The Book Show

“All Fours,” a new novel by Miranda July, tells the story of a semi-famous artist who announces her plan to drive cross-country on a one woman quest for a new kind of freedom. The book is part absurd entertainment and part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist.

In "The Princess of Las Vegas," by best-selling author Chris Bohjalian, a Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder in a twisting tale of organized crime, cryptocurrency, and family secrets on the Las Vegas strip.

Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of “In the Time of the Butterflies” and “How the García Girls Lost Their Accents,” returns with “The Cemetery of Untold Stories” - a novel about storytelling that reminds us that the events of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end.

Anne Lamott’s new book “Somehow: Thoughts on Love” is her 20th book and published on her 70th birthday. In each chapter, Lamott refracts all the colors of the spectrum. She explores love and the power it has in our lives. The lessons she underscores are that love enlightens as it educates, comforts as it energizes, sustains as it surprises.

“James,” by Percival Everett, is a reimagining of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” told from the point of view of enslaved person, Jim. While many narrative set pieces of “Huckleberry Finn” remain in place, Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

“City on Fire” by Don Winslow launched an ambitious crime fiction trilogy that has transported readers from the gritty streets of Providence to the glittering screens of Hollywood to the golden casinos of Las Vegas as Danny Ryan, forges a dynasty. Winslow’s latest book is “City in Ruins.” It is also his last.

The new novel by Tommy Orange, “Wandering Stars,” traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather’s shooting depicted in Orange’s best-selling debut, “There There.”

Anna Quindlen puts her trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us at the center her new novel, “After Annie.” When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all of their lives.

“My Beloved Life” by Amitava Kumar is a father-daughter story that widens into an Indian family saga. It tells the story of an ordinary life made exceptional by the fact that father has loved and has been loved in return. His daughter’s story recasts the past in a new light.

Poet Kaveh Akbar joins us to discuss his first novel “Martyr!” which follows Cyrus Shams on a journey of introspection and discovery. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet. His obsession with martyrs and dealing with the death of his mother drives him to examine the mysteries of his past.