Shelf Care Society By @Brian.Reads

In this episode of Shelf Care Society, I’m talking through some of the books I can’t stop thinking about, from major new novels by Min Jin Lee, Barbara Kingsolver, Hernan Diaz, and V. E. Schwab to Robert Kolker’s extraordinary reporting on a family confronting inherited dementia and Ted Scheinman’s deeply personal account of electroconvulsive therapy. And about halfway through the episode, we take...

Seventeen years after “The Help” became a publishing phenomenon, Kathryn Stockett is back with “The Calamity Club,” her sprawling, funny, devastating new novel and a #1 New York Times bestseller. Kathryn joins Brian to talk about what really happened during those 17 years, including false starts, losing her publishing home, finding the editor who helped her see the book clearly again, and the mome...

Josh Silver joins Brian Larson on “Shelf Care Society” to talk about “Fruit Fly,” his buzzy adult debut, available now. Josh takes us inside the darkly funny, deeply unsettling novel about Mallory Maddox, a blocked writer who goes looking for her next bestseller and finds Leo, a young gay man struggling with addiction whose life she begins turning into material. Together, Brian and Josh dig into s...

Jodi Picoult has spent more than three decades writing directly into some of the most complicated questions of our time. In this episode of Shelf Care Society , Brian sits down with the #1 New York Times bestselling author to discuss her 30th novel, "Hollow Bones," a haunting, deeply researched story set against the legacy of September 11 and arriving September 15. Jodi shares the anonym...

R.F. Kuang joins Brian for an intimate conversation about Taipei Story , her shortest and perhaps most personal novel yet. She shares how the death of her grandfather and a disorienting summer in Taipei first inspired a collection of private notes, written during a period when grief had left her feeling incapable of writing, and how those fragments eventually became Lily Chen’s story. Rebecca disc...

Cole Brauer made history as the first American woman to race solo, nonstop around the world, but getting to the starting line required almost as much determination as crossing the finish. In this episode of Shelf Care Society , Brian sits down with the record-breaking sailor and author of First Light: Sailing Solo But Not Alone to talk about the extraordinary journey behind her memoir and what it...

What happens when four broke roommates in Rio de Janeiro discover that wealthy strangers will pay an obscene amount of money for the ultimate forbidden dining experience? Brazilian bestselling author Raphael Montes joins Brian for a deliciously dark conversation about The Secret Dinner , his wildly entertaining new thriller about friendship, greed, desire, addiction, and a supper club with one ver...

Nearly two decades after “Call Me By Your Name” first introduced readers to Elio and Oliver, André Aciman is returning to their story in an entirely new form. In this episode of Shelf Care Society, Brian sits down with André Aciman to talk about “Call Me By Your Name: The Graphic Novel,” illustrated by Sarah Maxwell. They explore what it means to revisit such an iconic story years later, how illus...

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo joins Brian to discuss his propulsive new novel, Under the Falls. Set in the fictional upstate New York town of Stone Mountain, the novel follows a famous musician returning home to a community shaped by old secrets, economic decline, the opioid epidemic, and a devastating accident. Russo shares how the story began as a television pilot, why he ultimatel...

Brian sits down with Ben Reeves, author of the extraordinary debut novel “Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt,” a tender and deeply human story narrated by the personification of death. Ben shares how the idea for Travis, a lonely and benevolent version of death, first came to him while watching his children play at the zoo, and why he wanted the novel to focus not on the finality of dying,...

New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick joins Brian for an intimate conversation about Dad, Love, Me , his deeply personal debut memoir written as a letter to his ailing father. Matthew opens up about growing up with an angry and withholding parent, carrying his father’s critical voice into adulthood, and achieving extraordinary literary success while privately struggling with depression,...

Cecily Mak joins Shelf Care Society for a deeply thoughtful conversation about alcohol-free living, unwanted habits, and the clarity that becomes possible when we stop dimming ourselves. Cecily is the author of Undimmed: The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits , a founding General Partner at Wisdom Ventures, a breast cancer survivor, mother of two, and an advocate for a more honest...

