There’s something about the fall that causes us to add even more books to our ever-growing TBR pile. Last September was one of the first times we topped 30 books, and here we are a little more than a year later with 31. As always, buy all of these books from your local indie bookseller, Bookshop.org, or Libro.fm. Stay safe, get vaccinated, and keep reading!—Daniel Ford
We're suckers for dog stories and Jenna Blum is one of our favorite authors. There's no way we make it through this without blubbering uncontrollably, right?
I wouldn't trust my brothers with my baseball card collection and here is Lee Child trusting his brother Andrew with Jack Reacher, one of the most beloved characters in crime fiction. The result is that Reacher is better than ever.—Daniel Ford
Nick Davis' Competing with Idiots hooked us from the title and subject matter alone, but the paragraph in the prologue that really got us was, "Dad took a deep, theatrical sigh when I asked him these questions, the kind a certain kind of man loves to take when he's about to lay some serious shit on his son. Then he told me a story about my mom."
We're pretty sure Gavin Edwards' writing routine is get up, write an entire book, have breakfast. We can't wait to hear Pop Literacy say "motherfucker" 500 times when Gavin is on the show next.
Ted Flanagan has been a supportive fan of ours for years, so it's nice to return the favor and champion his debut novel. You won't be able to put it down.
We love all things Sutton Foster. Some of us here would harm themselves while knitting or crafting, but that won't stop us from picking up the Broadway and television star's new book. This is also an open invitation to appear on our or Pop Literacy (or both!).
We're pro-Jonathan Franzen and are looking forward to diving into the first book in a new trilogy (and hate-watching the love-hate relationship some readers have with him on social media).
To all the people telling us we have to listen to this audiobook ASAP: We're on it (thanks Libro.fm!). We also recommended pairing Dave Grohl's memoir with "Sonic Highways" and "Studio City."
If this cover doesn't scream Writer's Bone, we don't know what does.
We're biased because Rachel Harrison likes to guest host on our show, but we think she's already stamped herself as one of horror's best scribes. We flew (on a broom, of course) through her new book in one reading session. This must have been a blast to write. You might never look at a spider the same way again. And there may not be a better book cover and author combination in the history of written letters.
When Colson Whitehead calls a novel "a badass debut," it should go on your #TBR list immediately. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is high on our list of authors we want to host on the show.
We absolutely loved Jess Lourey's Unspeakable Things. We can't wait to lose sleep all over again while reading her latest Litani.
The great spy writer's final completed novel. What a career. What a life.
Wicked author Gregory Maguire stopped by the show recently to chat about his new series Another Day, which begins with The Brides of Maracoor, featuring Rain, the granddaughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, perhaps now better known as Elphaba. Readers last saw Rain in Out of Oz, the final chapter in The Wicked Years series as she was, appropriately enough, flying out of Oz on her broom. In The Brides of Maracoor, we find her washed up on the shore of a mysterious without a memory and only a faint realization of the powers she possesses. Oh yeah, and she’s in a totally new world that has more than a few surprises in store.
When Daniel Paisner tells us to read a book, we listen. He mentions this book a few times on As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast as a shining example of a celebrity memoir.
Who wouldn't want to take a nature walk with Nick Offerman?
Perhaps we'll enjoy this with a few glasses of wine and live-tweet our reading experience.
We'd like to see this dueling author narrative structure become the next literary trend.
Paging music gurus Mike Nelson and Rob Masiello. We may have to get them on the same episode to chat about this book. Also, do yourself a favor and read The New York Times Magazine profile featuring Questlove.
We might need to start a book club that only talks about this book for a couple months.
Hat tip to author James Tate Hill for putting this book on our radar. Every time we think we're done reading apocalypse novels, a great one like this pulls us back in.
The description for Miriam Toews' Fight Night roped us in with “a love letter to mothers and grandmothers, and to all the women who are still fighting―painfully, ferociously." You'll find this book on just about every list out there and from what we've read so far, there's a good reason for that.
We're inclined to enjoy anything Amor Townes writes, but Kirkus Reviews may have moved his latest all the way up our book pile, calling it "a remarkable blend of sweetness and doom."
We find ourselves at an Italian grandmother’s table every week, so we're more than ready to gorge ourselves on Stanley Tucci's latest book Taste: My Life Through Food. We will be taking all of the cannoli.
Lucy Barton is back!
Author's Corner
One of our favorite interviews from this past year was with author and activist Carol Anderson, who we had on to chat about her book The Second: Rage and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. She shared with us a handful of other titles that should go on your social justice reading list. Collect them all at your local indie bookstore and keep fighting the good fight. Keep reading and writing, everyone.
One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson
Give Us the Ballot by Ari Berman
The Right to Vote by Alexander Keyssar
The Fight to Vote by Michael Waldman
