Bookreporter Talks To

Kathryn Stockett joined us for October's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event to discuss her #1 New York Times bestseller, THE CALAMITY CLUB, a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection that released in May and still is on the NYT list. Eleven enthusiastic readers appeared on camera to ask Kathryn questions about the novel. We touched on many different aspects of the book in the hour that Kathryn gave us,...

Robert Kolker joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about his new book, THE VANISHING FAMILY, which chronicles a nine-sibling unnamed family affected by an inherited form of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This Bookreporter Bets On selection explores profound questions about identity, caregiving, genetic testing, and whether or not people would choose to know their fate if a hereditary disease runs in the...

Bonnie Garmus joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her new novel, PECK & PECK. Set in 1980s New York City, it centers on a young man named Batter Gray, who has an entry level job at a downtown Manhattan poetry journal, which is very quirky.  Bonnie had a memory of a high school English teacher who read a poem aloud every day and urged students to do the same for life. She admitted that she, like m...

Lisa See joined us for September's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event to discuss her instant New York Times bestseller, DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN AND MOON, which was a Bookreporter Bets On selection when it released in June. Lisa shared how a story that her grandmother told her when she was a child standing in downtown Los Angeles gave her the initial idea for the book. Research is always critical to h...

Amanda Peters joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest novel, THE BIRTHING TREE, which is an instant national bestseller. Like her debut, THE BERRY PICKERS, it is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Amanda shares the personal and professional inspirations behind the book. They include a childhood memory involving her grandmother, who had dementia and told her about a tree near the water where...

Jonathan Santlofer joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about his latest thriller, TEN PERFECT GUESTS, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. He describes the book as a classic whodunit featuring 10 characters brought to an isolated island for a memorial, with an inheritance at stake. Jonathan wanted to use all classic tropes — locked room, large cast, hidden motives — without a detective figure. He...

Hank Phillippi Ryan joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest novel, MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. This multilayered domestic thriller explores family secrets, identity, the meaning of motherhood, and the search for happy endings. The story centers on two sisters, Eliza and Bea Ramsey, the sole survivors of a plane crash that killed their parents...

Shari Lapena joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest thriller, GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER, which is an instant  New York Times  and  USA Today  bestseller, as well as a "number one" library hold and a Goodreads "most wanted to read" title. It also is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. For Carol, Shari's books are always "one-sit reads," meaning that once she starts them, they are propulsive e...

Chris Bohjalian joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about his new novel, THE AMATEUR, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. He wrote in an "alchemic frenzy" over 90 days in the summer of 2024 without telling anyone — not his wife, daughter, editor or agents — until it was finished. It's his most autobiographical book in nature as he mined the days he spent as a "spectacular golf caddie" when he wa...

Nadia Hashimi joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, CITY OF WIDOWS, a Bookreporter Bets On selection set in Afghanistan, a place that she previously wrote about. While the book looks back in time, the arc of it moves towards the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, focusing on Afghan female soldiers, journalists, and the chaos of evacuation. Nadia talks about the shock of the total...

Sophie Chen Keller joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest novel, LITTLE WONDER, which was published by Jenna Bush Hager's imprint, Thousand Voices. It is an Oprah's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Song, a migrant worker, and her 11-year-old piano prodigy son, River, are separated in a massive crowd at a Beijing train station on the busiest travel day of the year. The...

Ben Reeves joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about his debut novel, EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTFUL AND NOTHING HURT, which is an instant  New York Times  bestseller, a #1 Indie Next pick, and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. The book reimagines the Grim Reaper as a compassionate, ordinary man named Travis who spends time with people before they die, exploring themes of life, death, grief and regret. It ult...

Rachel Beanland joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel , THE HALF LIFE, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. This is the third time that Carol has interviewed Rachel. Her previous books, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER and THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, were Bets On picks as well. THE HALF LIFE follows Eileen O'Malley, a 23-year-old woman from Charleston who marries a naval officer named Paul A...

Lisa Scottoline joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, a domestic thriller centered on female friendship, murder and identity. A Bookreporter Bets On selection, it features two best friends — Julia and Courtney — who investigate the murder of Courtney's grandmother in rural Pennsylvania. Lisa describes the book as the "twistiest" she has ever written, with multip...

John Searles joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about his new novel, SINGLE GIRLS, a work of dramatic fiction set in the 1960s. It focuses on Helen Gurley Brown and the team of women she assembled who transformed  Cosmopolitan  into one of the best-selling magazines of all time. A Bookreporter Bets On selection, the book has been compared to "Mad Men" and "Sex and the City." John worked at Cosmopolita...

Jenny  Jackson joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, THE SHAMPOO EFFECT, which was announced as July's "Read with Jenna" Book Club pick on the day of this interview. Set in a seaside Massachusetts town inspired by Ipswich, where  Jenny  grew up, the book explores themes of friendship, romantic entanglement, generational differences, imposter syndrome, and coming of age in one's 30s.  Je...

Beatriz Williams joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her latest novel, WHEN YOU LOVED ME, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Set on fictional Winthrop Island, this multilayered story combines historical fiction, mystery, romance and family drama. The  Winthrop Island  series has allowed Beatriz to build a rich, interconnected world where characters evolve across multiple books. WHEN YOU LOVE...

Bruce Holsinger joined us for June's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event to discuss his national bestseller, CULPABILITY, which was a Bookreporter Bets On selection when it released last July. This suspenseful family drama is about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence. Bruce offered many interesting tidbits about the origin of the book's plot, title and cover art, and he descr...

Lori Foster talks to Carol Fitzgerald about her latest novel, THE LAKE HOUSE, which our reviewer Bronwyn Miller says "would be perfect to toss into your bag as you head to the beach or the lake, or as you're relaxing in your yard when you need a sweet escape from the everyday." Set in Bramble, Kentucky, it's the second installment in her  Firefly Summer  series, following last year's THE GUEST COT...

Lisa See joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN AND MOON, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. This time, Lisa explores the idea of female friendship as told by three different Chinese women — Moon, Dove and Petal — who were inspired by real people. The book is rooted in the 1871 Chinese Massacre in Los Angeles, which has been largely erased from public memory...

Ruta Sepetys talks about her ninth book and first adult novel,  A FORTUNE OF SAND,  with Carol Fitzgerald. Set in 1920s Detroit during the Prohibition era, the story is centered on the wealthy Lennox automotive dynasty behaving badly and accumulating power. The youngest daughter, Marjorie, uncovers a web of family secrets.  The book  is rooted in deep historical research, and explores themes of po...

Wally Lamb joined us for May's "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event to discuss his instant  New York Times  bestseller, THE RIVER IS WAITING, which is now available in paperback. It also is an Oprah's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Wally explained how he came to write this story and how his time working with incarcerated women in the prison system influenced his work. A number...

Kathryn Stockett joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, THE CALAMITY CLUB, her first book since THE HELP (which was published in 2009) and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. The story is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression and follows a group of scrappy, strong-willed women who work together to conquer challenges they face, knowing that there are no men to save them. The novel...

Laura Dave joined us for a "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event to discuss her instant  New York Times bestseller, THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM, a Reese's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Laura shared how she came to write the sequel to THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME and what matters to her when it comes to writing and her writing process. She also talked about the screen adaptations of h...

Susan  Patterson joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her latest novel, THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB, which she wrote with her husband, James Patterson. Set in Lake Como, Italy, the story revolves around four mothers and their five daughters, exploring mother-daughter relationships through a book club. Three of the mothers met at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is  Susan 's alma mater. Th...