KGNU Radio Book Club

The February selection for the Radio Bookclub is Perestroika In Paris, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley. The novel’s protagonist is a runaway racehorse who befriends a German shorthaired pointer. Together they live on the streets of Paris until they befriend a human boy, Etienne, and discover a new, otherworldly part of the city.

Listen to more of our conversation with author Jane Smiley where she talks about her love of horses, which feature in so many of her books, and what it means to be such a prolific writer. Listen to the broadcast interview with author Jane Smiley, broadcast on KGNU at 9am on Thursday, February 25th.

Listen to more of our conversation with Jon Krakauer as he reflects on the 25th anniversary of the publication of his best-seller Into the Wild. Listen to our broadcast interview with Jon Krakauer about his latest book Classic Krakauer. The Radio Bookclub is a collaboration between KGNU and the Boulder Bookstore. Every month Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer at […]

The January selection for the Radio Bookclub is Classic Krakauer - Essays on Wilderness and Risk. Best-selling author Jon Krakauer began his writing career writing for magazines. This latest book is a collection of ten essays that were published in a variety of magazines going back to the 1980s.

The December selection for the Radio Bookclub is Agnes at the End of the World. Colorado author Kelly McWilliams was inspired by real-life cults in Arizona for this Young Adult book which is set during a pandemic. It is described as The Handmaid’s Tale meets Wilder Girls.

Listen to more of our conversation with author Kelly McWilliams about the challenges of interweaving stories about pandemics, cults, and childhood illnesses. Listen to the broadcast interview with author Kelly McWilliams, broadcast on KGNU at 9am on Thursday, December 24th.

The November selection for the Radio Bookclub is Air Mail: Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place. Writers Pam Houston and Amy Irvine, who had never met, developed a relationship as pen-pals during the COVID-19 pandemic when they began a letter correspondence chronicling their own experiences.

Listen to more of our conversation with authors Pam Houston and Amy Irvine about how they developed a relationship through letters and how that ultimately culminated in their new book Air Mail: Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place. Listen to the broadcast interview with authors Pam Houston and Amy Irvine, broadcast on KGNU at 9am […]

The October selection for the Radio Bookclub is Winter Counts by author David Heska Wanbli Weiden. The book tells the story of Virgil Wounded Horse, the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and find...

Listen to more of our conversation with author David Heska Wanbli Weiden where he talks about Native American literature and some of the Denver locations featured in his novel Winter Counts. Listen to the broadcast interview with David Heska Wanbli Weiden, originally aired on KGNU at 9am on Thursday, October 22.

The September selection for the Radio Bookclub is Water & Power by Denver author Steven Dunn, a navy veteran. The book turns the traditional concept of military literature on its head as it examines military culture and engages with perceptions of heroism and terrorism. https://objects-us-east-1.dream.io/kgnu-news/2020/09/9-25-20_RadioBookclubStevenDunn.mp3 This edition of the Radio Bookclub w...

Listen to more of our conversation with author Steven Dunn where he describes life on a submarine and how he became disillusioned with military culture after 10 years in the navy. Listen to the broadcast interview with Steven Dunn, originally aired on KGNU on Thursday, September 24 at 9am.

Listen to more of our conversation with R.L. Maizes where she talks about what it means to be an animal empath and the process of writing the novel. Listen to the broadcast interview with R.L Maizes, originally aired on KGNU on August 27, 2020.

For August, the Radio Bookclub welcomes local author R.L. Maizes who joins us to talk about her new book Other People’s Pets. The novel features animal empath La La Fine who relates to animals better than she does to other people. Abandoned by a mother who never wanted a family, raised by a locksmith-turned-thief father, La […]

Stephen Graham Jones joined us at the Boulder Bookstore in July for a socially distanced, mask-wearing live event, to discuss his new novel The Only Good Indians, a slasher novel that follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives https://objects-us-east-1.dream.io/kgnu-news/2020/07/7-23-20_RadioBookClubStephenGrahamJone...

Best-selling horror author Stephen Graham Jones joined us at the Boulder Bookstore for a live event on July 16. In this Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub podcast, he answers audience questions and talks more about the horror genre. Listen to the Radio Bookclub interview with Stephen Graham Jones broadcast on KGNU on July 23 at […]

The June selection for the Radio Bookclub was The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. The novel focuses on female friendship on a small island in Korea where the women form an all-female diving collective. This interview was broadcast on KGNU on Thursday, June 25, at 9 am.

In this bonus edition of the Radio Bookclub, best selling author Susan Orlean joins us to talk about her latest novel the Library Book, a look at the fire of 1986 that destroyed the Los Angeles public library. Through telling this story she explores the role of libraries in society. This interview broadcast on Wednesday, June 17 at [

Good Talk, a graphic memoir by Mira Jacob, is the May selection for the Radio Bookclub. The book explores the themes of American identity, interracial families, and the realities that divide us […]

In a bonus edition of the Bookclub, hear best selling author Elizabeth Gilbert speak about her latest novel City of Girls. This is “a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and […]

Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit was the April selection for the Radio Bookclub. The novel tells the story of the fledgling colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, through the eyes of two women of very different status and means. TaraShea Nesbit joined us by zoom and the interview was broadcast on KGNU on Thursday, April 23 at 9am.   […]

Listen to more of our conversation with TaraShea Nesbit here, where she explores the women in her family who have inspired her writing. Listen to more of TaraShea Nesbit in our broadcast edition.[…]

Listen to more of our conversation with author Juleah del Rosario when she speaks about writing a novel in verse, and writing for a teen audience.[…]

In this YA novel-in-verse, Boulder based author Juleah del Rosario tells the story of sisters Rowena and Ariana who are each figuring out in their own separate ways how to exist in a world in which their mother is no longer alive. When Ariana disappears under the cover of night in the middle of a […]

The February selection for the Radio Bookclub is You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by author Janelle Shane which explores how artificial intelligence works and why it’s making the world a weirder place. Janelle Shane blogs about AI at AI Weirdness. This interview was broadcast on KGNU on Thursday, February 27 at […]