Making a quick trip into a store, Kim Brooks was only gone for five minutes, leaving her 4-year-old son in his car seat inside the locked car, with the windows ajar. Yet those moments transformed her life in more ways than she could have imagined. Megan and Clay ask Brooks about that day and her investigation of "helicopter parenting," SMALL ANIMALS, which is one of this fall's most anticipated books. Curious to know a few of this fall's other big books? Megan and Clay reveal their best bets and our editors join the podcast to talk about this week's most exciting books!

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The film version of Meg Wolitzer's novel THE WIFE, starring Glenn Close, is being released this Friday, so Megan and Clay are asking Wolitzer in this week's podcast about the adaptation. And beloved children's writer Jewell Parker Rhodes stops by the studio to talk about her tough but touching new novel, GHOST BOYS. And our editors reveal which new books are really worth your time! 

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This week's episode is brought to you by Scholastic.

Megan and Clay ask comedian Guy Branum about his wickedly smart and funny memoir, MY LIFE AS A GODDESS: A MEMOIR THROUGH (UN)POPULAR CULTURE, including that time in college when he wrote an article about Chelsea Clinton and got a special visit from the Secret Service. And we catch up with Scholastic young adult writer Kody Keplinger, whose new novel, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED, is a timely page-turner with a fascinating premise: a school shooting survivor is determined to correct untrue stories about the tragic event. And our editors reveal which new books they think are really worth your time!

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PARADOX is the 22nd mystery by bestseller Catherine Coulter starring detectives Sherlock and Savich but it’s far from the 22nd novel Coulter's written during her career. She’s also written numerous romance novels and co-writes a series of thrillers with J.T. Ellison. We talk to the pro this week about what it’s like writing about the FBI, the writer who taught her well, and living in a politicized America. Our editors also join us to talk about their best bets for new books to read.

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This week, we talk to the author of one of 2018's most unique books, THE DESERT AND THE SEA: 977 DAYS CAPTIVE ON THE SOMALI PIRATE COAST. Michael Scott Moore is a journalist who was curious why some Somalian men became pirates...and then he was kidnapped by them. Megan and Clay talk about some outrageously priced books and our editors reveal which new books are their best bets! 

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In Megan Abbott's smart new thriller, GIVE ME YOUR HAND, Kit Owens, a rising star in a famous laboratory can track her success back to the one person in her life she'd like to forget. And that person doesn't want to leave Kit alone. "It will take more than a cold shower to still the blood thumping in your ears when you finish this," our reviewer writes in a starred review. Megan and Clay catch up with Megan on this week’s episode.

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The protagonist of Ottessa Moshfegh's new novel, MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION, doesn't just take some time off from her job; she spends a year hibernating with strong sedatives, in the hope that she'll emerge transformed. The novel is a nervy modern-day rebellion tale that isn't afraid to get dark or find humor in the darkness and we ask Moshfegh about writing it. Megan and Clay recommend some overlooked summer reading picks and our editors talk about their favorite reads this week.

Angie Thomas' debut novel, THE HATE U GIVE, has spent an astounding 69 weeks on the New York Times young adult bestseller list and will be released as a movie this fall. In the novel, 16-year-old Starr Carter is a black girl and an expert at navigating the two worlds she exists in: her black neighborhood, and the other at her suburban, mostly white high school. Walking the line between the two becomes immensely harder when Starr is present at the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by a white police officer. We caught up with Thomas recently and asked her about writing the novel. And our editors reveal which books are this week's best bets!

This week, Megan and Clay ask David Sedaris about the snapping turtle he tried to feed his benign tumor to (the turtle's name was Granddaddy; the serious drift in his new collection of essays, CALYPSO; and what his siblings think about being written about so often by him. Have you ever wondered why your grade school English teacher insisted you stop ending a sentence with a preposition? We have the answer. And our editors reveal their favorite new books!

This week, we catch up with one of the bestselling YA writers publishing today – Cassandra Clare. She talks to us about her latest books, her upcoming series, and what it's like wanting to satisfy a lot of fans who have different ideas about what her characters should be doing. Megan and Clay speculate on the working method James Patterson and Bill Clinton used to co-write THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING and our editors reveal which new bestsellers are worth your time!