Book of the Month Live

Author Tia Williams met us at the Kate Spade in Rockefeller Center for a special summer episode all about The Missed Connection . Set against a backdrop of beautiful bags, we unpacked the anatomy of a meet-cute, some rules of romance, and the real-life gossip behind her latest love story. When a first-class meet-cute ends without so much as a phone number, Sasha is convinced she's lost her soulmat...

Author Melissa Albert stopped by our headquarters to discuss The Children , her new literary thriller. The conversation was pure magic—with detours through family mythology, fairytales, and the mysteries of memory.   Guinevere and her brother grew up as the inspiration for their mother's beloved children's books. But when her brother launches a provocative art exhibit about their family, Guinevere...

Author Sarah Damoff dropped by our headquarters to discuss her latest family drama, The Burning Side . What followed was a conversation about forgiveness, family lore, and the changing shapes love takes across a lifetime.  A house fire sends April and Leo, already on the brink of divorce, back to her childhood home. Surrounded by family and her dad's recent Alzheimer's diagnosis, the couple must c...

Author Emma Brodie joined us in our headquarters to discuss her new genre-bending book Into the Blue . The conversation covers creativity, yearning, and making the everyday epic, with a few unexpected alien detours along the way. When video store clerk AJ Graves meets rising actor Noah Drew in 2000, they form an instant bond—until he disappears without a word. Years later, they're reunited on a sc...

Author Rachel Wood stopped by our headquarters to discuss her new workplace romance, Annie Knows Everything . What followed went well beyond water cooler chat: a lively conversation about office politics, corporate jargon, and a headstrong heroine HR would not approve of. After getting fired, Annie bluffs her way into a job she's widely unqualified for, working under an infuriatingly attractive bo...

Author Laura Brooke Robson stopped by our headquarters to discuss her new book, Love is an Algorithm . We got into AI, of course, but also the value of human relationships, not-exactly-happy endings, and what it means to stay creative through it all.   Opposites attract when an emotional musician meets a logical tech developer. But as his AI-powered dating app takes off, meddling chatbots and quan...

Lolly winner Charlotte McConaghy joined us to discuss the Book of the Year, Wild Dark Shore . There was a celebratory toast (obviously), plus talk of her real life voyage to a seed vault, environmental urgency, and the teenage moment that made her a writer. In the 2025 Book of the Year, the Salt family tends the world's most precious seeds on a remote island. When a mysterious woman appears during...

Leodora Darlington stopped by our office to chat about her debut novel The Exes , and immediately started spilling secrets. We got into her original (much deadlier) working title, daddy issues, and dating red flags. It's a conversation about rage, relationships, and the monsters we inherit.  Natalie is searching for "the one," but her dating history comes with a body count and lapse of memory. As...

Author Grant Ginder joined us at our headquarters to talk parties, the passage of time, and his novel So Old, So Young . Much like the book itself, our conversation spanned decades, touching on evolving friendships, wedding PTSD, and the realities of millennial middle age.  Over the course of two decades and five parties, a group of college friends navigates the messy realities of adulthood–new ci...

Author Melissa de la Cruz joined us at our headquarters to discuss her new romantasy, Rings of Fate . With nearly 90 books under her belt, she imparted wisdom on crafting flawed heroes, pitching a "sexy Lord of the Rings" to your publisher, and why brooding isn't always better.  Cynical barmaid Aren Bellamore never saw herself as anyone's princess, least of all a cursed prince's prince's fiancée....

We caught up with author Madeline Cash at the launch party for her debut novel, Lost Lambs . Surrounded by friends, fans, and her boyfriend's entire extended family, we discussed manifesting a book deal, a failed lamb photoshoot, and the family dysfunction that drives her debut.  The Flynn family is unraveling–romantically, emotionally, and possibly morally–in a small seaside town. But when an ope...

Author Marisa Kashino sat down in our headquarters to discuss her debut novel Best Offer Wins . She talks about her pivot from real estate reporting to housing horror, her increasingly unhinged protagonist, and whether a flash mob-filled street is a homebuying dealbreaker.  After 11 unsuccessful bids, a desperate homebuyer in a cutthroat market will stop at nothing to snag her dream home. As ambit...

