There is no greater classic in Kate’s mind than The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. So when our audiences liked our holiday revisit of the Christmas Carol, we knew Gatsby had to be next. Join us as we sit down with two of the country’s greatest Gatsby and Fitzgerald scholars. Find out why the book is still so studied, so beloved, and still so relevant to our lives. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 B...
Mar 06, 2025•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Geraldine Brooks' latest, Memorial Days, is a deeply personal memoir about the sudden loss of her husband Tony Horowitz. In this beautiful and deeply felt book, Geraldine remembers her husband and honors his legacy and their love. She walks us through the days after his death while simultaneously also taking us through her mourning process. Find out why Memorial Days was important to her survival, and how writing the book helped her and her family deal with the impossible task of grieving. Find ...
Feb 27, 2025•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Politics are heavily loaded in today’s America; we seem to be so angry at one another. Jeffrey Toobin’s newest, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, is a fascinating and oblique way of examining politics, studying the history and use of the Presidential pardon. Both Democrats and Republicans have made huge partisan mistakes with pardons, contributing to the cynical way that pardons are viewed today. Want to know some of the mistakes that led us to such an angry election? Tune in and h...
Feb 20, 2025•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeff Hobbs is a best-selling author, but the way he listens to his subjects and retells their stories brings a deeply human perspective to really difficult topics. His newest, Seeking Shelter, is the story of homelessness told through the eyes of Evelyn, a devoted and fierce mother of six, determined to keep her kids out of the welfare system. Jeff spent hundreds of hours talking to Evelyn and her kids about surviving the streets as a family (though not unscathed). Jeff is a compelling storytell...
Feb 13, 2025•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer sees love’s complexities, beauties; its selfishness, difficulties, and maddening passions. Jessica Soffer tells us the story of a 50 year marriage between Abe and Jane as Jane lies dying in a hospital bed. The backdrop of their romance is Central Park, and despite the constant presence of love in the story, it is not overly sentimental or maudlin. Tune in and find out how a writer spent years writing a marriage that lasted decades. Books mentioned in this w...
Feb 06, 2025•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Adam Haslett’s new novel, Mothers & Sons is a brilliant book examining the relationships between mothers and sons from all sorts of angles. The story of Peter and his mother Ann, who have so much in common and yet are estranged. Compelling, original and moving, this a novel that stays with you. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Mothers & Sons by Adam Haslett Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett You are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett My Name is Lucy Barton by ...
Jan 30, 2025•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best work of sustained fiction in the English language. In other words, it doesn’t get any more prestigious than the Booker. And we are honored this week to have Samantha Harvey who wrote the 2024 Booker winner entitled “Orbital”. When you read her beautiful prose, you’ll know why she won. And when you listen to her tell us how and why she wrote “Orbital”, you’ll be as impressed with Samantha Harvey as we are. Books mentioned in this week's episode: “...
Jan 23, 2025•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast If like your drama in a courtroom, Scott Turow is the writer for you. His newest, Presumed Guilty, is the conclusion to the story of Rusty Sabitch, his best known protagonist. It’s a wonderfully written page turner that we bet you won’t be able to put down. If your heart pounds to the sound of a gavel and a bailiff saying ALL RISE, tune in and listen to find out why Scott thinks law is still the noblest pursuit of them all. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow P...
Jan 16, 2025•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our first book show of the year is a first-time novelist, Karissa Chen. Her new book Homecoming is a novel a portrait in longing, an epoch love story between two characters torn apart by political unrest at the time of the Communist Revolution in China. It’s ambitious, it’s beautiful and it’s one of the best historical portrayals of China’s complex histories we have ever read. Join us! Books mentioned in this week's episode: Homecoming by Karissa Chen Written on the Water by Eileen Chang Do Not ...
Jan 09, 2025•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we take a look back at last year’s Book Case episodes focussing on the methodology of writing. We love talking to authors about their technique, their inspirations, and we love exploring how they do what they do. So this week we sew together some of our favorite ideas and methods coming from our authors, on how to write a book. We hope that we have some aspiring authors listening, and that there is inspiration to be taken from each of these ideas. Books mentioned in this week's episode...
