Tan Twan Eng, in some ways, has the perfect bibliography. He has written three books, all novels. All three have been on the short or long list for the Man Booker Prize. That should tell you how talented he is….and this is the first book he has published in more than a decade. The House of Doors is a lyrical and lovely read about the travels of William Somerset Maugham in Malaysia. Don’t know Maugham’s work? Doesn’t matter. Don’t know much about Malaysia? Doesn’t matter. Tan Twan Eng’s books tra...
Oct 19, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Surely You Can’t be Serious - heard that before? Surely you have, if you have seen the movie Airplane! Made in 1980. The incredibly successful and popular movie was the brainchild of three guys from Milwaukee - then in their twenties - David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. They called themselves ZAZ. And, improbably, they got their movie made against all odds. They admit they didn’t have the slightest idea how to make a movie. Much less direct it. Much less convince Hollywood executives ...
Oct 12, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Amanda Gorman is an American treasure. Her inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb, stunned audiences around the world in 2021, and her tome of poetry, Call Us What We Carry, spoke to the pain and powerlessness that the world felt while locked down by COVID-19. What you might not know (and now we hope you do) is that she is also an accomplished children’s author. Her latest, Something, Someday teaches kids to make the world a better place by starting small while thinking big. Illustrated by the talent...
Oct 05, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kate DiCamillo has probably been honored as much or more than any living American children’s author. If her awards were all displayed on a mantle, she’d probably need dozens of fireplaces. And she’s a delightful conversationalist. Her new book is The Puppets of Spelhorst. Her most widely read book, The Tale of Despereaux, is out with a special 20th anniversary edition. Dicamillo's love with telling stories is in everything she has ever written. Since Kate is from Minneapolis, we feature one of t...
Sep 28, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast We have two horror genre shows left and this week we bring you Stephen Graham Jones. Although not all of his books fall squarely in horror category, My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper are beautiful love letters to horror fans who will take much glee in all the genre conventions within which Stephen plays. The final Indian Lake Trilogy novel comes out this fall, The Angel Of Indian Lake. Kate can’t wait. Stephen brings his Blackfoot Native American culture and aspects of social just...
Sep 21, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever noticed that when it comes to great writers, Ireland seems to have had more than its fair share? Maybe it’s the difficult history, or the never ending pride for their beautiful island, but Ireland seems to be a country rife with storytellers. This week we have an Irish writer who has been nominated for the Booker Prize more than once…Sebastian Barry! His latest, Old God’s Time, is a lyrical and sprawling tale of Ireland and one man’s desperate struggle to make peace with the past. ...
Sep 14, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast We don't want to pigeon hole William Kent Krueger as a mystery writer. He writes terrific mysteries that will keep you guessing, sure, but what will keep you coming back is his talent! His sweeping descriptions of Minnesota landscapes, his unforgettable characters and his roots in cultural anthropology will keep you coming back. His new novel, The River We Remember, is a terrific "who done it" that beautifully weaves in themes of PTSD, the cultures of tribal bands in Minnesota, and the joys and ...
Sep 07, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kate often says that if she were a writer she would have trouble reading James McBride. It's hard not to hear a mic drop when you close the back cover. He is a master of storytelling; his sentences so packed with history, humor, and meaning that at times you forget what he was talking about, but you won't mind a bit. His writing often knocks off our socks, and his new novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, is no exception. For our bookstore this week? We let James choose one of his favorites, ...
Aug 31, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Ridker is but 32 years of age - yet already he has written what promises to be his second very successful novel - Hope. The title is an acronym for a medical study, but it is also a feeling that pervades his depiction of a Jewish suburban family, the Greenspans, living near Boston. Each member of the family stumbles, and struggles to find footing. But much as they may transgress, Ridker projects a belief that family of origin has an inexorable pull on all of his characters and all of us. ...
Aug 24, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast We have three horror shows left. But we are not sure Jennifer McMahon fits within the genre so neatly. If you are dipping your toe into the genre...start with the Children on the Hill, her latest. It's suspenseful, compelling, chilling and the ghoulish gore is at a bare minimum. We talk to her about why she keeps coming back to what scares her. We then talk to horror academic (yes, you heard us) Michael Arnzen, an accomplished writer in his own right. Books mentioned in this week's podcast: Chil...
