My 2025 Summer Reading Guide is out! It is an 18-page printable document that contains over 60 reading recommendations including books from spring and summer 2025 as well mystery series recommendations, fiction/nonfiction pairings, fall 2025 titles that I love, backlist titles, and some fall most anticipated reads. I have read every page of over 90 books and sampled at least 40 more to find the ones that really resonated with me and that I can personally recommend. Please fill out this form to indicate which form of payment (a tip in the amount of your choosing), and I will send it to you!

Episodes

June 6, 2023

Interview with Kathleen Grissom - CROW MARY

In this interview, Kathleen and I discuss Crow Mary, how she learned about Crow Mary, researching the Crow culture, the use of the name Mary for Native American women, how Kevin Red Star designed the book cover, what surprised her the most when writing this book, and much more.

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June 3, 2023

Interview with Michelle Hoffman - THE SECOND ENDING

In this interview, Michelle and I discuss The Second Ending, the event that spurred her to write this novel, how she has played the piano since age 5 and still plays every day, including the dueling pianos, the highlight of writing the book, and much more.

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June 1, 2023

Interview with Kristyn Kusek Lewis - Author and Contributing Books Ed…

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Kristyn and I chat about her role as Contributing Books Editor at Real Simple, how she got started in the job, how many books she reads a week, how she selects the titles for Real Simple, her four novels, the favorite part of the job, and much more.

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May 25, 2023

Interview with Jaclyn Goldis - THE CHATEAU

In this interview, Jaclyn and I discuss The Chateau, when the setting is a character, the inspiration for the chateau in the novel, setting the story in Provence, writing from multiple points of view, what surprised her the most when writing The Chateau, creating distinctive voices for her main cha…

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May 24, 2023

Interview with Jane L. Rosen - ON FIRE ISLAND

In this interview, Jane and I discuss On Fire Island, her connection to Fire Island and the strong sense of place in the book, infusing humor and heart into the story, grief in fiction, her cover, blurbing and Elin Hilderbrand's big quote for this book, weaving the publishing industry into the nove…

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May 19, 2023

Interview with Ava Chin - MOTT STREET

In this interview, Ava and I discuss Mott Street, the Chinese Exclusion Act, her family's close connection to Mott Street and how 49 of her family members have lived in this one building on the street, the importance of oral histories, how she is a 5th generation Chinese-American, and much more.

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May 18, 2023

Interview with Lisa Brideau - ADRIFT

In this interview, Lisa and I discuss Adrift, climate fiction, why she chose to set the book in 2038 and the world building she did, helping people gain an understanding of the importance of preserving and spending time in nature, how her day job informs her writing, and much more.

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May 17, 2023

Interview with Paige Toon - ONLY LOVE CAN HURT LIKE THIS

In this interview, Paige and I discuss Only Love Can Hurt Like This, how she came up with the idea for this one, publishing her first book in the United States, her connection to Indianapolis, conducting research on farming, mental health, sibling relationships, and much more.

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May 16, 2023

Interview with Christina Lauren - THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT

In this interview, Christina, Lauren, and I discuss The True Love Experiment, how they decided to tell Fizzy's story, deciding how much steam to include and who drafts those portions of each book, how they balance each other, the benefits of writing together, important romance genre rules, and much…

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May 15, 2023

Interview with Megan Tady - SUPER BLOOM

In this interview, Megan and I discuss Super Bloom, her publishing journey with Zibby Books, leaning into the romance genre, portraying grief including the grief experienced for what might have been, writing a book within a book and how that developed for her, and much more.

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May 4, 2023

Interview with Caroline Bleeke - Executive Editor, Flatiron Books

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Caroline and I chat about her role as an Executive Editor at Flatiron Books, how she got started in the job, what her role as a book editor entails, how book auctions work, her process for acquiring a book, how many titles she works on at a time and how often sh…

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May 3, 2023

Interview with Patti Callahan Henry - THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA

In this interview, Patti and I discuss The Secret Book of Flora Lea, the origin of Whisperwood and how much fun she had creating it, the legend of the Pied Piper, her love of fairy tales, what surprised her the most when writing this one, and much more.

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May 2, 2023

Interview with Laura Hankin - THE DAYDREAMS

In this interview, Laura and I discuss The Daydreams, her inspiration for the book, the fun research she conducted, deciding to have Kat tell the story, the stunning cover, how often young stars flame out and the role media plays in this, and much more.

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April 28, 2023

Ask Me Anything

In this special Ask Me Anything episode, Kelly Hooker asks me your questions about the podcast and my various roles in the book world.

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April 25, 2023

Interview with Elly Griffiths - THE LAST REMAINS

In this interview, Elly and I discuss The Last Remains, how she chose Norfolk for the setting of the series, ending the series at least for now, creating her pseudonym years ago, her favorite books in the series, running contests for people to have their names used for characters in her books, and …

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April 21, 2023

Mary Webber O'Malley and Pamela Klinger-Horn - Their Spring 2023 Reco…

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

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April 20, 2023

Interview with Alex Mar - SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN

In this interview, Alex and I discuss Seventy Times Seven, what constitutes justice, eliminating the death penalty for children, her title and its meaning, forgiveness, how different individuals approach a tragedy and why, and much more.

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April 18, 2023

Interview with Brenda Janowitz - THE AUDREY HEPBURN ESTATE

In this interview, Brenda and I discuss The Audrey Hepburn Estate, the concept of home, writing about starlets and an heirloom item of theirs, indulging a list of Easter eggs at the back of her books, creating the estate as a character in her novel, and much more.

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April 17, 2023

Interview with Lauren Thoman - I'LL STOP THE WORLD

In this interview, Lauren and I discuss I'll Stop the World, being selected by Mindy Kaling's new imprint, time travel and how she incorporated it into her story, the 1980s, selecting character names, source of the title and how song lyrics can be used in book titles, and much more.

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April 16, 2023

Interview with Rory Carroll - THERE WILL BE FIRE

In this interview, Rory and I discuss There Will Be Fire, creating a roadmap regarding the history of the British/Irish conflict, how religion is really a social and political signifier in the conflict, writing true crime, how security changed in the United Kingdom after Brighton, and much more.

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April 12, 2023

Kelly Hooker - Our Favorite Books of January - March 2023

In this episode, Kelly and I chat about our favorite books that published in January through March 2023.

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April 11, 2023

Interview with Megan Miranda - THE ONLY SURVIVORS

In this interview, Megan and I discuss The Only Survivors, the event that inspired this story, setting books by the water or by the woods and how both can feel comforting but also dangerous, why she chose the Outer Banks, how the number 7 factors into this book, and much more.

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April 7, 2023

Interview with Jane Roper - THE SOCIETY OF SHAME

In this interview, Jane and I discuss The Society of Shame, how she decided to write this story, weaving in the themes of scandal, cancel culture, media influence, online shaming and politics, crafting a mother/daughter tale, why the story takes place over 28 days, and much more.

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April 6, 2023

Interview with Jane Green - Founder and Creative Director, Emerald Au…

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Jane and I chat about her role as Founder and Creative Director of Emerald Audio, creating a company to produce female-produced scripted fiction for the podcast platform, launching a screenwriter competition for young voices, the creation of the term soap opera,…

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