Shelf Care Society by @Brian.Reads

Alex and Henry are back, and so is the author who made us fall in love with them. ❤️This week on Shelf Care Society, Brian Larson welcomes the brilliant Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue, One Last Stop, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, and The Pairing.We're celebrating all things FirstPrince, from the cultural phenomenon of Red, White & Royal Blue to Casey's highly anticipated new novella, Red, White & Royal Blue: The Private Correspondence, arriving December 1, 2026.What does happily ever after actually look like for Alex and Henry? Through handwritten letters, personal memories, and glimpses of their future together, Casey returns to these beloved characters as they navigate love, marriage, family, and growing older together.We also chat about the upcoming Prime Video movie Red, White & Royal Wedding, writing queer joy, and what makes fictional characters feel like lifelong friends.It's a conversation full of laughter, heart, and plenty for longtime fans to get excited about.📚 Preorder The Private Correspondence, available December 1, 2026: https://www.caseymcquiston.com/books🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UHjmfue62UASpecial thanks to Ginni Media for making the studio such a warm and welcoming place to record.Follow Shelf Care Society wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with someone who loves Alex and Henry as much as you do.Come for the books. Stay for the conversation.

V.E. Schwab joins Brian Larson (@brian.reads) for a conversation about “Victorious,” the epic conclusion to the Villains trilogy and the ending readers have been waiting more than a decade to see.V and Brian talk about returning to Victor Vale, Eli Ever, and a world that has evolved alongside its author; what it takes to finish a story thirteen years after it began; and how Schwab thinks about ambition, morality, obsession, and the complicated people we cannot stop rooting for.They also get into the books that stay with us long after we finish them, the strange experience of watching beloved characters become part of readers’ lives, and what it means to build a career while continuing to take creative risks. Plus, Brian shares why Schwab’s books, including “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,” became especially meaningful to him during a transformative period in his own life.“Victorious” is available now wherever books are sold.Follow Shelf Care Society on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for more conversations with the writers and storytellers shaping what we read next.Come for the books. Stay for the conversation.

Actor, author, and musician Bethany Joy Lenz joins Brian Larson on Shelf Care Society for a candid conversation about storytelling, reinvention, and learning to trust your own voice.Bethany takes us inside “The Betrayal of Cora Wexford,” her latest novel, and the process of building a story around complicated women, secrets, loyalty, and the choices that can change the course of a life.She also reflects on the unexpected turns of her own career, from “One Tree Hill” to becoming a bestselling memoirist with “Dinner for Vampires,” and what it has meant to tell increasingly personal stories on her own terms.Brian and Bethany talk about writing across different forms, the freedom that comes with fiction, the relationship between creativity and identity, and what she has learned about starting over when the life you imagined changes.Plus: the books that have stayed with Bethany, what she looks for in a great character, and a lightning round about reading, writing, and the stories she cannot stop thinking about.Come for the books. Stay for the conversation.Follow Shelf Care Society on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and follow Brian at @Brian.Reads.

#1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune joins Brian Larson on Shelf Care Society for a wide-ranging conversation about love, mortality, queer storytelling, and the books that stay with us.TJ takes us inside “We Burned So Bright,” his moving novel about an older queer couple facing the end of the world, and the questions at its heart: How do we make a life matter? What do we owe the people we love? And when time is running out, what is actually worth holding onto?They also talk about revisiting “Murmuration,” the evolution of TJ’s writing across his career, queer representation and responsibility, and the possibility of seeing more of his stories adapted for the screen. Then TJ previews “The Stars Look Like Home,” his forthcoming novel (available January 12, 2027) told from the perspective of a dog, and a story about grief, belonging, companionship, and finding your way home.Plus: the books and writers that shaped TJ, what more than 40 books have taught him about being an author, and a lightning round that goes delightfully off course.Come for the books. Stay for the conversation.Follow Shelf Care Society on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and follow Brian at @Brian.Reads.

In this episode of Shelf Care Society, I’m talking through some of the books I can’t stop thinking about, from major new novels by Min Jin Lee, Barbara Kingsolver, Hernan Diaz, and V. E. Schwab to Robert Kolker’s extraordinary reporting on a family confronting inherited dementia and Ted Scheinman’s deeply personal account of electroconvulsive therapy.And about halfway through the episode, we take a detour: I sit down with comedian Taylor Tomlinson on the eve of the launch of her first book, “Actually, Nevermind,” to talk about what she’s reading on tour, the book that kept her awake until 3 a.m., audiobooks, creativity, and the writing book she has returned to again and again.Books discussed in this episode:• “American Hagwon” by Min Jin Lee• “The Vanishing Family” by Robert Kolker• “Ply” by Hernan Diaz• “Victorious” by V. E. Schwab• “Partita” by Barbara Kingsolver• “The Betrayal of Cora Wexford” by Bethany Joy Lenz• “Luna, Phoenix, Queen” by Julie Orringer• “Public Access World” by Jane Schoenbrun• “Jolt: My Electric Journey Out of Darkness” by Ted Scheinman• “Music Against the Night” by Yiyun LiPlus, in my conversation with Taylor:• “Actually, Nevermind” by Taylor Tomlinson• “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin• “Fruit Fly” by Josh Silver• “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron• “Walking in This World” by Julia CameronCome for the books. Stay for the conversation.