New Books Network Podcast

The Common Magazine September 29, 2023

Graces Folly

A Conversation with Jake Lancaster

Jake Lancaster

Hosted by Emily Everett

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Jake Lancaster speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Grace’s Folly,” which appears in The Common’s most recent issue. Jake talks about writing stories that lean into the …

Burned by Books September 29, 2023

Terrace Story

Hilary Leichter

Hosted by Chris Holmes

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Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn't there before, and …

Literature September 25, 2023

Joy Rides Through the Tunnel of Grief

A Memoir

Jessica Hendry Nelson

Hosted by Jana Byars

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Jessica Hendry Nelson, Joy Rides through the Tunnel of Grief (University of Georgia Press, 2023) is a compelling memoir in essays. When Nelson's father died from an accident caused by complications …

Academic Life September 21, 2023

A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories

Chelsea T. Hicks

Hosted by Christina Gessler

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Today’s book is A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories (The Unnamed Press, 2022) by Chelsea T. Hicks. The heroes of A Calm and Normal Heart are modern-day adventurers—seeking out new places to …

Literature September 19, 2023

The Heart of It All

Christian Kiefer

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

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In The Heart of It All (Melville House, 2023), Christian Kiefer imagines a group of factory workers and their families living in a once vibrant Ohio town during the Trump …

Poetry September 19, 2023

The Asking

New and Selected Poems

Jane Hirshfield

Hosted by Tricycle Magazine

When poet Jane Hirshfield first arrived at Tassajara Monastery nearly fifty years ago, a Zen teacher told her that it was a good idea to have a question to practice …

Historical Fiction September 18, 2023

Harlem After Midnight

Louise Hare

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

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After a tumultuous journey across the Atlantic (detailed in last year’s Miss Aldridge Regrets), Lena Aldridge has reached New York City only to discover that the Broadway show that lured …

Fantasy September 17, 2023

Godkiller

Hannah Kaner

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

Hannah Kaner’s debut novel Godkiller (Harper Voyager, 2023) takes place in Middren, a country where gods have been banned as the result of a brutal civil war. The novel follows …

Poetry September 15, 2023

The Alchemy of the Beast

Alyssa Noelle Coelho

Hosted by Megan Wildhood

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"I wept as time stopped, and I wept as time refused to cease." Grieving her faith, her love, and her identity, twenty-one-year-old Scarlett V. Leonelli is devastated by an unexpected …

Literature September 12, 2023

American Scholar

A Novel

Patrick E. Horrigan

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

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Patrick Horrigan’s novel, American Scholar (Lethe Press 2023) centers on James (Jimmy) Fitzgerald, who teaches American Literature at a prestigious university, is in a happy (open) marriage that allows him …

Poetry September 12, 2023

The Orange Tree

Dong Li

Hosted by Anna Zumbahlen

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Dong Li’s The Orange Tree (U Chicago Press, 2023) is a collection of narrative poems that braids forgotten legends, personal sorrows, and political upheavals into a cinematic account of Chinese history …

Burned by Books September 12, 2023

The Flounder

Stories

John Fulton

Hosted by Chris Holmes

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The riddles of desire, youth, old age, poverty, and wealth are laid bare in this radiant collection from a master of the form. From inner-city pawnshops to high-powered law firms …

Science Fiction September 7, 2023

The Death I Gave Him

Em X. Liu

Hosted by Brenda Noiseux

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Em X. Liu’s The Death I Gave Him (Solaris, 2023) brings a science fiction twist to Shakespeare’s beloved Hamlet. Working at Elsinore Labs, Hayden Lichfield and his father are in …

Literature September 5, 2023

I Surrender

A Memoir of Chile's Dictatorship, 1975

Kathleen M. Osberger

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

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Today I talked to Kathleen Osberger about her book I Surrender: A Memoir of Chile's Dictatorship, 1975 (Oribis Books, 2023). In 1975, Kathleen Osberger, who’d just graduated from Notre Dame University …

African American Studies September 5, 2023

The Girl in the Yellow Poncho

A Memoir

Kristal Brent Zook

Hosted by Katrina Anderson

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At five years old, Kristal Brent Zook sat on the steps of a Venice Beach, California, motel trying to make sense of her white father’s abandonment, which left her feeling …

Literature September 5, 2023

Hush Harbor

Anise Vance

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

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In his debut novel, Hush Harbor (Hannover Square Press, 2023), Anise Vance takes readers inside a race revolution as a resistance group takes America's racial reckoning into its own hands. After the murder of …

Military History September 3, 2023

Out of Mesopotamia

Salar Abdoh

Hosted by AJ Woodhams

Saleh, the narrator of Out of Mesopotamia (Akashic Books, 2020), is a middle-aged Iranian journalist who moonlights as a writer for one of Iran's most popular TV shows but cannot keep …

Burned by Books September 1, 2023

Games and Rituals

Stories

Katherine Heiny

Hosted by Chris Holmes

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Today I talked to Katherine Heiny about Games and Rituals: Stories (Knopf, 2023). The games and rituals performed by Heiny's characters range from mischievous to tender: In "Bridesmaid, Revisited," Marlee, suffering from …

Historical Fiction September 1, 2023

The Last Saxon King

A Jump in Time Novel (Book One)

Andrew Varga

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

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Daniel Renfrew is a typical American sixteen-year-old. His main gripe when the story opens is that his dad insists on home schooling even though Daniel would much prefer attending the …

Literature August 31, 2023

Ravage & Son

Jerome Charyn

Hosted by Bob Batchelor

Ravage & Son (Bellevue Literary Press, 2023) by Jerome Charyn is a novel set in the Lower East Side of New York City in the early years of the twentieth …