The Book Case

We have devoted several podcasts to the issue of how parents get children to read - off screens and into pages.  We talk about it - others DO something about it.  You might not expect to find Stephen Curry, the great pro basketball player, to be among that group.  However, Stephen and his wife Ayesha have a foundation - Eat.Learn.Play - and over the past few years they’ve given books every Christmas to every elementary school child in Oakland, California where Stephen started his pro career.  They invited us to Oakland to see the program in action.  Charlie went and had a chance to talk to the Currys about why they, like the two of us, think this issue is so critical.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

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

The Boy Who Never Gave Up by Stephen Curry

I Am Extraordinary by Stephen Curry

I Have a Superpower by Stephen Curry

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

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Our next installment in the Book Case Classics series comes from listeners like you.  Many of you asked for Austen…you wanted it?  You got it!  We sat down with two of the world’s foremost Austen Scholars, Claudia L. Johnson, Murray Professor of English at Princeton and Devoney Looser, Regents Professor at Arizona State University (both of which have great Austen books on the market) to discuss the facts and fiction surround the great Jane Austen and her unique works.  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:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Emma by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen

30 Great Myths about Jane Austen by Claudia L. Johnson

Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel by Claudia L. Johnson

Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane by Devoney Looser

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Abir Mukherjee was a revelation to us, even if he is already an international bestseller. The Burning Grounds, the sixth of the Wyndham and Banerjee mystery series will keep readers guessing while dazzling them with terrific writing. His series takes place during turn of the century in Imperialist India, and he exposes the good, bad and ugly, from both a British and native perspective.  He knocked us out, and we bet his Wyndham and Banerjee series will knock out our listeners too.  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:

The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and

A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham & Banerjee

A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and

Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and

The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee

Burmese Days by George Orwell

Shooting an Elephant (An Essay) by George Orwell

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Long Drop by Denise Mina

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

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We are so pleased that our Writer in Residence, J. Ryan Stradal, has sold his newest to Atria Publishing. He is here this week to tell us how he did it, and how Atria became his new home (and it apparently involved an auction). We are also joined by the husband and wife team behind Bound and Vine, a brand new bookstore in Fayetteville, North Carolina that brings military families together to share ideas and share community.  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

Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

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

The Book Haters’ Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

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Megha Majumdar was on the short list for the National Book Award, and we were rooting hard for her to win. She may not have won THIS year, but her talent and her world building skills had us clamoring for more, so we have no doubt you will see her name on the list again. A Guardian and a Thief is a novel that asks (and not didactically) what you would do, what morals would you compromise, to survive. What would you do to ensure your children survive? We talk to Megha and then discuss a new unique Chicagoland Independent Bookseller holiday tradition with a local organizer.  Join us and Happy Thanksgiving.

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

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

In Other Rooms, Other by Daniyal Mueenuddin

This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Sing to It: New Stories by Amy Hempel

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We DO love talking to John Irving.  In our winding, wandering and wonderful conversation we cover it all from his newest, Queen Esther, the art of writing backwards, skiing in Vienna and the eccentricities of bike pump usage.  If this description doesn’t entice you to listen, we don’t know what will. John Irving is one of the most masterful writers of our time.  Sit down with us for our third conversation with him to find out what motivates his work and makes him tick.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

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

Queen Esther by John Irving

The Last Chairlift by John Irving

Setting Free the Bears by John Irving

The Water-Method Man by John Irving

The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving

The World According to Garp by John Irving

The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving

A Son of the Circus by John Irving

The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving

A Widow for One Year by John Irving

My Movie Business: A Memoir by John Irving

The Fourth Hand by John Irving

Until I Find You by John Irving

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

In One Person by John Irving

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving

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Catherine Newman’s latest, Wreck, is a beautiful meditation on the act of motherhood. Revisiting the family from Sandwich as they enter a new phase of familial life. We all know that successful parents raise kids just to lose them to the world, and that this launch into independence is something we all desperately hope for and deeply dread. Funny, touching and compulsively readable this is a novel about the beauty and pain of family, who have so much to lose when they have so much to love.

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:

Wreck by Catherine Newman

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

We all Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman

The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers 

Heart the Lover by Lily King

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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It’s Halloween…so who better to follow up our conversations about middle school reading than R.L. Stine? With over 400 titles to his name (the latest being The Last Sleepover In the Goosebumps House of Shiver series) this man has been scaring kids for decades and decades. And oh wow, are his stories worth the price of admission?! Join us as we talk to Bob (what he asked we call him) about what makes him tick, how he sees writing for middle school audiences and why horror keeps him in stiches.

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 Last Sleepover by R.L. Stine

The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine

Give me a K-I-L-L! by R.L. Stine

Little Shop of Hamsters by R.L. Stine

Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes by R.L. Stine

Blind Date by R.L. Stine

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

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We knew that reading levels were in fluctuation, but we had no idea there was a Middle School reading crisis.  According to the NWEA (The Northwest Evaluation Association which measures academic and student standards) only 30% of 8th graders are reading at grade level or above.  Why?  How did we get here and how do we get back on track raising great readers who love literature?  We are joined by Miah Daughtery,

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

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

The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

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Lily King’s newest, Heart the Lover, is a sparing, funny, painful and beautiful novel about the first loves we have, and how they never really let go. The humanity, joy and sadness of the novel will keep you turning pages and keep the characters with you long after you have closed the book.  We talk to her about her inspirations, her struggles in writing this book and how she triumphed over difficulty in how to end the novel (no spoilers, promise). We also talk to Dixon Books in Natchez Mississippi, less than 24 hours from their grand opening, a first for us.  Join us to talk all things books and bookstores...

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

Heart the Lover by Lily King

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Euphoria by Lily King

Five Tuesdays in Winter: Stories by Lily King

Father of the Rain by Lily King

The Pleasing Hour by Lily King

The English Teacher by Lily King

Coconuts for the Saint by Debra Sparks

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Independent People by Halldor Laxness

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard

The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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