Sarah Damoff joins Book Gang to discuss The Burning Side, a powerful family saga of marriage, memory, and the secrets that bind generations.

This week’s Book Gang conversation welcomes back acclaimed author Sarah Damoff, whose new novel, The Burning Side, delivers a gripping book club premise: a multigenerational family forced to rebuild after tragedy, now under one roof.

Opening with a house fire, readers witness the unraveling of the tangled lives of April and Leo, who must seek shelter with April’s parents—only to discover old wounds and new truths simmering beneath the surface of Deb and Billy’s life as they navigate carrying a heavy secret of their own.

Damoff draws on her experience as a social worker to craft heart-wrenching, compassionate scenes of family struggle, childhood trauma, and the hard choices that shape marriage and parenthood.

In this inviting and deeply immersive conversation, we discuss:

📚 Breaking through without a platform: Sarah shares the behind-the-scenes story of launching The Bright Years—without a major social media following, publishing pedigree, or built-in audience—and how her debut still became a national bestseller and Goodreads Choice finalist. We discuss what truly drives word-of-mouth success, the role of authentic storytelling, and what her experience reveals about connecting with readers in today’s book world.

📚 What happens after “happily ever after?”: Sarah explores the overlooked middle and later years of marriage—when routines settle, old dreams fade, and couples like Leo and April or Deb and Billy face new tensions and vulnerable reckonings. We discuss how these shifting roles and quiet heroics shape both relationships at the novel’s heart.

📚 Writing memory and identity in decline: We talk with Sarah about the emotionally charged process of bringing Billy’s early-onset dementia to life on the page. She shares how she honored both the vibrant man Billy was and the person he’s becoming, capturing the heartbreak of losing not just memories, but layers of identity.

📚 FREE BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST: Books About Fires

Discover 19 must-read books about fires where fire ignites drama, mystery, and transformation—perfect picks for book clubs and fans of immersive stories. Patrons receive a printable checklist and a bonus spoiler chat with Sarah Damoff, streaming today.

Meet Sarah Damoff

Sarah Damoff is the author of the debut novel, The Bright Years, published by Simon & Schuster in 2025—a national bestseller and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, now translated into fourteen languages. Her writing has appeared in Oprah Daily, Porter House Review, Ruminate Magazine, and Open Global Rights. She holds a Child Protection Certification from Harvard University and lives with her family in Dallas, Texas, where she has worked as a social worker. The Burning Side arrives in stores on May 19th.

Download Today's Show Transcript

NEW: Download the 2026 Summer Reading Guide (57-Pages of Bookish Fun With 70 Tried-and-True Recommendations)

NEW BOOK LIST: 19 Books About Fires

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

Janelle Brown Interview (What Kind of Paradise)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

Sarah Damoff - The Bright Years Podcast Interview

Christina Baker Kline (The Foursome) Podcast Interview

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Dallas Museum of Art Arts & Letters Program

Maggie O’Farrell

Valley of Forgetting by Jennie Erin Smith

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Christina Baker Kline joins Book Gang to discuss The Foursome, a novel inspired by her family ties to the descendants of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker.

This week’s Book Gang conversation welcomes #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline, whose new novel The Foursome delivers a captivating book club premise inspired by the true story of Chang and Eng Bunker. Kline’s narrative follows the conjoined twins from their international stardom to settling in North Carolina, where they seek love and family, culminating in an unexpected and unforgettable love story with sisters Adelaide and Sarah.

Kline invites readers into her flourishing career, where she reflects on Orphan Train’s success and what’s changed since she began in the 1990s. For writers and readers alike, she offers compelling advice on weathering publishing changes.

In this inviting and deeply immersive conversation, we discuss:

📚 Love and loyalty knotted together: Step inside the Bunker household, where devotion, sacrifice, and longing shape both the extraordinary and everyday. Kline discusses the choreography required to flesh out the complexity of penning four lives forever entwined, and how love perseveres—and sometimes fractures—under the most unusual circumstances.

📚 Identity, exploitation, and survival: Through one sister’s intimate perspective, we witness the complexities of life alongside the Bunker twins—how questions of belonging, power, and survival shape their world, and the uncomfortable truths that arise when victims become participants in the very systems that once oppressed them as Kline explores the harder truths woven into their lives.

