Thoughts from a Page Podcast
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Description
Thoughts from a Page is hosted by me, Cindy Burnett, a voracious reader and book columnist who provides you with casual author conversations and insider information on all of the newest releases that I have read and personally recommend. With so many books coming out weekly, it can be hard to decide what to read so I find the best ones and share them with you. Listen to find your next great book.
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In this interview, I chat with Craig Thomas about That's Not How It Happened, having his book selected for Book of the Month, how he decided to write a book, weaving the craziness of Hollywood into his story, Darcy's character and how she is resonating with readers, casting the amazing audiobook, and much more.
Craig's recommended reads are:
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Election by Tom Perrotta
A Heart That Works by Rob Dulaney
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kelly joins me for March's Real Time Reading episode where we discuss our current, past, and upcoming reads.
Kelly's Selections:
Last:
Start at the End by Emma Grey
The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
Now:
Keep Them Close by David Ellis
Leave and Come Back by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Next:
City of Widows by Nadia Hashimi
Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd
DNFs:
None
Book Mail highlights:
The Brunswick by Callie Murray
In Deep
Water: A True Story of Sharks, Survival, and Courage by Michael Tugias
Cindy's Selections:
Last:
The MASH Up by Laura Marie Meyers
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Now:
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
Kin by Tayari Jones
Next:
The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Didn’t Work/DNFs:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Hard Times by Jeff Boyd
Book Mail highlights:
Small Town Girls by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Unknown by Riley Sager
Connect with Kelly Hooker on Instagram.
Sign up for my literary salon here.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Ross Montgomery about Murder at World's End, weaving Halley's Comet into his story, the late Edwardian period, conspiracy theories and how they have always existed, how hard it was to write a locked room mystery, creating a strong sense of place and time, and much more.
Ross's recommended read is Strange Houses by Uketsu.
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Amy Jo Burns about Wait for Me, her inspiration for this book and for Elle Harlow, the world of 1960s and 1970s country music and its strong women, drafting lyrics for the novel, her writing process and writing group, selecting the mandolin as Elle's instrument of choice, her beautiful cover, and much more.
Amy Jo's recommended reads are:
Sunlight Finds You by Laura Moriarty
The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao Thai
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Rachel Hochhauser about Lady Tremaine, writing an untelling versus a retelling of a classic fairy tale, tackling such a well-known character, wanting her book to read like historical fiction, how she decided to write this book, her beautiful cover , and much more.
Rachel's recommended reads are:
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
Scavengers by Kathleen Boland
One Bad Mother by Ej Dickson
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Devon Mihesuah about Blood Relay, her desire to depict strong native women, avoiding a trauma story, dispelling myths about native women, her stellar cover, Indian horse relay racing, and much more.
Devon's recommended reads are:
Mountain Man by Keith C. Blackmore
Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Books by Nelson DeMille
Cry Havoc by Jack Carr
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Cash Blackbear series by Marcie R. Rendon
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kelly joins me for February's Real Time Reading episode where we discuss our current, past, and upcoming reads.
Kelly's Selections:
Last:
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
So, I Met This Guy by Alexandra Potter
Now:
Good Joy, Bad Joy by Mikki Bramer
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff
Next:
Liberty Street by Heather Marshall
Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
Didn't Work/DNFs:
Love by the Book by Jessica George
Book Mail highlights:
Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurts by Ben Reeves
138 Main by Gavin Bell
Cindy's Selections:
Last:
The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders
The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao Thai
Now:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion, Volume 3 by Beth Brower
The Half Life by Rachel Beanland
Next:
Hard Times by Jeff Boyd
The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds by James H. McCommons
Didn’t Work/DNFs:
Missing by EA Jackson
The Pie and Mash Detective Agency by JD Brinkworth
Super Nintendo by Keza MacDonald
Book Mail highlights:
Single Girls by John Searles
The Supper Club Saints by Claire Swinarksi
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Connect with Kelly Hooker on Instagram.
Sign up for my literary salon here.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Saara El-Arifi about Cleopatra, researching Cleopatra and the time period, how daunting it was to write about Cleopatra and wanting to give her her dignity and her voice back, the stunning cover and her requests for it, deciding what to include and what to leave out, and much more.
Saara's recommended read is The Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint.
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Elizabeth Heider about Children of the Savage City, her main character's interesting job, the inspiration for Nikki, setting her books in Naples, her stunning covers, why she focused on systemic corruption, her view on friendships, and much more.
Elizabeth's recommended reads are:
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purcell
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Taylor Adams about Her Last Breath, choosing a cave for the setting, creating a claustrophobic setting, his research for the novel including the police procedural aspects of the story, drafting twists and turns, his title and cover, and much more.
Taylor's recommended reads are:
King Sorrow by Joe Hill
A Simple Plan by Scott Smith
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Tory Henwood Hoen about Before I Forget, tackling Alzheimer's in fiction, making Arthur an oracle, deciding who would tell the story, writing in first person, how the audiobook narrator was selected, having her book selected as a December Book of the Month pick, her title and cover, and much more.
Tory's recommended reads are:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Heart the Lover by Lily King
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Libby Page about This Book Made Me Think of You, her inspiration for the book, selecting the books she wanted to include, creating the letters from Joe, the title and cover, stories about finding community, and much more.
