Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

On our Best August Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then novelist Abi Daré joins us to discuss And So I Roar (Dutton, Aug. 6), the followup to her breakout debut, The Girl With the Louding Voice. Kirkus: “Part old-fashioned adventure yarn, part feminist manifesto, and completely captivating” (starred review). And in a sponsored interview, Megan chats with Barbar...

Author Kyle Lukoff discusses two new picture books: Just What To Do, illus. by Hala Tahboub (Dial Books, July 16), about supporting loved ones through loss; and I’m Sorry You Got Mad, illus. by Julie Kwon (Dial Books, Aug. 23), “A master class in apologies and in storytelling through words and art” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy a...

J. Courtney Sullivan discusses her new novel, The Cliffs (Knopf, July 2): “A novel about a woman, a house, and the history that haunts them” (starred review). And in a sponsored interview, Megan speaks with Dan Yaccarino, author-illustrator of The Luna Sisters and Their Amazing Lunafish (Holiday House, July 9), a fun, fast-paced beginning reader graphic novel. Then our editors share their top pick...

Stacey D’Erasmo discusses her new essay collection, The Long Run: A Creative Inquiry (Graywolf, July 9): “A rich meditation on the artist’s life and work over time” (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-not-sell-my-info.

Claire Messud discusses her new novel, This Strange Eventful History (Norton, May 14). Kirkus: “A family rides the waves of current events and personal conflicts across three generations….Brilliant and heart-wrenching; Messud is one of contemporary literature’s best” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

On our Best July Books, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then debut novelist Meriam Metoui joins us to discuss one of the best books of July, Portrait of a Shadow (Henry Holt, July 16), in which “a girl’s search for her missing sister peels back a deeper mystery….Masterfully written, this is a deceptively charming horror story that also skillfully weaves in romance, sacrifice,...

Olivia Laing joins us to discuss The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise (Norton, June 25). Kirkus: “The award-winning author pens a fascinating and personal journey of paradise….An intellectually verdant and emotionally rich narrative journey” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Califor...

On the Fully Booked Takeover, special guest host Karen M. McManus (One of Us Is Lying) welcomes friend and fellow #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow (Girl in Pieces) for an illuminating conversation about writing and publishing. 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://a...

On our third annual Pride Episode, novelist Yael van der Wouden joins us to discuss The Safekeep (Avid Reader Press, May 28). Kirkus: “Two women spend a fraught summer together in the Dutch countryside…. [in this] this brilliant debut, as multifaceted as a gem” (starred revew). Then Kirkus’ editors recommend some exciting new books by LGBTQIA+ authors. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...

On this Best June Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then bestselling YA author Nicola Yoon joins us to discuss her hotly anticipated adult fiction debut, One of Our Kind (Knopf, June 11). In this scintillating psychological thriller, a successful young family moves to a wealthy Black enclave where all is not as it seems... Kirkus: “An artful page-turning thriller...

Emma Copley Eisenberg discusses her debut novel Housemates (Hogarth, May 28). Kirkus: “A timely coming-of-age story about art and love from the author of The Third Rainbow Girl (2020)… Emotionally rich and quietly thought-provoking, this is simply a stunning fiction debut.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California...

On the Fully Booked Takeover, special guest host Christopher Paolini welcomes fellow fantasy phenoms Rachel Hartman and Marie Brennan for a spirited discussion of process, publishing, dragons, and more. 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-sell-my-info.

Filmmaker, artist, and author Miranda July discusses her new novel, All Fours (Riverhead, May 14), in which a woman on a cross-country road trip takes an irresistible detour. Kirkus: “This tender, strange treatise on getting out from the “prefab structures” of a conventional life is quintessentially July.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://...

On this special episode, Kirkus’ share some of the Best May Books and a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making our book lists. Then Aimee Nezhukumatathil joins us to discuss Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees (Ecco, April 30), a gorgeous memoir-in-essays showcasing the sweet and bitter memories associated with 40 significant foods. Kirkus: “A collection of flavorful memories” that’s both “g...

Alexandra Tanner discusses her debut novel, Worry (Scribner, March 26): “A dark millennial comedy starring testy, needy Floridian Jewish sisters who move in together in New York City and drive each other nuts” (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-...

On the Fully Booked Takeover, special guest host David Levithan celebrates the publication of Wide Awake Now (Knopf, April 16) with friend and fellow #1 New York Times-bestselling author Gayle Forman (If I Stay, I Have Lost My Way, etc.). 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/...

Darcie Little Badger joins us to discuss Sheine Lende (Levine Querido, April 16), a magnificent prequel to her acclaimed YA debut Elatsoe. Kirkus: “Two generations before the events of Elatsoe (2020), Shane, a 17-year-old Lipan Apache girl, helps her mother, Lorenza, perform volunteer search-and-rescue operations….A classic fantasy adventure and a balm for any soul weary of oppression” (starred re...

Ornithologist, professor, poet, and essayist J. Drew Lanham joins us to discuss Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves (Hub City Press, April 2), “another luminous mixture of prose and poetry…. that memorably, vibrantly shows how choosing joy is an act of resilience, courage, and power” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art1...

Kirkus’ editors join host Megan Labrise in celebration of the Best Books of April, with their top picks in books for the month and a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making our book lists. Then Julia Alvarez joins us to discuss The Cemetery of Untold Stories (Algonquin, April 2), in which a retiring Dominican American professor and novelist conceives of a unique way to contend with her unpublished...

Illustrator Nikki McClure joins us to discuss Something About the Sky (Candlewick Studio, March 12), her stunning new picture book with words by Rachel Carson. Kirkus: “Reflections on clouds and other wonders of our atmospheric ‘ocean’….Contemplative and stirring—definitely for wonderers” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://...

On this week's Fully Booked Takeover, special guest host Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger’s Wife, Inland, and The Morningside—out today, from Random House—talks with friend and fellow novelist Parini Shroff (The Bandit Queens). 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-n...

New Yorker cultural critic Vinson Cunningham joins us to discuss his debut novel, Great Expectations (Hogarth, March 12), which Kirkus calls “a top-shelf intellectual bildungsroman” (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-not-sell-my-info.

Tricia Romano joins us to discuss The Freaks Came Out To Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture (PublicAffairs, Feb. 27). Kirkus: “Journalist Romano makes a zesty book debut with a polyphonic oral history of the iconic Village Voice.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pr...

Breanna J. McDaniel joins us to discuss Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller (Dial Books, Feb. 6), an outstanding picture book celebrating a legendary librarian “who sought out every gap a tale could bridge, who shattered barriers to ensure Black children would see themselves on library shelves, and whose legacy continues to this day exactly as it began—in...

On this week's Fully Booked Takeover, special guest host Nita Prose, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Maid and The Mystery Guest, talks with award-winning Irish crime writer Liz Nugent. 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-sell-my-info.