The Bookshop Podcast

Send us Fan Mail A haunted abbey in the Scottish Highlands, a marriage of convenience, a pet piglet with a ribbon, and a heroine who is far sharper than she’s “allowed” to be. In this episode, I chat with Eloisa James, the New York Times bestselling author of historical romance (and Fordham Shakespeare professor Mary Bly ), to talk about The Last Lady B and the craft choices that make a love story...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Christina Pascucci Ciampa, founder and owner of All She Wrote Books, an intersectional, inclusive, feminist, and queer independent bookstore in the Boston area. Shelf space is never neutral, and Christina has built a bookstore that treats that truth as a daily practice. We talk about how a mission-driven shop becomes a real refuge for readers who rarel...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m joined by Cecile Pin, the acclaimed author of Wandering Souls , to discuss her latest novel, Celestial Lights , and the deeper questions it raises about identity, ambition, and what we sacrifice when we decide who we want to become. Cecile takes us from her multicultural upbringing in Paris and New York City to her study of philosophy in London. We dig into ho...

Send us Fan Mail A teenage girl grows up in a Montana cabin with no school, no neighbors, and one constant lesson from her father: modern life is a trap and authority is the enemy. Then she finds a photograph that doesn’t fit the story she’s been told, and the only way to learn the truth is to run straight toward the world he fears most: 1990s San Francisco at the birth of the internet boom. In th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Andrea and Jordan Minter, third-generation managers of Russell Books in Victoria, British Columbia. Ww trace how a packed Montreal dining room helped spark a business that grew into one of Canada’s most beloved independent bookstores. We talk about what it’s really like to manage a high-volume shop that carries new books, used books, antiquarian and ra...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Nikky Dunne from Heywood Hill in Mayfair, London. Step behind the door of a London landmark and discover why a great independent bookshop still beats like a human heart. I chat with Nikky Dunne, bookseller-in-chief at Heywood Hill in Mayfair, to unpack ninety years of tailored bookselling, a wartime chapter powered by Nancy Mitford’s wit, and a present...

Send us Fan Mail A coastal drive, a hard pivot, and a bookstore built on happy endings.  In this episode, I chat with Mae Tingstrom, founder and owner of Smitten Books in Ventura. Mae explains how a former tech professional learned to say no, embraced a niche, and turned a retail space into a community hub. From digging trenches and pulling drywall to stocking shelves with books written by women a...

Send us Fan Mail This week, I chat with Ann Kjellberg, founding editor of the literary magazine Little Star and Book Post , a bite-sized newsletter-based review delivery service, sending well-made book reviews by distinguished and engaging writers, direct to your inbox. Start with a single question: who gets to decide what matters in books—algorithms, crowds, or critics who sign their names? We si...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Lovestruck Books owner and founder, Rachel Kantor. Rachel traces the thread from her years in classrooms and nonprofits to the moment she opened a shop that treats joy and access as serious cultural work. We dig into what it means to put the world’s best-selling fiction genre at the center of an academic neighborhood and how that choice reshapes conver...

Send us Fan Mail Start with the truth: technology keeps changing the book world, but the love of reading isn’t going anywhere. That’s our springboard for a rich, candid conversation with publishing analyst and author Thad McIlroy about what AI can actually do for writers, publishers, translators, and readers—and where it crosses lines that matter. We trace his arc from bookstore floors to indie pu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mirta Ojito about her novel Deeper Than The Ocean. This book is one of my top reads of 2026! A century-old shipwreck with no survivors. A journalist haunted by dreams. A family secret whispered across oceans. Mirta Ojito shares the real history behind Deeper Than the Ocean and the intimate choices that make...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Amanda and Anthony Stromoski , co-owners of Rough Draft Bar & Books located at Kingston, New York's historic four corners. What if your favorite bookstore also poured a perfect espresso and kept an impeccable tap list? Amanda and Anthony explain how a 1774 schoolhouse became a living room for the Hudson Valley. From Brooklyn careers to a life...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Bruce Holsinger about stories, community, publishing, teaching, and the craft behind his latest novel, Culpability .  Bruce brings a rare lens to contemporary fiction. As a medievalist at the University of Virginia, he teaches medieval literature and applies his enthusiasm to craft classes where the basics—point of view, character arcs, structure—becom...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm chatting with author Laura Resau about her novel The Alchemy of Flowers . A walled garden in the south of France. A woman carrying the weight of infertility and the ache of what might have been. An author who believes that myth, nature, and careful attention can turn pain into something living. That’s the ground we walk together with Laura Resau, whose de...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Mary Morris about her latest novel, The Red House. A lost button at an airport. A plaque on a modest olive tree. A red monolith on a hill that once held people in limbo. My conversation with Mary Morris reveals how these small, stubborn details evolved into The Red House , a propulsive and intimate novel about a daughter following her missing mother’s...

