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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Delia Ephron is a courageous woman. Not only did she lose her husband Jerry, she then faced death in the form of leukemia and a very risky bone marrow transplant all while falling in love with her husband Peter. As if all of this weren’t enough, she wrote an amazing memoir about it, Left on Tenth, and THEN she turned it into a major play on Broadway where hundreds of people could react to her story, live. How did she do it and why? We find out on this week’s Book Case. We also talk to the bookstore Francie and French, and tell you where they got that name.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron

The Lion is In by Delia Ephron

Heartburn by Delia and Nora Ephron

Siracusa by Delia Ephron

Big City Eyes by Delia Ephron

Hanging Up by Delia Ephron

Sister Mother Husband Dog Etc. by Delia Ephron

The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron

Frannie in Pieces by Delia Ephron

Love Lost and What I Wore: A Play by Delia and Nora Ephron

The Time of the Child by Niall Williams

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In this, the second part of our interview with Louise Penny we talk to her about the art of writing, how she stays fresh and what her year looks like as she writes and completes a Gamache mystery. We widen our lens on the art of writing with Louise Penny. Stay with us, you won't want to miss it.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

Still Life by Louise Penny

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

The Hangman by Louise Penny

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

Glass Houses by Louise Penny

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

A Better Man by Louise Penny

All the Devils Are Here

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton

World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving

The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler

Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron

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We read fan comments, and several of you wrote us about Louise Penny.  Charlie has always been a fan (he would want me to say that) but Kate was shamefully new to her work.  But she is now a HUGE fan and has read them all and could not put down The Grey Wolf, Penny’s newest and her 19th Inspector Gamache in the series. Join us for part 1 of a 2 part Book Case podcast with Louise Penny.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

Still Life by Louise Penny

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

The Hangman by Louise Penny

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

Glass Houses by Louise Penny

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

A Better Man by Louise Penny

All the Devils Are Here

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton

World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

The Time of the Child by Niall Williams

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

Monogamy by Sue Miller

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When Niall Williams releases a book, we positively cheer.  His writing feels like coming home to us.  A home full of warm fires, good stories, kind neighbors, strong community and unspoken love.  All of them and more illuminate his latest: The Time of the Child.  We could not recommend this book more.  Buy it.  And then buy it for everyone on your holiday list who loves to read.  And then sit by your holiday fire with all of those folks who read it and listen to this episode of the Book Case.  You will be so glad you did.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Time of the Child by Niall Williams

This is Happiness by Niall Williams 

History of Rain by Niall Williams 

Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams

As it Is in Heaven by Niall Williams

O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare by Niall Williams and Christine Breen

The Fall of Light by Niall Williams

In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams and Christine Breen

Boy in the World by Niall Williams

John by Niall Williams

When Summer’s in the Meadow by Niall Williams and Christine Breen

Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett

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We don’t do it often, but we are giving two episodes to one conversation: the Great Ann Patchett talking about the Annotated Bel Canto.  After we wrap our conversation with her we talk to her bookstore, Parnassus and its manager, Cat Bock.  Tune in and find out why we love Ann Patchett so much.  

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Run by Ann Patchett

This is the Story of a Marriage by Ann Patchett

Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Taft by Ann Patchett

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Audiobook Version read by Jeremy Irons

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

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