The Book Case GMA

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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This episode is a double whammy of extreme talent. First, we have George Stephanopoulos, giving us history through the perspective of one of the most mysterious and powerful rooms in the White House: The Situation Room. It's the title of his new book...and it's an illuminating read. Second, the great J. Ryan Stradal and our second installment of the Writer in Residence series. He says he is doing a lot of writing these days...and he knows most of it won't make it in the book. You don't want to miss this week's Book Case.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos

All Too Human: A Political Education by George Stephanopoulos

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Think Twice by Harlan Coben

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Table for Two by Amor Towles


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It's always a pleasure for us to talk to a debut author and we have a good one this week in Heidi Reimer. Her novel, The Mother Act, is the story of mothers and daughters and the heap of complexities that come in those relationships. How do we know we are going to be a good mom? Once we have a child are we ALWAYS a mother first? This book asks these questions and challenges the reader to question the concepts of motherhood, empathy and family.

Books mentioned in this week’s episode:

The Mother Act by Heidi Reimer

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Dear Life by Alice Munro

Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth About Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives by Lori Leibovich

Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst


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