📚 Sights, sounds, and secrets of history: Kline transports us to nineteenth-century North Carolina in vivid detail, and discusses her literary influences who shaped the bustling farmsteads and kitchen tables, all made possible through the shadows of slavery. With 21 children and two intimate households, Kline discusses how this stretched her as a storyteller.

📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST: BOOKS ABOUT TWINS

Discover 43 books about twins that span thrillers, historical fiction, and heartfelt dramas—exploring the unique bond only these unique siblings can share. Perfect for fans of The Foursome.

Meet Christina Baker Kline

A #1 New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including Orphan Train, The Exiles, Please Don’t Lie (co-authored with Anne Burt), and the forthcoming The Foursome (May 2026), Christina Baker Kline is published in more than 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities, and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

NEW: Buy the 2026 Summer Reading Guide (help our show stay on air)

Download Today's Show Transcript

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

Janelle Brown Interview (What Kind of Paradise)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

UPDATED BOOK LIST: 43 Books About Twins for Double the Drama

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

Christopher Paolini

Please Don’t Lie by Anne Burt and Christina Baker Kline

Watch Her Lie by Anne Burt and Christina Baker Kline

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

Historical Fiction: The Pleasures and Perils of Writing About Other Eras

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The 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide is here! Discover 70 must-read titles and 57 pages of fresh picks for your best summer yet.

It’s time for one of my favorite episodes: the official reveal of the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide! This year’s edition showcases 70 carefully curated titles spanning every genre, so you can find the perfect read for every summer mood.

In this special Book Gang episode, I’m sharing this year’s reading challenges with the buzziest books that didn’t deliver but ultimately changed my sails towards the unexpected, from magical days at the library for backlist fun to under-the-radar gems like the ones I’m debuting today.

Out of the 114 books I read to prepare for this one, I’m spotlighting five unforgettable novels that deserve a spot on your TBR. These new voices captured my heart, and I hope you’ll fall in love with them, too.

Grab your notebook (or open your Libby app!)—let’s dive into the WHY behind this year’s selections and get ready to build your summer reading stack.

GET THE GUIDE: Browse the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide (with ads) or receive the 57-page reading guide download ($7) to support our show. If you are a show patron, check your inbox for your copy as part of your member benefits- thank you for supporting my small business!  

Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com, a vibrant online community she has nurtured since 2004. Through this platform, Amy shares practical advice on recipes, DIY projects, and book recommendations for her readers.

In 2013, Amy authored The Good Life for Less, published by Penguin, and offered families tips for running their households on a shoestring budget.

Amy launched the Book Gang Podcast in 2021. The book podcast celebrates debut authors, explores backlist titles, and highlights under-the-radar book selections. Through engaging conversations with writers and fellow book enthusiasts, Amy aims to connect you with your new favorite book.

NEW: Buy the 2026 Summer Reading Guide (help our show stay on air)

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

Ellery Adams talks Invasive Species: Horror in the Neighborhood

Substack on Yesteryear (the religious perspective)

Stormy Daniels Isn’t Backing Down

17 Years After The Help, Kathryn Stockett Returns to Mississippi

Connect With Me:

Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice

Support the Show With a Tip on Buy Me a Coffee

The 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide is here! Discover 70 must-read titles and 57 pages of fresh picks for your best summer yet.

It’s time for one of my favorite episodes: the official reveal of the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide! This year’s edition showcases 70 carefully curated titles spanning every genre, so you can find the perfect read for every summer mood.

In this special Book Gang episode, I’m sharing this year’s reading challenges with the buzziest books that didn’t deliver but ultimately changed my sails towards the unexpected, from magical days at the library for backlist fun to under-the-radar gems like the ones I’m debuting today.

Out of the 114 books I read to prepare for this one, I’m spotlighting five unforgettable debut novels that deserve a spot on your TBR. These new voices captured my heart, and I hope you’ll fall in love with them, too.

Grab your notebook (or open your Libby app!)—let’s dive into the WHY behind this year’s selections and get ready to build your summer reading stack.

