Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

On this week’s episode, Chad Harbach joins us to discuss The Brightness (Little, Brown, Oct. 27), the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his sensational debut novel, 2011’s The Art of Fielding. In a starred review, Kirkus calls The Brightness—which returns readers to fictional Westish, Wisconsin, four years hence—“brilliant, poignant, and absorbing” (starred review).THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: Poor Farm Meadow by Cynthia CenterbarFrail Blood by Edward StantonUnder an Indiana Sky by Lynne HugoMaybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. by Dawn Dolan, illus. By Olena KharkovenkoThe Seven by Igor StefanovicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Description:On this week’s special episode, we’re celebrating the 2026 Kirkus Prizes, announced Oct. 7th at a ceremony in New York City. Kirkus Prize for Fiction winner Tayari Jones joins us to discuss the ceremony, literary prizes, and her stellar novel, Kin, which judges selected from 3,584 eligible titles. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: Poor Farm Meadow by Cynthia CenterbarFrail Blood by Edward StantonUnder an Indiana Sky by Lynne HugoMaybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. by Dawn Dolan, illus. by Olena KharkovenkoThe Seven by Igor StefanovicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s special episode, recorded live at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., we’re joined by Jordan Moblo, Executive Vice President of Creative Acquisitions and IP Management at Universal Studio Group, and founder of Jordy’s Book Club, for a conversation about what it takes to develop books for TV series, book clubs, reading recommendations, and more.THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: Where the Wild Horses Are by Amy Alznauer (Neal Porter/Holiday House)World News From Waverly High by Linda KassHugo by Karl LindenSebastian the Belgian Koala by Jill Charlotte Thomas, illus. by Parks SadlerThe Hourglass by Michelle ChristinaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, comedian, host, actor, writer, and producer Murray Hill joins us to discuss Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man (Gallery Books, Oct. 6). Kirkus: “A rip-roaring story of Liza-esque unsinkability from a Don Rickles–esque entertainer.”THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell (Simon & Schuster Audio)The Stirling Defense by Gerald PatnodeLife With Less of Me by Julianna BurmeschThe Noema Field by Salvatore CataudellaThe Drop by Iohamil NavarroA Stranger in Every House by Richard CarrSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s special Kirkus Indie Awards episode, C.W. Johnson discusses his award-winning novel, A Life Full of Quarks (Baryon Dreams Press, Sept. 24, 2024). “In Johnson’s novel, a brilliant physicist tries to build a life after narrowly surviving a childhood filled with reanimated dinosaurs, runaway aliens, and mutated Mexican beaded lizards,” Kirkus writes in a starred review. “Heartbreaking and hilarious.”THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: The Inner Compass by S.J. KingBorn Sick in the USA by Stephen BezruchkaGood Lookin’ by T.L. BequetteThe Conclusion of the American Experiment by Jonathan MorrowAdams Morgan Fugue by Alex FardonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.