The Book Case

Inci Atrek is a debut novelist to watch. We recommend going out and picking up a copy of her debut, Holiday Country, a novel it would be easy to overlook and underestimate. It’s much deeper than it appears at the surface. An intimate portrait of multi-generational mother-daughter relationships, it’s also a story about growing up. Growing up is never easy, but adding two countries of origin and two female role models not born in the U.S. makes it that much harder. We are back interviewing a bookstore this week with The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont, whose owner is also a children’s author. Join us.Books mentioned in this week's episode: Holiday Country by Inci Atrek Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty How do you Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy New Year! The first episode of the year is a truly terrific mystery. Entertaining in the extreme, this is a whodunnit that breaks the mold. Ashley Elston, its author, has written plenty of quality YA titles, but First Lie Wins is her first adult mystery. In this game of cat and mouse, the reader is constantly asking which character is telling the truth….and we never figured it out. A great start to the new year, this book invites you to just relax and enjoy the ride. We sure did. We are taking next week off…but please come back the week after when we talk to author Kaveh Akbar, who has authored the intriguing and funny novel, Martyr!Books mentioned in this week's episode: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston This is Our Story by Ashley Elston Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier The Trackers by Charles Frazier Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's All the Little Bird-Hearts is a novel that will stay with you long after you close the book. It takes place in the 1980’s, and the narrator and heroine is the autistic mother of a teenage daughter. She worries she is on the verge of losing the only person she has ever really loved, and of being seduced by the magnetic social butterflies that are her new neighbors. Viktoria Barlow has autism as well, and her novel is a beautiful exploration of motherhood, friendship and one character’s experience of autism. Long listed for the Booker Prize, Viktoria’s words are lyrical and haunting. This is a great episode on which to end the year. Happy 2024!!!Books mentioned in this week’s episode: All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow Strong Female Character by Fern Brady Geek Girl by Holly Smale Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale The Secret History by Donna Tartt Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mitch Albom became a household name with his bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie. His new novel, The Little Liar, is an original and fascinating look at the complexities of truth and what motivates us to lie. It takes place during the Holocaust, at the height of which a little boy tells a lie that affects the rest of his life… coloring all that he is and everything he does. We thought this was a fascinating book and we wanted to talk to Mitch about what drove him to write it. We get a little philosophical in this episode, although every issue is worth talking about this holiday season. Happy Holidays to you and yours!Books mentioned in this week's podcast: The Little Liar by Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom The Five Strangers You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you haven’t heard of Patricia Cornwell you’ve never been to a bookstore, or an airport, or a library…heck. She is everywhere and there is a reason for that. Prolific AND talented, she has written 27 mystery novels centered around her medical examiner heroine, Kay Scarpetta, and she shows no sign of stopping. We talk about what it’s like to create and shepherd a character like Scarpetta, and what keeps her going. We then have a brief talk about our favorite books of the year. We hope you will join us.Books mentioned in this week's episode: Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell From Potter’s Field by Patricia Cornwell Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell Scarpetta’s Winter Table by Patricia Cornwell Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell Dust by Patricia Cornwell Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell Chaos by Patricia Cornwell Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell Livid by Patricia Cornwell Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell Predator by Patricia Cornwell Spin by Patricia Cornwell Quantum by Patricia Cornwell The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar Absolution by Alice McDermott The General and Julia by Jon Clinch Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers Central Park West by James Comey Swamp Story by Dave Barry A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we first began the podcast, our main goal was to inspire more folks to read. But we also talked about how we might offer content to help parents inspire their kids become life long readers. It isn’t easy, and there is no magic bullet, but we have some of the best of the best to tell us how to do it and why it’s so important. Emma Lee is the Associate Director of the Fred Rogers Institute at St Vincent College, Kate DiCamillo is a beloved children’s author, and Holly Weinkauf is the owner of the Red Balloon Children’s Bookshop in St. Paul. We spoke with them for a piece we did for Good Morning America that aired at the end of November. But we loved these conversations so much we wanted to bring them to our podcast audience, extended. There is some great advice here, and it’s worth hearing what these remarkable women have to say.Books mentioned in this week's episode: Mercy Watson is Missing by Kate DiCamillo The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo The Mercy Watson Series by Kate DiCamillo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The General and Julia is a wonderful novel, delving deeply into the final days of Ulysses S. Grant. Not many know this, but at the end of his life, Grant was financially destitute and in a race to write his memoirs before his death. He knew that if he wrote his memoirs and did it well, it would leave his family financially stable. His love for his wife and children knew no bounds, and his race was born of love. Like Grant Jon Clinch is a wonderful writer, and if you like this, and you will, check out Finn and Marley too (both amazing - both Clinch historical novels). For our bookstore this week, we talk to an old friend who has taken two independent bookstore road trips. What’s an independent bookstore road trip? Tune in and find out.Books mentioned in this week’s episode: The General and Julia by Jon Clinch Marley by Jon Clinch Finn by Jon Clinch The Thief of Auschwitz by Jon Clinch Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch Grant by Ron Chernow Personal Memoirs of US Grant by Ulysses S. Grant edited by John F. Marszalek The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Trackers by Charles Frazier Nightwoods by Charles Frazier Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Absalom, Absalom! By William Faulkner Grendel by John Gardner Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Cain The World Below the Brine by Walt Whitman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lawrence Wright’s newest novel, Mr. Texas, revolves around Texas politics and how they relate to our national political conversation, and he knows from where he speaks. Not only is he a native Texan, but he has also written one of the definitive NON fiction books about Texas, (God Save Texas). Both books are insightful, prescient, and, this might surprise you, very funny. Mr. Texas is about modern politics, the price of selling your soul, the importance of Texas politics, how to talk to each other, and whether or not one person can make a difference in this world. Our bookstore this week is Werner Books and Coffee in Erie PA.Books mentioned in this week's episode: Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright The End of October by Lawrence Wright The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright Thirteen Days in September: The Dramatic Story of the Struggle for Peace by Lawrence Wright The Terror Years: From Al Qaeda to the Islamic State by Lawrence Wright Sheets by Brenna Thummler Lights by Brenna Thummler Delicates by Brenna Thummler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You might know the historical fiction of Jennifer Vanderbes, but just wait until you read Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims. Think thalidomide didn’t affect mothers and children in this country? Think again. Wonder Drug is the hidden American story of thalidomide: yes, it did get to pregnant women and yes there were children born effected by phocomelia in this country. Although the system denied their existence for decades, this beautifully researched book tells their story, as well as the deeply disturbing truth about how this drug was distributed behind the backs of the FDA. Join us.Book mentioned in this week's episode: Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims by Jennifer Vanderbes Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Being the president of anything takes vision, ambition, and leadership. Being the president of a leading academic institution takes courage (and a whole lot of smarts). Leading Wellesley College for almost 20 years while it ushered in the new millennium took Dr. Diana Chapman Walsh. In her new memoir, The Claims of Life, she gives you a front row seat to the front office of Wellesley and walks you how she got there. Diana is also one of our nearest and dearest friends….and we loved talking to her. Our bookstore this week is Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vermont.Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Claims of Life by Diana Chapman Walsh A Synthesizing Mind: A Memoir from the Creator of Multiple Intelligences Theory by Howard Gardner Death at an Early Age by Jonathan Kozol North Woods by Daniel Mason Save me a Seat!: A Life with Movies by Rick Winston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices