WYPL Book Talk
229 episodes - English - Latest episode: 23 days ago - ★★★★ - 4 ratingsThe podcast version of WYPL's syndicated radio program, Book Talk.
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Episodes
Basil Hero - The Mission of a Lifetime: Lessons from the Men Who Went to the Moon
June 01, 2019 17:00 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBBasil Hero is a former television reporter who decided to interview as many of the surviving Apollo astronauts to see if he could share how their views of life and the world were changed by going to the moon in his new book, The Mission of a Lifetime: Lessons from the Men Who Went to the Moon is available from grand Central Publishing.
Nathan Englander - kaddish.com
May 25, 2019 17:00 - 1 hour - 68.4 MBNathan Englander won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. In addition to fiction, Nathan writes for the stage, and has also won a Guggenheim Fellowship. Today we'll be talking about his fifth book of fiction, kaddish.com, which is published by Knopf.
Mary Laura Philpott - I Miss You When I Blink
May 11, 2019 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBMary Laura Philpott is the founding editor of the in-house magazine for Parnassus Bookstore in Nashville, TN. She is also co-host of A Word on Words for Nashville Public Television, and first appeared on Book Talk for her collection of cartoons, Penguins with People Problems. Today we'll talk about her new book, a collection of essays entitled, I Miss You When I Blink, which is published by Atria Books.
Aram Goudsouzian - The Men and the Moment - Part Two
May 04, 2019 17:00 - 36 minutes - 14.5 MBDr. Aram Goudsouzian is a professor of history at the University of Memphis. He has written biographies of Sidney Poitier and Bill Russell, as well as an in-depth look at the Civil Rights landmark Meredith March Against Fear. We have the second of our two part interview about his latest book, The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America, which is published by University of North Carolina Press. Today we'll be looking at the Democratic Party prim...
Aram Goudsouzian - The Men and the Moment - Part One
April 27, 2019 17:00 - 28 minutes - 11.6 MBDr. Aram Goudsouzian is a professor of history at the University of Memphis. He has written biographies of Sidney Poitier and Bill Russell, as well as an in-depth look at the Civil Rights landmark Meredith March Against Fear. Today, we have the first of two part interview about his latest book, The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America, which is published by University of North Carolina Press.
Erin McGraw - Joy and 52 Other Very Short Stories
April 22, 2019 20:32 - 32 minutes - 13 MBErin McGraw is a respected writer of fiction, having penned the novels, The Baby Tree, The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard, and Better Food for a Better World. Today, we'll be talking about her fourth collection of short stories, Joy: and 52 Other Very Short Stories, which is published by Counterpoint Press.
Greg Iles - Cemetery Road
April 13, 2019 17:53 - 32 minutes - 13.2 MBGreg Iles is one of the biggest, best-selling thriller writers in America. He recently wrapped up his Natchez Burning trilogy starring Mayor Penn Cage. Today, we're going to talk about his latest book, Cemetery Road, set in a fictional town fifty miles north of Natchez. Award-winning journalist Marshall McEwan returns home to run his estranged father's newspaper, while a local business development promises to revitalize the area economy but at the price of how many lives?
Tim Johnston - The Current
April 06, 2019 17:03 - 29 minutes - 11.8 MBTim Johnston's 2009 short story collection Irish Girl won the Katharine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, and several of the stories won individual prizes, as well. His novels are Never So Green, Descent, which we spoke about on Book Talk back in 2013, and today we'll be talking about The Current, new for 2019, the story of two college students attacked near the Iowa-Minnesota state border that recalled the death of a young woman 10 years earlier, which was never solved and destroyed the...
Snowden Wright - American Pop
March 30, 2019 17:01 - 30 minutes - 12 MBSnowden Wright has written for The Atlantic, Salon, Esquire, The Millions, and The New York Daily News. His first novel, Play Pretty Blues, was published in 2013 to critical acclaim, and today we'll be talking about his new novel, American Pop, which is published by William Morrow.
Dani Shapiro - Inheritance
March 23, 2019 17:00 - 44 minutes - 17.6 MBDani Shapiro is a respected writer of fiction and memoir. Her novels include Black and White and Playing with Fire as well as memoirs including Devotion and Slow Motion. Today we'll be talking about her latest memoir, Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love which is published by Knopf.
Nick Petrie - Tear it Down
March 16, 2019 17:00 - 31 minutes - 12.8 MBNick Petrie earned his MFA from the University of Washington and is known for his series of thrillers starring veteran Peter Ash. The first three were The Drifter, Burning Bright, and Light It Up, and today we'll be talking about the fourth installment, Tear It Down, which is published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Preston Lauterbach - Bluff City
March 09, 2019 17:00 - 58 minutes - 23.3 MBPreston Lauterbach is an author of non-fiction who has concentrated on the African-American experience of the American South, and Memphis in particular. Hi First book was The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll, about musical venues and musicians in the south and neighboring states serving a black clientele with good times and better music. His second book was Beale Street Dynasty, which looked at the early and prime days of the capital of black America in the late 19th and ear...
Lyndsay Faye - The Paragon Hotel
March 02, 2019 17:00 - 50 minutes - 20.2 MBLyndsay Faye is a novelist known for her Timothy Wilde Series, a couple of critically acclaimed Sherlock Holmes pastiches, as well as the stand alone novel, Jane Steele. Today we'll be talking about her latest novel, The Paragon Hotel, a tale of a white New York gun moll who hides out in a hotel for African Americans in a very racist Portland, Oregon in the early 1920s.
Mark Greaney - Mission Critical
February 22, 2019 15:56 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBMark Greaney co-wrote several Jack Ryan books with Tom Clancy, and several of them solo after Mr. Clancy passed away. But Mark started out his writing career with The Gray Man, the story of a burned CIA operative being hunted down by his former employer. We've talked about every entry into the series so far, and today we talk about the latest one, Mission Critical, which is published by Berkley. For listeners in the Memphis area, Mark Greaney will be at the bookstore novel located at 387...
Marjorie Herrera Lewis - When the Men Were Gone
February 14, 2019 19:36 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBMarjorie Herrera Lewis was the first woman originally hired as a sports reporter at the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, she later became the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter and moved to the Dallas Morning News. She's currently teaching media ethics at the University of North Texas, but today we're going to talk about about her debut novel, When the Men Were Gone, based on the true story of a woman who became a football coach in Texas during World War II.
Kiese Laymon - Heavy: An American Memoir
February 09, 2019 19:16 - 58 minutes - 23.5 MBKiese Laymon back to the program today. Kiese is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. When last on the show we talked about his novel, Long Division, and his book of essays, How to Kill Yourself an Others in America. Today we'll be talking his latest, Heavy: An American Memoir, which was named to many major best books of the year lists for 2018, and he won the best Audiobook of the Year award from Audible.
R. J. Lee - Grand Slam Murders
February 02, 2019 16:58 - 29 minutes - 11.8 MBLinda Lloyd recently talked to R.J. Lee about his mystery novel, Grand Slam Murders, where four four very important ladies in a Mississippi river town control bridge, and not the one that goes over the river. Who would want to do them harm?
Harrison Scott Key - Congratulations, Who Are You Again?
January 26, 2019 20:22 - 1 hour - 62.3 MBMemphis native Harrison Scott Key won The Thurber Prize for his first memoir, The World's Largest Man. (...after his appearance on Book Talk, naturally) He recently stopped by to talk about its hilarious and yes, poignant, follow up, Congratulations, Who Are You Again?
Bob Drury - Valley Forge
January 12, 2019 17:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBBoby Drury has written for the New York Post, Newsday, The New York Times, Vanity Fair and GQ. He's currently a contributing editor for Men's Heath. For his books, he has written about the NFL, true crime, and the mafia. However, for the past decade, he has been writing about American military history, often with Tom Clavin, with whom he has authored Valley Forge.
Daniel Mason - The Winter Soldier
December 29, 2018 17:32 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBDaniel Mason is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. His is also a novelist, and his books, The Piano Tuner and A Far Country, have been translated into dozens of languages, and he has received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His new novel is, The Winter Soldier, about a medical student from a wealthy and aristocratic Polish family in Vienna who decides to go to the front in World War I to become a battlefield surgeon.
Adib Khorram - Darius the Great Is Not Okay
December 22, 2018 17:18 - 28 minutes - 11.5 MBAdib Khorram is a graphic designer and writer who recently published his first novel Darius the Great Is Not Okay, about a bicultural teenager in Portland, Oregon, who is dealing with depression, puberty, and feeling between cultures both at home and while visiting his mother's family in Iran.
Marla Frazee - Little Brown
December 15, 2018 17:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBMarla Frazee is an author and illustrator of children's books. She's won two Caldecott Medals and her books include, Santa Claus, The World's Number One Toy Expert, The Boss Baby, and The Farmer and the Clown. Today we'll be talking about her latest book, Little Brown, which is about a cranky little dog who is living in a shelter with other dogs who aren't cranky.
Tony DiTerlizzi - The Broken Ornament
December 08, 2018 16:29 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBTony DiTerlizzi is an award winning author and illustrator. He won a Caldecott Honor for his adaptation of The Spider and the Fly. He might be most widely known for his collaboration with Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and recently he has shaded toward writing with his successful WondLa trilogy. However, he's gotten back to picture books with his new one, The Broken Ornament, which is published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Wayétu Moore - She Would Be King
December 01, 2018 16:24 - 44 minutes - 17.8 MBWayétu Moore is the founder of the international non-profit organization, One Moore Book. Her writing has been featured in publications such as, The Paris Review, Guernica, The Atlantic, and others. Today, we're discussing her debut novel She Would Be King (Graywolf Press), which follows three characters who return from slavery or exile to help with the early days of Liberia's nationhood in the beginning of 19th century.
Glen David Gold - I Will Be Complete: A Memoir
November 24, 2018 17:59 - 35 minutes - 14.2 MBGlen David Gold is a writer who has received great acclaim for his two historical novels, Carter Beats the Devil and Sunnyside. Earlier this year he published a memoir, I Will Be Complete which chronicles his unusual upbringing, his search for family, and the life-long difficulty of maintaining a relationship with his mother. The interview was conducted as part of his session at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville in October of 2018.
Elizabeth Heiskell - The Southern Living Party Cookbook
November 17, 2018 15:10 - 36 minutes - 14.5 MBLinda Lloyd recently spoke with Today Show contributor and caterer extraordinaire Elizabeth Heiskell about The Southern Living Party Cookbook. It's a spirited conversation about cooking, hosting, and even enjoying the parties you throw.
Hampton Sides - On Desperate Ground
November 10, 2018 16:59 - 1 hour - 25.8 MBHampton Sides is a best-selling author of non-fiction titles like Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, and In The Kingdom of Ice. Today we'll be talking about his latest book, On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle, which is published by Doubleday.
Loren Long - There's a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake
October 27, 2018 17:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBLoren Long is a writer and illustrator of children's book who may be be best known for his Otis The Tractor series, but he has also illustrated classic stories like The Little Engine That Could, as well books written by Frank McCourt and Barack Obama. He has had two books released in 2018, Love which was written by Matt de la Pena, and There's A Hole in a Log on the Bottom of the Lake which is published by Philomel.
Amy Stewart - Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit
October 20, 2018 18:26 - 39 minutes - 15.7 MBAmy Stewart's had several hit non-fiction books about the natural world including The Drunken Botanist. Recently, she's turned her attention to novels with a series of books based on the true-life exploits of one of America's first women deputy sheriff's, Constance Kopp, as well as her sisters Norma and Fleurette. The first book was Girl Waits with Gun, followed by Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions, and today we'll talk about the fourth installment, Miss Kopp J...
Stephen Markley - Ohio
October 13, 2018 18:18 - 31 minutes - 12.7 MBStephen Markley has enjoyed success with a pair of non-fiction titles, Publish This Book, and Tales of Iceland. Today we're going to talk about his debut novel which was recently published to glowing reviews. It is called Ohio, and it is available from Simon & Schuster.
Sheila Turnage - The Law of Finders Keepers
October 06, 2018 18:03 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBSheila Turnage has written several non-fiction books, but has found great success with her Mo and Dale middle grade novel series. The first, Three Times Lucky was a Newberry Honor book and an Edgar finalist. It was followed by The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, The Odds of Getting Even, and today we'll talk about book four, The Law of Finders Keepers, which is published by Kathy Dawson Books.
Reed Farrel Coleman - Robert B. Parker's Colorblind
September 29, 2018 17:47 - 40 minutes - 16 MBReed Farrell Coleman is a novelist and poet who has won many awards including four Shamus awards and a Barry, a Macavity, and an Anthony, and has written several series including his much lauded Mo Prager series, and the recent Gus Murphy series. Today, we'll be talking about the fifth Jesse Stone novel that he as written for the Parker estate; it's called Robert B. Parker's Colorblind.
Rea Frey - Not Her Daughter
September 22, 2018 20:38 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBLinda Lloyd talks to Rea Frey about her debut novel, Not Her Daughter. Rea is a successful nonfiction author, but she challenged herself to write a novel in just a few weeks. Revisions took a bit longer, but what emerged is a tale of a kidnapping that is complicated by emotions that aren't typical for the stories we've already read about child abduction.
Inman Majors - Penelope Lemon: Game On!
September 15, 2018 17:00 - 32 minutes - 12.9 MBInman Majors is a novelist originally from Knoxville, TN who is now a professor at James Madison University in Virginia. His novels are Swimming in the Sky, Wonderdog, The Millionaires, Love's Winning Plays, and the recently released Penelope Lemon: Game On! which is available from Yellow Shoe Fiction, a series from LSU Press. We recorded the interview in his brother's back yard in Nashville, TN, so don't alarmed when you hear sounds both natural and man-made in the background.
Jeremy Finley - The Darkest Time of Night
September 08, 2018 17:00 - 40 minutes - 16.3 MBJeremy Finley is an investigative reporter for a television station in Nashville, TN, but today we're going to be talking about his debut novel, The Darkest Time of Night, which is the story of a woman desperately trying to find her abducted grandson without revealing to people the otherworldly culprits she believes to be responsible.
Vince Vawter - Copyboy
September 01, 2018 17:00 - 45 minutes - 18.4 MBVince Vawter has over forty years experience in the newspaper industry. In 2013, he published his first autobiographically inspire novel Paperboy, which was widely acclaimed and won a Newberry Honor. Today we'll be talking about its sequel, Copyboy, which is published by Capstone. His protagonist, Victor Vollmer has a stutter, much like Vince has. In order to honor Vince and Victor's situation, I won't be editing our conversation as I normally do. It has only been cut for length. You'll hea...
Debby Schriver - Whispering in the Daylight
August 25, 2018 17:00 - 40 minutes - 16.2 MBDebby Schriver to the program today. Debby is a writer of nonfiction who lives in Knoxville, TN and her previous books include, To Read My Heart, the Journal of Rachel Van Dyke 1810-1811, In the Footsteps of Champions: The University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers, the First Three Decades, Ice ’n’ Go: Score in Sports and Life,co-written with noted athletic trainer, Jenny Moshak. Today we'll be talking about her most recent book, Whispering in the Daylight: The Children of Tony Alamo’s Chri...
Lisa Patton - Rush
August 18, 2018 17:00 - 38 minutes - 15.4 MBLisa Patton is a native Memphian and the author of the novels, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter, Yankee Doodle Dixie, and Southern as a Second Language. Today we'll be talking about her new novel, Rush, which follows three different women in the world of a southern university sorority.
Beatriz Williams - The Summer Wives
August 11, 2018 17:00 - 1 hour - 21 MBBeatriz Williams left behind the world of international corporate consulting to become a best-selling writer of historical fiction. Her books include A Certain Age, The Wicked World, and Cocoa Beach known collectively as The Jazz Age Novels. Her The Schuyler Sisters Novels are: Along the Infinite Sea, Tiny Little Thing, and The Secret Life of Violent Grant. She has also penned three stand-alones, A Hundred Summers, Overseas, and today we'll be talking about the third, her newest one, The ...
Jo Watson Hackl - Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe
July 28, 2018 17:30 - 36 minutes - 14.6 MBJoe Watson Hackl is an attorney in South Carolina, but today we'll be talking about her debut novel for younger readers and up, which is set in her native state of Mississippi. While not autobiographical in terms of plot, Jo's love of the Mississippi countryside is one of the major aspects of Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe.