Author Stacia Stark came by our headquarters to talk about her new Romantasy, We Who Will Die . Naturally, the conversation turned to her Roman Empire, one filled with vampires, gladiators, fighting to the death, and second chance love.  Enter the perilous Thorn district, where vampires and gladiators collide and Arvelle is caught between them. After vowing to assassinate an ancient vampire empero...

In this special episode recorded at the Aspen Literary Festival presented by Book of the Month, debut authors Kristin Koval, Anika Jade Levy, and Eliana Ramage give candid thoughts on first novels, family themes, and the pure magic of getting published. From origin stories to audience questions, they discuss what it takes to go from blank page to Book of the Month pick. About Penitence : When murd...

Author Thea Weiss came by our headquarters to chat about her debut novel, The Second Chance Cinema , and things got nostalgic fast. She shares thoughts on lasting love, the memories that make us, and, of course, the movies.  A couple on the brink of marriage stumbles upon a hidden theatre that screens their real life memories, forcing them to confront forgotten moments, buried truths, and old vers...

Author Stephanie Garber visited our headquarters to discuss her first adult book, Alchemy of Secrets . During our conversation, we learned what it was like for Stephanie to start writing for a new audience, along with a few other important things about her–she's obsessed with urban legends, she makes excellent kettle corn, and she wouldn't be surprised if magic turned out to be real.  When Holland...

Author, reality TV star, and founding member of Momtok, Mayci Neeley visited our headquarters in New York to discuss her new memoir, Told You So . From the grief of losing the father of her child to the undeniable joys of motherhood, she opened up about all the ways her life experiences have prepared her for the ups and downs of fame. Reality TV star Mayci Neeley shares an inspiring and honest exa...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author Elizabeth Gilbert didn't hold back in her visit to our headquarters, where she unpacked the wrenching life experiences that shaped her new memoir, All the Way to the River . From falling for her dear friend, to recognizing addiction in all its forms, to finally understanding that we're all students in one big Earth School. Some...

Author Sharon Kurtzman visited our headquarters to discuss her new historical novel, The Lost Baker of Vienna . She shared the true family history that inspired the story, why it took her 25 long years to complete it, and how food and family are always intertwined. A young woman in post-war Vienna finds herself caught between two futures, and two suitors, as she struggles to keep her family afloat...

Author Sarah MacLean stopped by our headquarters to discuss her new book, These Summer Storms . She broke down the book's themes of wealth, power, and nobility—and spilled about writing the first chapter of her first novel on a dare. When Alice Storm's wealthy father passes away, the whole family has to pay their final respects by playing a week-long twisted game on a private island—or risk losing...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author Wally Lamb visited our headquarters to discuss his new novel, The River Is Waiting . He talked about what motivates his writing (fear), the most common reported side effect of reading his books (crying), and what it takes to really forgive (listen to find out). When a new father causes an unimaginable tragedy, he is confronted...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author Janelle Brown visited our headquarters to discuss her new work of fiction, What Kind of Paradise . She also opened up about her love-hate relationship with technology, including her former career as a tech writer, and why she thinks pastoral living sounds pretty good right about now. A teenage girl who's grown up off-the-grid g...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author and fashion designer Prabal Gurung stepped out of the Met Gala and into our headquarters to discuss his new memoir, Walk Like a Girl . He also spilled about what really goes on behind the scenes on fashion's biggest night, and revealed his most iconic role model—his powerhouse mother. From Nepal to New York, fashion icon Prabal...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author Chioma Okereke stopped by our headquarters to talk about the inspiration for—and meaning of—her new book, Water Baby . From the cooking show that sparked her initial curiosity, to the eventual organization she founded to support women and girls in Makoko, she spared no detail about how she brought her book to life. Nineteen-yea...

The best way to listen to Book of the Month LIVE is in our app. Author Kaylie Smith visited our headquarters to discuss her new book, Enchantra . She revealed the challenges of writing her latest novel, how she finds satisfaction in her work, and her unexpected love for pigeons—among other things. The sequel to Phantasma has arrived. After her mother dies, Genevieve Grimm receives an irresistible...