Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

Poet and essayist Eula Biss joins us to discuss Having and Being Had (Riverhead, Sept. 1), an exquisite essay collection that interrogates the trappings of American affluence. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Elena Ferrante, and Deesha Philyaw.

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Novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden joins us to discuss Winter Counts (Ecco, Aug. 25), an intense crime thriller set on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Daniel Nayeri, Darcie Little Badger, Isabel Wilkerson, and Ali Smith.

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Debut YA novelist Jordan Ifueko joins us to discuss Raybearer (Amulet Books, Aug. 18), “A fresh, phenomenal fantasy that begs readers to revel in its brilliant world” (Kirkus, starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Veronica Chambers, Raquel Vasquez-Gilliland, Ilan Stavans, and Margot Livesey.

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Brazilian American novelist Gabriella Burnham joins us to discuss It Is Wood, It Is Stone (One World, July 28), “A transporting debut that deftly probes the complex nature of relationships between women” (Kirkus). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, M.T. Anderson and Jo Rioux, and Raven Leilani.

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Melissa Faliveno joins us to discuss Tomboyland (Little A, Aug. 1), an expansive essay collection exploring Midwestern values, families and teams, natural disasters, gender identity, and New York City. As our reviewer writes, this promising debut showcases “an expressive voice evolving deliberately, resisting having to be one thing or the other.” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Aunty Joy Murphy, Andrew Kelly, and Lisa Kennedy, Syed M. Masood, Jacob Soboroff, and Maggie O'Farrell.

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Michelle Bowdler joins us on this week’s episode to discuss Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto (Flatiron Books, July 28). In 2007, the author was called to activism after reading a Boston Globe article exposing thousands of unexamined rape kits in the possession of police departments across the country. Kirkus calls her personal, powerful, profound debut, “An urgent, necessary, stark exploration of ‘one of the most horrific violations that can happen to a human being.’” Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Hannah Barnaby, Eddie Glaude, and Sarah MacLean.

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Emma Donoghue joins us on this week’s episode to discuss The Pull of the Stars (Little, Brown, July 21). The bestselling author, screenwriter, and literary historian’s latest novel is inspired by the 1918 flu pandemic; set in the maternity/flu ward of a Catholic hospital in Dublin, it is “Darkly compelling, illuminated by the light of compassion and tenderness: Donoghue’s best novel since Room (2010)” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Julie Lee, Margot Harrison, Mary L. Trump, and Lynn Steger Strong.

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Marke Bieschke discusses Into the Streets: A Young Person’s Visual History of Protest in the United States (Zest Books, July 7), “an engaging overview to inspire socially minded readers.” From the Pueblo Revolt to 2018’s March for Our Lives, Bieschke provides a vivid chronology of the many movements that shaped the course of our country and a primer for staging your own protest. Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Lisa Moore Ramée, Sarah Crossan, Joe Sacco, and David Mitchell.

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Anonymous discusses Becoming Duchess Goldblatt (HMH, July 7), the story of the person behind the saucy-yet-supportive Twitter persona that became a favorite of the literati and Lyle Lovett. Kirkus: “A fascinating memoir by a 21st-century original” (starred review). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Kate Messner, Brandy Colbert, Bakari Sellers, and Talia Hibbert.

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Welcome to Fully Booked: Summer Reading 2020! In this special episode, editor in chief Tom Beer joins host Megan Labrise to present the hottest books for the sultriest months. First up, young readers editors Vicky Smith and Laura Simeon give their top picks in children’s, middle-grade, and YA books for July and August. Then fiction editor Laurie Muchnick and nonfiction editor Eric Liebetrau sign on for a second segment celebrating novels, memoirs, essay collections, and more. We’ve got frontlist, we’ve got backlist, we’ve got reading recommendations from former Kirkus Prize winners and finalists, and one spirited debate on the merits of summer reading programs. You won’t want to miss it.

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