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
Lydia Netzer, “How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky” (St. Martin’s Press, 2014)
Astronomy and astrology once went hand in hand: people studied the location and motion of celestial bodies in order to make astrological predictions. In the…
- New Books in Literature
Kathryn Cramer and Ed Finn, “Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future” (William Morrow, 2014)
Before Apollo 11, there was Jules Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon. Before the Internet, there was Mark Twain’s short story From the ‘London Times’ of…
- New Books in Literature
Brian Staveley, “The Emperor’s Blades” (Tor, 2014)
What does it take to be an emperor? That question is at the heart of Brian Staveley‘s debut novel The Emperor’s Blades (Tor, 2014). In this first of a…
- New Books in Literature
Robert Silverberg, “Science Fiction: 101” (Roc, 2014)
Science Fiction: 101 (Roc, 2014) isn’t just an “exploration of the craft of science fiction” as its subtitle says; it’s also about the impact the stories in…
- New Books in Literature
Oliver Ready (trans.), Vladimir Sharov, “Before and During” (Dedalus Books, 2014)
Historical fiction, by definition, supplements the verifiable documentary record with elements of the imagination. Otherwise, it is not fiction but history…
- New Books in Literature
Max Gladstone, “Full Fathom Five” (Tor, 2014)
Full Fathom Five (Tor, 2014) the third and most recent novel in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence, features dying divinities and depositions, idols and…
- New Books in Literature
Andy Weir, “The Martian” (Crown, 2014)
Strand a man on Mars with only a fraction of the supplies he needs to survive and what do you get? A bestseller. Andy Weir‘s The Martian (Crown, 2014) has been…
- New Books in Literature
James L. Cambias, “A Darkling Sea” (Tor, 2014)
History is shaped by cultures interacting either peacefully (through trade or art, for example) or violently, through war or colonialism. There doesn’t seem to…
- New Books in Literature
Shelbi Wescott, “Virulent” (Arthur Press, 2013)
It wasn’t until Shelbi Wescott was deep into her career as a high school teacher that she published her first novel, Virulent: The Release (Arthur Press…
- New Books in Literature
Emmi Itaranta, “Memory of Water” (Harper Voyager, 2014)
It’s clear to most scientists that human activity fuels climate change. What’s less clear is global warming’s long-term impact on geography, ecosystems and…
- New Books in Literature
Greg van Eekhout, “California Bones” (Tor Books, 2014)
Southern California can seem magical, thanks to sunny skies, warm weather, orange groves and movie stars. In Greg van Eekhout‘s California Bones (Tor Books…
- New Books in Literature
Eric LeMay, “In Praise of Nothing: Essays, Memoir, and Experiments” (Emergency Press, 2014)
Some people describe a lonesome highway or the middle of a desert town–even a state like Ohio–as “the middle of nowhere.” But for others, like Eric LeMay, no…
- New Books in Literature
Leah Hager Cohen, “No Book But the World” (Riverhead Books, 2014)
Works of fiction sometimes offer unique windows on society, and so it is with Leah Hager Cohen‘s novel No Book but the World (Riverhead, 2014). The story opens…
- New Books in Literature
Nicole Walker, “Quench Your Thirst with Salt” (Zone 3 Press, 2013)
What’s made you who you are? It’s a straightforward enough question, one that pops up, more or less and with more or less urgency, in most of our lives. And…
- New Books in Literature
Ben Hatke, “Legends of Zita the Spacegirl” (First Second, 2012)
In this sequel to Zita the Spacegirl, Zita faces the perils of being a famous space hero. Ben Hatke once again combines whimsical and lovely drawings with a…
- New Books in Literature
Hugh C. Howey, “Wool” (Simon and Schuster, 2012)
Hugh C. Howey, author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga, is best known for his self-published and bestselling series Wool. This post apocalyptic tale of…
- New Books in Literature
Erika Rae, “Devangelical” (Emergency Press, 2012)
During my first few weeks at college, I concocted one of those dumb ideas that you get when you suddenly have the freedom of an adult without the wisdom of…
- New Books in Literature
Barrie Jean Borich, “Body Geographic” (University of Nebraska Press, 2012)
