Always Bring a Book

Craig Silva
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Always Bring a Book is a podcast for readers who love hearing from the people behind the stories. Hosted by Craig Silva, each episode features candid conversations with authors, booksellers, librarians, and other book-world voices.

Episodes

  1. TJ Klune on writing from love, publishing ethics, and protecting creative work

    6 DAYS AGO

    TJ Klune on writing from love, publishing ethics, and protecting creative work

    In this episode of Always Bring a Book, I sit down with TJ Klune, bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, and In the Lives of Puppets. TJ and I reconnect after a few years to talk about everything that’s happened since Cerulean Sea became a massive success. TJ shares the story behind The Stars Look Like Home, his newly announced novel told from the point of view of a dog, written for a new Tor imprint, Wildthorn. We talk about writing from a place of deep personal connection, why the dog absolutely does not die, and how Britney Spears accidentally inspired the book’s title. The conversation also explores the emotional and creative weight of success, the rare second life his backlist has found through Tor republications, and the complicated realities of publishing older work years later. We also dig into the ethics of AI in publishing, TJ’s long-standing collaboration with cover artist Chris Sickels, and why supporting real artists matters more than ever. TJ reflects on resisting pressure to repeat past successes, protecting creative integrity, and what it means to keep writing stories that feel honest even as his audience continues to grow. Intro music by Trevor Vaughan

    36 min
  2. Lucy Zhao on building Pagebound, social reading, and rejecting AI

    27 JAN

    Lucy Zhao on building Pagebound, social reading, and rejecting AI

    In this episode of Always Bring a Book, I sit down with Lucy Zhao, co-founder of Pagebound, a fast-growing social reading app built as an alternative to Goodreads. Lucy shares how Pagebound grew from an idea between two lifelong readers into a self-funded platform with over 100,000 users in just one year, all without ads or venture capital. She reflects on leaving the tech world, betting on the reading community, and building a product rooted in values rather than growth-at-all-costs. The conversation touches on organic growth through BookTok and word of mouth, difficult feature tradeoffs made by a two-person team, and what’s next for Pagebound including giveaways, deeper author and publisher collaborations, and hopes for more in-person and library-based community building. Intro music by Trevor Vaughan This week’s recommendations: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow We Are Always Tender with Our Dead by Eric LaRocca

    31 min
  3. Shen Tao on writing from the heart, poetry magic, and her debut The Poet Empress

    13 JAN

    Shen Tao on writing from the heart, poetry magic, and her debut The Poet Empress

    Set in the fictional Azalea Dynasty, The Poet Empress follows a young woman living in a world where women are forbidden to read, famine is rampant, and survival demands impossible choices. In this conversation, Shen reflects on writing eight novels before her debut, unlearning the urge to write for the market, and why poetry, rooted in truth and emotion, became the heart of her book’s magic system. She also talks candidly about the vulnerability of publishing deeply personal work, the emotional impact of early reader responses, and what it’s been like watching the book find its audience through online book communities all while navigating life as a debut author. Intro music by Trevor Vaughan Author Photo credit: Yuqi Shan This week’s recommendations: Burn the Sea by Mona Tiwari True Story by Michael Finkel

    22 min
  4. Anthony Shapland on A Room Above a Shop, queer love, and becoming a novelist

    23/12/2025

    Anthony Shapland on A Room Above a Shop, queer love, and becoming a novelist

    On today's episode I sit down with Welsh author and artist Anthony Shapland, whose debut novel A Room Above a Shop was released earlier this year. Set in a small Welsh town in the late 1980s, A Room Above a Shop tells the story of a secret love affair between two men during the height of the AIDS crisis and the era of Section 28. In this conversation, Anthony reflects on writing queer love with restraint and tenderness, coming to writing later in life, and how his background in visual art and filmmaking shaped the way he approaches narrative. Intro music by Trevor Vaughan In this episode, we explore: Why the novel’s central characters are known only by their initials Writing gay history through intimacy, anonymity, and resistance Giving yourself “permission” to become a writer later in life How visual art, filmmaking, and writing all stem from the same creative impulse The emotional significance of finishing the book on the Welsh coast This week’s recommendation: Heart the Lover by Lily King

    30 min
  5. Emily Austin on libraries, identity, and Is This a Cry for Help?

    09/12/2025

    Emily Austin on libraries, identity, and Is This a Cry for Help?

    Today we sit down with bestselling Canadian author Emily Austin, known for Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, We Could Be Rats, and her upcoming 2026 novel Is This a Cry for Help? Emily’s work blends dark humor with tenderness, exploring lesbian identity, mental health, neurodivergence, and the contradictions of being human. In this conversation, she digs into character creation, religious trauma, queerness, librarianship, and the messy, beautiful inner lives that shape her fiction. In this episode, we explore: The real library experience that inspired the opening of Is This a Cry for Help? The hidden biases baked into the Dewey Decimal System Writing invisible disabilities and internalized shame with honesty and humor How compulsory heterosexuality shaped both Emily’s life and Darcy’s story The chaos of sharing a name with a Fox News reporter This week's recommendation: Goddess of Filth by V. Castro Intro + Outro music by Trevor Vaughan

    29 min
  6. Paul Tremblay on AI, horror writing, and his new 2026 novel

    24/11/2025

    Paul Tremblay on AI, horror writing, and his new 2026 novel

    Welcome to the very first episode of Always Bring a Book. Craig sits down with award-winning author Paul Tremblay; the mind behind A Head Full of Ghosts, The Cabin at the End of the World, Horror Movie, and his middle-grade debut Another. Fresh off announcing his upcoming 2026 novel Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, Paul talks about blending tech dread with dark humor, how the book became his longest and most ambitious project yet, and why he’s still firmly anti-AI in creative spaces. They also dig into: Paul’s long-running lawsuit against OpenAI and how his thinking on AI has intensified The wild premise behind Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep (nanobots, remote-controlled bodies, and a slacker gamer protagonist?!) What it’s really like co-writing a novel with Stephen Graham Jones His experience writing Another for younger readers Growing up around the old Parker Brothers factory in Salem (Ouija boards, haunted stories, and an unreleased Dracula video game!) Intro + Outro music by Trevor Vaughan

    27 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

Always Bring a Book is a podcast for readers who love hearing from the people behind the stories. Hosted by Craig Silva, each episode features candid conversations with authors, booksellers, librarians, and other book-world voices.

Information

  • Creator
    Craig Silva
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Always Bring a Book