Shows / New Books in Literature
New Books in Literature
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/…
Episodes
- New Books in Literature
Sara Tantlinger, "The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes" (StrangeHouse Books, 2018)
In The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes (StrangeHouse Books, 2018), Sara Tantlinger intertwines fact and speculation to examine inner workings…
- New Books in Literature
Madeline Miller, "Circe" (Little, Brown and Company, 2018)
Circe is an immortal naiad, the daughter of the Sun God, Helios. Ignored or belittled by her divine kin because of her human-sounding voice, dull-colored hair…
- New Books in Literature
Andrea Miller, "The Day The Buddha Woke Up" (Wisdom Publications, 2018)
Andrea Miller is the deputy editor of Lion's Roar magazine (formerly the Shambhala Sun) and the author of two picture books: The Day the Buddha Woke Up and My…
- New Books in Literature
Liza Perrat, "The Swooping Magpie" (Triskele Books, 2019)
Lindsay Townsend is doing well at her high school in Wollongong, Australia. She’s pretty and popular and smart enough that she can spend as much time at the…
- New Books in Literature
LaTanya McQueen, "And It Begins Like This" (Black Lawrence Press, 2018)
Today, I spoke with LaTanya McQueen, whose new collection of essays reckons with intriguing and timely questions about history, race, family, place, and self…
- New Books in Literature
Kurt Raaflaub, "The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works" (Pantheon, 2017)
That the Roman leader Gaius Julius Caesar is so well remembered today for his achievements as a general is largely due to his skills as a writer. In The…
- New Books in Literature
Rosellen Brown, "The Lake on Fire" (Sarabande Books, 2018)
Against the backdrop of a gritty 1890’s Chicago teaming with labor problems, filthy sweatshops, and putrid stockyards, two young immigrants struggle to…
- New Books in Literature
C.P. Lesley, "Song of the Siren" (Five Directions Press, 2019)
Since being sold into slavery as a child and working her way up to becoming concubine and mistress for several different men, Lady Juliana's survival has…
- New Books in Literature
Matthew Binder, "The Absolved" (Black Spot Books, 2018)
Henri is a middle-aged doctor, one of the few employed people left in the U.S, though the reader suspect his job might be in danger. The hospital…
- New Books in Literature
Tade Thompson, "The Rosewater Insurrection" (Orbit, 2019)
Tade Thompson’s The Rosewater Insurrection (Orbit, 2019) takes us deep into the heart of an alien invasion that divides humans among those who welcome the…
- New Books in Literature
Allison Coffelt, "Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip Through Haiti" (Lanternfish Press, 2018)
Allison Coffelt lives and writes in Columbia, Missouri. She works as the director of education and outreach for the annual documentary-based True/False Film…
- New Books in Literature
Isobel O’Hare, "all this can be yours" (University of Hell Press, 2019)
Isobel O’Hare’s all this can be yours (University of Hell Press, 2019) presents a series of erasures crafted from celebrity sexual assault apologies. These…
- New Books in Literature
Mike Chen, "Here and Now and Then" (MIRA, 2019)
Mike Chen’s debut novel Here and Now and Then (MIRA, 2019) is a portrait of patience. The main character, Kin Stewart, waits 18 years for his employer to…
- New Books in Literature
Kate Quinn, "The Huntress" (William Morrow, 2019)
When we think of World War II, we envision a catastrophe of massive proportions: millions killed in concentration camps, on the battlefield, during bombing…
- New Books in Literature
Nicole Walker, "Sustainability, A Love Story" (Ohio State UP, 2018)
Today, I’m talking with Nicole Walker, who’s just published a new book about sustainability. In fact, that’s its title: Sustainability, A Love Story (Ohio…
- New Books in Literature
Megan Burns, "Basic Programming" (Lavender Ink, 2018)
Basic Programming ( Lavender Ink, 2018), the latest collection by Megan Burns, is an exercise in balance. Between grief and healing. Between humanness and…
- New Books in Literature
Pema Tseden, "Enticement" (SUNY Press 2018)
Though most renowned for his award-winning Tibetan films, Pema Tseden, is also a prolific author and translator. Enticement(State University of New York Press…
- New Books in Literature
James Rollins, "Crucible" (William Morrow, 2019)
James Rollins’ books are usually categorized as thrillers, but most of them could easily be labeled science fiction. An instant bestseller, his latest novel…
- New Books in Literature
Caitlin Hamilton Summie, "To Lay to Rest our Ghosts" (Fornite, 2017)
An 8-year-old awaits her father’s return from the war. A young man returns home to northern Minnesota for his sister’s funeral. A woman struggles to survive in…
- New Books in Literature
Micah McCrary, "Island in the City" (U Nebraska Press, 2018)
If you read a lot of nonfiction, you may be familiar with what some call the “memoir quandary”—the complaint that memoir and autobiography are too narrowly…
