It’s the third in our classics analysis series!  To Kill a Mockingbird is one of America’s favorite novels.  Is it worth its weight in the public’s love?  Is Atticus Finch the hero we always thought, and does Go Set a Watchman call the novel’s moralism into question?  We examine these questions with two Harper Lee scholars, Michele Reutter and Jonathan S. Cullick, who wrote Mockingbird Grows Up, a re-examination of Mockingbird through the eyes of Go Set a Watchman.  Join us!

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 

On Harper Lee edited by Alice Hall Petry

Atticus Finch: A Biography by Joseph Crispino

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Mockingbird Grows Up by Michele Reutter and Jonathan S. Cullick

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have been skimping on including independent booksellers in our show lately (and we are sorry) but here is a whole show worth of bookseller conversations!  Source Books in Detroit Michigan is owned by Janet Webster Jones.  And Print: A Bookstore in Portland ME is owned by Emily Russo.  These are two incredible independent booksellers with two incredible stores.  It’s a master class in bookselling on this week’s Book Case!

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

Lobster by Guillame Lecasble

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

Win by Harlan Coben

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jess Walter has written a book that is funny, compulsively readable, and complex.  In So Far Gone, he reminds us, in a world that sometimes seems to have gone crazy, you escape society at your own peril.  Can you escape the world into isolation or is life only meaningful when you live it for and with others?  We ask the very talented Jess Walter that very question. 

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

Citizen Vance by Jess Walter

Ruby Ridge by Jess Walter

Over Tumbled Graves by Jess Walter

The Zero by Jess Walter

Land of the Blind by Jess Walter

We Live in Water by Jess Walter

The Angel of Rome by Jess Walter

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Bowling Aline by Robert D. Putnam 

Family Sayings by Natalia Ginzburg

Stoner by John Edwards Williams

James by Percival Everett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another installment of our Writer in Residence series, and J. Ryan Stradal is two chapters away from the end!  How did he get here?  What are his goals as he finishes his latest and most personal book? We find out with great excitement.  We also talk to Nefer Book Café owner, Lonna Dawson, who will inspire you to expand your reading horizons.  Join us.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors by Lama Rod Owens

The Simple Art of Killing a Woman by Patricia Melo

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave Barry is one of the funniest writers alive, and he makes it look so easy.  How and why does he do it?  Enter Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass, his first and probably only memoir which is packed full of laugh out loud moments.  It’s also peppered with thoughts on how he got through college, memories of his mother and father, his thoughts on life, people that hate him and where he comes up with his wacky ideas.  We love talking with this man.  Find out why by tuning in.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Russo is an American treasure. The writer of so many great novels (Empire Falls, Straight Man), we strongly encourage you to read his newest, Life and Art, which is a collection of essays.  We know that so many people say, ESSAYS? Yes, essays, and they are spectacular.  These are not arguments shoved in your face.  These are thoughtful life reflections from one of the great writers of our time, and they should be savored and enjoyed.  If you love Richard Russo, please join us as we talk about why art matters more now then ever, and why he believes he had to write this book.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jemimah Wei’s The Original Daughter is the GMA book club pick for May, and we loved it.  In some ways, this book is not just a compelling family drama, but it is also a thoughtful depiction of Singapore, a country often misunderstood by Americans as being simply a home for glamour and high tech discovery.  This novel centers around the lives of everyday Singaporeans, and how one family is torn apart when a new daughter is introduced to the home by way of a grandfather’s polygamy. Why did this book take Jemimah ten years to write and how does this story put a new twist on the clichés of sibling rivalry?  We ask her, so tune in and find out.

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

This is What Inequality Looks Like by Youyenn Teo

The South by Tash Aw

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We loved talking to David K. Shipler so much that we wanted to squeeze one more show out of our conversation.  We talked so much on our last episode about the role of interpreters in journalism, but we also talked about going from fiction to nonfiction and the importance of good journalism, now more than ever. We hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

 The Interpreter by David K. Shipler

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Interpreter is a beautiful book about the end of the war in Vietnam and one interpreter’s story as his country is torn apart and remade over and over throughout his lifetime.  David K. Shipler is arguably one of the greatest journalists of our time.  A veteran reporter who wrote about Russia, Vietnam, and Israel (to name a few), he has a Pulitzer to his name and his non-fiction books are legendary.  I mean, the man ran a foreign desk for the New York Times and taught at Princeton.  So why write a book of fiction?  We don’t know, but we are so glad he did.  Tune in to find out why.  Our bookstore is Charlie’s local, so you don’t want to miss it.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

The Interpreter by David K. Shipler

The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler

Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K. Shipler

The Rights of the People by David K. Shipler

Freedom of Speech: Mightier Than the Sword by David K. Shipler

Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams by David K. Shipler

A Country of Strangers: Black and White in America by David K. Shipler

Rights at Risk: The Limits of Liberty in Modern America by David K. Shipler

Driving Miss Daisy: A Play by Alfred Uhry

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices