Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

In this weeks episode, we ask MAD MEN creator Matthew Weiner about entering the world of publishing as he debuts his first novel, HEATHER, THE TOTALITY, in which the difficulties created for a Manhattan family by the renovation of the apartment upstairs include a homicidal stalker. And science writer Juli Berwald joins us to talk about SPINELESS, her fascinating new book about jellyfish (and what its like to grow a spine while studying animals who don't have one). And our editors talk about this week's bestsellers, with our fiction editor Laurie Muchnick focusing on the Best Fiction Books of 2017!

We gave a rare starred review to Peter Wohlleben's new book THE INNER LIFE OF ANIMALS Wohlleben is also the author of the bestselling book, THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES. Wohlleben joins us from Germany to answer our questions about the emotional lives on animals and how we are treating them well or wrongly. And we also catch up with Anne Fadiman, whose new memoir, THE WINE LOVER'S DAUGHTER, is "not unlike imbibing several equally felicitous glasses of wine, their salutary effects leaving one pleasantly sated," according to our reviewer. And our editors speak up with their choices of which bestsellers you ought to read and which you can safely skip.

Happy Halloween! Joe Hill, the best-selling author of the long novel THE FIREMAN, has a new book of four creepy novellas, STRANGE WEATHER, that each feature some decidedly hostile, freaky weather incidents. We catch up with Hill in this week's episode. But how about some real-world horror? We ask Lindsey Fitzharris about her new nonfiction book of medical history, THE BUTCHERING ART: JOSEPH LISTER'S QUEST TO TRANSFORM THE GRISLY WORLD OF VICTORIAN MEDICINE. And our editors recommend three spooky reads!

Wait, what? The great Lakota chief Sitting Bull and the force behind the famous Wild West show, Buffalo Bill (who also slaughtered Native Americans), were friends? In this week's episode, we talk to one of America's most insightful writers about the West, Deanne Stillman, whose book BLOOD BROTHERS: THE STRANGE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN SITTING BULL AND BUFFALO BILL, is just out this week. Then we talk with death expert (your heard us right), Caitlin Doughty, as we ask her about FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: TRAVELING THE WORLD TO FIND THE GOOD DEATH. And our editors stop by to tell us which bestsellers this week are worth your time!

Scott Kelly is the American who has spent the longest amount of time in space and this week, he's on Fully Booked talking about what life up there is like and about writing his new memoir, ENDURANCE. We talk to another American hero, Khizr Khan, whose new book, AN AMERICAN FAMILY, offers insight into what it was like for Khan to become a star at the Democratic National Convention. And our editors stop by to give you their thoughts about this week's bestsellers!

This week, we check in with beloved New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, whose new book of cartoons, GOING INTO TOWN, is a funny, and even practical, love letter to New York City. Carmen Maria Machado's entrance to the world of books may be the dramatic of the year: her debut short story collection, HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES, is a finalist for the 2017 Kirkus Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award. We ask her about it all in this episode. And our editors pipe up with their thoughts about this week's bestsellers.

This week's episode is a special live taping of Celeste Ng's recent event at BookPeople in Austin, Texas. Ng's new novel, LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, has just hit the New York Times bestseller list and is hard to put down. "As in EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU, Ng conjures a sense of place and displacement and shows a remarkable ability to see -- and reveal -- a story from different perspectives," our critic writes in a starred review. We also check in with a few of BookPeople's booksellers about which new books they're loving.

Does a writer have a duty to be moral? And what happens when a writer tries to be wise? We talk to National Book Award-winning writer James McBride on this week's episode about his new story collection, FIVE-CARAT SOUL, and those vexing questions. And were also joined by Attica Locke, whose new thriller, BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, is a "deftly-plotted whodunit" according to our reviewer in a starred review. And our editors talk about the newly named 2017 Kirkus Prize finalists!

When did Americans come to shun reality? If your answer is "recently," Kurt Andersen, the author of the entertaining book FANTASYLAND: HOW AMERICA WENT HAYWIRE: A 500-YEAR HISTORY, wants you to reconsider. We delve into the book in this week's episode. We also talk to Rene Denfeld, author of the new novel, THE CHILD FINDER, in which a gifted investigator combs Oregon's snowy mountain forests for a missing girl. And our editors reveal which bestsellers this week they think you ought to try out!

We travel to ancient Greece in this week's episode with Daniel Mendelsohn, author of AN ODYSSEY: A FATHER, A SON, AND AN EPIC, in which Mendelsohn's 81-year-old father asks to sit in on the seminar about THE ODYSSEY his son is teaching (complications ensue). We also catch up with Eleanor Henderson, whose new novel, THE TWELVE-MILE STRAIGHT, is an ambitious novel set in the South in 1930. And our editors check in with their latest recommendations!