Bookwild

Kate Hergott, Bookwild Collective
  • 4.8 (26)
  • Drama
  • Updated Weekly

On Tuesdays, Kate Hergott talks with authors about their books and writing processes. On Fridays, Kate talks with different co-host Bookstagrammers and BookTubers about a variety of bookish topics.

  1. 3d ago

    Horror We Are Excited to Read with Kayla Hardy

    This week, Kayla Hardy - screenwriter, reader, and author of The Quarter Queen - and I talk about horror books we are excited to read this year! Kate’s Upcoming Reads The Unhaunting — Micaiah Johnson Nightjars — Michael Wehunt Incarnate — Alma Katsu  Kayla’s Upcoming Reads Runner — Ashton Lattimore Horror Movie — Paul Tremblay The Buffalo Hunter Hunter — Stephen Graham Jones   Other Books We Discussed The Quarter Queen — Kayla Hardy The Night and the Moth — Rachel Gillig Between Two Fires — Christopher Buehlman Blood Slaves — Markus Redmond Blood Rising — Markus Redmond Ring Shout — P. Djèlí Clark Black Leopard, Red Wolf — Marlon James The Reformatory — Tananarive Due Fiend — Alma Katsu Perfect Victims — Mohammed El-Kurd Our Cut of Salt — Dana Helm The Disappearers — Marlon James The Hunter’s Daughter — Nicola Solvinic The Sleeping Sisters — Jennifer Givhan Salt Bones — Jennifer Givhan Blood Sisters — Vanessa Lillie Truth to Power — S.A. Cosby   All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

  2. 5d ago

    Female Friendship, Identity and Motherhood: Amy Chozick's With Friends Like You

    This week, Gare and I talk with Amy Chozick about her suspenseful literary debut With Friends Like You! Short Synopsis Emily, an exhausted new mother in Manhattan, becomes obsessed with finding her long-lost college roommate Daisy, whose mysterious disappearance has haunted her for years. When Daisy suddenly reappears and pulls Emily into a seductive new world of friendship and community, their reunion begins to crack, forcing Emily to question whether Daisy is saving her—or unraveling her life. Listen to hear about: The real-life experiences that inspired With Friends Like You — including Amy Chozick’s journalism career, new motherhood, and the college roommate who helped inspire Daisy’s story. Why female friendship is really the heart of the novel, from intense, almost romantic bonds to codependency, friendship breakups, and those friends you never completely stop thinking about. Motherhood, identity, and the pressure to rediscover yourself during the major transitions that can make you wonder who you are now. The book’s sharp critique of capitalism and the motherhood industry, including why all those over-the-top baby product names were a deliberate commentary on consumerism and the loss of community. How Amy crafted the book’s voice, twists, and upcoming screen adaptation — including her “if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it” philosophy and how adapting the novel actually influenced the finished book. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

    Female Friendship, Identity and Motherhood: Amy Chozick's With Friends Like You

  3. Sep 1

    Class, Race, Jazz and Crime: Andre Hardy's Fresh Take on Noir Fiction

    This week, I talk with Andre Hardy about his fresh take on noir in his debut novel Tear the City Down! Listen to hear about: How Andre Hardy’s debut novel, Tear the City Down, grew from his lifelong love of noir—particularly Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress, which showed him a fully realized Black protagonist in a genre he already loved.  The ways Hardy uses San Diego’s stark dualities—tourist paradise versus underserved neighborhoods, enormous wealth versus systemic oppression—as the foundation for Coltrane's story and the novel’s larger questions about social mobility, morality, and what happens when you actually reach the top.  Why Hardy shied away from a traditional stoic noir hero, and created Coltrane to be masculine, dangerous, and deeply vulnerable.  How the mystery expands from one missing girl into something far larger, illustrating Hardy’s belief that seemingly isolated injustices often lead back to systems of power and exploitation.  How Hardy drew on his own NFL experience, love of jazz, reading, and upbringing in San Diego to give the novel its texture. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

