The Book Case

We love short story collections. We hope this doesn’t put us in the minority, because when authors do it well the books can be transcendent. Case in point, Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest is Show Don’t Tell. We didn’t find one story in there we didn’t like. Each feels like a breath of fresh aired emotional honesty, a glimpse into the lives of memorable characters at various turning points questioning their own choices. Join us to find out what made Curtis release this collection. And we sit down with Plot Twist, our first romance-based independent bookstore. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is no greater classic in Kate’s mind than The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. So when our audiences liked our holiday revisit of the Christmas Carol, we knew Gatsby had to be next. Join us as we sit down with two of the country’s greatest Gatsby and Fitzgerald scholars. Find out why the book is still so studied, so beloved, and still so relevant to our lives. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geraldine Brooks' latest, Memorial Days, is a deeply personal memoir about the sudden loss of her husband Tony Horowitz. In this beautiful and deeply felt book, Geraldine remembers her husband and honors his legacy and their love. She walks us through the days after his death while simultaneously also taking us through her mourning process. Find out why Memorial Days was important to her survival, and how writing the book helped her and her family deal with the impossible task of grieving. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks March by Geraldine Brooks Horse by Geraldine Brooks Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks After Annie by Anna Quindlen Grief is for People by Sloane Crossley The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander A Widow’s Story by Joyce Carol Oates I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall Overstory by Richard Powers Gilead by Marilynne Robinson The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Politics are heavily loaded in today’s America; we seem to be so angry at one another. Jeffrey Toobin’s newest, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, is a fascinating and oblique way of examining politics, studying the history and use of the Presidential pardon. Both Democrats and Republicans have made huge partisan mistakes with pardons, contributing to the cynical way that pardons are viewed today. Want to know some of the mistakes that led us to such an angry election? Tune in and hear why one of the best political journalists in the country thinks it might have all started with Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy by Jeffrey Toobin The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin American Heiress: The Wild Safa of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right Wing Extremism by Jeffrey Toobin A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President by Jeffrey Toobin The Oath: the Obama White House and the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump by Jeffrey Toobin Too Close to Call: The Thirty Six Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election by Jeffrey Toobin All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff Hobbs is a best-selling author, but the way he listens to his subjects and retells their stories brings a deeply human perspective to really difficult topics. His newest, Seeking Shelter, is the story of homelessness told through the eyes of Evelyn, a devoted and fierce mother of six, determined to keep her kids out of the welfare system. Jeff spent hundreds of hours talking to Evelyn and her kids about surviving the streets as a family (though not unscathed). Jeff is a compelling storyteller, a thoughtful author, and his subjects trust him with some of the toughest moments of their lives. Tune in to find out why. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America by Jeff Hobbs The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs Show Them You’re Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year Before College by Jeff Hobbs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer sees love’s complexities, beauties; its selfishness, difficulties, and maddening passions. Jessica Soffer tells us the story of a 50 year marriage between Abe and Jane as Jane lies dying in a hospital bed. The backdrop of their romance is Central Park, and despite the constant presence of love in the story, it is not overly sentimental or maudlin. Tune in and find out how a writer spent years writing a marriage that lasted decades. Books mentioned in this week's episode: This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam Haslett’s new novel, Mothers & Sons is a brilliant book examining the relationships between mothers and sons from all sorts of angles. The story of Peter and his mother Ann, who have so much in common and yet are estranged. Compelling, original and moving, this a novel that stays with you. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Mothers & Sons by Adam Haslett Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett You are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout King Lear by William Shakespeare Moby Dick by Herman Melville Tinkers by Paul Harding Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best work of sustained fiction in the English language. In other words, it doesn’t get any more prestigious than the Booker. And we are honored this week to have Samantha Harvey who wrote the 2024 Booker winner entitled “Orbital”. When you read her beautiful prose, you’ll know why she won. And when you listen to her tell us how and why she wrote “Orbital”, you’ll be as impressed with Samantha Harvey as we are. Books mentioned in this week's episode: “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey “The Shapeless Unease” by Samantha Harvey “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf “The Western Wind” by Samantha Harvey “The Wilderness” by Samantha Harvey “Dear Thief” by Samantha Harvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If like your drama in a courtroom, Scott Turow is the writer for you. His newest, Presumed Guilty, is the conclusion to the story of Rusty Sabitch, his best known protagonist. It’s a wonderfully written page turner that we bet you won’t be able to put down. If your heart pounds to the sound of a gavel and a bailiff saying ALL RISE, tune in and listen to find out why Scott thinks law is still the noblest pursuit of them all. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow Burden of Proof by Scott Turow One L by Scott Turow Innocence by Scott Turow The Last Trial by Scott Turow Suspect by Scott Turow Reversible Errors by Scott Turow Personal Injuries by Scott Turow The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow Identical by Scott Turow Limitations by Scott Turow Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow Testimony by Scott Turow The Orphan’s Son by Adam Johnson The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud The Natural by Bernard Malamud The Fixer by Bernard Malamud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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