What does it really mean to be “selfish”… and why are so many of us afraid of it? This week on Shelf Care Society , I sit down with Kerry Docherty, co-founder of Faherty and author of Selfish , a sharp, deeply personal memoir about unlearning the roles that keep us small. We start where the book does: on a therapist’s couch, where Kerry and her husband are negotiating Kerry's salary. From ther...

What do we owe the people who made us? This week on Shelf Care Society , I sit down with Tayari Jones to talk about her stunning new novel, Kin , an Oprah's Book Club selection. Tayari has a way of writing families that feel both intimate and expansive. In Kin , she turns her attention to legacy and inheritance through the lives of two girls, Niecy and Annie, and the bond that connects them ac...

What if the thing that determines your success isn’t how smart you are, but how quickly you can adapt? This week on Shelf Care Society , I’m joined by Liz Tran, executive coach and author of AQ: The Agility Quotient . We talk about why agility is becoming the defining skill of our time and how to build it in a world that rarely slows down. Liz shares how AQ shows up in your career, your relationsh...

Why are the Kardashians so famous—and what does that say about us ? In this episode of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast , I sit down with M.J. Corey (@mjcorey) to talk about her new book, D econstructing the Kardashians: A New Media Manifesto —a sharp, surprisingly expansive look at the most influential family in modern media. What starts as a conversation about Kim, Kris, and the empire they’ve bu...

What does it actually look like to build a creative life—and pay the bills? In this episode of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast , I sit down with Mason Currey (@masoncurrey) to talk about his new book, Making Art and Making a Living: Adventures in Funding a Creative Life —a fascinating look at how artists across history have navigated the tension between creative ambition and financial reality. We...

Why do we keep repeating patterns we know aren’t serving us? In this episode of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast , I sit down with Dr. Nicole LePera (@the.holistic.psychologist) to talk about her new book, Reparenting the Inner Child: The New Science of Our Oldest Wounds and How to Heal Them —a deeply practical guide to understanding where our behaviors come from and how to actually change them. We...

What if the objects we lose, keep, or overlook are quietly telling the story of who we are? In this episode of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast , I sit down with Michelle Maryk to explore her debut novel The Found Object Society , a layered and inventive story that moves through time, memory, and the artifacts we leave behind. We talk about the emotional architecture of the novel, the way objects c...

What if the life you want is already waiting for you and the only thing left to do is become the version of yourself who believes it is possible? In this episode of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast , Brian Larson talks with manifestation coach Matt Cooke , whose work centers on a powerful idea: You don’t attract what you want. You attract what you are. Matt shares the story of leaving corporate lif...

This week, Brian sits down with Dr. Khameer Kidia, a writer, anthropologist, and global health physician on the faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. A Rhodes Scholar from Zimbabwe, Kidia has spent more than a decade working on mental health research and advocacy in his home country, and his writing has appeared in outlets including The New England Journal of Medicine...

On this episode of Shelf Care Society, Brian Larson sits down with #1 New York Times bestselling author Virginia Evans to talk about her breakout novel, The Correspondent . Together, they explore Sybil Van Antwerp’s unforgettable voice, the ethics of saying exactly what we mean, and the emotional architecture of letters both sent and unsent. Virginia opens up about writing six novels before findin...

Malala Yousafzai joins Shelf Care Society to discuss her new memoir, Finding My Way . In this fun, insight-packed chat, we talk about identity, belonging, ambition, and what it takes to keep evolving when the world has an opinion on who you should be. Come for the warmth, stay for the perspective shift.

Shelf Care Society by @Brian. Reads is a book-rooted podcast for anyone who treats their TBR as self-care. Host Brian Larson invites you into the conversations that have shaped his life, blending thoughtful chats about books with honest discussions on sobriety, creativity, identity, belonging, and what it takes to build a life that feels like yours.