Check This Out with Rachel Barenbaum

This debut novel brings us into the cozy but cutthroat world of competitive quilting. With a chance to finally beat their long-time rivals, a quilting circle welcomes two young gay men to their group as they bicker their way to an award-worthy entry.

Book Biz: Becca Freeman, co-host of the popular books and lifestyle podcast “Bad on Paper” and author of “The Christmas Orphans Club” talks about social media and what surprised her about becoming an author.

A sweeping four-century debut that travels from France to Acadia to the bayous of Southern Louisiana, a story of family resilience, environmental reckoning, and moral compromise on an epic scale.

Book Biz: Dwight Garner of the New York Times on how the nation's top literary critic sees the literary landscape today.

In "Retro," an unemployed actress lands her dream job guiding wealthy clients on luxury time-travel tours through history—until she realizes the past might be about to wreck her present.

If you were at the Red Sox game at Fenway Park on September 3, 2025, for "Fourth Wing Night," you witnessed the the start of a phenomenon. We learn more about this unexpected crossover from Travis Pollio, Red Sox Senior Director of Ticket Strategy & Promotions, on the Book Biz, where we unpack the trends shaking up the publishing world.

Some favorite authors offer their suggestions for summer reading, plus host Rachel Barenbaum has some books by New England authors to recommend.

A debut novel about Ophir—not her real name—who starts a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe. Filled with danger and twists, it’s ultimately a story about immigration and belonging—one unlike any you’ve seen before.

And on the Book Biz, Katherine Center talks about what it takes to hang in the business for 20 years, how the Book Biz has changed, and her newest novel THE SHIPPERS. 

In this novel of friendship and hard-won hope, four lives are entangled across time by one story, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s and destined to ripple across the centuries. For fans of punk rock, robots, 80’s nostalgia, and post-apocalyptic pirates.

And on our Book Biz segment, bookseller Rachel Kanter discusses the boom in audiobooks.

This debut novel, based on a Welsh myth, explores the themes of autonomy and choice when a lonely boy has a magical playmate created for him. It’s a lush, unsettling tale blending romance, horror, and fairytale elements, with a nod to Frankenstein.

And on our Book Biz segment, former Washington Post book critic, Ron Charles, on the future of literary criticism.

A viral dark dystopian romance set in a corrupt surveillance state ruled by the masked elite, following a mercenary who botches the assassination of the president’s son and ends up forced to marry him. Plus, Sarah MacLean discusses romance as the engine of the book industry. 

In a saga of survival and the secrets that haunt us, one desperate decision creates a fault line that spans decades and threatens to break a family wide open.

In the wreckage of a fateful Thanksgiving reunion at their Nigerian-American family’s table, four siblings are forced to reckon with the past, take stock of what really matters, and find a way back to each other.

On the Book Biz we talk with Laura McGrath, an English professor at Temple University and the author of the new book, "Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction" about the role of agents in publishing today and whether we still need them.