    Class, Race, Jazz and Crime: Andre Hardy's Fresh Take on Noir Fiction

  4. Aug 26

    Sci-Fi, Philip K. Dick & the Birth of Pink Beam Press

    This week, I talk with Keith Giles, David Agranoff, Brian Evenson, Gordon Bonnet, and Andrew Turck about Pink Beam Press, a new speculative-fiction imprint inspired by Philip K. Dick and the strange, reality-bending possibilities of science fiction. Listen to hear about: The origins of Pink Beam Press and how Philip K. Dick’s legendary “pink beam” experience helped inspire its identity and mission. Why speculative fiction is such a powerful way to explore reality, consciousness, identity, technology, privacy, and other big philosophical questions. How the authors behind Pink Beam’s novellas transform wildly different concepts—from digital replicas and mind reading to cyberpunk technology and artificial realities—into deeply human stories.  Why writing shorter doesn’t necessarily mean easier, and how the novella forces writers to crystallize their ideas while still leaving room for complex characters and themes. How research, personal experiences, literary influences, and unexpected discoveries during the writing process shape stories—and why sometimes the best fiction teaches the writer something, too. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

  5. Aug 21

    Fall Hopefuls on Our TBRs with Gare

    This week, Gare and I share fall book releases we are excited about! Kate’s Books The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson  Have You Seen Romit? By Chital Mehta It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller The Turning of Sally Mae by Nuzo Onoh Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe Gare’s Books The Little Red House Liv Andersson Killing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar The Witch by Freida McFadden This B Just Won’t Die by Tanya Pell All the Little Secrets by May Cobb All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

  6. Aug 18

    The Multi-Hyphenate Marie Laveau: Kayla Hardy's The Quarter Queen

    This week, I talk with Kayla Hardy about her dark fantasy The Quarter Queen! How The Quarter Queen began as a television pilot. Kayla Hardy’s screenwriting background shaped the novel’s cinematic pacing, visual set pieces, ensemble cast, and meticulous plotting.  Why Marie Laveau is both historical inspiration and a personal connection.  Hardy draws on her Louisiana Creole roots, academic background in African American literature and folklore, and fascination with Marie to humanize a woman often reduced to legend.  Crafting the mother-daughter relationship is the emotional heart of the novel.  Marie and Ree represent different sides of the same coin, allowing Hardy to explore generational pain, privilege, protection, and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.  How fantasy becomes a way to confront real American history.  The book explores conflicting approaches to oppression and liberation while using Southern Gothic and supernatural elements to make the consequences of historical violence impossible to ignore.  How Hardy reclaims Black and Creole folklore from pop-culture mythology,  Through Voodoo and zonbi, Hardy grounds the supernatural elements in traditions that have often been appropriated or stripped of their origins. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

    The Multi-Hyphenate Marie Laveau: Kayla Hardy's The Quarter Queen

  7. Aug 14

    ARCs We Are Excited About with Emma West

    In this episode, Emma West and I share ARCs we are excited about! Kate's Books Hive Mind — Allison Gunn Accidents Never Happened — Penny Zang Scream City — Hannah Morrissey Our Cut of Salt — Dina Nayeri Helm The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman — Deesha Philyaw Emama's Books Kiss Slay Replay — Rachel Harrison She’s a Doll — Barbara Truglove Public Access Afterworld — Jane Schoenbrun Mother Dearest — Claire Bird Bad Words - Rioghnach Robinson All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

  8. Aug 11

    Friendship, Grief and Second (and Third, and Fourth) Chances: Paige Harbison's Destination Funeral

    In this episode, I talk with Paige Harbison about her new time loop novel Destination Funeral! Listen to our whole conversation to hear about: How Destination Funeral uses being literally stuck in time to explore being emotionally stuck. The characters are trapped with unresolved relationships, old resentments, and versions of themselves they haven’t fully escaped. Why “What if?” is Paige’s favorite starting point for storytelling. Rather than setting out to write magical realism or a particular genre, she follows a compelling premise and lets the story dictate where it needs to go. How grief and humor can exist in the exact same moment. Paige explains that the combination of heartbreak and comedy in her books isn’t a carefully calculated tonal balance—it reflects the way she experiences real life, where devastating and hilarious moments often coexist.  Why writers sometimes discover what their books are about only after writing them. Paige talks about allowing characters, themes, and even her own unresolved feelings to emerge unconsciously rather than trying to engineer every meaning from the beginning. Why friendship breakups deserve the same emotional weight as romantic ones. Paige talks about how friendships can be some of our longest and most defining relationships—yet we have almost no cultural roadmap for grieving them when they end.  All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

    Friendship, Grief and Second (and Third, and Fourth) Chances: Paige Harbison's Destination Funeral
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4.8
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

On Tuesdays, Kate Hergott talks with authors about their books and writing processes. On Fridays, Kate talks with different co-host Bookstagrammers and BookTubers about a variety of bookish topics.

Information

  • Creator
    Kate Hergott, Bookwild Collective
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    422
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Bookwild Collective
  • Show Website
    Bookwild

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