Do you love to be in the know about upcoming books? The LITERARY LOOKBOOK is for you! We include 686 upcoming 2025 releases curated by @kellyhook.readsbooks & @thoughtsfromapage. This 37-page PDF includes titles from June-Oct 2025 with Bonus May, Nov, and Dec titles! $13 gets you access. Fill out the request form and send your $13 payment.. Our Literary Lookbook is a passion project that we enjoyed putting together over countless hours. Thank you for your support!

Contemporary Fiction Episodes

July 5, 2022

Interview with Margarita Montimore - ACTS OF VIOLET

In this interview, Margarita and I discuss Acts of Violet, melding her love of stories about unresolved disappearances and those set in the showbiz world, exploring why the world of magic is so male-dominated, writing in a multi-media format and helping design the interior of the book, how the titl…

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June 14, 2022

Interview with Ali Brady - THE BEACH TRAP

In this interview, Alison, Bradeigh and I discuss The Beach Trap, how they came up with the name Ali Brady and why they chose to write under a pen name versus their own names, creating their own take on The Parent Trap, the way they approach writing together, their great cover, what's next for them…

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June 10, 2022

Interview with Annabel Monaghan - NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT

In this interview, Annabel and I discuss Nora Goes Off Script, how Nora is resonating with so many readers, the great reception the book is getting on Bookstagram, how titles send signals to readers about a book's genre, the difference in writing YA and nonfiction verses adult fiction, and much mor…

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June 8, 2022

Interview with Clare Pooley - IONA IVERSON'S RULES FOR COMMUTING

In this interview, Clare and I discuss Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting, the inspiration for the story and Iona, her fascination with intergenerational relationships, designing the plot around the train stops on the Waterloo/Hampton Court line, how both the cover and title are different for the U…

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May 31, 2022

Interview with Marie Myung-Ok Lee - THE EVENING HERO

In this interview, Marie and I discuss The Evening Hero, humanizing her main character, her trip to North Korea that rounded out details for the book, what surprised her the most when writing this book, the complicated process of finding a title,, and much more.

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May 29, 2022

Interview with Amy Tector - THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS

In this interview, Amy and I discuss The Honeybee Emeralds, the inspiration for the fictional necklace in the book, avoiding information dumps, the unique situation of living as an expat in a foreign country, her favorite and least favorite characters to write, and much more.

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April 25, 2022

Interview with Michelle Huneven - SEARCH

In this interview, Michelle and I discuss Search, her inspiration for the story, the format for telling the tale, the characters that were the easiest and hardest to write, how her cover came about, the way her characters developed as she wrote them, and much more.

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April 19, 2022

Interview with Christine Simon - THE PATRON SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

In this interview, Christine and I discuss The Patron Saint of Second Chances, her inspiration for this story, when she knew she wanted to be a writer, her unusual publishing journey, creating a tremendous sense of community in her book and why that is so important, and much more.

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April 15, 2022

Interview with Ashley Winstead - FOOL ME ONCE

Ashley and I discuss Fool Me Once, how second-chance romance is her favorite trope, writing books in several genres, her fabulous cover, setting a book in the world of politics, weaving pop culture and humor into this novel, rom-com character expectations, how much more latitude there is when writi…

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March 29, 2022

Kathleen West - HOME OR AWAY

For this special episode, Carol Ann Tack of Top Shelf at Merrick Library and I interview Kathleen West together. We talk about her new book Home or Away, the intensity of youth sports, the book's title, writing about #metoo, and so much more.

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March 24, 2022

Interview with Rosie Walsh - THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Rosie and I discuss The Love of My Life, having her book selected as a GMA Book Club pick, the obituary writing business, the tortuous process she went through when writing this book, how book covers are selected and the way covers vary by country, and much more.

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March 4, 2022

Rebecca Serle - ONE ITALIAN SUMMER

Rebecca and I discuss One Italian Summer, exploring the dialogue between fate and free will, including a bit of magical realism in her stories, how the inspiration for her stories comes from what she is personally working through at the time, the hardest character for her to write in One Italian Su…

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Feb. 28, 2022

Jennifer E. Smith - THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES

Jennifer and I discuss The Unsinkable Greta James, writing a love story about Greta and her music, exploring what it is like to live a creative life, the effects of living in such a connected and public world, how working in the publishing industry impacts her work, and much more.

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Feb. 20, 2022

Lyn Liao Butler - RED THREAD OF FATE

Lyn and I discuss Red Thread of Fate, how this book is a more personal story for her, wanting to make sure she had the adoption details exactly right, the difficulty of writing a shy/reserved character, found families, and much more.

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Feb. 11, 2022

Interview with Elena Armas- THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION

Elena and I discuss The Spanish Love Deception, her unusual and very cool publishing journey, winning the Goodreads Choice Best Debut Novel Award and what the selection process was like, her favorite romance trope, how being a romance blogger and bookstagrammer prepared her to write rom-coms, and m…

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