A Bookish Home

This week, Denene Millner takes us “behind the book” with One Blood, a powerful new novel which follows three women from The Great Migration, to the civil unrest of the 1960s, to  the quest for women’s equality in the early 2000s. This is one of the most compelling, beautifully written books I’ve read in years … Continue reading Ep. 168: Denene Millner on the Story Behind H...

This week, Boston author Virginia Pye discusses The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann, a historical novel which she calls a love letter to books and authors and to the literary city she adores. It came to be as she imagined being a young woman writing books in Boston’s male-dominated publishing industry of the 19th century. “The … Continue reading Ep. 167: Virginia Pye on on the Literary Wo...

Today my guest is Vibhuti Jain, author of Our Best Intentions, a gripping debut about an immigrant family that gets caught in the middle of a criminal investigation, perfect for readers of Everything I Never Told You. “Our Best Intentions, the lyrical debut by Vibhuti Jain, is equal parts suspense and the best kind of … Continue reading Ep. 166: Vibhuti Jain on the Path to Debut and th...

This week my guest is Logan Steiner, author of the debut novel, After Anne, a stunning and unexpected portrait of Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of one of literature’s most prized heroines, whose personal demons were at odds with her most enduring legacy—Anne of Green Gables. An exquisite tribute to Lucy Maud Montgomery, the revered author … Continue reading Ep. 165: Logan Steiner on Bringing...

This week, Katherine Marsh is here to discuss The Lost Year an incredibly timely, page-turning middle grade novel that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s. “Katherine Marsh has beautifully woven a gripping tale covering both the Stalin-orchestrated Ukraine famine in 1932 and … Continue reading Ep. 164: Katherin...

This week my guest is Elizabeth Shick, author of the debut novel, The Golden Land. Inspired by the six years she lived in Myanmar, and set there and in Boston, it’s a novel that digs deep into the complexities of family history and relationships. “Elizabeth Shick’s steady, elegant prose transported me to a place I … Continue reading Ep. 163: Elizabeth Shick on the Expat Experienc...

Today Madeline Martin is here to discuss The Keeper of Hidden Books, which is based on the real life heroic efforts of Warsaw’s librarians during WWII. “The Keeper of Hidden Books is a powerful and poignant tour de force chronicling the efforts of Warsaw’s librarians and book-lovers to keep Poland’s culture alive during the dark days … Continue reading Ep. 162: Madeli...

Today, Namrata Patel is back on the podcast to discuss her new novel, Scent of a Garden, an exhilarating novel about a perfumer in Paris who is forced to return to her California roots where she winds up on a journey of self-discovery, reconnecting with family and finally taking some risks.     “Full of … Continue reading Ep. 161: Namrata Patel Takes Us from Paris to Napa in Scent of a Garde...

This week, Jane Roper is here to discuss The Society of Shame, a timely and witty combination of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? that’s both a satire of social media stardom and internet activism, and a tender mother-daughter tale.     “If you liked Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, read The Society … Continue reading Ep. 160: Jane Roper on Writing a...

This week Megan Tady is here to discuss Superbloom, which just released from Zibby Books. It’s a sparkling, heartwarming debut about a massage therapist at a Vermont spa who gets a demanding assignment from an eccentric author that might just change her life.     “Super Bloom is a true delight–hilarious, poignant, and as much of … Continue reading Ep. 159: Megan Tady Takes Us to...

Fiona Davis is back on the podcast this week to discuss her thrilling new novel The Spectacular, which transports us back to 1950s Manhattan and glamorous Radio City Music Hall with a talented young Rockette and a mysterious bomber terrorizing New York City.   “Fiona Davis just gets better and better! Nineteen-year-old dance teacher Marion, … Continue reading Ep. 158: Fiona Davis on Ca...

Michelle Hoffman is here this week to discuss her new novel, The Second Ending.  A former prodigy who refuses to believe her best years are behind her and a young virtuoso searching for his passion both get an unlikely shot at their dreams in this sparkling debut about second chances, unexpected joys, and the miraculous … Continue reading Ep. 157: Michelle Hoffman on The Second Ending and Pu...

