Bookish Flights: Books, Author Interviews & Must-Read Recommendations

Kara Infante
  • 5.0 (92)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Bookish Flights is the place to talk books and reading. This podcast focuses on connection, storytelling and the transformative power of books. Each episode invites guests to share the three books that have influenced them, unlocking their wisdom and how it changed their lives. Books are a bridge that connects us, a remedy for loneliness, and the best conversational currency to be the most interesting person in the room! Rooted in the belief that stories shape who we are, this podcast brings people together through a shared love of literature. Perfect for book lovers, Bookish Flights inspires listeners to discover the books that can shape their own lives. You will love this show If you have ever asked: What are the best fiction and non-fiction books to read?Which books should I add to my reading list?How can I find more time to read?What are the best books for exploring new genres?What books are perfect for my kids?What is the publishing journey like for authors?What books do my favorite authors love to read?Discover book recommendations across a wide range of genres, including historical fiction, romantasy, rom-coms, mysteries, thrillers and personal development. Check out the website www.bookishflights.com to see book club picks and the wide range of book flights. 

  1. A Deal with a Debutante, 90s Rom-Com Energy, and Why We Love Love Stories with Chelsea Bobulski (E208)

    1D AGO

    A Deal with a Debutante, 90s Rom-Com Energy, and Why We Love Love Stories with Chelsea Bobulski (E208)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Chelsea Bobulski, author of A Deal with a Debutante, her latest release with Haven Fiction and the first book in her London’s Most Eligible series. Chelsea is also the author of the YA fantasy novels The Wood and Remember Me, and brings her background in history into the heart of every story she writes. In this conversation, we talk about what it looks like to step into the past through research, how storytelling connects us across time, and why romance novels might just make us better at loving the people in our real lives. Episode Highlights: Chelsea’s love of history and how research becomes a doorway into another world.Writing A Deal with a Debutante and bringing Edwardian England to life.What it looks like to “live inside” the stories you’re writing.The balance between historical accuracy and creating a story that feels alive.How good stories—especially romance—can shape the way we show up in our own lives.Why romance novels remind us to slow down and be intentional in our relationships.The idea that dreams can evolve over time—and that’s not failure, it’s growth.Finding joy in storytelling, creativity, and building a life you actually want to live.Connect with Chelsea: InstagramFacebookWebsiteShow Notes Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: Harry Potter series by J.K. RowlingThe Girl of Fire and Thorns by Ray CarsonThe Berenstain Bears books by Jan & Mike BerenstainTheo of Golden by Allen LeviBook Flight Consuelo & Alva Vanderbilt by Amanda Mackenzie StewartA.K.A. Lucy by Sarah RoyalEven After This by Deborah Clack✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    33 min
  2. Building Tiny Troops: Amy Schweizer on Raising Healthy Kids in Military Life (E207)

    APR 1

    Building Tiny Troops: Amy Schweizer on Raising Healthy Kids in Military Life (E207)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Amy Schweizer. Amy is a USMC military spouse of 15 years, mom to three boys, and an expert in youth sports development. She has played soccer for over 20 years, culminating with being a member of the Cincinnati Ladyhawks of the USL. She is the Founder and Owner of Tiny Troops Soccer, a developmental program for children ages 2-5 with 35 locations worldwide. She loves creating physical activity programs that benefit the overall well-being of military children, families, and the surrounding communities. She is also a passionate advocate for military spouse employment. Her first book - I Will Be Okay - Adventures of a Military Kid - was selected as the 2021 Inspirational Leader of the Year by The Rosie Network. If you are interested in grabbing a copy or a few of I Will Be Okay - Adventures of a Military Kid, please connect with Amy at info@tinytroops.com.  Episode Highlights: Navigating frequent moves while trying to build and maintain a career.The reality of parenting without nearby family support.How Tiny Troops Soccer started from a personal need.Why early childhood movement and play matter so much.Building a business that can move with military life.Supporting military kids through transition and change.Advocacy for military spouse employment and flexible career paths.Encouragement for military spouses trying to build something of their own.Connect with Amy: InstagramFacebookWebsiteBooks and authors mentioned in the episode: Winter Garden by Kristin HannahBook Flight Traction by Gino WickhamProfit First by Mike MichalowiczA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. MaasNever Lie by Freida McFadden✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    42 min
  3. BFF Book Club - A Murder Most Fowl with Carmela Dutra (E206)

