The Book Show

The Book Show | Allegra Goodman – Isola

The Book Show | Charlotte Wood – Stone Yard Devotional

Hailed by The Booker Prize judges as a “fierce and philosophical interrogation of human existence,” Charlotte Wood’s “Stone Yard Devotional” chronicles “one woman’s inward journey to make sense of the world and her life when conflicts and chaos are abundant in both realms.”

The Book Show | Robert Crais – The Big Empty

Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, race to find a terrifying, unidentified killer in "The Big Empty," the 20th Elvis Cole novel. Author Robert Crais delivers Cole and Pike's toughest case yet, testing their loyalty to their clients and themselves.

The Book Show | Scott Turow – Presumed Guilty

Scott Turow’s latest novel is “Presumed Guilty” - a sequel to “Presumed Innocent,” the #1 bestseller that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever. The book examines whether the system can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.

The Book Show | Adam Ross – Playworld

The Book Show | Sheila Heti – Alphabetical Diaries [encore airing]

“Alphabetical Diaries” by Sheila Heti contains a decade’s worth of thoughts, arranged in alphabetical order. The book is a chronicle of the self, of the fundamentals and idiosyncrasies of human experience, that plays out thrillingly in the space that Heti has staked out between life and art, reality and fiction.

The Book Show | Kaveh Akbar – Martyr! [Encore airing]

Poet Kaveh Akbar joins us to discuss his first novel “Martyr!” which follows Cyrus Shams on a journey of introspection and discovery. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet. His obsession with martyrs and dealing with the death of his mother drives him to examine the mysteries of his past.

The Book Show | Pico Iyer – Aflame

Pico Iyer is the acclaimed and bestselling author of more than a dozen books translated into twenty-three languages, most recently “The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise” and “The Art of Stillness.” His latest, “Aflame,” is an exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreat.

The Book Show | Tim Matheson – Damn Glad To Meet You

For the past seven decades, Tim Matheson has been an on-screen favorite in Hollywood. In his new memoir, "Damn Glad to Meet You," Matheson looks at his illustrious career, and reveals what it was like to learn from and work alongside the greats, including Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke, Steven Spielberg, and Aaron Sorkin.

The Book Show | Alafair Burke – The Note

Alafair Burke is the Edgar-nominated, New York Times best-selling author of fourteen novels of suspense. Her latest page-turner is “The Note.” The book follows three longtime friends who, despite their best intentions, don’t always bring out the best in one another.

The Book Show | Percival Everett – James (encore airing)

“James,” by Percival Everett, is a reimagining of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” told from the point of view of enslaved person, Jim. While many narrative set pieces of “Huckleberry Finn” remain in place, Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

The Book Show | 1901 – Kristin Hannah – The Women

“The Women,” a novel by Kristin Hannah, is set at a pivotal time in American history: the Vietnam era. It is an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous situation and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics.

The Book Show | Mark Haddon – Dogs and Monsters

Booker Prize finalist Mark Haddon, author of the internationally bestselling novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” returns with “Dogs and Monsters: Stories.” The story collection features eight mesmerizing tales exploring what ultimately makes us human.

The Book Show | Billy Collins – Water, Water

Billy Collins is a former Poet Laureate of the United States and is the author of twelve collections of poetry. His latest is Water, Water: Poems. It is a collection of sixty new poems where Collins explores the subtle beauties and ironies of daily life.

The Book Show | Danzy Senna – Colored Television

“Colored Television” by Danzy Senna is a take on love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial-identity-industrial complex. The book follows Jane, a novelist, as she struggles to create a picture-perfect life with her husband and kids. Jane learns being a writer is hard and working in Hollywood is even harder.

The Book Show | Richard Price – Lazarus Man

In his new novel, “Lazarus Man,” Richard Price presents a rich tapestry of lives intertwining and a portrait of a neighborhood in the midst of change.

The Book Show | Ian Rankin – Midnight and Blue

Ian Rankin is the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His latest, “Midnight and Blue,” is his 25th novel in the Rebus series.

The Book Show | Susan Minot – Don’t Be a Stranger

Susan Minot is an award-winning novelist, short-story writer, poet, and screenwriter. Her new novel, “Don't Be a Stranger,” centers on the relationship between a younger man and an older single mother. It is a story about erotic obsession, the hunger for intimacy, communication, and oblivion.

The Book Show | Edwidge Danticat – We’re Alone: Essays

Edwidge Danticat has enriched and enlarged American literature with her novels and short stories about Haiti. Her latest, “We’re Alone,” is an essay collection that explores her profound and enduring connection to Haiti, as well as a deep concern for her family, her beloved island and the world.

The Book Show | Liz Moore – The God of the Woods

Author Liz Moore transports readers into a thrilling drama richly set against summertime in the Adirondacks in “The God of the Woods.” The novel follows the mysteries of a dynastic American family, the secrets of the summer camp nestled in their estate, the tragic history of a blue-collar community, and the disappearance of a young girl at the center of it all.

The Book Show | Lauren Groff – The Vaster Wilds (encore airing)

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her new novel, “The Vaster Wilds,” is at once an adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. It tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history.

The Book Show | Richard Powers – Playground

Richard Powers’ bestselling novel, "The Overstory," won the Pulitzer Prize and has more than 1 million copies in print. His new novel, "Playground," captures the beauty and loss of the ocean, following four lives: a marine biologist, an artist, a schoolteacher, and an AI pioneer as they intersect on an island in French Polynesia.

The Book Show | Louise Erdrich – The Mighty Red

In her new novel, “The Mighty Red,” Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich tells a story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearnings, and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people's lives.

The Book Show | Elizabeth Strout – Tell Me Everything

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout’s latest, “Tell Me Everything,” returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, forge new friendships, make difficult decisions about love, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”

The Book Show | Roddy Doyle – The Women Behind the Door

Roddy Doyle’s latest novel, The Women Behind the Door, is a powerful mother-daughter story. At sixty-six, Paula Spencer has finally started to live her life. That is until her eldest daughter turns up on the doorstep one day. She has left her family and come to stay.

The Book Show – Amor Towles

Amor Towles is the author of New York Times bestsellers “Rules of Civility,” “A Gentleman in Moscow,” and “The Lincoln Highway.” The three novels have collectively sold more than five million copies. His latest is a collection of stories: “Table for Two: Fictions.” He is also editor of this year’s “The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners.”

Book Show | Peter Heller – Burn

Peter Heller is the best-selling author of "Burn," a novel about two men - friends since boyhood - who emerge from the woods of rural Maine to a dystopian country racked by bewildering violence.

The Book Show | Rachel Kushner – Creation Lake

In “Creation Lake” by Rachel Kushner, Sadie Smith, a 34 year old American undercover agent of ruthless tactics is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists.

The Book Show | Helen Phillips – Hum

Helen Phillips is one of the most interesting and original writers working today. In her latest novel, “Hum,” she turns her eye to marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and artificial intelligence.

The Book Show | Jodi Picoult – By Any Other Name

Known for her incredible research bestselling author Jodi Picoult brings to life the incomparable Emilia Bassano, the real-life and “too little considered” English poet believed to have authored many of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Picoult’s new novel is “By Any Other Name.”