Kimberly Belle - Three Days Missing
July 21, 2018 19:40 - 31 minutes - 12.5 MBKimberly Belle (Left) with Linda Lloyd (right) Linda Lloyd talks to Kimberly Belle about her fourth novel, Three Days Missing.(Park Row Books) From the publisher: It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: the call that comes in the middle of the night. When Kat Jenkins awakens to the police on her doorstep, her greatest fear is realized. Her nine-year-old son, Ethan, is missing—vanished from the cabin where he’d been on an overnight class trip. Shocked and distraught, Kat rushes to the campgrou...
Caleb Johnson - Treeborne
July 14, 2018 19:31 - 45 minutes - 15.6 MBCaleb Johnson has worked as a small-town newspaper reporter, an early-morning janitor, and a whole-animal butcher, among other jobs, but today we'll be talking about his debut novel, Treeborne,(Picador) which is the story of the Treeborne family, spanning three generations in a small Alabama town and the countryside land that they hold dear.
Hannah Pittard - Visible Empire
July 07, 2018 17:38 - 51 minutes - 20.8 MBHannah Pittard is the head of the creative writing program at the University of Kentucky. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Oxford American, McSweeney's among many others. She is the winner of the 2006 Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award. Her novels are, Reunion, The Fates, Listen to Me, and in this episode, we talk about her fourth published novel, Visible Empire, available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It's the story of grieving, greed, and racial oppression in Atlant...
Rob Sangster - No Return
July 04, 2018 17:55Blake McVey talks to Memphis author Rob Sangster about the third installment of his Jack Strider series, No Return, which has his hero in the crosshairs of wealthy investors and foreign governments alike who are chasing after control of rare-earth mineral mines.
Wayne Wiegand - The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South
July 04, 2018 17:27 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBBlake McVey talks with Professor Wayne Wiegand about his book, The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism, which he co-wrote with legal scholar (and his wife) Professor Shirley Wiegand. From LSU Press: The Wiegands trace the struggle for equal access to the years before the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, when black activists in the South focused their efforts on equalizing accommodations, rather than on the more daun...
William Boyle - The Lonely Witness
June 30, 2018 17:10 - 28 minutes - 11.5 MBWilliam Boyle was last on Book Talk to discuss his collection of short stories, Death Don't Have No Mercy. His novel Everything is Broken was recently published exclusively in France. His first published novel was Gravesend, and his new novel, The Lonely Witness, is set in the same New York neighborhood with a few familiar characters, but it isn't really a sequel.
Ace Atkins - Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic
June 24, 2018 13:04 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBAce Atkins is a former journalist and current writer of fiction. He's published over 20 novels, including the Nick Travers series and the Quinn Colson series. The eighth book of the Colson series is The Sinners, and it will be available mid-July 2018, but today we'll be talking about the seventh Spenser novel he has written for the Robert B. Parker estate, Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic, published by GP Putnam's Sons.
Melissa de la Cruz - Love & War
June 17, 2018 13:46 - 28 minutes - 11.6 MBMelissa de la Cruz is a tremendously successful and prolific writer of fiction for mostly the young adult market, having written over forty novels including the series Blue Bloods, Heart of Dread, and The Descendants which has been made into a series of hit musicals for The Disney Channel. Today we'll be talking about the second title in her series about founding father Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. It's called Love and War, and it's published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Boo...
Rick Bragg - The Best Cook in the World
June 15, 2018 17:01 - 1 hour - 33.6 MBRick Bragg is a former reporter and bureau chief for The New York Times. He's written biographies of notable Americans Jessica Lynch and Jerry Lee Lewis. He might be best known for writing about his family's history in best-selling books including, All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. Today we'll be talking about his latest book which looks at the role that food and cooking took in his family going back to before The Great Depression. The book is called The Best Cook in the World: Tales...
Joseph Rosenbloom - Redemption
June 14, 2018 16:53 - 28 minutes - 11.5 MBBlake McVey talks to former Commercial Appeal and Boston Globe journalist Joseph Rosenbloom about his book, Redemption: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Last 31 Hours. Beginning with Dr. King's arrival in Memphis late in the morning of April 3, 1968 and continuing through his assassination, Redemption humanizes the man who was beset on many fronts as he gave one of America's finest speeches the night before his untimely death the next day.