GO Between the Covers

International bestselling author Kristin Harmel joins us to discuss her novel, The Book of Lost Names. Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, the book follows a young female forger who helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis. Harmel has published over a dozen novels that have been translated into 29 languages and sold all over the world.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Kristin Harmel to find out how she strikes a balance between fact and fiction when writing about the Holocaust. She also shares why she chose to write about the forgers of World War II and how a mathematical sequence she obsessed over as a child became an important part of her novel.

A master of historical fiction, Harmel reveals what book ignited her love for the genre and showed her that writers can change the world. She also gives us a sneak peek of her latest historical fiction, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, and shares why it’s so important to remember Holocaust survivors and their stories. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot joins us to discuss her novel, No Offense, a charming romance between a children’s librarian and the town sheriff. This is the second book in her Little Bridge Island series and is set on a small, beautiful island in the Florida Keys. Cabot has written over 80 books and is best known for The Princess Diaries, which was later adapted by Walt Disney Pictures into two feature films.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Meg Cabot to find out why she chose the Florida Keys as the backdrop for her Little Bridge Island series and how the people she’s met there inspire the quirky characters in her books.

We also dive into her wildly popular series, The Princess Diaries. Due to her massive success, Cabot has become an important pillar for children everywhere. She shares how this beloved series was born out of her college dorm and why she feels it’s had such a lasting impact. Plus, Cabot offers some advice for aspiring authors and young teenagers facing difficult times. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger joins us to discuss her book, Confessions on the 7:45. Unger has written more than 17 novels, some of which have been published in 26 languages reaching millions of readers worldwide. In this suspense novel, Selena Murphy meets a stranger called “Martha” on the train and they begin sharing their deepest, darkest secrets. Little does Selena know that this private exchange would lead to even darker consequences.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Lisa Unger to find out why anyone would reveal their darkest secrets to a stranger. With her extensive knowledge of the human psyche, Unger breaks down her deeply conflicted characters and even dives into her own mind, giving us a glimpse of her unique writing process.

Unger also shares why social media is a running theme in her novel and how its dangerous outcomes can fuel the schemes of a con artist. She reveals why her characters are never fully good or bad and how she’s perfected that gray area between heroes and villains. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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Professor and author David Heska Wanbli Weiden joins us to discuss his crime novel Winter Counts, following the story of a local Native American enforcer on South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation. Weiden, an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota nation, highlights life on a reservation and dives into the important issue of native identity. Winter Counts is a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by Publishers Weekly.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with David Heska Wanbli Weiden to talk about the importance of Native American representation in the media and how the native community has responded to his novel. He discusses the broken criminal justice system on reservations and the health issues brought on by food insecurity, healthcare disparities and drug addiction.

Weiden also shares his struggles being half Lakota and why it was so important for his main character to cope with the same issues of identity. He explains what exactly is a winter count and tells us how the Rosebud Indian Reservation has been affected by the pandemic. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian joins us to discuss two of his riveting thrillers, The Red Lotus and Hour of the Witch. He’s written more than 20 books, including the Midwives, The Sand Castle Girls, The Guest Room and The Flight Attendant. His global thriller The Red Lotus is set amidst the adrenaline-fueled world of the emergency room. Hour of the Witch is a twisting thriller about a young Puritan woman who plots her escape from a violent marriage.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Chris Bohjalian to find out how a New York Times article and a bike ride around Vietnam became the impetus for his thriller, The Red Lotus. He explains his love for Vietnam and gushes over the ER doctors he got to interview for the book. Bohjalian also gives us a sneak peek into the plot for Hour of the Witch and reveals his obsession with Puritan theology.

Now that The Flight Attendant has been adapted into an HBO Max Original, Bohjalian tells us how he feels about the series and talks about meeting actress Kaley Cuoco. He also shares some books he’s read during the pandemic, from novels full of dread and foreboding to Jerry Seinfield’s light-hearted memoir Is this Anything?. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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New York Times bestselling biographer and film historian Scott Eyman joins us to discuss his book, Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise. It follows the story of Archibald Leach and his journey to becoming Hollywood legend Cary Grant. This is one of over a dozen books that Scott Eyman has written about Hollywood’s Golden Age, which also include John Wayne: The Life and Legend, Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Relationship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart and Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille.

Today, our host Ann Bocock sits down with Scott Eyman to talk about Cary Grant’s early childhood in Bristol, England with an overbearing mother and an alcoholic father. Eyman discusses how the trauma of a broken family led Cary to sign up for an acrobatic troupe and seek out the world of show business.

Eyman reveals how Cary Grant’s two conflicting identities affected his marriages and the acting roles he would take on. He also answers some juicy questions, such as: who were Cary Grant’s favorite leading ladies? Did Cary really turn down the role of James Bond? And who might be the Cary Grant of our generation? Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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Ghanaian American award-winning author Yaa Gyasi joins us to discuss her novel Transcendent Kingdom, a stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national bestseller Homegoing. This book is a powerful, raw and deeply moving story about a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression, addiction and grief.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Yaa Gyasi to talk about her experience living in Huntsville, Alabama with her Ghanaian family and how the pull of these two worlds influenced her to become a writer. From religion to the importance of place and belonging, she discusses the parallels between her life and that of her main character, Gifty.

Gyasi also dives into the racial disparities of mental health and the devastating toll mental illness can have on a family. She shares how Transcendent Kingdom was different from her popular debut novel, Homegoing, and why she chose to focus this book on a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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Award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Chip Jones joins us to discuss his book, The Organ Thieves: the Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South. With nearly thirty years of reporting experience, Jones has worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times, Virginia Business magazine, and many more. He was also the former communications director of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, where he first discovered this heart-stopping story.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Chip Jones to talk about the horrifying case of Bruce Tucker, a black man whose heart was removed without his family’s knowledge or permission. Jones breaks down the racial inequalities during the 1960s and how that sheds light on the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jones also describes the state of America at that time, when we were not only racing to the moon but racing to perform the first successful heart transplant. He dives into the competition among doctors and how their opportunistic attitudes led to many unethical practices. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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Emmy award–winning journalist and anchor of NPR’s Latino USA Maria Hinojosa joins us to discuss her book, Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America. She tells the eye-opening story of immigration in America through her decades of reporting and personal experiences, painting an astonishing picture of a country in crisis.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Maria Hinojosa to talk about her intimate experience growing up as a Mexican American on the south side of Chicago. She shares what her family went through to cross the border and why she strives to correct the narrative on immigration. Hinojosa drives home why it’s so important to share diverse stories and see ourselves in each other.

From being the first Latina in many male-dominated newsrooms to now having 30 years of reporting experience, Hinojosa says that her memoir is very much an American woman’s book. She shares her experience with sexual assault, moments of imposter syndrome and the many facets of her life. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman joins us to talk about her book Magic Lessons, a prequel to the beloved novel Practical Magic. This book follows the story of Maria Owens, the matriarch of the amazing Owens women, accused of witchcraft in Puritanical Salem, Massachusetts.

Our host Ann Bocock sits down with Alice Hoffman to find out where her love of magic came from and what type of research she did for her spellbinding prequel. Hoffman also discusses the history of magic in different cultures, the difficulties of being a woman in the 1600s and the social prejudices of the time that are still heavily prevalent today.

With over two decades of writing experience and more than thirty works of fiction, Hoffman talks about her very own magic library and what type of books she’s been collecting. She later reveals who her favorite character is and if Magic Lessons will see the big screen. Get all the details on this week’s episode of GO Between the Covers!

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