Check This Out with Rachel Barenbaum

Kaliane Bradley's debut is a time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy and a testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.

In Andrew Boryga's debut "Victim," the protagonist is a hustler from a family of hustlers. He learns to talk about his background in just the right way to open doors to an elite college and writing gigs. The novel asks: What does real diversity look like?

“Blank” by Zibby Owens follows the story of Pippa Jones, a fortyish former literary sensation who fears she will be a one-hit wonder. Her solution to writer's block is an idea her 12-year old son came up with as a joke.

"The Extinction of Irena Rey" is the new novel by famed translator Jennifer Croft. Eight translators arrive at a house in a primeval Polish forest on the border of Belarus. It belongs to the world-renowned author Irena Rey, and they are there to translate her magnum opus, Gray Eminence. But within days of their arrival, Irena disappears without a trace.

Inci Atrek brings readers a seductive and lyrical debut novel. “Holiday Country" follows a young woman’s dangerous summer romance during an idyllic vacation on the Aegean coast.

Set against the backdrop of developing modern China, Aube Rey Lescure’s “River East, River West” is part coming-of-age tale and part family and social drama. It follows two generations searching for belonging and opportunity in a rapidly changing world.

Rachel Barenbaum interviews author Leo Vardiashvili’s about his debut novel“Hard By a Great Forest” – a story about a man who fled the Republic of Georgia in the midst of war. It’s a unique tale about the traumas of war and the lasting effects of those families driven not just to survive, but to remember, love and live.

Rachel Barenbaum interviews author Maura Cheeks who talks about her new novel Acts of Forgiveness. Set in a speculative America, readers navigate a world where the government has approved reparation payments for black Americans – but only if they can prove they are descended from slaves.

Vauhini Vara's story collection, THIS IS SALVAGED, has been named by The New Yorker, Publisher’s Weekly, Vox, and the New York Public Library as one of the best books of the year.

Host Rachel Barenbaum sits down with her colleagues from the Howe Library in Hanover, New Hampshire to discuss their favorite reads from 2023.