This week, Julie Carrick Dalton is here to discuss The Last Beekeeper, which takes place in a not so far away future in which all of our pollinators are now extinct.   “Dalton’s passion and love for the natural world vibrates gloriously off every page. The Last Beekeeper is not only an intriguing mystery but an important … Continue reading Ep. 156: Julie Carrick Dalton on Explori...

This week, Liz Alterman is here to discuss her riveting new novel, The Perfect Neighborhood, a thought-provoking read about the dark side of suburbia that will keep you up late turning the pages.   “In theory, The Perfect Neighborhood is the ideal place to raise a family. In reality, it’s disturbing and completely riveting. Inside every house … Continue reading Ep. 155: Liz Alterman on the D...

This week, Laura Spence-Ash is here to discuss Beyond That The Sea,  which tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own.     “A young’s woman’s family loyalties are divided as she … Continue reading Ep. 154: Laura Spence-Ash on Beyond That The Sea&#8...

It’s such a treat to have Susan Tan back on the podcast today to discuss Ghosts, Toasts, and Other Hazards: a middle-grade novel about a girl who must overcome her worries to find the truth behind her town’s urban legend.     “This book honors the bravery that every kid holds inside them. As always, … Continue reading Ep. 153: Susan Tan on Ghosts, Toasts, & Other Hazards and Giving...

 Today Meg Mitchell Moore is here to chat about her new book, Summer Stage, a spirited summer page-turner following a family of actors grappling with fame, scandal, and ambition–perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand. Your beach bag will not be complete this summer without a copy!     “Moore’s latest deliciously captures the energy of … Continue reading Ep. 152: Meg Mitchell...

Today  Leigh McMullan Abramson is here to discuss her debut novel, A Likely Story, which is perfect for anyone still missing the reading experience of Writers and Lovers. A Likely Story has received rave reviews and has been called “a literary page turner” and a “dishy, sophisticated story” and is certainly a standout debut.   … Continue reading Ep. 151: Leigh McMullan Abramson on A Likely S...

Today my guest is Jennifer De Leon, author of the new young adult novel Borderless. Caught in the cross hairs of gang violence, in Borderless a teen girl and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US border.     “Grabbing and nicely-woven, this tale places a girl’s inspiring … Continue reading Ep. 150: Jennifer De Leon on the Power of Story to Build Empathy and C...

What a joy to have Patti Callahan Henry back on the podcast this week to discuss her new historical novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, which is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey and involves a missing sister, a mysterious fairy tale, and a lost love. “Two sisters, dual time periods, a … Continue reading Ep. 149: Patti Callahan Henry on The Secret Book of Flora Lea and the Ma...

Today Katherine Sherbrooke is here to discuss her new novel, The Hidden Life of Aster Kelly. Hollywood and Broadway take center stage in this evocative and immersive story of a 1940’s runway model who makes a decision to protect those she loves, and her daughter who confronts the repercussions of her mother’s secrets decades later.     … Continue reading Ep. 148: Katherine Sherbrooke on the...

Today my guest is Deepa Varadarajan, author of Late Bloomers, a witty, big-hearted debut in which an Indian American family is turned upside down when the parents split up thirty-six years into their arranged marriage​.     “Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, Late Bloomers is a charming story about starting over, stumbling, and finding yourself … Continue reading Ep. 147: Deepa Varadarajan...

It’s an honor to have Amina Luqman-Dawson on this week, the 2023 Newbery Medal and Corretta Scott King award winner for  Freewater, a lyrical, accessible historical middle-grade novel about two enslaved children’s escape from a plantation and the many ways they find freedom.     In Freewater, Amina Luqman Dawson shines a bright light on … Continue reading Ep. 146: 2023 Newbery Medal Wi...

Julia Kelly is back on the podcast to discuss The Lost English Girl, an epic saga of love, motherhood, and betrayal during World War II that tells the story of the evacuation of English children to the countryside.     “Readers will fall in love with unassuming Viv in particular; when faced with heartbreaking events, … Continue reading Ep. 145: Julia Kelly on Telling the Heart Wrenchin...

Today Suzanne Park is back on the podcast to discuss The Do Over,  a delightfully warm, hopeful story about a Korean-American woman having to return to college after discovering she’s a few credits shy of completing her degree—only to find one of her TAs is her old college boyfriend.     “A fantastic, empowering second … Continue reading Ep. 144: Suzanne Park on The Do Over and Second...