On this week’s episode, Evelyn Clarke—a pseudonym for bestselling authors V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke—joins us to discuss their rollicking mystery novel, The Ending Writes Itself (Harper, April 7). “Fiction writers compete to finish a famous author’s abandoned novel,” Kirkus writes in an admiring review of this closed-circle mystery, calling it “high-concept and highly entertaining.”

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Rivennia by Jaime Urencio

Acadia by Sterling Nixon

Squawk 7700 by H. Robert John, Michael McKinley & Nancy Merritt Bell

Both Sides of Then by Jennifer Griffith

Ballad of the Wayward Child by Keven Renken

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On this week’s episode, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson joins us to discuss How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself (Penguin Life, March 31). Kirkus calls Lawson’s latest, “Self-help with a twist of humor.”

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• Acadia by Sterling Nixon
• Song of Hummingbird Highway by K.M. Cookie
• Duck Redux by Nic Bettauer
• Come Up Big by Charles W.B. Wardell III
• Rose Dhu by Mark Murphy

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On this week’s episode, actor, director, and award-winning travel writer Andrew McCarthy joins us to discuss Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America (Grand Central Publishing, March 24). Kirkus: “An exploration of male friendship and the difficulties of connection…. Thoughtful and well written—and a good prompt to call an old friend.”

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• Acadia by Sterling Nixon
• Killing Hope by Stephen H. Arnold
• Secrets That Sparkle (And Secrets That Sting) by Joy Stephenson-Laws, illus. by Nzephany Madrigal Uzoka
• The Hollywood Illusion by Allegra Pope
• The Messy Years by Alexandra Slater

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On this week’s special Debuts Episode—in honor of the 3/15 Debuts Issue of Kirkus Reviews, celebrating standout first books across genres—first-time novelist Rebecca Lehmann joins us to discuss The Beheading Game (Crown, March 24). “The further adventures of Anne Boleyn, post-decapitation,” Kirkus writes in a starred review. “Brilliantly imagined, stylishly written, satisfyingly plotted, full of delicious surprises: all in all, hella fun.”

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• The Biotech Murders by Ronenn Roubenoff
• Deepstone by Dean Lappi
• Momentum Lost by Jeffrey E. Denning
• Prose Pizza by Cynthia Schumacher
• The Terminal Gene by John H. Thomas

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On this week’s episode, New York Times and internationally bestselling thriller writer Lisa Unger joins us to discuss Served Him Right (Park Row Books, March 10). Kirkus: “Breaking up isn’t just hard to do—it can be fatal,” in this “twisty, satisfying thriller” (starred review).

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• Dance With Me, Franny Nice Shirt by Elizabeth Kelly Stephenson
• Blanket Party in Desert Storm by Darnnell Reese & Deidra Wilson
• Echoes of Fortune by David R. Leng
• The Past Is Not at Rest by Katherine Bennett
• From the Cold by Mia K. Rose

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On this week’s episode, New York Times bestselling memoirist Lindy West joins us to discuss Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane (Grand Central Publishing, March 10). Kirkus: “The author of a memoir (Shrill, 2016) and two essay collections (The Witches Are Coming, 2019, and Shit, Actually, 2020)…tackles big subjects…[in] a well-realized, candid memoir that reveals an unconventional approach to life” (starred review).

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• The Prophecy by Kim Sakwa
• Murder on the Interstellar Express by Gregory D. Little
• Season of Night by Vicki Draeger
• The Elusive Conquest of Queen Califa by Alan Ehrgott
• The Mystery in the Room by Dr. Chuck Radis

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On this week’s episode, No. 1 New York Times bestselling romance author BK Borison joins us to discuss And Now, Back to You (Berkley, Feb. 24). Kirkus: “Opposites attract when meteorologists are forced to work together during a massive snowstorm…. [in] a wonderfully cozy and warm romance in a cold, snowy setting.”

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• Ruta’s Closet by Keith Morgan with Ruth Kron Sigal
• The Prophecy by Kim Sakwa
• Murder on the Interstellar Express by Gregory D. Little
• The Path to Heaven by Emily Minjun Chung
• It Always Rains in Estaran by Murat Boyner

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On this week’s episode, Eugene Robinson joins us to discuss Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 3). As Kirkus writes in a starred review of Freedom Lost, Freedom Won, the author skillfully illuminates a “central truth of African American history: that for every advance toward being seen as truly American, ‘in short order, that full citizenship would be revoked.’” Then Kirkus’ editors offer their top picks in books for the week.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• They Could Be Saviors by Diana Colleen
• The Privilege of Aging by Kamla K. Kapur
• The Prophecy by Kim Sakwa
• The Holy Nail by Michael J. Serby
• Murder on the Interstellar Express by Gregory D. Little

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