The Book Case GMA

Do you like a good spy novel? Do you love le Carré and Graham Greene? Then we hope, with great sincerity, that you are reading the work of Joseph Kanon. His latest, Shanghai, centers around the city’s lesser known freewheeling WWII history and some of the lawless people who escaped the war to be there. Tune in to find out why he is fascinated by spy novels, and what he calls “spy adjacent novels”, that capture such rich moments in history.


Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Shanghai by Joseph Kanon

The Good German by Joseph Kanon

Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon

Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon

The Prodigal Spy by Joseph Kanon

The Berlin Exchange by Joseph Kanon

Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon

Defectors by Joseph Kanon

Alibi by Joseph Kanon

The Accomplice by Joseph Kanon

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Barry

Winter Work by Dan Fesperman

The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman

Safe Houses by Dan Fesperman

The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman

Unmanned by Dan Fesperman

The Double Game by Dan Fesperman

Layover in Dubai by Dan Fesperman

The Arms Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman

The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman

The Warlord's Son by Dan Fesperman

The Small Boat of Great Sorrows by Dan Fesperman

Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman


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Sandwich: A Novel by Catherine Newman is full of great characters, evocative nostalgic imagery and a love for Cape Cod that we share with her. It is full of thoughts on what it means to be a woman, why we keep secrets from our family, and what it is we love about the yearly vacation traditions we cherish if we were lucky enough to have them in our lives. For our bookstore this week, Bookshop West Portal, who for independent bookstore day brought in llamas. Because....well, tune in.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family by Catherine Newman

The Worst Noel: Hellish Holiday Tales by Catherine Newman

Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years by Catherine Newman

The Beans of Egypt, Maine, by Carolyn Chute

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Long Island by Colm Toibin

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

Shopkeeping: Stories, Advice, and Observations by Peter Miller


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Want a great summer read? We have it. A Better Place by Sarah Langan is a page turning mystery/thriller….like if The Stepford Wives met Shirley Jackson in The Lottery. The story is original, the characters are well written, and the mysteries presented will baffle you as they unfold. It’s a terrific ride. We also talk also talk to John Mendelson, president of Nosy Crow Books, an independent publishing house for kids, who took the entire bike trail laid out by our Massachusetts guests from last week at Whitelam Books. Why did he do it, and how? Tune in and find out.


Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Better World by Sarah Langan

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan

The Keeper by Sarah Langan

The Missing by Sarah Langan

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

My Antonia by Willa Cather

House of Leaves by Mark. Z. Danielewski

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

A Horse Called Now by Ruth Doyle and Alexandra Finkeldey

Dig, Dig, Dinosaur by Anjali Goswami and Maggie Li


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This week, a dark and funny tale of sheep farming in Rural England that reads like an American Western by Cormac McCarthy. Sound a little strange? Well, it is. But it is also compelling, suspenseful, complex and packed with great characters. Scott Preston is a debut novelist, and this book, The Borrowed Hills, may defy a two sentence description but it’s worth the read. For our bookstore this week we talk to Whitelam books in Reading, Massachusetts, who tell us about what they did to bring in folks on Indpendent Bookstore Day. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren

Shane by Jack Schaefer

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

True Grit by Charles Portis

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Independent People by Halldór Laxness

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez


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Today we have a book that helped us to lift the curtain on the inner workings of the book business. The Editor by Sara B. Franklin tells us the story of Judith Jones, the game changing editor who changed the publishing business at a time where women weren't in the publishing business. Judith helped shape literature and change publishing, and so we pair her with one of our current favorite editors who has just announced her retirement, Beverly Horowitz. Beverly has been in the business for 50 years and has worked with everyone from Judy Blume to E. Lockhart. Join us for a wonderful insiders look at the business that sustains our minds and hearts.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Editor by Sara B. Franklin

Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original by Sara B. Franklin

The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook: Dishes and Dispatches from the Catskill Mountains by Sara B. Franklin

The Colossus and Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones

Rabbit, Run by John Updike

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland (Canons) by Nan Shepherd

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


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We love the summer because it means trips the bookstore! We have some of our favorite bookstores recommending their favorite summer titles. If you are in need of a laugh, a thrill or just a great story to read on the beach, this is an episode of The Book Case you don't want to miss.


Books mentioned in this week's episode:

A Short Walk Through the Woods by Douglas Westerbeke

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

Same as it Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

James by Percival Everett

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

Lo Fi by Liz Riggs

Central Park West by James Comey

Westport by James Comey

Table for Two by Amor Towles

Swamp Story by Dave Barry

The Backyard Book Chronicles by Amy Tan

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Different Seasons by Stephen King

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult


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