In The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, Sam Kean travels through time with stories of neurological curiosities: phantom limbs, Siamese twin brains, viruses that eat patients' memories, blind people who see through their tongues. He weaves these narratives together with prose that makes the pages fly by, to create a story of discovery that reaches back to the 1500s and the high-profile jousting accident that inspired this book's title.* With the lucid, masterful explanations and razor-sharp wit...
Jun 18, 2014•54 min
One of the most anticipated debut novels of 2014, Cutting Teeth takes place one late-summer weekend as a group of thirty-something couples gather at a shabby beach house on Long Island, their young children in tow.
Jun 08, 2014•57 min
In this richly detailed novel about the quest for an unknown father, Julia Glass brings new characters together with familiar figures from her first two novels, immersing readers in a panorama that stretches from suburban New Jersey to rural Vermont and ultimately to the tip of Cape Cod.
Jun 08, 2014•59 min
When the Insomniacs move twelve time zones away for Mrs. Insomniac's new job, the family has an impossible time adapting to the change. The Avid Reader Show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. It is aired every Monday at 5PM EST on WCHE AM 1520. www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com
May 19, 2014•32 min
From the author of the widely acclaimed debut novel Seating Arrangements, winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction: a gorgeously written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the demanding world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations. The Avid Reader Show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. It is aired every Monday at 5PM EST on WCHE AM 1520. www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com
May 10, 2014•44 min
In each of the stories in this remarkable debut, award-winning writer David James Poissant explores the tenuous bonds of family—fathers and sons, husbands and wives—as they are tested by the sometimes brutal power of love. The Avid Reader Show interviews authors each Monday at 5PM EST on WCHE 1520 AM. It is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com
May 10, 2014•55 min
Talk follows a rising star in conservative talk radio who is forced to balance his ambition with his conscience as he wields outsize influence in the crucial state of Florida during a presidential election. The Avid Reader Show features interviews with authors weekly on Monday's at 5PM EST on WCHE AM 1520. The show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com
May 10, 2014•29 min
In Bee Ridgway’s wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future. The Avid Reader is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. It is aired weekly on Monday's at 5PM EST on WCHE AM 1520.
May 10, 2014•54 min
A stripper unwittingly becomes a sexual surrogate for a wealthy Russian immigrant and his paralyzed wife in Pelzman’s beautifully rendered debut.
May 08, 2014•46 min
From acclaimed author Dinaw Mengestu, a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award, The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 award, and a 2012 MacArthur Foundation genius grant, comes an unforgettable love story about a searing affair between an American woman and an African man in 1970s America and an unflinching novel about the fragmentation of lives that straddle countries and histories. The Avid Reader show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. and hosted by...
Apr 24, 2014•38 min
"Outstanding…Every page is alive and surprising, proof of [Sharma’s] huge, unique talent."—David Sedaris Hailed as a "supreme storyteller" (Philadelphia Inquirer) for his "cunning, dismaying and beautifully conceived" fiction (New York Times), Akhil Sharma is possessed of a narrative voice "as hypnotic as those found in the pages of Dostoyevsky" (The Nation). In his highly anticipated second novel, Family Life, he delivers a story of astonishing intensity and emotional precision. The Avid Reader...
Apr 23, 2014•49 min
When Dr. John Taylor is found dead in a hotel room in his hometown, the local police find enough incriminating evidence to suspect foul play. Detective Samantha Adams, whose Palo Alto beat usually covers small-town crimes, is innocently thrown into a high-profile murder case that is more intricately intertwined than she could ever imagine. A renowned plastic surgeon, a respected family man, and an active community spokesman, Dr. Taylor was loved and admired. But, hidden from the public eye, he l...
Apr 23, 2014•30 min
In Occupied Paris during World War II, a gentile architect designs hiding places for Jews escaping the Germans. * On October 13, the New York Post selected THE PARIS ARCHITECT as a Must Read book. * USA Today has selected THE PARIS ARCHITECT for its New Voices book column on Oct. 31. * THE PARIS ARCHITECT has been selected as an Indie Next pick for October by the Independent Booksellers Association. * Best selling author Malcolm Gladwell has chosen THE PARIS ARCHITECT as his favorite book of 201...
Apr 20, 2014•38 min
“In this powerful novel of the Iraq war, beautiful and poetic language is juxtaposed with brutal devastation. Terrified young American soldiers trying not to die and searching for something to live for, give voice to the loss and anguish of war. Told in short chapters alternating between the war and its aftermath, this is the story of the bonds of young men thrown together in crisis who remain a part of each other's lives for the duration of their own. Short, raw and visceral, this is one that s...
Apr 20, 2014•56 min
“A gloriously disturbing portrait of man’s animal nature ascendant, Hyde brings into the light the various horrors still hidden in the dark heart of Stevenson’s classic tale of monstrosity and addiction. It’s Daniel Levine’s extraordinary achievement to give voice to a creature capable of indulging every impulse of transgression, while driving its higher self to damnation. Florid, devious and ingenious, Hyde is a blazing triumph of the gothic imagination.”—Patrick McGrath, author of Asylum The A...