Every time I fly into Chicago at night, I’m amazed by the grid I see out of the portal: those hundreds of thousands of almost identical lots, 25 by 125 feet…
- New Books in Literature
R.S. Belcher, “Six-Gun Tarot” (Tor, 2013)
R.S. Belcher‘s first book, Six-Gun Tarot (Tor, 2013), has receive widespread praise in the online reviewing community. It tells the fantasy-western-horror…
- New Books in Literature
Ramez Naam, “Nexus” (Angry Robot, 2012)
Ramez Naam is a computer scientist who lives in the pacific northwest. His debut novel, Nexus (Angry Robot, 2012), has received an impressive level of positive…
- New Books in Literature
Elena Passarello, “Let Me Clear My Throat ” (Sarabande Books, 2012)
We all know that iconic scene from the 1951 adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. Stanley Kowalski, played with dopey brutishness by a young Marlon Brando…
- New Books in Literature
Felix Gilman, “The Rise of Ransom City” (Tor, 2012)
I first learned about Felix Gilman‘s work from the influential academic blog Crooked Timber. I proceeded to read Thunderer, Gears of the City, and Half-Made…
- New Books in Literature
Ron McCabe, “Betrayed” (Telemachus Press, 2012)
As a journalist and author I usually work in factual financial news and analysis. Recently however, I have noticed an apparent increase in books that wrap the…
- New Books in Literature
Dinty W. Moore, “The Rose Metal Press Guide to Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers” (Rose Metal Press, 2012)
In 1997, writer Dinty W. Moore launched a literary journal on a then-novel platform: the World Wide Web. The journal, which he called Brevity, created a forum…
- New Books in Literature
Anthony Bale, “The Book of Marvels and Travels” (Oxford UP, 2012)
Anthony Bale‘s new translation of Sir John Mandeville’s classic account is an exciting and engaging text that’s accessible to a wide range of readers. The Book…
- New Books in Literature
Alastair Reynolds, “Blue Remembered Earth” (Gollancz, 2012)
Blue Remembered Earth (Gollantz, 2012) takes place roughly 150 years in the future. Climate change, as well as the political and economic rise of Africa, have…
- New Books in Literature
Madeline Ashby, “vN: The First Machine Dynasty” (Angry Robot Books, 2012)
Amy Peterson is a five-year old self-replicating android who lives with her synthetic mother and human “father.” Her struggles might be that of any…
- New Books in Literature
Meagan Spooner, “Skylark” (Carolrhoda Books, 2012)
Lark Ainsley lives within a near-hermetically sealed city located in a world scarred and depleted my magical wars. The Architects, who oversee the City…
- New Books in Literature
D.B. Jackson, “Thieftaker” (Tor Books, 2012)
“D.B. Jackson” is David B. Coe’s pen name for his new historical-fantasy series, The Thieftaker Chronicles. Thieftaker (Tor Books, 2012) centers on Ethan…
- New Books in Literature
Ken MacLeod, “The Night Sessions” (Pyr, 2012)
I met Ken MacLeod when we participated in a sequence of “Science Fiction and International Orders” panels at the London School of Economics in the winter of…
- New Books in Literature
Alison Miers, “Charlinder’s Walk” (CreateSpace, 2011)
In our very first fiction-book interview on New Books in Secularism, we chat with Alyson Miers, author of Charlinder’s Walk (CreateSpace, 2011). In this…
- New Books in Literature
Francis Spufford, “Red Plenty: Industry! Progress! Abundance! Inside the Fifties Soviet Dream” (Greywolf Press, 2012)
Historians are not supposed to make stuff up. If it happened, and can be proved to have happened, then it’s in; if it didn’t, or can’t be documented, then it’s…
- New Books in Literature
Gregory Nagy on Homer’s “Iliad”
In this installment of Faculty Insight, produced in partnership with Harvard University Extension School, ThoughtCast speaks with the esteemed Harvard…
- New Books in Literature
Daniel Black, “Perfect Peace” (St. Martin’s Press, 2010)
If a mother raises her biologically male child as a daughter instead of a son, what would be the effects on the family, the community, the church? Indeed what…
- New Books in Literature
Nikky Finney, “Head Off and Split: Poems” (TriQuarterly/Northwestern UP, 2010)
UPDATE: Nikky Finney’s Head Off and Split has been named a finalist for a National Book Award. Congratulations, Nikky, from the folks at New Books in African…