Episodes

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Christopher and I chat about his role as Art Director at Dutton and what it entails, how his department has changed since he started at Dutton, the step-by-step process for designing a book cover, his favorite part of the design process, how visiting local indie bookstores is a large part of his job, and much more.

In this special Behind the Books episode, Kelly Hooker interviews me about the podcast and how it has evolved, my reading life, my literary salon, how I got started in the book world, and much more.

Pam and I chat about her blog Who I Met Today, how and why she started it, what she has learned from the blog, our shared love of reading and books, the cookbooks she uses regularly and recommends, and much more. Want to subm...

In this bonus episode, authors Elise Hooper and Lynda Cohen Loigman recommend books about women with unusual careers. Elise's selections: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Finley Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano The Cart...

Mary and Pamela join me to discuss their recommended reads for Winter 2023.

In this episode, I reminisce about some of my favorite podcast episodes.

In this episode, Kelly and I chat about our favorite books of 2022.

In this interview, we discuss The Thread Collectors, how Alyson and Shaunna met and decided to write this book together, what their writing process looked like, the research behind the book, the book's original title and how they decided on The Thread Collectors, and much more.

In this special holiday episode, Amy and I discuss her family's holiday traditions and her recommended holiday reads, what makes a good holiday rom-com, tropes in the romance genre, fairy food, the allure of holiday music, and much more.

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Kevan and I chat about her role as a literary agent, forming her own agency, what she is looking for when is pitched by writers, how the manuscript submission process works, the importance of blurbs, the Lyonesses, and much more.

In this interview, Marcia and I discuss Dinner Is Done, how she got started in the culinary world, the process for creating the cookbook, her focus on easy weeknight meals, how she decided to structure the cookbook and why, and much more.

Elizabeth and I discuss our favorite narrative nonfiction books, our auto-buy nonfiction authors, categorizing the genre, the categories we gravitate toward, and more.

In this interview, Elly and I discuss Bleeding Heart Yard, the inspiration for the story and title, how her writing process has changed over her career, dark academia and its appeal, how working in the publishing industry affected her writing process, her recent Miss Marple short story, and much more.

In this interview, Tori and I discuss A Matter of Happiness, her personal interest in bourbon and craft cocktails, what the car in her book symbolizes, her gorgeous cover, the revisions she made while writing the book, how she chose her characters' names, and much more.

In this interview, Alice and I discuss A Ghost of Caribou, the importance of old-growth trees for mountain caribous' existence, how the loss of one species impacts an entire ecosystem, her favorite scenes to write, what surprised her the most when writing this book, her personal barren-ground caribou research, and much more.

In this interview, Joe and I discuss Blood and Ink, timing the publication of his book with the 100th year anniversary of the crime, the birth of tabloid journalism, his long-term interest in historical true crime, his research and the documents that he helped uncover about the case, how the title and cover came about, our fascination with true crime, and much more.

In this interview, Clare and I discuss The Last Party, setting the book on the border between Wales and England, the increased importance and focus on borders as a result of COVID, living in Wales and writing about it, choosing character names, writing a series versus a standalone novel, and much more.

In this interview, Robert and I discuss Racing the Light, how Elvis and Joe have evolved over time, incorporating current events into his novels, creating new storylines over a 19-book series, whether he is a plotter or a pantser, and much more.

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Robin Whitten and I chat about how she created AudioFile Magazine and its role in the publishing industry, how the magazine chooses which audiobooks to review, focusing on the listening experience versus the reading experience, the two podcasts the magazine hosts, serializing Dracula on its Audiobook Break podcast, the Golden Voices and Earphones Awards, and much more.

In this interview, Kate and I discuss Gilded Mountain, her inspiration for this story, the character she enjoyed writing the most, including Mother Jones in her book, exploring the many ways women are silenced, how the cover and title came about, and much more.

In this interview, Louise and I discuss Trespasses, living through The Troubles in the 1970s and setting her book during that time period, how a high level of violence impacts a population, tit-for-tat killings, why she does not use quotation marks, the stunning cover, and much more.

In this interview, Arianna and I discuss Declassified, her feelings about medieval music, the origin of the book's chapter titles, Mozart's obsession with poop, her stellar cover, why she decided to create this guide to classical music and weave her own story into it, how absurdly expensive some violins are, and much more.

In this episode, Elizabeth and I chat about our favorite books that published in Fall 2022.

In this interview, Toya and I discuss Last Summer on State Street, having her book selected by Steph Curry's Literati book club, how she ended up crafting Fifi as an adult reflecting back on the events happening in the book, the way the title and cover came about, what surprised her most when writing this book, preserving Chicago history, and much more.