Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

Adriana Trigiani joins us to discuss her latest novel,  The View From Lake Como  (Dutton, July 8)—an instant  New York Times  bestseller. Kirkus: ““A good Italian American daughter’s 30-something rebellion forces her entire family to reckon with their choices, resulting in a happily-ever-after for all that’s like the best affogato: rich, bitter, sweet.” Then&nbsp...

Bruce Holsinger joins us to discuss  Culpability  (Spiegel & Grau, July 8), an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Kirkus: “Medieval historian-turned-novelist Holsinger seems to have created his own subgenre of psychosocial thriller, spinning super-smart, propulsive page-turners out of zeitgeisty worries like ultracompetitive school admissions ( The Gifted School , 2019), disaster relief (...

On a special episode celebrating graphic literature, author-illustrator Chanté Timothy joins us to discuss her middle-grade debut,  Supa Nova  (Nosy Crow, June 3). Kirkus: “Ecological concerns prompt a young Black inventor to create a plastic-eating creature….Just the ticket for unstoppable young mixers and makers with big dreams.” Then our editors recommend their top...

On our Best July Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then essayist and critic Maris Kreizman joins us to discuss  I Want To Burn This Place Down  (Ecco, July 1). Kirkus calls Kreizman’s latest “an intelligent and entertaining read” featuring “unexpectedly charming personal essays about disillusionment, diabetes, and...

Grace Flahive joins us to discuss her debut novel,  Palm Meridian  (Avid Reader Press, June 24). Kirkus: “The funnest book about death and post-apocalyptic living to date.” Then our editors recommend their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Caro De Robertis joins us to discuss  So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color  (Algonquin, May 13). Kirkus: “A colorful tapestry of potent, radiant, and relevant testimonials from queer people of color” (starred review). Then our editors recommend their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pr...

On a special episode celebrating Sci-Fi and Fantasy, #1  New York Times- bestselling author V.E. Schwab joins us to discuss  Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil  (Tor, June 10). Kirkus: “Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue…. A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernat...

On our Best June Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then  New York Times- bestselling author Ibi Zoboi joins us to discuss  First Day Around the World,  illustrated by Juanita Londoño (Versify, June 3). Kirkus calls Zoboi’s latest picture book “both monumental in scope and tightly focused, with an emotionally reson...

Sarah Miller joins us to discuss  Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured Eleanor Roosevelt’s Heart  (Random House Studio, May 27), which Kirkus calls “a substantial biography of a noteworthy figure.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.co...

Debut novelist Naomi Xu Elegant joins us to discuss  Ginko Season  (Norton, May 20), a “beautifully wrought” story about a young woman trying to find her footing—socially, politically, romantically—in modern-day Philadelphia. Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https...

Atlantic  staffer David A. Graham joins us to discuss The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House, April 22). “A close look at the ultra-rightist Project 2025, now playing in a capital near you,” Kirkus writes in a review that calls Graham’s work “essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the Trumpian maelstrom.” Then our editors share their top...

On our Best May Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then novelist Brendan Slocumb joins us to discuss The Dark Maestro (Bloomsbury, May 13), a musical thriller in which a cello prodigy must battle a cadre of criminals to reclaim his promising future. Kirkus: “This novel should catapult Slocumb into the upper echelon of thrill...

Award-winning actor and avid birder Lili Taylor joins us to discuss Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing (Crown, April 29). Kirkus calls her affecting debut essay collection “a delightful celebration of the joys of birding—and how it leads one to look at the world in a new light.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://ar...

Celebrated memoirist and novelist Kiese Laymon joins us to discuss  City Summer, Country Summer (Kokila, April 1). Kirkus calls Laymon’s picture-book debut, illustrated by Alexis Franklin, “a heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art...

New York Times-bestselling humorist John Kenney joins us to discuss his latest novel, I See You’ve Called in Dead (Zibby Books, April 1). Kirkus: “ A touching ode to the people who make life worth living.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

Edna Bonhomme joins us to discuss A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, From Cholera to COVID-19 (One Signal/Atria, March 11). Kirkus: “ A searing attack on historical injustices.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19...

On this special episode of  Fully Booked,  Kirkus’ editors join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the current issue of  Kirkus Reviews  celebrating the best books of the 21st Century (so far). Then each editor chooses one book from the past 25 years they think everyone should read. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...

Bob the Drag Queen discusses his eagerly anticipated speculative novel Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert (Gallery Books, March 25). Kirkus: “The literary debut by Bob the Drag Queen—Instagram star, Madonna concert emcee, and winner of  RuPaul’s Drag Race —imagines a host of famous figures returning to life: Cleopatra is a fashion influencer, John D. Rockefeller is a robber baron all o...

Acclaimed author Deb Caletti discusses her latest YA novel, True Life in Uncanny Valley (Labyrinth Road, March 18). Kirkus: “A Seattle teen conceals her true identity as the long-abandoned daughter of a celebrated tech giant to gain entry into his household….[in this] at times heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful story about chosen family.” Then our editors share their top pick...

Karen Russell discusses her eagerly anticipated second novel, The Antidote (Knopf, March 11). “In the wake of the destructive Black Sunday dust storm in 1935, four outcasts dare to offer their dying town a radical vision of the future,” Kirkus writes in a starred review of this “storytelling tour de force” that “lives up to the promise of its name.” Then our editors share their top picks in books...

On our Best March Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then Pulitzer Prize finalist Laila Lalami joins us to discuss her latest novel, The Dream Hotel (Pantheon, March 4). Kirkus: “A woman is detained under an American regime where even dreams are being surveilled….An engrossing and troubling dystopian tale” (starred review). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...

Lidia Yuknavitch discusses Reading the Waves: A Memoir (Riverhead, Feb. 4). Kirkus: “A noted writer and teacher explores the uses of memoir to recast and heal the wounds of the past…. Full of the messy, moving, in-your-face inspiration and storytelling for which Yuknavitch is beloved.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

On a special episode celebrating debut authors, Erin Crosby Eckstine discusses her novel, Junie (Ballantine, Feb. 4), who Kirkus calls “a talented writer to watch.” “On the eve of the Civil War, an enslaved Black teen awakens her sister’s ghost and embarks on a dangerous journey to freedom in this debut novel,” Kirkus writes in a review. “Featuring a spirited protagonist, this compelling mix of th...

Paul Lisicky discusses Song So Wild and Blue: A Life With the Music of Joni Mitchell (HarperOne, Feb. 25). Kirkus calls his latest memoir “a beautiful tribute to a legendary musician and the act of creation” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-no...

On our Best February Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then Kate Beaton joins us to discuss her funny and fierce new picture book, Shark Girl (Roaring Brook Press, Feb. 25). Kirkus: “Stand aside, little mermaids. The true, pointy-toothed protector of the seas is here!” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19....