Jan 02, 2025•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast We decided to break format this week, and we might do it again at that (it was wonderful). To ring in the holiday week, we had to spend a little time talking about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. And we must admit we had never read it until now. We sit down with Dean Natalie McKnight at Boston University, and Professor Joel Brattin at Worcester Polytechnic. Both top Dickensian scholars in their field, we ask them why this book still universally resonates….hundreds of years later. Books men...
Dec 26, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast We know we want to talk to an author if we argue long and lustily about a book’s themes. And Like Mother, Like Mother, the newest by Susan Rieger, has so many themes: how we cannot escape our mothers, the concept of whether women can “have it all”, the debate on nature vs. nurture…and so much more. These are characters that will stay with you long after you have finished, and is a great selection for book clubs out there. Take a break from holiday prep and join us for our conversation with Susan...
Dec 19, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Delia Ephron is a courageous woman. Not only did she lose her husband Jerry, she then faced death in the form of leukemia and a very risky bone marrow transplant all while falling in love with her husband Peter. As if all of this weren’t enough, she wrote an amazing memoir about it, Left on Tenth, and THEN she turned it into a major play on Broadway where hundreds of people could react to her story, live. How did she do it and why? We find out on this week’s Book Case. We also talk to the bookst...
Dec 12, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this, the second part of our interview with Louise Penny we talk to her about the art of writing, how she stays fresh and what her year looks like as she writes and completes a Gamache mystery. We widen our lens on the art of writing with Louise Penny. Stay with us, you won't want to miss it. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny Still Life by Louise Penny A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny The...
Dec 05, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast We read fan comments, and several of you wrote us about Louise Penny. Charlie has always been a fan (he would want me to say that) but Kate was shamefully new to her work. But she is now a HUGE fan and has read them all and could not put down The Grey Wolf, Penny’s newest and her 19th Inspector Gamache in the series. Join us for part 1 of a 2 part Book Case podcast with Louise Penny. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny Still Life by Louise Penny A Fatal Grace by...
Nov 28, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Niall Williams releases a book, we positively cheer. His writing feels like coming home to us. A home full of warm fires, good stories, kind neighbors, strong community and unspoken love. All of them and more illuminate his latest: The Time of the Child. We could not recommend this book more. Buy it. And then buy it for everyone on your holiday list who loves to read. And then sit by your holiday fire with all of those folks who read it and listen to this episode of the Book Case. You will ...
Nov 21, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast We don’t do it often, but we are giving two episodes to one conversation: the Great Ann Patchett talking about the Annotated Bel Canto. After we wrap our conversation with her we talk to her bookstore, Parnassus and its manager, Cat Bock. Tune in and find out why we love Ann Patchett so much. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett The Dutch House by Ann Patchett These Precious Days by Ann Patchett The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett State o...
Nov 14, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ann Patchett burst on the scene with Bel Canto twenty three years ago. Bel Canto was not her first novel, but many still consider it to be her best (although she disagrees). This week she releases an Annotated Edition of Bel Canto and in it she rereads and notes her triumphs and mistakes on every page. Seriously. A great novel, a great writer making insightful comments on her own writing (in her own handwriting)…if you love reading, writing or Ann Patchett, this is a HUGE treat. In this episode,...
Nov 07, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Danzy Senna has written a seriously funny and thought provoking book in Colored Television. It will make you laugh, but also make space for anger, pain and frustration as she skewers race, Hollywood, authentic voice, the publishing industry, the Kardashians, navel gazing, philosophy….you name it, there is satire in this book for everyone. Great writing and a great conversation with the author. We are also joined for our fourth writer in residence conversation with J. Ryan Stradal. He tells us wh...
Oct 31, 2024•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Reginald Dwayne Betts is on a mission is to put a curated library in the cell block of every prison in America. A survivor of the system himself, he has obtained a college degree, a law degree from Yale, and a MacArthur Genius grant. Looking to bring hope to America’s most hopeless places, Bates has founded Freedom Reads, an organization that brings free curated library collections to every prison system that agrees to it. His partner in the endeavor, Debbie Leff, also talks to us about what ins...
