In telling the story of the Echota family, Brandon Hobson's The Removed: A Novel also offers a meditation on family, grief, home, and the power of stories on both a personal and ancestral level. Moderated by author Kelli Jo Ford.
The Butterfly Lampshade: A Novel is Aimee Bender’s poignant tale of a mother, a daughter, mental illness, and the continuously shifting barrier between the mind and the world. Moderated by Mitzi Rapkin, host of the podcast First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing.
In Ha Jin's A Song Everlasting: A Novel, famous Chinese singer Yao Tian, in the U.S. on a state-supported tour, takes a private gig in New York to pick up extra cash for his daughter’s tuition fund. There’s nothing to it – until the government finds that supporters of Taiwan’s secession sponsored the event, placing […]
Paras, short for “Perestroika,” is a racehorse at a track west of Paris. When she finds the door of her stall open, she wanders off all the way to the great city, finding adventure and an unlikely cast of characters with which to share it. From Jane Smiley, Perestroika in Paris: A Novel celebrates curiosity, […]
In O Beautiful: A Novel, Jung Yun tells the story of Elinor Hanson, a fortysomething former model struggling to reinvent herself as a freelance writer, returns on assignment to the town in North Dakota where she spent her unhappy childhood. It's decades later, yet Elinor finds her past intertwining with the story she’s trying to […]
In The Sweetness of Water: A Novel, Nathan Harris shares the story of brothers Prentiss and Landry, freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in the waning days of the Civil War and seeking refuge – and the means to make their way north to reunite with the mother who was sold away when they were boys. […]
Claire Vaye Watkins’ I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness: A Novel chronicles one woman’s furious revisiting of family, marriage, work, sex, and motherhood, set against a darkly funny confrontation with a past that’s suddenly demanding her attention. Moderated by writer Molly Tolsky, founder of HeyAlma.com.
The life of the title character in Joshua Ferris’ A Calling for Charlie Barnes is not going well. He wants out and into the American dream. As his hopes dwindle, something goes right, and he’s granted a second act. But it calls for a sacrifice that redounds with selflessness and love. Moderated by writers Whitney […]
Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir chronicles the remarkable story of Stevie Van Zandt, guitarist of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, leader of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, actor (including a memorable run as consigliere Silvio Dante in The Sopranos), and political and arts activist. Moderated by writer and filmmaker Bill Teck. Sponsored by In partnership with
Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness: A Novel follows 13-year-old Benny Oh, who, a year after his father’s death, begins to hear voices. They belong to random objects scattered within his home – a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce – but in time, also a book, one that […]
Naima Coster’s What’s Mine and Yours: A Novel tells the story of two families, one Black, the other white Latino, unexpectedly coming together. Her tale moves between the years and from North Carolina to Paris, exploring the unique organism that is each family, what breaks them apart, and how they come back together. Moderated by […]
Courttia Newland's A River Called Time: A Novel is set at the Ark, a massive structure in the center of Dinium – an alternative London – that promised a utopian existence for those invited. Markriss Denny is one of the chosen – but once inside, he uncovers the truth about the Ark, himself, and the […]