Aug 17, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast We talked to the renowned bilingual author Esmeralda Santiago a few months about her incredible trilogy of memoirs. So when she sent us her new novel, Las Madres, we couldn’t wait. Turns out she is just as good of a fiction writer as she is a memoirist. This is a searing, funny and fascinating portrait of mothers and daughters, the connection Puerto Ricans feel to their island, whether we are made up of more than our memories….and so much more. It sounds like a lot, but she does it all and she d...
Aug 10, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast PATCHETT PUBLISHES!! That should be big news in the literary world. Ann Patchett has a new book out as of August 1st. Tom Lake is the title - a novel influenced by COVID as three daughters come home to be with their mother during the pandemic. What do they want to talk about? Her past. And she has a past - having had a romance with a man who went on to become a famous actor. How much do you tell your kids? “I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth…those two...
Aug 03, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we take you back in time to a book that is so good it’s ageless. Charlie interviewed author Markus Zusak about his phenomenal novel The Book Thief many, many years ago, and it has been a discovery and an interview that has stayed with him ever since. This week, we interview Markus about the phenomenon of his book and ask him how he came to write such a remarkable modern classic. If you haven’t read The Book Thief, run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore! If you already love it then ...
Jul 27, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Historical fiction is the genre this week, and it centers around a lesser WWII phenomenon. During the Blitz, many British families sent their children abroad to live with families in Canada or the United States to keep them safe until the war was over. Beyond That, the Sea by debut novelist Laura Spence-Ash, beautifully weaves the tale of one of these children. Sent abroad by parents torn apart by their decision, Bea lives with an affluent family with whom she falls in love. She spends the rest ...
Jul 20, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast The History of a Difficult Child is a beautiful and sprawling family story set in Ethiopia during the Socialist Revolution. It is narrated by a young girl born into a family fighting against the system for their Christian beliefs, while being systematically relieved of their wealth and livelihood due to the oppressive incoming regime. It’s riveting, ambitious, and utterly compelling. And you know what else? It’s funny. Really funny! Take a journey with debut novelist Mihret Sibhat into The Histo...
Jul 13, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Second Horror Thursday on The Book Case! Kicking off our month, we speak to the incredible Josh Malerman. How does one write a best selling horror novel while riding shotgun in a band van blasting Jerry Garcia from its speakers? And how did Josh decide to revisit his most famous work after living through the real life horror of Covid? The second of five deep dives into the horror genre, we invite you to take a step out of your comfort zone, explore what scares us, and learn how writers like Josh...
Jul 06, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are times where Shelley Read’s Go as a River reads less like a novel and more of a philosophical teaching. Grounded in Buddhist philosophy, this is a beautiful story of love, nature, family and changing times. A lyrical journey of epoch proportions this book has a doomed love affair, a flooded town, an illegitimate child, a heartbreaking abandonment….and Shelley Read writes it all beautifully. As first time novelist, Read has created a journey that you will enjoy every mile of. For a books...
Jun 29, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you have never heard of Stéphane Breitwieser don’t feel bad, we hadn’t either. Turns out he is one of the most successful art thieves of all time. In his hey day, he could steal more than once a day (museums, cathedrals, chateaus…you name it); billions of dollars worth of art. That’s right, billions. Thank goodness for the writer Michael Finkel who brings us a page turning book that tells the story of the most incredible art thief you’ve never heard of. The book is called, appropriately, The ...
Jun 22, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast We wanted to affectionately title this episode, Kate and Charlie are really smart and have great taste, but ABC thought that would be a little obnoxious. Maybe it is, but we are and we do. To prove it, this week we have recut Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz into one episode. Their novels Demon Copperhead and Trust (respectively) are sharing the Pulitzer this year, and deservedly so. We knew these two novels were something special, and so are their authors. We are very happy that these two tal...
Jun 15, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dave Eggers is a writer who does not want to be put in a box. His writing often defies easy cataloging or genre classification and he doesn’t like to be specific about who his readers should be. His latest, THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE could be loosely described as an animal fable, but it isn’t exactly that. And it could be described as a book that is good for younger readers, but it isn’t exactly that either. Here is what we ARE certain of: It’s wonderful, funny, engaging, original and full of j...