Oct 24, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Paula Hawkins is a master of the mystery, and her new one, The Blue Hour, has one of the best opens and closes to a mystery we have ever read. An author who knows mood and atmosphere, this book will keep you turning the pages long after you told yourself to go to bed. Our bookstore this week is a revisit with one of our favorites, Beacon Hill Books. Join us! Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins Into the Water by Paula Hawki...
Oct 17, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Richard Osman has one of the most successful literary mystery series of all time: The Thursday Murder Club (just finished filming as a major motion picture too). So why start a new series and why do we love it so much? First, we will read anything this man writes, including his address book, but second, because it’s good, AND funny. We ask Richard what inspired him, why he was crazy enough to start a new series and how. Our bookstore this week is Collected Works in Santa Fe. Join us! Books menti...
Oct 10, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week's book case: Emmitt Till’s murder has been a seminal moment in American history ever since it occurred in 1955. Wright Thompson’s new book “The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi” looks at the horror through a whole new prism. Thompson loves his native land of Mississippi but is haunted by the barn where Emmitt Till was murdered. Why is it that we still know so little about one of the ugliest chapters in the history of American race relations? Tune in and find out. Boo...
Oct 03, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast The United Kingdom has given us some amazing children’s authors: C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Beatrix Potter...and may we add Katherine Rundell. Her newest, Impossible Creatures, is a sensation in Britain, and was declared an instant classic even before its U.S. release. It delivers all the magic promised in the fantastical title. Tune in to our conversation with this fascinating Renaissance literature and Dunne scholar as we talk to her about what’s so addicting about writing for midd...
Sep 19, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you aren’t an Elizabeth Strout fan yet, Tell me Everything, her newest novel, is going to wow you. If you are already devoted fans, like we are, then you are in for a real treat. In Tell Me Everything, she brings together two beloved characters: Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge. The results are truly magical. Our bookstore this week is Snowbound Books in Marquette, Michigan. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout Oli...
Sep 12, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a special episode dedicated the art of spoken word poetry. One of our listeners wrote to us mentioning the name of Rudy Francisco and from there we fell down the rabbit hole of spoken word and slam poetry. We talk to Rudy and two other greats of the art, Bianca Phipps and Neil Hilborn. They are going to perform one work each and we will round it out with a conversation with Sam Van Cook. Sam is a founder of Button Poetry that represents and publishes so many of these great artists. Trust...
Sep 05, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Fei-Fei Li is one of the most important scientists of our time. Her book, The Worlds I See, chronicles her pioneering efforts in Artificial Intelligence. Does AI scare you? Us too. But read this book and listen to this episode. The book is not just the compelling story of Dr. Li herself, who immigrated as a girl speaking no English but who understands physics like Michael Jordan plays basketball. She is now a worldwide authority on AI and its development. Second, if you are scared of AI, thi...
Aug 29, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever heard the rumor that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays? So had we, but By Any Other Name, the new novel by Jodi Picoult, may make the best case for it we have ever read. This novel puts forth a theory that Emilia Bassano wrote at least some of them, and she is an unforgettable character. This book succeeds on so many levels — a polemic, a great piece of feminist AND historical fiction, AND it’s a page turner. This is the book Jodi says she was born to write…and we think it’s h...
Aug 22, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Love it or hate it, the genre of “reality tv” has now shaped American history. That means no matter how you feel about it, you cannot ignore it. Enter Cue the Sun!, the most comprehensive, thoughtful and well written book about the history and development of the genre we have come across. We talk to the book’s author, Emily Nussbaum about how the genre has come to take up so much space in American pop culture and what that means for our country as a whole. We also talk to Ferguson Books' owner D...
Aug 15, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we talk about a book that seems tailor-made to our show, given our conversations with independent booksellers. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore is a book that, if you are a book lovers like we are, will give you the same warm, smiling feeling you get when you walk into your favorite bookstore. And we talk to Toby Cox, the owner of Three Lives & Company, one of Evan’s favorites. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Eva...
Aug 08, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
