling (Marysue Rucci Books, May 31), a “thoroughly satisfying novel” in which the New York Times bestselling author “turns her mordant eye to the interplay of feminism, racism, and eugenics at a state institution for women deemed unfit to bear children in 1927” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-n...
May 31, 2022•46 min
Author Marie Myung-Ok Lee joins us to discuss her new novel The Evening Hero (Simon & Schuster, May 24), the story of Yungman Kwak, a Korean American doctor grappling with forced retirement and family secrets. Kirkus says Lee’s brilliant novel is “filled with as much heartache and healing as it is historical significance.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...
May 24, 2022•47 min
New York Times bestselling author Emma Straub joins us to discuss her latest novel, This Time Tomorrow (Riverhead, May 17). “Combine Straub's usual warmth and insight with the fun of time travel and you have a winner,” Kirkus writes in a starred review. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 17, 2022•40 min
Margo Jefferson joins us to discuss Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir (Pantheon, April 12), “a dynamic, unflinchingly candid examination of the impacts of race and class on culture and the author’s own life” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 10, 2022•40 min
R.M. Romero joins us to discuss The Ghosts of Rose Hill (Peachtree Teen, May 10), a magical realist romance in verse Kirkus calls “a must-read for lost souls everywhere” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 03, 2022•43 min
Leigh Newman joins us to discuss Nobody Gets Out Alive (Scribner, April 12), “bighearted stories of domestic discord by a writer with a cleareyed view of Alaska's romance and hardscrabble realism” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 26, 2022•44 min
Rhea Ewing joins us to discuss Fine: A Comic About Gender (Liveright, April 2), a work of graphic nonfiction Kirkus calls “A vital, richly textured resource for anyone seeking a better understanding of gender identity” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 19, 2022•54 min
Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart joins us to discuss his new novel, Young Mungo (Grove, April 2), a sophomore effort Kirkus calls “romantic, terrifying, brutal, tender, and, in the end, sneakily hopeful” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 12, 2022•43 min
Novelist Grant Ginder joins us to discuss Let’s Not Do That Again (Henry Holt, April 5), a “ timely comic novel set in New York and Paris” wherein “a political family deals with drama past and present” (starred review) Then our editors offer their weekly reading recommendations. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 05, 2022•43 min
Writer and humorist Jill Gutowitz joins us to discuss Girls Can Kiss Now (Atria, March 8), “a witty essay collection about pop culture and queerness” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Kate Folk and Matt Phelan. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mar 29, 2022•39 min
Future forecaster and game designer Jane McGonigal joins us to discuss Imaginable: How To See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything—Even Things That Seem Impossible Today (Spiegel & Grau, March 22), “a fascinating book about how the future does not have to be an undiscovered country.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Adib Khorram, Chuck Klosterman, and Joe Mungo Reed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr...
Mar 22, 2022•43 min
Aisha Saeed joins us to discuss Omar Rising (Nancy Paulsen Books, Feb. 1). Kirkus calls this companion to her New York Times-bestselling middle-grade debut Amal Unbound “a powerful tale about a preteen pushing back against systemic injustice” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Sara Zarr, Ian O’Connor, and Sarah Moss. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...
Mar 15, 2022•40 min
Meghan O’Rourke joins us to discuss The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness (Riverhead, March 8), an “emotionally compelling and intellectually rich” exploration of chronic illness compelling told through “personal narrative and science journalism, with deep dives into the technicalities of the immune system and the microbiome.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Lillie Lainoff, Dan Charnas, and Karen Joy Fowler. See Privacy Policy at ...
Mar 08, 2022•46 min
On this special International Episode, Anton Hur joins us to discuss his forthcoming translation of Violets by Man Asian Prize-winning novelist Kyung-Sook Shin (April 12). Then our editors join with their international reading recommendations for early 2022, with books by Sang-Keun Kim (tr. Ginger Ly), Chesil (tr. Takami Nieda), Olga Tokarczuk, Shen Fuyu, and Kerri ní Dochartaigh. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-se...
Mar 01, 2022•55 min
Dr. Neil Bradbury joins us to discuss A Taste for Poison: Eleven Dealy Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them (St. Martin’s Press, Feb. 1), a fascinating blend of science, medical history, and true crime that ably illustrates what we can learn about how the human body works from poisons employed in famous murder plots and assassination attempts. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Kathy Z. Price and Carl Joe Williams, Carolyn Tara O’Neil, Michael...
Feb 22, 2022•49 min
Charmaine Wilkerson joins us to discuss her novel Black Cake (Ballantine Books, Feb. 1), “an ambitious and accomplished debut” centering on estranged siblings discover “almost everything they know about their Caribbean-born parents is a lie” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Taiye Selasi and Tinuke Fagborun, Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem and Kristen Gehrman, and Lan Samantha Chang. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Calif...
Feb 15, 2022•48 min
Sara Gran joins us to discuss The Book of the Most Precious Substance (Dreamland Books, Feb. 8), a delightful erotic literary thriller from the author of the Claire DeWitt mystery series and founder of Dreamland Books. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Traci Sorell, Ruta Sepetys, Carl Bernstein, and Antoine Wilson. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 08, 2022•54 min
Jessamine Chan joins us to discuss her debut novel The School for Good Mothers (Simon & Schuster, Jan. 4), a brilliant social satire centering on one Philadelphia mother’s “very bad day.” Kirkus: “An enthralling dystopian drama that makes complex points about parenting with depth and feeling” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Ruth Behar and Devon Holzwarth, Bernardine Evaristo, and Julia May Jonas. See Privacy Policy at htt...
Feb 01, 2022•47 min
John Darnielle joins us to discuss Devil House (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Jan. 25), “an impressively meta work that delivers the pleasures of true-crime while skewering it.” This third novel from the New York Times bestselling author and singer-songwriter of Mountain Goats fame is his best yet, according to our starred review. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Marieke Nijkamp, Nilah Magruder, Stanley Tucci, and Claire Messud See Privacy Policy ...
Jan 25, 2022•54 min