Libby's recommended reads are:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Lovelight Farms series by B.K. Borison
The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1Kelly joins me for January's Real Time Reading episode where we discuss our current, past, and upcoming reads.
Kelly's Selections:
Last:
Upward Bound by Woody Brown
That’s Not How it Happened by Craig Thomas
Now:
Love by the Book by Jessica George
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Next:
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
DNFs:
The Survivor by Andrew Reid
Book Mail highlights:
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys
Cindy's Selections:
Last:
Whistler by Ann Patchett
Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen
Now:
The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall
Next:
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan
Liberty Island by Virginia Hume
Didn’t Work/DNFs:
One & Only by Maureen Goo
The Bookbinder’s Secret by A.D. Bell
Book Mail highlights:
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff
Kutchinsky’s Egg by Serena Kutchinsky
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Connect with Kelly Hooker on Instagram.
Sign up for my literary salon here.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with ReShonda Tate about With Love From Harlem, why she decided to write about Hazel Scott, her research and why she stays away from the internet for it, Billie Holiday, her writing process, the title and cover, writing biographical fiction, the setting, and much more.
ReShonda's recommended reads are:
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma
The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton
King of Ashes by SA Cosby
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Gary J. Walters about White House Memories: 1970-2007, his role as chief usher and what that role entails, planning for inauguration day and evening, his background, his impressions of the various administrations, behind-the-scenes glimpses into life at the White House, reliving his memories at the White House, and much more.
Gary's recommended reads are:
Books by Michel Connally
Books by John Sandford
A White House of Stone by William Seale
Looking for some great winter reads? Check out my printable 17-page Winter Reading Guide here for a tip of your choice or for a set price here via credit card with over 40 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this winter and spring - a number of books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, backlist picks, and fiction and nonfiction pairings.
Purchase Kelly and my Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kelly joins me for December's Real Time Reading episode where we discuss our current, past, and upcoming reads.
Kelly's Selections:
Last:
My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
Good People by Patmeena Sabit
Now:
How to Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson
Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven
Next:
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
American Han by Lisa Lee
DNFs:
None
Book Mail highlights:
This Book Makes Me Think of You by Libby Page
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Cindy's Selections:
Last:
Good Guys by Sharon Bala
The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet
Now:
Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns
The Gales of November by John U. Bacon
Next:
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Didn’t Work/DNFs:
A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman
Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader-Day
Book Mail highlights:
Lavonia Chow Mein by Abigail Savitch-Lew
The Best Dog in the World edited by Alice Hoffman
Purchase our Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Connect with Kelly Hooker on Instagram.
Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Check out this list of all the great books I loved in 2025.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mary Webber O'Malley and Pamela Klinger-Horn join me to recommend their favorites reads of the first quarter of 2026.
Mary’s titles
January:All The Little Houses by May Cobb Skylark by Paula McLain The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
February: Imposter by LJ Ross Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise More than Enough by Anna Quindlen So Old So Young by Grant Ginder It's Not Her by Mary Kubica
March :Wait For Me by Amy Jo Burns Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser Bloom by Robbie Couch Murder at 30000 Feet by Susan Walter
Pamela’s titles:
January:The Jilted Countess by Loretta EllsworthHow to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigleyMeet the Newmans by Jennifer NivenMissing Sam by Thrity UmrigarMurder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum
February:This Book Reminds Me of You by Libby PageFamily Drama by Rebecca FallonA Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage by M.K. OliverWhere Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris
March:All the World Can Hold by Jung YunA Far-Flung Life by M.L. StedmanThe Creek, the Crone and the Crow by Leah WeissLake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Check out this list of all the great books I loved in 2025.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Mary's social media handles: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Twitter.
Pamela's social media handles: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Kelly Hooker and I discuss our top reads of 2025.
Our Top Shared Reads:
Dead Money by Jacob Kerr
This American Woman by Zarna Garg
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Kelly’s Remaining Selections:
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
Life & Death & Giants by Ron Rindo
Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
Cindy’s Remaining Selections:
What Happened to the McCray’s? by Tracey Lange
Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris
What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy
Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
Gemini by Jeffrey Kruger
Purchase our Shelf Ceremony here. We discuss tons more great read from 2025.
Connect with Kelly Hooker on Instagram.
Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Check out this list of all the great books I loved in 2025.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Matthew Norman about Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon, writing a holiday romance, choosing which movies to incorporate into the story and the movie that didn't end up in the book, exploring the many faces of grief, holidays as universal experiences, naming the dog Harry Styles, and much more.
Matthew's recommended reads are:
The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu
The Holiday Season by Michael Knight
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Check out this list of all the great books I loved in 2025.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon can be purchased at my Bookshop storefront.
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Link to my article about older protagonists in fiction.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this interview, I chat with Beck Dorey-Stein about Spectacular Things, having her book selected as a Reese's Book Club pick, writing about sacrifice and grief, tackling the sister relationship in fiction, writing about soccer, the hardest character for her to write, her title and cover, and much more.
Beck's recommended reads are:
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Wreck by Catherine Newman
Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast here or on Venmo.
Check out this list of all the great books I loved in 2025.
Want to know which new titles are publishing in January - May of 2026? Check out our fifth Literary Lookbook which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!
Spectacular Things can be purchased at my Bookshop storefront.
Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly Buzz Reads column with five new recommendations each month.
Link to my article about older protagonists in fiction.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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