Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

Monique Roffey joins us to The Mermaid of Black Conch (Knopf, July 12). Kirkus: “In this Costa Award–winning novel, the discovery of a mermaid makes waves on a fictional Caribbean island….A mournful tour through Caribbean history via one of its most indelible legends.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Oscar Hokeah joins us to discuss Calling for a Blanket Dance (Algonquin, July 26), an outstanding debut novel about the life of Ever Geimausaddle, a Kiowa-Cherokee-Mexican American man, artfully told from the perspectives of 11 family members, as well as his own. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Chrysta Bilton joins us to discuss Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings (Little, Brown, July 19), the debut memoir Kirkus calls “a wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Mecca Jamilah Sullivan joins us to discuss Big Girl (Liveright, July 12). Kirkus: “In this debut novel set in 1990s Harlem, a young girl learns—and redefines—what it means to take up space….A lyrical and important coming-of-age novel.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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New York Times-bestselling author Tom Perrotta joins us to discuss Tracy Flick Can’t Win (Scribner, June 7). In this 10th novel from the “master of dark comedy,” “the campaign to create a Hall of Fame at a suburban New Jersey high school lures a few skeletons out of their closets” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Literary critic and cultural historian Joanna Scutts joins us to discuss Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club That Sparked Modern Feminism (Seal Press, June 7), “an enlightening contribution to the history of feminism” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Ada Calhoun joins us to discuss Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me (Grove, June 14). Kirkus: “Art critic Peter Schjeldahl's daughter takes a shot at finishing her father's derailed biography of Frank O'Hara and ends up writing a fascinating memoir….A wonderfully convoluted, catty, candid, and clever piece of work” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Joseph Han joins us to discuss the novel Nuclear Family (Counterpoint, June 7), “a raucous and adroit debut” in which “an immigrant family is haunted by the past” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Julio Torres joins us to discuss I Want To Be a Vase (Atheneum, June 7), illus. by Julian Glander, a gorgeous debut picture book about the self-actualization of everyday objects. Kirkus: “Great for stimulating creative thinking and art activities: What else can ordinary objects be?” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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Ann Leary joins us to discuss The Foundling (Marysue Rucci Books, May 31), a “thoroughly satisfying novel” in which the New York Times bestselling author “turns her mordant eye to the interplay of feminism, racism, and eugenics at a state institution for women deemed unfit to bear children in 1927” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week.

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