Jun 08, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kate is dragging her father by the collar to the horror section of the bookstore and the first Thursday of every month for awhile is going to be Horror Thursday on The Book Case. And do we have a treat for our first episode: Christopher Golden! One of the great Godfathers of Horror Lit, Chris has done it all: short stories, screenplays, graphic novels, novels, fan fic...he is a renaissance talent in horror literature. We talk to him about horror, why it works, how it works and why we love it. Tr...
Jun 01, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our principal guest this week is James Comey. Yes, that James Comey. Ex-FBI Director James Comey. Some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters think he may have cost her the election in 2016. Comey says that Donald Trump, once president, invited him to dinner and asked for a pledge of loyalty. Comey refused. Trump eventually fired him but his administration denied the president ever made the ask. That, in short, is part of the story of Jim Comey who, after being a U-S Attorney and then head of the FBI, ...
May 25, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Important and Vulnerable Profession by Alexandra Robbins takes us inside the classroom to show us the daily lives of teachers as they fight against incredible odds to educate our young. An eye-opening, and at times shocking look at the American Education system and its inadequacies. Robbins asks the reader to forget all of their preconceived notions of teaching. The joys you think teachers know? They are bigger than you imagined. The difficulty and pain...
May 18, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Henry Grabar is a writer for Slate, the online magazine, and he has written “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.” Now you probably are thinking, “I’ve never read a book about parking. A whole book? Come on.” Well, we thought the same thing but we were intrigued. So we read it and were engrossed. It is fascinating! It is funny! And it tells you so much about a subject on which we all have such strong opinions and about which we all suffer such frustrations. Just some facts he relates ...
May 11, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dave Barry's sense of humor should be on display at the Smithsonian; it is truly one America's great treasures. His latest novel, Swamp Story, is set in the back woods of the Florida Everglades. That's all we are going to tell you, because the plot is so wonderfully wild, you wouldn't believe us anyway. Join us while Dave makes us laugh, and then stick around for our conversation with Mitchell Kaplan at Books & Books. As a Florida bookseller, he has important things to say about why bookstores a...
May 04, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brendan Slocumb is a renaissance man who writes his novels with a mission in mind. A violin virtuoso, music teacher, clarinetist AND oboist, he is also a best selling author who writes brilliantly about the world of music. His books could be classed as mysteries but they also bring into stark, painful relief the still largely white and privileged world of classical music. He reminds his readers that there is talent everywhere and anywhere, and he reminds us to look and listen closely to what we ...
Apr 27, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you aren't seeing the world through the eyes of J. Ryan Stradal's fiction, you are missing out on something truly special. He writes largely about the Midwest, specifically the state of Minnesota as well as food and drink. That may sound limiting, but his talent is without limit and he fills his pages with themes of family and shared humanity. His newest is Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. It is the most personal journey he has ever taken. Take the ride with him, you won't be sorry...
Apr 20, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Charles Frazier comes across as a writer in love with America. Beyond the rolling plains and purple mountains majesty, he loves the stories of average Americans in extraordinary times and it comes across in everything he writes. His latest novel, The Trackers, is the most modern novel he has ever written and it takes place 100 years ago. His writing captures the optimism of the American ideal, and his descriptive powers continue to astound. We talk to him about his latest, and what it was about ...
Apr 13, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Has the United States ever had a female president? An easy question to answer. Has it ever had an ‘acting’ female President? Harder to answer. Check out Rebecca Boggs Roberts' very readable biography of Edith Wilson, Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, and make up your own mind. The book is Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson. Following her husband’s stroke in 1919, Edith Wilson decided, for reasons she thought critical to her husband’s well-being, to hide ...
Apr 06, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we turn to non-fiction and events in a decade of U.S. history that is unknown to most Americans. The 1920’s were known for remarkable social change. In the wake of World War I, there was cultural exuberance, the first real skyscrapers, jazz age, flappers, the Charleston, and also prohibition. There was also a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, and surprising to many, it came in the north. As award-winning journalist Timothy Egan writes in his remarkable new book to be released April 4th ...
Mar 30, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
