Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

Samantha Irby's essays (some of which originated from her popular blog Bitches Gotta Eat) are both hilarious and moving. As she's working on producing an FX series based on her work, we talk to Irby about her new, best-selling collection of essays, WE ARE NEVER MEETING IN REAL LIFE. And who says long-haul truckers cant be writers too? Finn Murphy's new memoir THE LONG HAUL is a fascinating glimpse into life on the American road. And our senior editors call in with recommendations about which bestsellers are worth your time.

Roxane Gay may be best known for her essay collection, BAD FEMINIST, but she joins the podcast this week to talk to us about her new memoir, HUNGER: A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY, one of the most anticipated books of the year. We also catch up with Katherine Heiny, whose debut novel, STANDARD DEVIATION, is "an amusingly engaging take on long-term marriage with a lovably loopy character at its center," as our critic puts it in a starred review. And our expert editors tell you which bestsellers are worthy of your time.

You probably know that James Patterson is a mega-bestseller but do you know what really keeps him up at night? It's not what you might expect, as he reveals in this weeks episode. We also talk to Gerda Saunders, whose new memoir, MEMORY'S LAST BREATH, is a "fiercely honest" account of her life with dementia. Our reviewer calls MEMORY'S LAST BREATH a "courageous, richly textured, and unsparing memoir." And our sharp-eyed editors give us the low-down on which bestsellers are worth it to purchase and which you can safely avoid.

John Grisham joins the podcast this week to talk about his new thriller, CAMINO ISLAND; we ask Lisa Lucas, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, about diversity in publishing, among other topics; and our editors recommend some great summer reads!

We talk to David Sedaris about his new book, THEFT BY FINDING, a collection of his diary entries that allows you to see the source material for some of his funniest stories. He tells us in this episode the names of some beloved spiders he has known. We also catch up with Nathan Hill, whose debut novel THE NIX was a breakout bestseller in 2016; the paperback version was recently published. And our editors drop in to tell us which bestselling books are worth your time and which...aren't!

This week, we catch up with bestselling novelist J. Courtney Sullivan, whose brand-new novel SAINTS FOR ALL OCCASIONS is an "expertly spun family drama," according to our critic, about two sisters whose dark family secret has consequences for years to come. And Ada Calhoun's new nonfiction book WEDDING TOASTS I'LL NEVER GIVE is an expanded version of the popular column on the same subject she wrote for the "Modern Love" column in the New York Times.

Looking for new bestsellers to read? Our editors tell you which to avoid and wish to read!

Fully Booked now has a hotline number (888-245-0618) where readers can leave messages asking for advice about what they should read next, for example. We introduce calls from our listeners in this episode (and one of them is a real doozy).

What exactly does the Chief of Staff at the White House do? Your'e not certain? Neither were we until we talked to filmmaker and writer Chris Whipple about his deeply reported and fascinating new bestseller, THE GATEKEEPERS: HOW THE WHITE HOUSE CHIEFS OF STAFF DEFINE EVERY PRESIDENCY. We also chat up editor and novelist Rakesh Satyal, author of the funny, uplifting new novel NO ONE CAN PRONOUNCE MY NAME.

And our editors spill the beans on which bestsellers you should race out and read and which you can safely skip!

Bestselling writer David Grann (THE LOST CITY OF Z) has another new book, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, that uncovers a crime (actually, a massacre) that most Americans know nothing about: the murders of Osage Indians in Oklahoma in the 1920's, just as the Osage were accumulating vast wealth from the vast oil reserves under their land. And guess who the perpetrators were? We're not saying in this interview with Grann, although he discloses some fascinating elements of the crime.

We also check in with Lisa Ko, whose hotly anticipated debut novel THE LEAVERS has already racked up a big award (from Barbara Kingsolver, no less!).

And Kirkus' editors give us the good news/bad news on which bestsellers to seek out and which to skip.

If the first thing you think of when you think of Los Angeles is movie stars, palm trees, and traffic, there's nothing wrong with that. But what about all the great writers who call L.A. home?

In this special L.A. episode recorded during the recent Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, we talk with Hollywood Reporter features editor Stephen Galloway about his new bio of Sherry Lansing; comedian Carl Reiner; novelist Edan Lepucki; and bestselling YA writer Melissa de la Cruz. Join us on this all-things-L.A. episode!

Mohsin Hamid, the bestselling author of the new novel EXIT WEST, calls in to the podcast to talk to us about writing characters who try to be decent people in an age of cynicism, while co-host Megan Labrise asks debut fiction writer Lesley Nneka Arimah about her story collection, WHAT IT MEANS WHEN A MAN FALLS FROM THE SKY. And our senior editors pipe up to tell you which bestselling books you should race out and read and which you might want to ignore.