- New Books in Literature
Pam Jenoff, "The Lost Girls of Paris" (Park Row Books, 2019)
Although World War II has long been a favorite subject in both literature and history, a new interest seems to have developed in the multiple roles played by…
- New Books in Literature
Yang-Sze Choo, "The Night Tiger" (Flatiron Books, 2019)
The Night Tiger (Flatiron Books, 2019) is much more than just a fantasy novel—it’s also a mystery, a historical novel, and a love story. Yang-Sze Choo…
- New Books in Literature
Marshall Ryan Maresca, "The Way of the Shield" (DAW, 2018)
Dayne has the highest respect for the order he’s joined, the Tarians. The Tarian warriors adhere to a chivalrous code of honor, though they live in a time…
- New Books in Literature
Tom Sweterlitsch, "The Gone World" (G.P. Putnam Son's, 2018)
Tom Sweterlitsch’s The Gone World (G.P. Putnam Son's, 2018) tells the story of Navy investigator Shannon Moss, who travels to the future to solve present-day…
- New Books in Literature
Stephen Evans, "The Island of Always" (Time Being Press, 2019)
Minneapolis environmental attorneys Nick Ward and Lena Grant are no longer partners in law or marriage, but their lives are still strongly intertwined. Nick…
- New Books in Literature
Terry Gamble, "The Eulogist" (William Morrow, 2019)
When Olivia Givens and her family leave Ireland in 1819, they have no idea that they are distant victims of a volcanic eruption in Indonesia four years before…
- New Books in Literature
Catherynne M. Valente, "Space Opera" (Saga Press, 2018)
The Eurovision Song Contest has launched careers (think ABBA and Celine Dion), inspired outrageous costumes, and generated spinoffs. The campy competition also…
- New Books in Literature
Ivy Johnson, "Born Again" (The Operating System, 2018)
The poetry and prose in Ivy Johnson’s Born Again (The Operating System, 2018) beautifully dives into the ecstatic expression of religious experience. With its…
- New Books in Literature
Shanthi Sekaran, "Lucky Boy" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2017)
An optimistic young Mexican woman gets pregnant while trying to cross the border into the states. An Indian-American woman struggles with infertility. When…
- New Books in Literature
P. K. Adams, "The Greenest Branch" (Iron Knight Press, 2018)
The twelfth-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen was a remarkable woman by any standards. Known for her musical compositions and mystical prayers…
- New Books in Literature
Peng Shepherd, "The Book of M" (William Morrow, 2018)
The pandemic in Peng Shepherd’s debut novel, The Book of M, starts with magic—the disappearance of a man’s shadow. The occurrence, broadcast worldwide, is…
- New Books in Literature
Laura Catherine Brown, "Made by Mary" (C and R Press, 2018)
It’s 1999, and Ann is a guitar-playing thirty-year-old preschool teacher who dreams of having children even though she was born without a uterus. As Laura…
- New Books in Literature
James Baldwin, "Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood" (Duke UP, 2018)
This 2018 reprint of Little Man, Little Man exemplifies communal and collaborative textual production. The story was written by James Baldwin and illustrated…
- New Books in Literature
Bina Shah, "Before She Sleeps" (Delphinium Books, 2018)
Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps (Delphinium Books, 2018) is set in a near-future Pakistan where a repressive patriarchy requires women to take multiple husbands…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren C. Teffeau, "Implanted" (Angry Robot, 2018)
Emery, Em for short, is a smart and dedicated college graduate. She anticipates a future in which she, and eventually, her parents, can escape the lower strata…
- New Books in Literature
Erica Trabold, "Five Plots" (Seneca Review Books, 2018)
When you picture the midwestern United States, what do you see? For those who live on either coast, the phrase “flyover country,” might come to mind. Wide open…
- New Books in Literature
Patrick B. Mullen, "Right to the Juke Joint: A Personal History of American Music" (U Illinois Press, 2018)
On its back cover, Patrick B. Mullen’s Right to the Juke Joint: A Personal History of American Music(University of Illinois Press, 2018) is aptly described as…
- New Books in Literature
Samantha Silva, "Mr. Dickens and His Carol" (Flatiron Books, 2018)
Christmas is not looking bright for Charles Dickens. His latest novel has proven a massive flop, and that upstart William Thackeray doesn’t miss an opportunity…
- New Books in Literature
Laurie Frankel, "This is How it Always is" (Flatiron Books, 2017)
In her new novel This is How it Always is (Flatiron Books, 2017), Laurie Frankel tells the story of the Walsh-Adams family and how they grapple with the…
- New Books in Literature
Joshua Max Feldman, "Start Without Me" (William Morrow, 2017)
In Joshua Max Feldman's thoughtful, bittersweet novel Start Without Me (William Morrow, 2017), two strangers meet at an airport restaurant, and through the…
- New Books in Literature
Nivedita Lakhera, “Pillow of Dreams” (Nivedita Lakhera, 2017)
