Steve Bertrand on Books

Anna Quindlen has been telling us what we’re thinking,  or maybe how we’re thinking, for decades. First as a columnist for Newsweek and the New York Times and now as a novelist. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel, “Miller’s Valley,” with stops along the way about what it means to […]

How many bad ideas have you had today? Wharton School of Business professor Adam Grant says the more the merrier, or original anyway. In his book Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World, Grant looks at what makes a truly original thinker. Bad ideas can be a good sign. Much more in this interview with Steve […]

Chris Pavone is not your run of the mill espionage writer. Think of it this this way: Pavone writes and about real and compelling people who happen to be spies. His latest novel, “The Travelers,” proves that point wonderfully. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the novel, about writing, and about being a […]

Did you know the idea of an average person was unheard of until the 19th century?  Today, we measure ourselves against the average: the average ACT score, the average income, it goes on and on.  Harvard professor Todd Rose, who’s written “The End of Average,” says that’s a big mistake that costs us all.  He […]

Let’s do lunch with the 1960s socialites of New York City. Truman Capote will be there, so will Baby Paley. Novelist Melanie Benjamin writes about the rise and fall of Capote as seen through his relationships with the very rich in “Swans of Fifth Avenue: A Novel.” Melanie is the guest on  this edition of Steve Bertrand […]

Author Eric Weiner is chasing genius, trying to figure out what made Athens or Renaissance Florence tick. For that matter, what does today’s Silicon Valley have in common with Vienna during Mozart’s time or Edinburgh during the Enlightenment? He talks about his book The Geography of Genius in this edition of Steve Bertrand on Books.

Author Rebecca Makkai talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her short story collection Music for Wartime.

Novelist Vanessa Diffenbaugh adopted her son when he was 25-years-old. That’s not surprising at all if you know her. Diffenbaugh writes books but she rescues hearts. She created the Camellia Network after her first novel “The Language of Flowers.” The non-profit helps children who “age-out” of foster care at 18-years-old and are then left on […]

Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins, talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel: Saint Mazie.

Pet coke, crooked politicians and corruption at Wrigley Field: today’s news or a new Sara Paretsky novel? Sara talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about V.I. Warshawky’s latest adventures in Brush Back. She and Steve also discuss her challenges as the president of the Mystery Writers of America.

Ryan Stradal’s debut novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest is getting rave reviews and it’s no wonder.  He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about growing up in Minnesota and writing the book his mom would have loved.

Michel Faber talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about The Book of Strange New Things, a fantastical novel set in another world, but a story grounded very much on earth.

With the release of Harper Lee’s novel Go Set a Watchman, Steve Bertrand on Books gets the lowdown on Harper and Alice Lee with Marja Mills. Her book The Mockingbird Next Door details her time living next door to the Lee sisters in Monroeville, Alabama.

Brad Meltzer talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the pull of parents, the secrets of Devil’s Island, and Ronald Reagan’s gun. It’s all in Meltzer’s latest political thriller, The President’s Shadow.

Michael Alan Peck is the winner of the 2015 Soon to Be Famous Authors Project. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his award winning novel and the wonder of librarians.

Michael Harvey knows Chicago. The former CBS news producer proves that time and again with his hard-boiled Michael Kelly detective novels. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his latest, The Governor’s Wife. Spoiler alert: The governor is a crook.

Mary Morris talks Jazz, Al Capone, and Chicago in the days of Prohibition with Steve Bertrand on Books. It’s all in her novel The Jazz Palace.

Maz Jobrani is an Iranian-born, American comedian who is looks at his life with both comedy and introspection in his memoir I’m Not a Terrorist, But I’ve Played One on TV. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about why he refuses to play a terrorist and why the King of Jordan has his cell […]

Kazuo Ishiguro, who has won the Man Booker Prize and been awarded the O.B.E., has been called one of Britain’s most important living novelists. His latest, The Buried Giant, examines the frailty of collective memory with the story of an elderly post-King Arthur era couple on their way to visit their long lost son. Their […]

New York Times columnist David Brooks says we’ve lost focus on the virtues that matter most: we worry too much about shallow accomplishments and not enough about the more meaningful behavior that truly makes a difference in the world. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his book The Road to Character.

Erik Larson talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. It was 100 years ago this week that a German U-boat sank the ocean liner with a single torpedo.

Cartoonist Jessica Hagy explains Sun Tzu’s Art of War with Venn diagrams. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about taking an ancient text and pulling out current meaning in her book, The Art of War Visualized.

Former Congressman Barney Frank lives up to his name in his new memoir, “Frank.” He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his life in Washington, the Religious Freedom law in Indiana, Aaron Schock, and more.

Author Boris Fishman talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about A Replacement Life.