Browse the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide (with ads) or receive the 57-page reading guide download ($7) to support our show. If you are a show patron, check your inbox for your copy as part of your member benefits- thank you for supporting my small business!  

Editor's Note: We have switched from Bookshop.org to direct sales with three featured bookshops to ensure they keep every penny of the profit.

Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com, a vibrant online community she has nurtured since 2004. Through this platform, Amy shares practical advice on recipes, DIY projects, and book recommendations for her readers.

In 2013, Amy authored The Good Life for Less, published by Penguin, and offered families tips for running their households on a shoestring budget.

Amy launched the Book Gang Podcast in 2021. The book podcast celebrates debut authors, explores backlist titles, and highlights under-the-radar book selections. Through engaging conversations with writers and fellow book enthusiasts, Amy aims to connect you with your new favorite book.

NEW: Buy the 2026 Summer Reading Guide (help our show stay on air)

Browse the 2026 Summer Reading Guide Online

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

Ellery Adams talks Invasive Species: Horror in the Neighborhood

Substack on Yesteryear (the religious perspective)

Stormy Daniels Isn’t Backing Down

17 Years After The Help, Kathryn Stockett Returns to Mississippi

Connect With Me:

Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice

Support the Show With a Tip on Buy Me a Coffee

Laurie Frankel joins Book Gang to discuss Enormous Wings, a bold, bighearted novel about aging, autonomy, and the messiness of modern family life.

This week’s Book Gang conversation welcomes New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, whose latest novel delivers a juicy book club premise wrapped in the chaos and warmth of a multigenerational Jewish family. When breast cancer survivor Pepper Mills loses her home and independence, she’s thrown into a new world at Vista View Retirement Community—only to face the unimaginable: a pregnancy at seventy-seven, and a gauntlet of opinions from loved ones, doctors, and the wider world.

In this lively, surprising conversation, we discuss:

📚 Radically ordinary desires: Frankel unpacks the inspiration behind Pepper’s late-life pregnancy, exploring how aging, romance, and reproductive choice are rendered with empathy and humor. We talk about the importance of portraying older women’s desires as deeply human, never tragic or comedic.

📚 Family, autonomy, and the messiness of care: We dive into the family dynamics at the heart of Enormous Wings—how adult children can both rally around and inadvertently bulldoze their parents in the name of safety, and why there’s no right way to navigate the complexities of midlife and elder care.

📚 The riotous specificity of family: Frankel shares how she builds such vivid, lived-in characters—like grandkids who speak in emojis and National Coming Apart Day—without losing the emotional core. We discuss the joys and challenges of balancing humor, tradition, and heart in a story that celebrates both individuality and belonging.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

Celebrate ageless adventures with this week’s list: 60 Books with Older Protagonists—stories that prove life’s boldest chapters can begin at any age. This has a lovely mix of upcoming releases, new releases, and backlist gems to browse.  Patrons can grab a printable checklist for their next reading spree!

Meet Laurie Frankel

Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of Family Family, One Two Three, Goodbye for Now, The Atlas of Love, and the Reese’s Book Club Pick This Is How It Always Is. She lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter, and border collie. Enormous Wings is available now from Henry Holt & Co.

Download Today's Show Transcript

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

UPDATED BOOK LIST: 60 Books With Older Protagonists

Janelle Brown Interview (What Kind of Paradise)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

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Author Janelle Brown joins us as our May MomAdvice Book Club pick to discuss What Kind of Paradise, a 1990s-set literary thriller filled with twists and turns.

In our May Book Club episode, we welcome New York Times bestselling author Janelle Brown for a spoiler-free conversation about her latest literary thriller, What Kind of Paradise. This psychologically rich novel plunges readers into the chaotic optimism of the 1990s dot-com era, unraveling the deeper currents of family, technology, and survival that shape its unforgettable characters.

Through the story of Esme—a gifted coder navigating the promise and perils of the 1990s tech boom and her father’s ideological obsessions—Brown crafts a compulsively readable tale that asks what we inherit, what we choose, and what we risk in pursuit of our own paradise.