    MAR 27

    BFF Book Club - A Murder Most Fowl with Carmela Dutra (E206)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Carmela Dutra, a Bay Area–based writer who loves food trucks, family, and cozy mysteries. With a love for quirky characters and humor-filled storytelling, Carmela draws inspiration from everyday life, farmers’ markets, and the unexpected moments that make a story memorable. In our conversation, we talk about the inspiration behind her food-truck-centered mystery, A Murder Most Fowl, writing sibling dynamics, and how she balances humor with high-stakes crime. Carmela also shares what readers can expect next in the series—including book two, Hot Wings and Homicide. Episode Highlights: The inspiration behind a food truck–centered mystery, including brainstorming sessions with her husband.Writing twins and the dynamic between Beth and Seth.Why food and cozy mysteries are such a perfect pairing.Balancing humor with suspense in a murder mystery.A peek into book two: Hot Wings and Homicide. If you’ve pre-ordered a copy of the book, make sure to email, marketing@crookedlanebooks.com for your exclusive recipe cards. Connect with Carmela: InstagramFacebookWebsite📚 Next Meet the Author Event 🗓️ April 21st | 🕓 5 pm PST / 7 pm CST / 8 pm EST If you’d like to join us for an upcoming discussion, next month’s pick is The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake by Rachel Linden - a beautiful story set in Italy that weaves together a magical cookbook, family history, and a summer of second chances. Rachel will be joining us live, and you’re invited to read along and be part of the conversation. Register Here. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: Carmela’s previous Bookish Flights episodeSarah Adams booksAnd Now, Back to You by B.K. BorisonThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeBook Flight The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle ChouinardA Tour to Die For by Michelle ChouinardMurder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    31 min
  4. Loving Someone Through Mental Illness: Grief, Resilience, & the Stories We Tell Ourselves with Sheila Hamilton (E205)

    MAR 24

    Loving Someone Through Mental Illness: Grief, Resilience, & the Stories We Tell Ourselves with Sheila Hamilton (E205)

    Send us Fan Mail Today’s conversation is a tender one. I’m joined by Sheila Hamilton — journalist, speaker, and author of All the Things We Never Knew, a memoir she wrote in the aftermath of her late husband’s descent into mental illness. This book is part story, part resource — and it captures the confusion, grief, hope, and fierce love that come with navigating a fractured mental health system while trying to hold a family together. If you’ve ever loved someone who was struggling…this episode is for you. We talk resilience, motherhood, sisterhood — and the powerful books that shaped Sheila along the way. Episode Highlights: Why Sheila felt compelled to write All the Things We Never Knew after her husband’s mental health crisis.How her background in journalism shaped the book into both memoir and resource.The realities of navigating the mental health system while trying to support a family.Why honesty about struggle can help people find connection and community.What resilience really looks like in the middle of grief and uncertainty.The role motherhood played in helping her move forward.Connect with Sheila: InstagramPodcastWebsiteBooks and authors mentioned in the episode: Virginia Woolf booksThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Chronology of Water by Lidia YuknavitchMcGlue by Ottessa MoshfeghBook Flight The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionWild by Cheryl StrayedThe Bell Jar✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    32 min
  5. From Military Spouse to Entrepreneur: Building Community & Women Empowering Women with Wendy Hively (E204)

    MAR 18

    From Military Spouse to Entrepreneur: Building Community & Women Empowering Women with Wendy Hively (E204)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Wendy Hively—a Navy spouse, retired scientist, and entrepreneur who has spent more than a decade building a business that supports military families. After giving up two jobs in her career field during her husband’s service, Wendy experienced firsthand the employment challenges many military spouses face. That experience led her to entrepreneurship as a way to create both stability and purpose. She is the founder of Charliemadison Originals, a lifestyle brand named after her daughters and inspired by three generations of military service in her family. The brand not only celebrates military life but also gives back—5% of every purchase is donated to organizations supporting servicemembers and their families. Wendy also shares about her newest venture, Charliemadison Labs, a women-led coaching community that helps entrepreneurs get out of their own way and grow their businesses. Episode Highlights: Starting a business with $200 in the bank.The employment challenges military spouses often face.Why entrepreneurship can be a powerful alternative career path.Skills military spouses develop that translate to business success.Building community through Charliemadison Originals.Wendy’s newest venture: Charliemadison Labs women-led coaching for entrepreneurs.Her book flight celebrating women who empower women.Connect with Wendy: InstagramFacebookWebsiteShow Notes Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness OrczyThe Alchemist by Paolo CoelhoKills Well with Others by Deanna RaybourneBook Flight The Red Tent by Anita DiamantThe Queens of Crime by Marie BenedictKillers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourne✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    43 min
  6. Historical Fiction: Remarkable Women and the Rich History of the South with Katherine Scott Crawford (E203)

    MAR 11

    Historical Fiction: Remarkable Women and the Rich History of the South with Katherine Scott Crawford (E203)

