Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

On a special episode celebrating Sci-Fi and Fantasy, #1 New York Times-bestselling author V.E. Schwab joins us to discuss Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (Tor, June 10). Kirkus: “Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue….A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop” (starred review). Then our editors recommend their top picks in books for the week.

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On our Best June Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then New York Times-bestselling author Ibi Zoboi joins us to discuss First Day Around the World, illustrated by Juanita Londoño (Versify, June 3). Kirkus calls Zoboi’s latest picture book “both monumental in scope and tightly focused, with an emotionally resonant core.”

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Sarah Miller joins us to discuss Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured Eleanor Roosevelt’s Heart (Random House Studio, May 27), which Kirkus calls “a substantial biography of a noteworthy figure.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. 

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Debut novelist Naomi Xu Elegant joins us to discuss Ginko Season (Norton, May 20), a “beautifully wrought” story about a young woman trying to find her footing—socially, politically, romantically—in modern-day Philadelphia. Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. 

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Atlantic staffer David A. Graham joins us to discuss The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House, April 22). “A close look at the ultra-rightist Project 2025, now playing in a capital near you,” Kirkus writes in a review that calls Graham’s work “essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the Trumpian maelstrom.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week. 

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On our Best May Books episode, Kirkus’ editors share their top titles for the month. Then novelist Brendan Slocumb joins us to discuss The Dark Maestro (Bloomsbury, May 13), a musical thriller in which a cello prodigy must battle a cadre of criminals to reclaim his promising future. Kirkus: “This novel should catapult Slocumb into the upper echelon of thriller authors" (starred review).

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Award-winning actor and avid birder Lili Taylor joins us to discuss Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing (Crown, April 29). Kirkus calls her affecting debut essay collection “a delightful celebration of the joys of birding—and how it leads one to look at the world in a new light.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.

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Celebrated memoirist and novelist Kiese Laymon joins us to discuss City Summer, Country Summer(Kokila, April 1). Kirkus calls Laymon’s picture-book debut, illustrated by Alexis Franklin, “a heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship” (starred review). Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.

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New York Times-bestselling humorist John Kenney joins us to discuss his latest novel, I See You’ve Called in Dead (Zibby Books, April 1). Kirkus: “ A touching ode to the people who make life worth living.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.

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Edna Bonhomme joins us to discuss A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, From Cholera to COVID-19 (One Signal/Atria, March 11). Kirkus: “ A searing attack on historical injustices.” Then our editors share their top picks in books for the week.

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