Steve Bertrand on Books

Ben Reeves has written a beautiful debut novel about…death. Travis seems like an ordinary guy; he’s single and lives alone with his cat in his apartment. But his job is to be with us when we die. Some of us recognize him at that moment while others don’t. Either way, Reeves’ accounts of their deaths […]

You have too much stuff and Alan Anderson is the guy who convinced you to buy it. Now he sees the error of his ways and he’s shunned his worldly goods, living in a shed in his backyard and bathing in Long Island Sound. That’s the notion behind this very funny novel from Courtney Maum: […]

You might know Bobby Finger from his two earlier novels, The Old Place and Four Squares, or maybe you follow his podcast, Who? Weekly, where he and his cohost Lindsey Weber keep track of would-be celebrities so you won’t have to. His latest novel is We Are Gathered Here Today, where he returns to Texas for […]

New York Times bestselling author Lisa See’s latest book is Daughters of the Sun and Moon. Publisher’s Weekly calls it one of the best books of the summer. She talks with Steve about the little-known story of the 1870 massacre of Chinese immigrants in what was then a small, dusty and very dangerous Los Angeles.

In this week’s podcast, Steve catches up with author Phil Melanson as he teaches in London. Phil is the author of Florenzer…it’s a great account of life in Medici Florence told through the lives of Lorenzo de Medici, Francesco Salviati and Leonardo de Vinci. The book is now in paperback.

Chicago writer Melanie Benjamin has made a career out of writing historical fiction with stories that largely center around women. Put another way, Melanie has given us fictional accounts of our non-fiction world. In her latest, The Windsor Affair, she looks into the abdication of King Edward Vlll. It’s a story that’s been told many […]

Djamel White is being called a powerful new voice in Irish literature. His debut novel, All Them Dogs, takes a look inside the crime underworld of west Dublin, focusing on a lost young man looking to be found. Unfortunately for him, his search for male guidance only brings more struggle. Djamel talks with Steve about […]

Hannah Thurman’s smash debut novel is set in Raleigh, North Carolina, mostly at an under-pressure mental institution. At the center of Mercy Hill is a family of four daughters, their dad, and the mom who is the force fighting to save the hospital. The family grows up in the shadow of the institution, much in […]

Charles Schutt is a former Chicago priest who left the Church after 17 years and then successfully moved to the world of corporate recruiting. And he wants you to know why. He’s got a new book out called “A True Story of a Catholic Priest: Why I Got In, Why I Got Out, and What […]

Maybe it’s in our 30s that the rubber finally meets the road and it’s time to confront life, maybe accept the fact that you can’t be anything you want to be after all. In a way, that’s a way to read Rachel Khong’s short story collection. It’s called “My Dear You.” Rachel says each short […]

Sometimes a small story can help to paint a much bigger picture. That’s the case with The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons. Actually, his is not a small story at all, it’s a remarkable accounting of America’s assault on birds around the Gilded Age. McCommons writes about flocks of birds more than a hundred […]

Clay Cane has written a pretty remarkable book in a personal, novel way. Burn Down Master’s House is a fictional account of a variety moments of resistance by several separate slaves in the days before the civil war. He fictionalizes the stories into one strand that stands as its own narrative. As a descendant of slaves, […]

When you think of Bob Dylan, what comes to mind? A cultural revolutionary, right? Lyrics, musicianship, even painting. But did you know Bob Dylan was a filmmaker? Fellow filmmaker Michael Glover Smith did….and his book Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time to Think is out.

Irish writer Tana French joins Steve to talk about her Cal Hooper Series. Hooper is a retired Chicago police detective who settles into life in small town Ireland. It’s not as easy as it is sounds. And, don’t tell Steve, but the latest book The Keeper is the last in what turns out to be […]

Irish writer Colm Tóibín is a master, whether it’s his novels like Brooklyn or Nora Webster or The Testament of Mary, he has a settled style of writing that brings you not just to a place but to a specific moment. It’s the same for his short stories. His latest collection of stories is The […]

Alright, it’s time to move to the edge of your seat. Nick Petrie joins Steve to talk about his new thriller, The Dark Time. It’s the ninth book in his acclaimed Peter Ash series. The book takes on the threat of rapidly expanding Artificial Intelligence in a way only Peter Ash can.

One of the spring’s most anticipated books is a biography of American literary icon Judy Blume. Author Mark Oppenheimer joins Steve to talk about the writer who helped us grow up and how she’s developed as she’s grown up. Blume cooperated with the writing of the book but has kept her distance from the final […]

In this episode, Steve talks with two authors. Johnny Compton writes horror/fantasy stories and his latest is Dead First. Johnny has and interesting theory on horror stories. He says most of our most famous stories all have some aspect of horror in them. You might agree after you hear what he has to say. Also […]

Mark Greaney joins Steve to talk about The Hard Line, the 15th installment of his Gray Man thriller series. In the book, the intelligence community is under attack by selective assassins. It’s up to Court Gentry and his team to stop them. Greaney is well known to those who like to read on the edge of […]

How about we get a few chuckles from the emergency room? Dr. Ashely Alker takes a light-“hearted” look at how we die in “99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them”. It’s actually a fun read with a very personal origin story. Ashely’s mom was diagnosed with a serious illness and the family couldn’t […]

Why is it we’re so drawn to Victorian novels? Charles Finch has some ideas. He’s the author behind the Charles Lenox detective series. His novel The Hidden City was a hit last year. Charles is also a respected book critic. That’s a job that comes with some heavy responsibility. He talks about that and about […]

In this episode of Steve Bertrand on Books, Steve talks with author Brad Meltzer. Brad has succeeded in every type of writing he’s explored, including television, non-fiction and even children’s books, but he’s best known for his thrillers. Brad is currently on the New York Times best seller list with The Viper. In the interview, […]

British writer Kazuo Ishiguro has been named the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2015, he spoke with WGN Radio’s Steve Bertrand about his novel The Buried Giant: Kazuo Ishiguro, who has won the Man Booker Prize and been awarded the O.B.E., has been called one of Britain’s most important living novelists. […]

The New York Times has called Alan Furst “America’s preeminent spy novelist.” His new book, A Hero of France, about the French Resistance, is the first in a long time set during the war years, rather than the eve of World War II. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the novel and about […]

Let’s go back to Boston in 1721. Historian Stephen Coss says it was one of the most influential years in U.S. history. And why not: We meet a young Ben Franklin, a chastised Cotton Mather and the beginning American arguments over faith and science. You’ll be surprised by who is on which side. Coss talks […]