Send us Fan Mail Hi, this week I'm chatting with Amy Joyce and Gayle Weiswasser, co-owners of Wonderland Books in Bethesda, Maryland. What turns a bookstore into a place where people feel part of a community? We asked Wonderland Books co-owners Amy Joyce and Gail Weiswasser, whose Bethesda shop blends sharp curation, joyful whimsy, and real community care—right down to a wall of Polaroids fea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Paul Levine about his new novel, Midnight Burning. A physicist, a comic genius, and a city on the brink—Paul Levine joins us to unpack Midnight Burning, a high-velocity historical thriller that brings Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin into the crosshairs of a real fascist movement in 1937 Los Angeles. We open with a personal note, then dive into the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Noël Stark about her debut romantic comedy novel, LOVE, CAMERA, ACTION . Noël Stark has worked in almost every position in the Film and Television industry, both in front of and behind the camera. Although she’s Canadian, she lives in L.A. with her young son, desperately missing winter. She likes chocolate milk in her coffee and gets most of her real-w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with my friend and fellow author interviewer, Sara DiVello. Sara is a thriller author, and creator and host of Mystery and Thriller Mavens,  a popular author interview series and interactive Facebook group. We met at the San Diego Writers Festival and have since become friends. Sara's boundless energy and verve for life and literature are contagious. S...

Send us Fan Mail Step into Philadelphia's only Spanish-English bookstore, where literature becomes a powerful bridge connecting communities and celebrating cultural heritage. The Julia de Burgos Bookstore , named after Puerto Rico's most celebrated poet, offers more than just books—it provides a sanctuary where Puerto Rican and Latinx voices take center stage. Lisa Moser , the bookstore&...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, I chat with author Tova Mirvis about her novel, We Would Never, a psychological exploration inspired by a real murder case she discovered on Facebook. Mirvis reveals how true crime reporting always left her hungry for the human story beneath the headlines, and how she carefully crafted characters who start as a typical family with typical problems before spiraling...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with James Anderson, co-owner of Saturn Press with his with Diedre. The humble greeting card might seem like a relic in our digital age, but as James reveals, these tactile treasures carry meaning far beyond their paper boundaries.  James shares how Saturn Press creates distinctive cards using vintage presses from the 1940s-60s, explaining that the very con...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with author Kendra Elliot about her new novel, Her First Mistake. Kendra Elliot has sold thirteen million books, hit the Wall Street Journal top ten bestseller list more than a dozen times, and is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier award.  She is an International Thriller Writers' finalist and a Romantic Times finalist. She grew up in the lus...

Send us Fan Mail Hi, and welcome to this episode of The Bookshop Podcast! Step into the vibrant literary heart of Mexico with the San Miguel Writers Conference, where cultural exchange and creative inspiration meet in one of the world's most beautiful cities. Susan Page, founder and president, alongside executive director Jodi Pincus, unveil the magic behind this extraordinary gathering that...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Barbara Boyle about her memoir, Pinch Me. After decades crafting commercials and campaigns for global giants like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, Barbara was drawn to a completely different path. Her story begins with a magical honeymoon visit to the Piedmont region of Italy, where, gazing over terracotta rooftops with morning coffee in...