In this fascinating conversation, we discuss:

📚 Navigating genre and story ambition: Janelle Brown shares how What Kind of Paradise pushes her fiction into new territory in her first story set in the past, blending domestic drama with survival thriller. She discusses why she refuses to be boxed in by genre, letting character and theme dictate form, and how this approach challenges her creatively and sets this novel apart from her previous work.

📚 Crafting propulsive character-driven suspense: Brown reveals how What Kind of Paradise presented unique challenges of writing a story set in the 1990s tech boom and how this novel stretched her craft in both structure and voice, including the thin archives from this time in history.

📚 Technology, ideology, and generational tension: Brown discusses how her early days in technology shaped this story and what her insider lens brought to it. She explains why Esme’s journey is about claiming freedom and curiosity in a world where technology can be weaponized, and how these dynamics reflect the broader cultural anxieties we face right now through her father’s intriguing backstory.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

This week’s companion list features 32 Literary Thrillers You Can’t Put Down—a curated mix of new favorites and essential classics for every suspense lover. Check out the printable checklist for your next reading adventure and unlock a spoiler chat with Janelle Brown discussing her novel’s more surprising themes.

Meet Janelle Brown

Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels What Kind of Paradise, I’ll Be You, Pretty Things, Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live. Her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages and several are in development for television. She’s the recipient of the American Library Association’s Alex Award, and her journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Wired, and more.

A former senior writer at Salon and early staff writer at Wired during the dot-com boom, Brown also co-founded Maxi, a pioneering women’s pop culture Webzine. Originally from San Francisco and a UC Berkeley graduate, she now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. What Kind of Paradise is available now wherever books are sold.

Gratitude to Our Show Patrons: This week's episode is open to all listeners thanks to generous donations made through Buy Me a Coffee and your community memberships. If you'd like to keep the conversation going, you're invited to join our Patreon Book Club chat on April 30th at 8 PM ET, where we'll dive deeper into spoilers, themes, and reader reactions. Membership is $5 a month, or you can prepay for the year and save 10%.

Download Today's Show Transcript

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

NEW BOOK LIST: 32 Literary Thrillers You Can’t Put Down

Sam Wachman Interview (The Sunflower Boys)

Join the April Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (The Sunflower Boys)

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

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Dur e Aziz Amna joins us to discuss A Splintering, a sharp, compulsive novel about class, ambition, and the cost of becoming who you believe you’re meant to be.

This week’s Book Gang conversation brings us together with award-winning author Dur e Aziz Amna to talk about A Splintering, a novel that pulls you in from its very first line and refuses to let the reader go. This novel made my Best Books of the Year list, and I'm so excited to celebrate this story today.

From a childhood shaped by poverty in rural Pakistan to the calculated, high-stakes world of social mobility, Amna introduces us to Tara—a narrator who dares you to judge her even as she demands to be understood. This is a story about ambition sharpened by circumstance, about the quiet and not-so-quiet ways women navigate power, and about what it means to reshape your life when the world has already decided your place within it.

In this compelling conversation, we discuss:

📚 A narrator who challenges the reader’s loyalty: We dive into Tara’s arresting opening and what it means to build a story around a protagonist who is not asking to be liked, but understood. Through voice, structure, and intimate address, Amna redefines the relationship between reader and character, asking us to sit with discomfort rather than resolve it.

📚 Class, ambition, and the cost of reinvention: From sibling dynamics shaped by patriarchy to marriage as a strategic turning point, this conversation unpacks the systems that shape Tara’s choices—and the psychological and moral fractures that come with upward mobility in a world where nothing is freely given.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

Don’t miss this week’s companion list featuring 29 South Asian Books—a mix of brand new novels and essential backlist books that pair beautifully with A Splintering. Patrons will receive a printable checklist to take along on their next library visit!

Meet Dur e Aziz Amna

Dur e Aziz Amna is the author of A Splintering, winner of the Stanfords Prize for Fiction and a BBC Book Club pick. Her debut novel, American Fever, received the South Asian Book Award and the APALA Award for Literature. Her writing has appeared in major publications, including the New York Times, Financial Times, and Al Jazeera, and she was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2022.

Born and raised in Pakistan, she is a graduate of Yale College and the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, and currently lives in the United States. A Splintering is available on bookstore shelves now in the U.S. and the U.K.

