Sarah's Bookshelves Live

In Episode 107, Barbara Feinman Todd (author of Pretend I'm Not Here ) takes me behind the scenes of ghostwriting after a career of writing for many top names in Washington, DC.  Barbara is wonderfully candid and we have a fascinating discussion all about the nuts and bolts of ghostwriting, and the emotional and personal side of the business. This post contains affiliate links through which I make...

Catherine of  Gilmore Guide to Books  joins me for a special Superlatives episode where we are answering from the fourth bucket of questions submitted for the  Ask Me Anything  episode of  Sarah's Bookshelves Live.  We give you a little taste of the bonus Monthly Superlative episodes Catherine and I often do for the Patreon community. This format is a favorite of mine, allowing for a bit more cand...

In Episode 105, Sarah and Thrity (author of  Honor ) tackle some hard-hitting questions related to the themes in her emotional book: religion, women's rights, and identity. Thrity discusses the complicated relationship an immigrant often has with their homeland and the complex duality of human nature.  This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purc...

In Episode 104, hotly anticipated guest, Catherine Ryan Howard (author of  The Nothing Man  and  56 Days ), joins me to discuss her journey to becoming an author, behind-the-scenes of making of her books, her process for writing successful crime thrillers, and how much real-life crimes and circumstances influence her stories. Be ready for some non-graphic dead body talk.  Plus, Catherine shares so...

In Episode 103, Catherine Gilmore (@gilmoreguide) and I share the best backlist books we read in 2021. We each share our top 5 backlist books from 2021, as well as some underrated backlist gems. Catherine and I both had a lot of success in 2021 with backlist reading, and this was especially true for me in comparison to my overall reading for the year.    This post contains affiliate links through...

Catherine and I share our most anticipated books coming out January – March 2022 (and one early April release). Also, stay tuned for my Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2022 blog post, coming out soon. On there, I'll share some of the books I talked about in this episode, but also some I didn't. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at...

In the  Fall 2021 Book Preview (Ep. 93) , Catherine and I shared our  most anticipated books that were coming out August – December 2021. Today, we're updating you on the books we shared in the Fall Preview…now that we've had the chance to read — or at least attempt them. Many Fall books lean more literary, which hasn't been working well for me lately, and overall, the Fall 2021 books didn't turn...

Today, we're celebrating the 100th episode of  Sarah's Bookshelves Live  with a very special  Ask Me Anything  episode co-hosted by  Catherine of  Gilmore Guide to Books.   Catherine turns the tables to ask me all the questions you submitted.   We go behind the scenes of the podcast, talk about my reading life, and my life outside of reading. Plus, Catherine answers a few questions! This post cont...

In Episode 99, Susie Boutry ( @NovelVisits ) and I share our favorite books from 2021, overall and by genre, along with a ton of bookish superlatives. We also talk about whether our reading has recovered from COVID and I reflect on the past year of the podcast. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). I also included...

In Episode 98, the three founders of  The Book & Cover (@thebookandcover) join me to share a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into opening an independent, brick-and-mortar bookshop.  We discuss non-traditional way they financed the business, how they learned the reading taste of their community, and how a new indie builds its inventory. Highlights Blaes and Emily talk about balancing...

In Episode 97, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza share how their co-authored novel ( We Are Not Like Them) explores how hard it is to have conversations about difficult topics even between dear friends.  We discuss why they decided to write a book with a lifelong, interracial friendship at its core, and how they handled collaborating on a book with a plot revolving around a fraught topic.   This post...

In Episode 96, Susie Boutry ( @NovelVisits ) and I share some of our favorite debut novels and discuss why we gravitate toward debuts.  We also discuss our reading stats for debut novels, as well as exploring some sophomore novels...the good, the not so good, and those we're still awaiting. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no...

In Episode 95, Cheryl Diamond joins me to discuss what it was like to have been "born a ghost," her outlaw life with her fugitive parents, on the run from Interpol and other government agencies, and what brought her to detail her tumultuous childhood in her latest memoir,  Nowhere Girl . This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cos...

Today, we're bringing you a sneak peek of a new podcast series for patrons!  Double Booked  is a monthly series where a co-host (Catherine of  Gilmore Guide to Books  and Susie from  Novel Visits  will alternate months) and I will each share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show (2 old books we love, 2 new books we love, 1 book we didn't love, and 1 upcoming release we're...

In Episode 94, Kimberly McCreight (author of  Friends Like These ) joins me to deep dive into the mysteries & thrillers genre (including the difference between a mystery and a thriller, how involved authors are in deciding their books' titles, and what makes a great twist…and to talk about the inspiration behind her new novel. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commis...

Catherine and I share our most anticipated books coming out August – December 2021. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Announcement Join our  Patreon Community  ($5/mo) to get our  bonus podcast episode series called  Book Preview Extras ! In these episodes, Catherine and I share at least 4 bonus books (we're s...

In the  Summer 2021 Book Preview (Ep. 86) , Catherine and I shared our most anticipated books coming out June – July 2021. But, we often haven't read the books we share in the Preview Episodes. So, in this new series, we will "circle back" to update you on all the books we presented in the previous season's Book Preview now that we've at least attempted to read them. This post contains affiliate l...

In Episode 91, Caitlin Wahrer (author of  The Damage ) shares how she decided to tackle sexual assault of a man by a man, how she felt about writing a gay male protagonist as a straight woman, and how the U.S. legal system is re-traumatizing for sexual assault victims. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlig...

In Episode 90, Megan Abbott (author of  The Turnout ) shares how she chooses the worlds she writes about, the expectations of women in sports, and how she researches the worlds she writes about. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Where Megan got the inspiration for this story. Whether Megan feels The...

In Episode 89, Elizabeth Barnhill (book buyer for Fabled Bookshop) goes behind the scenes about what it's like to buy books for an independent bookstore. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights How Elizabeth got her job as book buyer at Fabled Bookshop with no "official" previous experience (and if the ow...

In Episode 88, Jesse Q. Sutanto (author of  Dial A for Aunties ) shares her family background, how she integrated it into her novel, and her family's reaction to the book. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Jesse's inspiration for  Dial A for Aunties . How Jesse managed to keep such an over-the-top p...

In Episode 87, Tia Williams (author of Seven Days in June) shares how she wrote such a meaty romance novel and what it's like to be an author with chronic pain.   This post contains affiliate links (plus: here's your  Amazon Smile-specific affiliate link ), through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Tia's inspiration for Seven Days in June. Wh...

I'm thrilled to share the first episode of what will be a new bonus podcast episode series for $5/mo patrons of the show. To hear these episodes every month, join the Sarah's Bookshelves Live  Patreon Community ! BEYOND BOOKSTAGRAM  is a bonus podcast series that highlights lesser known  books that are not splashed all over Instagram  (either backlist or under-the-radar newer books). A rotating fe...

Catherine and I share our most anticipated books coming out June – July 2021. This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Announcements Join our  Patreon Community  ($5/mo) to get (get more details about all the goodies available to our patrons and sign up  here !): Our  new monthly bonus podcast episode series called ...

In the  Spring 2021 Book Preview (Ep. 80) , Catherine and I shared our most anticipated books coming out April – May 2021. But, we often haven't read the books we share in the Preview Episodes. So, in this new series, we will "circle back" to update you on all the books we presented in the previous season's Book Preview now that we've at least attempted to read them. This post contains affiliate l...