    Send us Fan Mail Today on Bookish Flights, I’m joined by Katherine Scott Crawford, award-winning author of The Miniaturist’s Assistant and Keowee Valley, history enthusiast, and self-proclaimed recovering academic. An eleventh-generation Southerner, Katherine directs writing retreats at a remote mountain lodge in Western North Carolina, where she lives with her family and would much rather be in the woods with her dog than anywhere else. A former backpacking guide and adjunct professor, her writing has appeared in newspapers across the country and abroad. If you love historical fiction, this conversation is for you. Episode Highlights: The deep, layered history of the American SouthHer novel The Miniaturist’s Assistant, set in Charleston and the research and imagination behind bringing 1804 and 2004 to lifeWhy historical fiction is the best form of time travelHer writing process and the rhythms of a creative lifeThe idea that reading is a hobby you actively choose above all elseHow living in Western North Carolina means you can’t “trip over a rock without tripping over history”Katherine describes herself as a history nerd, and it shows in the best way. We talk about time as something mysterious and porous,  how the past presses into the present, and how fiction allows us to experience that overlap in deeply human ways. Her biggest hope for readers? A truly transportive experience into both 1804 and 2004 Charleston. Connect with Katherine: InstagramFacebookWebsiteShow Notes Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. MontgomeryThe Black Wolf by Louise PennyThe Everlasting by Alix E. HarrowThe Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine MayBook Flight The Frozen River by Ariel LawhonThe Lost Book of Eleanor Dareby Kimberly BrockThe Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann by Virginia Pye✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    38 min
  7. Faith, History, and Forgiveness: Inside Historical Christian Romance with Tracie Peterson (E202)

    MAR 6

    Faith, History, and Forgiveness: Inside Historical Christian Romance with Tracie Peterson (E202)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Tracie Peterson, often called the Queen of Historical Christian Fiction. An ECPA, CBA, and USA Today bestselling author of more than 110 books, Tracie has spent decades weaving together faith, history, and romance for readers around the world. Her guiding motto in both life and writing is Soli Deo Gloria — For God Alone the Glory. A Kansas native now living in the mountains of Montana with her husband, Jim, Tracie joins me to discuss her latest novel, Faithful of Heart, part of the Minnesota Legacy series. Episode Highlights: Her deep research process, especially her love of firsthand historical accounts.Why setting functions almost like a secondary character in her novels.The heart behind Faithful of Heart and what’s ahead for the Minnesota Legacy series.Balancing reading and writing, and how deadlines shape her reading life.The themes of hope and forgiveness that thread through her stories.Her book flight includes historical Christian romances that beautifully blend faith, perseverance, and love.This conversation is thoughtful, grounded, and rooted in a lifetime of faithful storytelling. Connect with Tracie: InstagramFacebookWebsiteShow Notes Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: Jane Austin booksTom Clancy booksJaime Jo Wright booksBook Flight A Song in the Dark by Kimberley WoodhouseMail Order Duchess / Mail Order Baroness by Misty M. BellarChristy by Catherine Marshall✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    30 min
  8. That’s What Friends Are For: Aging, Authenticity, & Found Family with Wade Rouse (E201)

    MAR 4

    That’s What Friends Are For: Aging, Authenticity, & Found Family with Wade Rouse (E201)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I sit down with USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and internationally bestselling author Wade Rouse. Many readers know Wade by his pen name, Viola Shipman, his grandmother’s name chosen to honor the woman whose stories and heirlooms inspire his fiction. But this novel marks something new. That’s What Friends Are For is the first book he has published under his own name. Inspired by The Golden Girls, the novel follows four gay men “of a certain age” who have built a vibrant chosen family in Palm Springs, until an unexpected family arrival begins to unravel long-held secrets. Episode Highlights: Why Wade chose his grandmother’s name as his pen nameWhat publishing under his own name represents at this stage of his lifeThe Golden Girls inspiration behind “The Golden Gays”Writing about aging in AmericaThe power of found family and chosen friendshipHumor as a doorway to deeper emotional truthThe legacy behind his beloved Viola Shipman novelsIf you have ever built family beyond blood, navigated reinvention, or believe friendship carries us through life’s hardest seasons, this episode is for you. Connect with Wade: WebsiteInstagramFacebook Show Notes Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show. Books and authors mentioned in the episode: Erma Bombeck booksDavid Sedaris booksI Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora EphronRunning with Scissors by Augusten BurroughsThe Last of the Savages by Jay McInerneyCatcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerSo Old, So Young by Grant GinderBook Flight Awake by Jen HatmakerThe Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather WebberHazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross✨ Find Your Next Great Read! We just hit 175 episodes of Bookish Flights, and to celebrate, I created the Bookish Flights Roadmap — a guide to all 175 podcast episodes, sorted by genre to help you find your next great read faster. Explore it here → www.bookishflights.com/read/roadmap Support the show Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening! InstagramFacebookWebsite

    42 min
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5
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About

Bookish Flights is the place to talk books and reading. This podcast focuses on connection, storytelling and the transformative power of books. Each episode invites guests to share the three books that have influenced them, unlocking their wisdom and how it changed their lives. Books are a bridge that connects us, a remedy for loneliness, and the best conversational currency to be the most interesting person in the room! Rooted in the belief that stories shape who we are, this podcast brings people together through a shared love of literature. Perfect for book lovers, Bookish Flights inspires listeners to discover the books that can shape their own lives. You will love this show If you have ever asked: What are the best fiction and non-fiction books to read?Which books should I add to my reading list?How can I find more time to read?What are the best books for exploring new genres?What books are perfect for my kids?What is the publishing journey like for authors?What books do my favorite authors love to read?Discover book recommendations across a wide range of genres, including historical fiction, romantasy, rom-coms, mysteries, thrillers and personal development. Check out the website www.bookishflights.com to see book club picks and the wide range of book flights. 

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