Download Today's Show Transcript

Buy Me a Coffee - I'm grateful for your support this year!

My Best Books of 2025

NEW BOOK LIST: 29 South Asian Books to Fall In Love With

Sam Wachman Interview (The Sunflower Boys)

Join the April Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (The Sunflower Boys)

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

A Splintering by Dur e Aziz Amna

American Fever by Dur e Aziz Amna

The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein

Interviews with History and Conversations with Power by Oriana Fallaci

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

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Connect With Dur e Aziz Amna on Instagram or Her Website

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Gill Paul discusses Scandalous Women, the 1960s publishing world, and the iconic female authors who redefined storytelling in this backlist feature.

Let's get some literary hinges to our reading lives in this backlist feature. This week's Book Gang conversation brings us together with international bestselling author Gill Paul to talk about Scandalous Women. Paul transports readers into the electric, high-stakes world of 1960s publishing, where two women didn’t just write bestselling books—they changed what women were allowed to write about at all.

If you’ve ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of the books we love (the deals, the risks, the moments that quietly reshape an entire industry), this conversation is such a treat with a true insider.

In this fascinating conversation, we discuss:

📚 From editor to international bestselling author: Gill reflects on her journey from working inside publishing to becoming a globally recognized novelist, sharing what she understands now about the industry that many writers and readers often misunderstand.

📚 The “two Jackies” who changed publishing forever: We dive into the lives of Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins—their controversial novels, massive commercial success, and the backlash they faced for writing openly about female ambition and desire.

📚 Recreating the 1960s publishing world from the inside out: Through research and the lens of a fictional editorial assistant, Gill brings to life the high-stakes, male-dominated publishing landscape where readers get an inside look at how the publishing industry worked in the 1960s.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

Don’t miss this week’s companion list featuring 43 Fascinating Books About Authors and Publishing to celebrate Scandalous Women. I am including my all-time favorites and a few new releases I can't wait to read. Patrons will receive weekly printable checklists for their next library visit!

Meet Gill Paul

Gill Paul is the author of thirteen historical novels, which have sold over a million copies, hit the top five in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail bestseller lists, and have been translated into twenty-four languages. Her novel SCANDALOUS WOMEN is about Jackie Collins, Jacqueline Susann, and the misogyny of the 1960s publishing industry. Gill lives in London where she swims year-round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Download Today's Show Transcript

Buy Me a Coffee - I'm grateful for your support this year!

NEW BOOK LIST: 43 Fascinating Books About Authors and Publishing

Join the April Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (The Sunflower Boys)

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

Scandalous Women by Gill Paul

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins

Lucky by Jackie Collins

Love Stories series

The Manhattan Girls by Gill Paul

Lovely Me by Barbara Seaman

The World is Full of Married Men by Jackie Collins

Lady Boss

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Kanner’s Syndrome

Life with Jackie by Irving Mansfield

Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Jackie Collins on Loose Women

Barbara Cartland and Jackie Collins Confrontation

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

Join the Book Gang Patreon

Connect With Gill Paul on Instagram or Her Website

Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice

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Author Sam Wachman joins us as our April MomAdvice Book Club pick to discuss The Sunflower Boys, a powerful coming-of-age story set during the war in Ukraine.

This week, Sam Wachman joins Book Gang to discuss The Sunflower Boys, our April MomAdvice Book Club pick. This story offers a remarkable blend of the tenderness of boyhood and the brutality of war, set against the backdrop of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, bringing to life its heartbreaking history.

As the brothers in this story undertake a harrowing journey across a war-torn landscape, a love of art becomes both guide and witness, leading these two boys toward hope and a desperate reunion with their father. Wachman offers a war chronicle and an intimate, profoundly human portrayal of the enduring spirit of family, deeply humanizing the Ukrainian struggle.

In this remarkable conversation, we discuss:

📚 From the classroom to the page: Before writing The Sunflower Boys, Sam Wachman taught English to primary school students in Ukraine—an experience that deeply shaped the emotional core of this novel. We discuss how those relationships with Ukrainian youth helped him build Artem’s voice with such tenderness, specificity, and care.