Pillow of Dreams (Nivedita Lakhera, 2017) is an intensely emotional and inspirational collection of poetry and art by Dr. Nivedita Lakhera. She experienced a…
- New Books in Literature
Kate Brandes, “The Promise of Pierson Orchard” (Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, 2017)
How do families decide when financial relief outweighs the risks of drilling for natural gas on their land? In Kate Brandes’ novel Promise of Pierson Orchard…
- New Books in Literature
Anthony Ryan, “The Empire of Ashes” (Ace, 2018)
The Draconis Memoria series is comprised of a trilogy set in a world where drake (dragon) blood is a prized commodity, the basis of the trading fortune of the…
- New Books in Literature
Tiffany Quay Tyson, “The Past is Never” (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018)
It’s a hot August day in 1976, the sun beats down in the Mississippi Delta, and three siblings go swimming in the old, forbidden rock quarry. Everyone knows…
- New Books in Literature
Eliot Peper, “Borderless” (47North)
It seems clear that our dependence on the internet will only grow in coming years, offering untold convenience. But how much control will we have to surrender…
- New Books in Literature
Vernon Keeve III, “Southern Migrant Mixtape” (Nomadic Press, 2018)
In this episode, we speak with Vernon Keeve III about his book Southern Migrant Mixtape (Nomadic Press, 2018), a collection published by Nomadic Press. Memoir…
- New Books in Literature
Keith Gessen, “A Terrible Country” (Viking, 2018)
The only job Andrei Kaplan has been able to find since completing his doctorate, is teaching an online, poorly-paid course. So, he agrees to fly to Moscow when…
- New Books in Literature
Dustin Parsons, “Exploded View: Essays on Fatherhood, with Diagrams” (U Georgia Press, 2018)
If you open Dustin Parsons’ new book, you’ll find maps, figures, footprints, a floor plan, silhouettes of roadside birds, charts of riverbed topography…
- New Books in Literature
Sam Hooker, “The Winter Riddle” (Black Spot Books, 2018)
If you are a young moody woman who likes to wear black, you might well be a witch. Or aspire to be a witch. If you needed a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to…
- New Books in Literature
Lee Zacharias, “Across the Great Lake” (U Wisconsin Press, 2018)
Lake Michigan in 1936 is an essential commercial seaway, one that captains and their crews must cross regularly no matter the season, breaking massive ice…
- New Books in Literature
Shelby Yastrow and Tony Jacklin, “Bad Lies” (Mascot Books, 2017)
Questions about freedom of the press, defamation, libel and slander have been in the news quite a bit lately. Bad Lies (Mascot Books, 2017) tells the story of…
- New Books in Literature
John Crowley, “Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr” (Saga Press, 2017)
In Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (Saga Press, 2017), John Crowley provides an account of human history through the eyes of a crow. The story takes flight…
- New Books in Literature
Sue Prideaux, “I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche” (Tim Duggan Books, 2018)
Like most philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is better known for his ideas than for the life he led. In I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche (Tim Duggan Books…
- New Books in Literature
Wade Roush, ed., “Twelve Tomorrows” (MIT Press, 2018)
Science fiction is, at its core, about tomorrow—exploring through stories what the universe may look like one or 10 or a million years in the future. Twelve…
- New Books in Literature
Rachel Z. Arndt, “Beyond Measure” (Sarabande Books, 2018)
Our world today is full of algorithms and metrics designed to help us keep up, to keep track, to keep going. New devices, such as the smartwatch, now make it…
- New Books in Literature
Karin Tidbeck, “Amatka” (Vintage, 2017)
In Karin Tidbeck‘s Amatka (Vintage, 2017), words weave—and have the potential to shred—the fabric of reality. Amatka was shortlisted for the Compton Crook and…
- New Books in Literature
Bernard Cornwell, “War of the Wolf” (Harper, 2018)
As seems appropriate for a character as resourceful, skilled, and self-confident as Uhtred of Bebbanburg, he goes from strength to strength. In addition to a…
- New Books in Literature
Leslie Schweitzer Miller, “Discovery” (Notramour Press, 2018)
When Giselle Gélis runs into David Rettig at a biblical studies conference, she’s not expecting a life-changing experience. On the contrary, the thought…
- New Books in Literature
John Kaag, “American Philosophy: A Love Story” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016)
John Kaag is a professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. American Philosophy: A Love Story (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016) won the…
- New Books in Literature
Rebecca Roanhorse, “Trail of Lightning” (Saga Press, 2018)
In Trail of Lightning (Saga Press, 2018), the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Rebecca Roanhorse draws on Navajo culture and history to tell a gripping…