Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

Anonymous discusses Becoming Duchess Goldblatt (HMH, July 7), the story of the person behind the saucy-yet-supportive Twitter persona that became a favorite of the literati and Lyle Lovett. Kirkus: “A fascinating memoir by a 21st-century original” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Kate Messner, Brandy Colbert, Bakari Sellers, and Talia Hibbert. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Fully Booked: Summer Reading 2020! In this special episode, editor in chief Tom Beer joins host Megan Labrise to present the hottest books for the sultriest months. First up, young readers editors Vicky Smith and Laura Simeon give their top picks in children’s, middle-grade, and YA books for July and August. Then fiction editor Laurie Muchnick and nonfiction editor Eric Liebetrau sign on for a second segment celebrating novels, memoirs, essay collections, and more. We’ve got frontlist, we’ve got backlist, we’ve got reading recommendations from former Kirkus Prize winners and finalists, and one spirited debate on the merits of summer reading programs. You won’t want to miss it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jia Lynn Yang discusses One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 (W.W. Norton, May 19), an outstanding history of the fight for U.S. immigration reform. Exploring questions of what it means to be an “American,” who gets to be one, and who gets to decide, Yang’s authorial debut is “critical in understanding today’s immigrations issues” (starred review). Then Kirkus’ editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Lauren Soloy, Deb Caletti, Masha Gessen, and Brit Bennett. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Penguin Young Readers Group, publishers of Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/contest/darius-the-great/). In our lead interview, bestselling novelist Max Brooks discusses Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (Dey Street, June 16). Then Kirkus’ editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Ben Clanton, Abdi Nor Iftin, Robert Kolker, and Connie Schultz. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

TIME national political correspondent Molly Ball discusses Pelosi (Henry Holt, May 5), an intriguing portrait of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking woman in U.S. government history. Ball’s “top-notch political biography” is “a cradle-to-today portrait of a master politician who ‘shattered the “marble ceiling” and blazed a new trail for women’” (starred review). Then Kirkus’ editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Jules Feiffer, Lillian Clark, Willie Mays with John Shea, and Elin Hilderbrand. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Megha Majumdar discusses her highly anticipated debut novel, A Burning (Knopf, June 2). Set in contemporary Kolkata, A Burning opens with an extraordinary act of domestic terrorism at a train station. Amid mass confusion and alarm, Jivan, a Muslim woman living in a nearby slum, posts a Facebook message that proves incendiary, landing her in prison. Her voice is soon joined by others in a polyphonic tale exploring politics, class, ambition, labor, and love. Then Kirkus’ editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Stella Dreis, Kimberly Drew, and Madeleine St. John. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Journalist James Nestor discusses Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art (Riverhead, May 26), a deep dive into the history and function of the human respiratory system, and the changes we can make to start breathing better today. Then Kirkus’ editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Jeremy Tankard and Hermione Tankard, Lisa Allen-Agostini, and Ilhan Omar. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Veteran journalist Jim Newton discusses Man of Tomorrow: The Relentless Life of Jerry Brown (Little, Brown, May 12), a brilliant biography of California’s self-reliant, iconoclastic longest-serving governor. Then our editors offer their reading recommendations for the week, with books by Sarah S. Brannen and Lucia Soto, Candy J. Cooper and Marc Aronson, and Curtis Sittenfeld See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

NYT multimedia reporter Walter Thompson-Hernandez discusses The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland (William Morrow, April 28), chronicling a year in the lives of the men and women fighting to keep black cowboy culture alive in Los Angeles. And in a sponsored interview, we talk with child psychologist Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, author of When the World Feels Like a Scary Place: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents & Worried Kids (Workman, May 12). Then our editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Carlos Hernandez, Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, Erik Larson, and Joanna Hershon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode Tori Amos discusses the powerful new memoir chronicling her journey through music and activism. Resistance: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change, and Courage (Atria, May 5) interweaves song lyrics and wide-ranging personal stories, exploring the artist’s charge in the face of threats to freedom and democracy. In a sponsored interview, we talk with Caldecott-winning author-illustrator Matthew Cordell, whose latest book is Hello, Neighbor! The Kind and Caring World of Mr. Rogers (Holiday House, April 7). Then our editors make their weekly reading recommendations, with books by Carlos Hernandez, Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, Erik Larson, and Joanna Hershon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.