📚 Art as structure, memory, and survival: One of the most striking elements of this novel is its structure—100 chapters shaped by Artem’s sketches. Sam shares how this artistic framework guided not just the pacing of the story but also its emotional rhythm.

📚 Writing war through a child’s lens: Drawing from his time working with Ukrainian families and refugees, Sam approached this story with a deep sense of responsibility. We talk about how he balanced honesty with restraint while writing from a 12-year-old’s perspective—capturing fear, confusion, and resilience without overwhelming the reader—and why that lens might be the most powerful way to understand the human cost of war.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

Don’t miss this week’s companion list featuring  24 books about siblings, inspired by this week's story of brothers. I am including my all-time favorites and a few new releases I can't wait to read. Patrons will receive weekly printable checklists for their next library visit!

Meet Sam Wachman

Sam Wachman is a writer from Cambridge, Massachusetts with Ukrainian roots. His work has appeared in Sonora Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, and River Styx. Before writing The Sunflower Boys, he taught English to primary schoolers in central Ukraine and worked with refugee families across Europe and the United States. This deeply affecting novel is his debut.

Gratitude to Our Show Patrons: This week's episode is open to all listeners thanks to generous donations made through Buy Me a Coffee and your community memberships. If you'd like to keep the conversation going, you're invited to join our Patreon Book Club chat on April 30th at 8 PM ET, where we'll dive deeper into spoilers, themes, and reader reactions. Membership is $5 a month, or you can prepay for the year and save 10%.

Download Today's Show Transcript

Buy Me a Coffee - I'm grateful for your support this year!

NEW BOOK LIST: 24 Books About Siblings

Join the April Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (The Sunflower Boys)

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman

Gays Reading Podcast

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

Join the Book Gang Patreon

Connect With Sam Wachman on Instagram or His Website

Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice

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Rebecca Lehmann discusses The Beheading Game, a lyrical reimagining of Anne Boleyn awakening after her execution to reclaim her story.

This week, we're stepping into a story we think we know and unsettling it completely. Rebecca Lehmann joins Book Gang to talk about The Beheading Game, a bold and genre-bending debut, with Anne Boleyn awakening in her coffin, gathering herself—quite literally—and setting out into the world.

But rather than a fast-paced tale of revenge, this novel unfolds as a deeply moving, introspective journey through grief, motherhood, class, and the stories history tells about women. Together, we explore what it means to reframe a figure so often reduced to scandal, how poetic language shapes narrative, and why this story lingers in the quiet spaces of reckoning rather than spectacle.

In this fascinating conversation, we explore:

📚 From Poet to Novelist: Rebecca shares how her background as an award-winning poet shaped the language and structure of this novel, what the Iowa Writers’ Workshop taught her about craft, and what she had to unlearn when stepping into long-form fiction.

📚 Reimagining Anne Boleyn After Death: We dive into the unforgettable opening scene—Anne awakening in her coffin and sewing her head back onto her body—and what it meant to begin the story at the end. Rebecca discusses how she approached writing Anne not as a legend, but as a woman processing the collapse of her life, her marriage, and her legacy.

📚 Motherhood, Memory, and Reckoning: At its heart, this is a story about a mother trying to make sense of what she’s lost. We talk about Anne’s longing for her daughter, Elizabeth —the emotional core of the novel —and how this reimagining invites readers to see her not as a cautionary tale but as a fully realized woman.

📚📚 BONUS BOOK LIST: Don’t miss this week’s companion book list with 17 Tudor Books—perfect for readers who want to stay in this world a little longer. Patrons will receive a weekly printable checklist for their next library visit!

Meet Rebecca Lehmann

Rebecca Lehmann is an award-winning poet and essayist and the author of three poetry collections, including Ringer, which won the AWP Donald Hall Prize. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is an associate professor of English and Gender & Women’s Studies at Saint Mary's College. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, NPR’s The Slowdown, and more. She lives in Indiana with her family.

Download Today's Transcript

Buy Me a Coffee - I'm grateful for your support this year!

NEW BOOK LIST: 17 Tudor Books to Explore the Original Royal Drama

Join the April Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (The Sunflower Boys)

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann

The Tudors

Wolf Hall Books by Hilary Mantel

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill

Kelly Link

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.

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