Politics are heavily loaded in today’s America; we seem to be so angry at one another.  Jeffrey Toobin’s newest, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, is a fascinating and oblique way of examining politics,  studying the history and use of the Presidential pardon.  Both Democrats and Republicans have made huge partisan mistakes with pardons, contributing to the cynical way that pardons are viewed today.  Want to know some of the mistakes that led us to such an angry election?  Tune in and hear why one of the best political journalists in the country thinks it might have all started with Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon.

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

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy by Jeffrey Toobin

The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin

American Heiress: The Wild Safa of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right Wing Extremism by Jeffrey Toobin

A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President by Jeffrey Toobin

The Oath: the Obama White House and the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump by Jeffrey Toobin

Too Close to Call: The Thirty Six Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election by Jeffrey Toobin

All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

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Jeff Hobbs is a best-selling author, but the way he listens to his subjects and retells their stories brings a deeply human perspective to really difficult topics.  His newest, Seeking Shelter, is the story of homelessness told through the eyes of Evelyn, a devoted and fierce mother of six, determined to keep her kids out of the welfare system.  Jeff spent hundreds of hours talking to Evelyn and her kids about surviving the streets as a family (though not unscathed).  Jeff is a compelling storyteller, a thoughtful author, and his subjects trust him with some of the toughest moments of their lives.  Tune in to find out why.

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:

Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America by Jeff Hobbs

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs

Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs

Show Them You’re Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year Before College by Jeff Hobbs

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This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer sees love’s complexities, beauties; its selfishness, difficulties, and maddening passions. Jessica Soffer tells us the story of a 50 year marriage between Abe and Jane as Jane lies dying in a hospital bed. The backdrop of their romance is Central Park, and despite the constant presence of love in the story, it is not overly sentimental or maudlin. Tune in and find out how a writer spent years writing a marriage that lasted decades.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham

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Adam Haslett’s new novel, Mothers & Sons is a brilliant book examining the relationships between mothers and sons from all sorts of angles.  The story of Peter and his mother Ann, who have so much in common and yet are estranged.  Compelling, original and moving, this a novel that stays with you.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Mothers & Sons by Adam Haslett

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett

You are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett

Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

King Lear by William Shakespeare

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Tinkers by Paul Harding

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The Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best work of sustained fiction in the English language.   In other words, it doesn’t get any more prestigious than the Booker.  And we are honored this week to have Samantha Harvey who wrote the 2024 Booker winner entitled “Orbital”.   When you read her beautiful prose, you’ll know why she won.  And when you listen to her tell us how and why she wrote “Orbital”, you’ll be as impressed with Samantha Harvey as we are.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

“Orbital” by Samantha Harvey

“The Shapeless Unease” by Samantha Harvey

“Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf

“The Western Wind” by Samantha Harvey 

“The Wilderness” by Samantha Harvey

“Dear Thief” by Samantha Harvey

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If like your drama in a courtroom, Scott Turow is the writer for you.  His newest, Presumed Guilty, is the conclusion to the story of Rusty Sabitch, his best known protagonist.  It’s a wonderfully written page turner that we bet you won’t be able to put down.  If your heart pounds to the sound of a gavel and a bailiff saying ALL RISE, tune in and listen to find out why Scott thinks law is still the noblest pursuit of them all.   

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

Burden of Proof by Scott Turow

One L by Scott Turow

Innocence by Scott Turow 

The Last Trial by Scott Turow

Suspect by Scott Turow

Reversible Errors by Scott Turow

Personal Injuries by Scott Turow

The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow

Identical by Scott Turow

Limitations by Scott Turow

Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow

Testimony by Scott Turow

The Orphan’s Son by Adam Johnson

The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud

The Natural by Bernard Malamud

The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

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Our first book show of the year is a first-time novelist, Karissa Chen.  Her new book Homecoming is a novel a portrait in longing, an epoch love story between two characters torn apart by political unrest at the time of the Communist Revolution in China.  It’s ambitious, it’s beautiful and it’s one of the best historical portrayals of China’s complex histories we have ever read.  Join us!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Homecoming by Karissa Chen

Written on the Water by Eileen Chang

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013 by DerekWalcott

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This week we take a look back at last year’s Book Case episodes focussing on the methodology of writing. We love talking to authors about their technique, their inspirations, and we love exploring how they do what they do. So this week we sew together some of our favorite ideas and methods coming from our authors, on how to write a book. We hope that we have some aspiring authors listening, and that there is inspiration to be taken from each of these ideas.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

The Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett

Colored Television by Danzy Senna

Tell me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

The History of Sound: Stories by Ben Shattuck

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal

Shanghai by Joseph Kanon

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

Table for Two by Amor Towles

The Hunter by Tana French

After Anna by Anna Quindlen

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

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We decided to break format this week, and we might do it again at that (it was wonderful).  To ring in the holiday week, we had to spend a little time talking about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  And we must admit we had never read it until now.  We sit down with Dean Natalie McKnight at Boston University, and Professor Joel Brattin at Worcester Polytechnic. Both top Dickensian scholars in their field, we ask them why this book still universally resonates….hundreds of years later.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

The Chimes by Charles Dickens

Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

The Battle of Life: A Love Story by Charles Dickens

The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens

Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

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We know we want to talk to an author if we argue long and lustily about a book’s themes. And Like Mother, Like Mother, the newest by Susan Rieger, has so many themes: how we cannot escape our mothers, the concept of whether women can “have it all”, the debate on nature vs. nurture…and so much more. These are characters that will stay with you long after you have finished, and is a great selection for book clubs out there. Take a break from holiday prep and join us for our conversation with Susan Rieger and with Warwick books in La Jolla California.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger

The Heirs by Susan Rieger

The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger

Mosaic of the Mind by Susan Rieger

By the Lake by John McGahern

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Netherland by Joseph O’Neill

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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