The Book Case

Our first book show of the year is a first-time novelist, Karissa Chen. Her new book Homecoming is a novel a portrait in longing, an epoch love story between two characters torn apart by political unrest at the time of the Communist Revolution in China. It’s ambitious, it’s beautiful and it’s one of the best historical portrayals of China’s complex histories we have ever read. Join us! Books mentioned in this week's episode: Homecoming by Karissa Chen Written on the Water by Eileen Chang Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013 by DerekWalcott Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we take a look back at last year’s Book Case episodes focussing on the methodology of writing. We love talking to authors about their technique, their inspirations, and we love exploring how they do what they do. So this week we sew together some of our favorite ideas and methods coming from our authors, on how to write a book. We hope that we have some aspiring authors listening, and that there is inspiration to be taken from each of these ideas. Books mentioned in this week's episode: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny The Time of the Child by Niall Williams Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett Colored Television by Danzy Senna Tell me Everything by Elizabeth Strout The History of Sound: Stories by Ben Shattuck Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal Shanghai by Joseph Kanon The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson Table for Two by Amor Towles The Hunter by Tana French After Anna by Anna Quindlen Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We decided to break format this week, and we might do it again at that (it was wonderful). To ring in the holiday week, we had to spend a little time talking about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. And we must admit we had never read it until now. We sit down with Dean Natalie McKnight at Boston University, and Professor Joel Brattin at Worcester Polytechnic. Both top Dickensian scholars in their field, we ask them why this book still universally resonates….hundreds of years later. Books mentioned in this week's episode: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens The Chimes by Charles Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens The Battle of Life: A Love Story by Charles Dickens The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Bleak House by Charles Dickens Hard Times by Charles Dickens Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know we want to talk to an author if we argue long and lustily about a book’s themes. And Like Mother, Like Mother, the newest by Susan Rieger, has so many themes: how we cannot escape our mothers, the concept of whether women can “have it all”, the debate on nature vs. nurture…and so much more. These are characters that will stay with you long after you have finished, and is a great selection for book clubs out there. Take a break from holiday prep and join us for our conversation with Susan Rieger and with Warwick books in La Jolla California. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger The Heirs by Susan Rieger The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger Mosaic of the Mind by Susan Rieger By the Lake by John McGahern This is Happiness by Niall Williams Time of the Child by Niall Williams Netherland by Joseph O’Neill The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Delia Ephron is a courageous woman. Not only did she lose her husband Jerry, she then faced death in the form of leukemia and a very risky bone marrow transplant all while falling in love with her husband Peter. As if all of this weren’t enough, she wrote an amazing memoir about it, Left on Tenth, and THEN she turned it into a major play on Broadway where hundreds of people could react to her story, live. How did she do it and why? We find out on this week’s Book Case. We also talk to the bookstore Francie and French, and tell you where they got that name. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron The Lion is In by Delia Ephron Heartburn by Delia and Nora Ephron Siracusa by Delia Ephron Big City Eyes by Delia Ephron Hanging Up by Delia Ephron Sister Mother Husband Dog Etc. by Delia Ephron The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron Frannie in Pieces by Delia Ephron Love Lost and What I Wore: A Play by Delia and Nora Ephron The Time of the Child by Niall Williams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this, the second part of our interview with Louise Penny we talk to her about the art of writing, how she stays fresh and what her year looks like as she writes and completes a Gamache mystery. We widen our lens on the art of writing with Louise Penny. Stay with us, you won't want to miss it. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny Still Life by Louise Penny A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny The Hangman by Louise Penny A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny Glass Houses by Louise Penny Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny A Better Man by Louise Penny All the Devils Are Here The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton World of Curiosities by Louise Penny The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We read fan comments, and several of you wrote us about Louise Penny. Charlie has always been a fan (he would want me to say that) but Kate was shamefully new to her work. But she is now a HUGE fan and has read them all and could not put down The Grey Wolf, Penny’s newest and her 19th Inspector Gamache in the series. Join us for part 1 of a 2 part Book Case podcast with Louise Penny. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny Still Life by Louise Penny A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny The Hangman by Louise Penny A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny Glass Houses by Louise Penny Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny A Better Man by Louise Penny All the Devils Are Here The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton World of Curiosities by Louise Penny The Time of the Child by Niall Williams One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez House of Spirits by Isabel Allende Monogamy by Sue Miller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Niall Williams releases a book, we positively cheer. His writing feels like coming home to us. A home full of warm fires, good stories, kind neighbors, strong community and unspoken love. All of them and more illuminate his latest: The Time of the Child. We could not recommend this book more. Buy it. And then buy it for everyone on your holiday list who loves to read. And then sit by your holiday fire with all of those folks who read it and listen to this episode of the Book Case. You will be so glad you did. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Time of the Child by Niall Williams This is Happiness by Niall Williams History of Rain by Niall Williams Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams As it Is in Heaven by Niall Williams O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare by Niall Williams and Christine Breen The Fall of Light by Niall Williams In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams and Christine Breen Boy in the World by Niall Williams John by Niall Williams When Summer’s in the Meadow by Niall Williams and Christine Breen Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We don’t do it often, but we are giving two episodes to one conversation: the Great Ann Patchett talking about the Annotated Bel Canto. After we wrap our conversation with her we talk to her bookstore, Parnassus and its manager, Cat Bock. Tune in and find out why we love Ann Patchett so much. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett The Dutch House by Ann Patchett These Precious Days by Ann Patchett The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett State of Wonder by Ann Patchett Commonwealth by Ann Patchett Run by Ann Patchett This is the Story of a Marriage by Ann Patchett Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett Tom Lake by Ann Patchett Taft by Ann Patchett Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Audiobook Version read by Jeremy Irons The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ann Patchett burst on the scene with Bel Canto twenty three years ago. Bel Canto was not her first novel, but many still consider it to be her best (although she disagrees). This week she releases an Annotated Edition of Bel Canto and in it she rereads and notes her triumphs and mistakes on every page. Seriously. A great novel, a great writer making insightful comments on her own writing (in her own handwriting)…if you love reading, writing or Ann Patchett, this is a HUGE treat. In this episode, the first installment of our conversation with Ann, we talk to her about the inspirations behind Bel Canto, and so much of what she thinks she could do better if she wrote it today. Listen and nerd out with us on the writing experience. Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett The Dutch House by Ann Patchett These Precious Days by Ann Patchett The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett State of Wonder by Ann Patchett Commonwealth by Ann Patchett Run by Ann Patchett This is the Story of a Marriage by Ann Patchett Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett Tom Lake by Ann Patchett Taft by Ann Patchett Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Danzy Senna has written a seriously funny and thought provoking book in Colored Television. It will make you laugh, but also make space for anger, pain and frustration as she skewers race, Hollywood, authentic voice, the publishing industry, the Kardashians, navel gazing, philosophy….you name it, there is satire in this book for everyone. Great writing and a great conversation with the author. We are also joined for our fourth writer in residence conversation with J. Ryan Stradal. He tells us why he is working so hard on the first draft of his new novel. Join us. Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: Colored Television by Danzy Senna Caucasia by Danzy Senna New People by Danzy Senna You are Free: Stories by Danzy Senna Where did you Sleep Last Night by Danzy Senna David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee Colours of the Mountain by Da Chen The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Beloved by Tony Morrison The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reginald Dwayne Betts is on a mission is to put a curated library in the cell block of every prison in America. A survivor of the system himself, he has obtained a college degree, a law degree from Yale, and a MacArthur Genius grant. Looking to bring hope to America’s most hopeless places, Bates has founded Freedom Reads, an organization that brings free curated library collections to every prison system that agrees to it. His partner in the endeavor, Debbie Leff, also talks to us about what inspired her about this tremendous organization. No one better personifies the power of reading to change a life, so join us for what we believe is an important discussion about the vitality of libraries and the power of books to heal. Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: The Circumference of a Prison by Reginald Dwayne Betts Doggerel by Reginald Dwayne Betts Felon: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts Redaction by Reginald Dwayne Betts Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paula Hawkins is a master of the mystery, and her new one, The Blue Hour, has one of the best opens and closes to a mystery we have ever read. An author who knows mood and atmosphere, this book will keep you turning the pages long after you told yourself to go to bed. Our bookstore this week is a revisit with one of our favorites, Beacon Hill Books. Join us! Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins Into the Water by Paula Hawkins Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Life After Life by Kate Atkinson The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Osman has one of the most successful literary mystery series of all time: The Thursday Murder Club (just finished filming as a major motion picture too). So why start a new series and why do we love it so much? First, we will read anything this man writes, including his address book, but second, because it’s good, AND funny. We ask Richard what inspired him, why he was crazy enough to start a new series and how. Our bookstore this week is Collected Works in Santa Fe. Join us! Books mentioned in this week's episode: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman The Man who Died Twice by Richard Osman The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman Fade Away by Harlan Coben And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's book case: Emmitt Till’s murder has been a seminal moment in American history ever since it occurred in 1955. Wright Thompson’s new book “The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi” looks at the horror through a whole new prism. Thompson loves his native land of Mississippi but is haunted by the barn where Emmitt Till was murdered. Why is it that we still know so little about one of the ugliest chapters in the history of American race relations? Tune in and find out. Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: The Barn: The Secret History of A Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon and the Things that Last by Wright Thompson The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business by Wright Thompson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United Kingdom has given us some amazing children’s authors: C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Beatrix Potter...and may we add Katherine Rundell. Her newest, Impossible Creatures, is a sensation in Britain, and was declared an instant classic even before its U.S. release. It delivers all the magic promised in the fantastical title. Tune in to our conversation with this fascinating Renaissance literature and Dunne scholar as we talk to her about what’s so addicting about writing for middle schoolers, and where we can find the magical lands she creates. Books mentioned in this week’s episode: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell The Explorer by Katherine Rundell The Girl Savage by Katherine Rundell The Zebra’s Great Escape by Katherine Rundell Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Dunne by Katherine Rundell The Golden Mole: And Other Living Treasure by Katherine Rundell Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you aren’t an Elizabeth Strout fan yet, Tell me Everything, her newest novel, is going to wow you. If you are already devoted fans, like we are, then you are in for a real treat. In Tell Me Everything, she brings together two beloved characters: Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge. The results are truly magical. Our bookstore this week is Snowbound Books in Marquette, Michigan. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a special episode dedicated the art of spoken word poetry. One of our listeners wrote to us mentioning the name of Rudy Francisco and from there we fell down the rabbit hole of spoken word and slam poetry. We talk to Rudy and two other greats of the art, Bianca Phipps and Neil Hilborn. They are going to perform one work each and we will round it out with a conversation with Sam Van Cook. Sam is a founder of Button Poetry that represents and publishes so many of these great artists. Trust us, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Helium by Rudy Francisco Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky by Rudy Francisco Crown Noble by Bianca Phipps The Future by Neil Hilborn About Time by Neil Hilborn Mill, Railways and General Castings by Sam Van Cook Watch their poems online: Hide and Seek by Rudy Francisco Almosts by Bianca Phipps OCD by Neil Hilborn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Fei-Fei Li is one of the most important scientists of our time. Her book, The Worlds I See, chronicles her pioneering efforts in Artificial Intelligence. Does AI scare you? Us too. But read this book and listen to this episode. The book is not just the compelling story of Dr. Li herself, who immigrated as a girl speaking no English but who understands physics like Michael Jordan plays basketball. She is now a worldwide authority on AI and its development. Second, if you are scared of AI, this book explains it and the issues surrounding it both with beauty and with hope. She believes AI is the next step in our evolution, but that it MUST be rooted in humanity. What does that mean? Tune in and find out. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Dr. Fei-Fei Li Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever heard the rumor that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays? So had we, but By Any Other Name, the new novel by Jodi Picoult, may make the best case for it we have ever read. This novel puts forth a theory that Emilia Bassano wrote at least some of them, and she is an unforgettable character. This book succeeds on so many levels — a polemic, a great piece of feminist AND historical fiction, AND it’s a page turner. This is the book Jodi says she was born to write…and we think it’s her best to date. Books mentioned in this week's episode: By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult Mermaid by Jodi Picoult Second Glance by Jodi Picoult Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult The Pact by Jodi Picoult The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult House Rules by Jodi Picoult Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan Where There’s Smoke by Jodi Picoult Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices