Perhaps you are an avid listener to audio books, or, perhaps, like me, you’ve never ever read one. On this edition of The Weekly Reader, our book critic Marion Winik reviews two new books for which the authors themselves have recorded the audio versions, which makes them extra special and even more compelling: "This Body I Wore" by Diana Goetsch and "The Hero of this Book" by Elizabeth McCracken. 

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Sure, we’re all out here working hard and trying to live our very best lives, but what if you think the best way to achieve your dreams is under the glare of television lights? On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new novels that go behind the scenes (and all that glamour!)  and show us how “real” things truly are: "Small Game" by Blair Braverman, and "Carrie Soto is Back" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

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Once a year, around this time, we like to change gears at The Weekly Reader and focus on the local literary scene . So many great Baltimore authors published in books 2022! Here are just a few we hope you enjoy. And please visit your local bookstores this holiday season! 

Shelter, Lawrence Jackson, Graywolf

Black Boy Smile, D Watkins, Legacy Lit

Inheritance, Baynard Woods, Legacy Lit

Liarmouth, John Waters, Farrar Strauss Girous

Sinkhole, Davida Breier, University of New Orleans

The Marsh Queen, Virginia Hartman, Gallery Books

The Precious Jules, Shawn Nocher, Blackstone

Fearless, Benjamin Warner, Malarkey Press

Opening Day, Michael Ortman, Mindstir Media

All titles available at The Ivy Bookshop

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Today on The Weekly Reader, we review two new books about maintaining your cultural identity whilst working hard to “fit in": Rabia Chaudry's memoir "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom" and Ayad Akhtar's novel "American Dervish." 

All titles available at The Ivy Bookshop and other fine local retailers. 

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On this edition of The Weekly REader, we review two new books steeped in back-of-the house tales of intrigue, drugs, general excess, and of course, mind-blowing International travel and cuisine: California Soul, by Keith Corbin and Kevin Alexander, and The Lemon, by S. E. Boyd. 

All titles available at The Ivy Bookshop and other fine local retailers. 

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When you think of the future, what do you imagine? On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new novels with a decidedly dystopian view of things to come: "Vigil Harbor" by Julia Glass, and "The Displacements" by Bruce Holsinger. 

All books available at The Ivy Bookshop and other fine local retailers. 

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Move over, Oliver Twist! Step aside, Lil Orphan Annie! I’m Lisa Morgan and today on The Weekly Reader, our book critic Marion Winik reviews two new books that remind us that be it the Victorian Era, the roaring twenties, or the present day, “coming of age” can be tricky business. Hi, Marion!

"Coming of Age" can be a tricky business. Just look at Oliver Twist and Little Orphan Annie! On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new books that prove that growing up is as hard today as it was in the Victorian Era and the Roaring Twenties: Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead" and Jonathan Escoffery's "If I Survive You." 

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On this edition of The Weekly Reader, scary stories just in time for Halloween! Our book critic Marion Winik reviews two new frighteningly good books: "Bliss Montage" by Ling Ma, and "Motherthing" by Ainslie Hogarth. 

All titles available at The Ivy Bookshop and other fine local retailers. 

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On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we turn once again to one of the most beloved and prolific writers we know: Elin Hilderbrand. We review the short story collection "Endless Summer" and the audio version of "The Matchmaker." 

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What makes Texas such fertile ground for tall tales and great storytellers? O this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new novels brimming with Texas twang and swagger: Bobby Finger's "The Old Place" and Stacy Swann's "Olympus, Texas." 

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