Apr 20, 2014•42 min
Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. The Avid Reader show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Exton, PA. www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com and is aired every Monday at 5PM EST on WCHE...
Apr 20, 2014•59 min
The Avid Reader interviews Jane Christmas author of And Then There Were Nuns With humor and opinions aplenty, a woman embarks on an unconventional quest to see if she is meant to be a nun.
Mar 16, 2014•44 min
The Avid Reader interviews Elisabeth Elo author of North of Boston Dennis Lehane meets Smilla’s Sense of Snow: a big discovery in the world of female suspense, about an edgy young woman with the rare ability to withstand extreme conditions Elisabeth Elo’s debut novel introduces Pirio Kasparov, a Boston-bred tough-talking girl with an acerbic wit and a moral compass that points due north.
Mar 16, 2014•29 min
The Avid Reader interviews Helene Wecker best selling author of The Golem & the Jinni In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York.
Mar 16, 2014•56 min
The Avid Reader interviews Lara Vapnyar author of The Scent of Pines Throughout her acclaimed, award-winning career, novelist Lara Vapnyar has consistently impressed critics with her striking honesty, empathy, and humor—yet never before have Vapnyar’s talents been as perfectly matched or shone as brightly as in her captivating latest novel, The Scent of Pine. Though Lena is only thirty-eight, she finds herself in the grip of a midlife crisis. She feels out of place in her adoptive country, her c...
Mar 16, 2014•37 min
The Avid Reader interviews Sherill Tippins author of Inside the Dream Palace The Chelsea Hotel, since its founding by a visionary French architect in 1884, has been an icon of American invention: a cultural dynamo and haven for the counterculture, all in one astonishing building. Sherill Tippins, author of the acclaimed February House, delivers a masterful and endlessly entertaining history of the Chelsea and of the successive generations of artists who have cohabited and created there, among th...
Mar 16, 2014•59 min
The Avid Reader interviews Ransom Riggs author of Hollow City Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was the surprise best seller of 2011—an unprecedented mix of YA fantasy and vintage photography that enthralled readers and critics alike. Publishers Weekly called it “an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters.” This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Mis...
Mar 16, 2014•56 min
The Avid Reader Interviews Sue Monk Kidd best selling author of "The Invention of Wings" From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection.
Mar 16, 2014•56 min
The Avid Reader interviews Gary Shteyngart author of Little Failure NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of his life so far. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own....
Mar 16, 2014•44 min
The Avid Reader interviews best selling author Wil S. Hylton author of "Vanished - A Sixty-Year Search for the Missing Men of World War II" "A powerful story, masterfully told."—GQ "[A] deeply textured, propulsive new book...a phenomenal writer."—TIME.com "Marries an almost cinematically well-paced narrative with a deep sensitivity to the people whose lives it tells."—The Boston Globe "Superb... Part Pacific Theater history, part Indiana Jones thriller."—Newsday As featured on NPR's Weekend Edit...
Mar 16, 2014•44 min
The Avid Reader interviews Michael Lennon author of Norman Mailer: A Double Life Norman Mailer was one of the giants of American letters and one of the most celebrated public figures of his time. He was a novelist, journalist, biographer, and filmmaker; a provocateur and passionate observer of his times; and a husband, father, and serial philanderer. Perhaps nothing characterized Mailer more than his unbounded ambition. He wanted not merely to be the greatest writer of his generation, but a writ...
Mar 16, 2014•43 min
The Avid Reader, Sam Hankin, interviews best selling author Rob Cadigan author of Phoenixville Rising "PHOENIXVILLE RISING is a beautifully written love letter to the American industrial town. In a novel spanning centuries, and centering on three hard-luck kids, Sketch and Tara and the unforgettable Boo--clear-eyed and reckless and insanely-loyal Boo--Robb Cadigan gives us a timeless story of the enduring legacies of love and friendship. Noir and romantic and richly emotional, PHOENIXVILLE RISIN...
Mar 16, 2014•43 min
The Avid Reader, Sam Hankin, interviews best selling author Daniel Menaker. A wry, witty, often tender memoir by a former New Yorker editor, magazine writer, and book publisher who offers great tales of a life in words Daniel Menaker started as a fact checker at The New Yorker in 1969. With luck, hard work, and the support of William Maxwell, he was eventually promoted to editor. Never beloved by William Shawn, he was advised early on to find a position elsewhere; he stayed for another twenty-fo...
Mar 16, 2014•45 min
The Avid Reader interviews National Best Selling Author Ezekiel J. Emanuel For years, people have been asking Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, the brash, outspoken, and fiercely loyal eldest brother in the Emanuel clan, the same question: What did your mom put in the cereal? Middle brother Rahm is the mayor of Chicago, erstwhile White House chief of staff, and one of the most colorful figures in American politics. Youngest brother Ari is a Hollywood superagent, the real-life model for the character of Ar...
Mar 16, 2014•27 min
In her brutally honest, highly original memoir, Kristina Morgan takes us inside her head to experience the chaos, fragmented thinking, and the startling creativity of the schizophrenic mind.
Nov 20, 2013•43 min
