Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

On our 2022 Fall Preview episode, Beth Macy discusses Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis (Little, Brown, Aug. 16), “a profoundly disconcerting book that, with luck, will inspire reform to aid the dopesick and punish their suppliers” (starred review). Then our editors highlight a few of their favorite titles from the Fall Preview issue of Kirkus Reviews. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, sponsored by Amazon Original Stories, Mohsin Hamid joins us to discuss the novel The Last White Man (Riverhead, Aug. 2), “a provocative tale that raises questions of racial and social justice at every turn” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Monique Roffey joins us to The Mermaid of Black Conch (Knopf, July 12). Kirkus: “In this Costa Award–winning novel, the discovery of a mermaid makes waves on a fictional Caribbean island….A mournful tour through Caribbean history via one of its most indelible legends.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oscar Hokeah joins us to discuss Calling for a Blanket Dance (Algonquin, July 26), an outstanding debut novel about the life of Ever Geimausaddle, a Kiowa-Cherokee-Mexican American man, artfully told from the perspectives of 11 family members, as well as his own. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chrysta Bilton joins us to discuss Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings (Little, Brown, July 19), the debut memoir Kirkus calls “a wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan joins us to discuss Big Girl (Liveright, July 12). Kirkus: “In this debut novel set in 1990s Harlem, a young girl learns—and redefines—what it means to take up space….A lyrical and important coming-of-age novel.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New York Times-bestselling author Tom Perrotta joins us to discuss Tracy Flick Can’t Win (Scribner, June 7). In this 10th novel from the “master of dark comedy,” “the campaign to create a Hall of Fame at a suburban New Jersey high school lures a few skeletons out of their closets” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Literary critic and cultural historian Joanna Scutts joins us to discuss Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club That Sparked Modern Feminism (Seal Press, June 7), “an enlightening contribution to the history of feminism” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ada Calhoun joins us to discuss Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me (Grove, June 14). Kirkus: “Art critic Peter Schjeldahl's daughter takes a shot at finishing her father's derailed biography of Frank O'Hara and ends up writing a fascinating memoir….A wonderfully convoluted, catty, candid, and clever piece of work” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joseph Han joins us to discuss the novel Nuclear Family (Counterpoint, June 7), “a raucous and adroit debut” in which “an immigrant family is haunted by the past” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.