Tag Archives: book recommendation

Podcast

Octavio Solis, RETABLOS & Freya Sampson, THE LOST TICKET

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we air our 2019 interview with playwright and author Octavio Solis. We spoke with him about growing up the son of Mexican migrants in El Paso Texas. His book of stories based on that history is Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border. Octavio Solis.

Then, a new novel from British novelist Freya Sampson, The Lost Ticket. It’s one of those heart-warming but page-turning reads that makes you feel really good.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Bill McKibben, THE FLAG, THE CROSS and the STATION WAGON & Sarah Thankam Mathews, ALL THIS COULD BE DIFFERENT

We talk with Bill McKibben about his terrific new book, The Flag, The Cross And The Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What The Hell Happened.

Then, a brilliant coming-of-age novel that treats the personal as political and vice versa. We talk with Sarah Thankam Mathews about All This Could Be Different.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, TAKE MY HAND & HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers, THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DUBOIS

We talk with Dolen Perkins-Valdez about her novel, Take My Hand. It’s based on a famous case accusing the federal government of forced sterilization of poor and minority women inspires a novel about reproductive justice.

Then we air an excerpt from our 2021 interview with HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers about her novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.

And like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The “Mississippi Appendectomy.” That’s what the great civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer called the practice of involuntary sterilization forced on poor, mostly Black and Brown, women for decades in the 20th century — a practice Hamer herself was a victim of.

Dolen Perkins Valdez’ novel Take My Hand takes up this history in the story of a young nurse who fights for justice for two young girls who have been sterilized in Mississippi in 1971.

Out from Penguin Random House in April of this year, the book has garnered widespread praise. Ms Magazine called it “A searing and ultimately hopeful novel about (in)justice and the importance of learning from history.”

In addition to Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of previous novels, Wench and Balm.

HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers
In 2021 Writer’s Voice spoke with HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers about her award-winning novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois. Listen to the full interview here.

We play an extended excerpt from that interview.

Podcast

Keri Blakinger, CORRECTIONS IN INK & Eve Karlin, TRACK 61

We talk with journalist Keri Blakinger about her powerful prison memoir, Corrections In Ink.

Then, Eve Karlin tells us about her historical novel Track 61. It’s about the invasion by a group of German saboteurs during World War II, who came ashore in Amagansett, Long Island.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Writer’s Voice: Mohsin Hamid, THE LAST WHITE MAN & Omar El Akkad, WHAT STRANGE PARADISE

Mohsin Hamid tells us about his fable of race and humanity, where white people suddenly turn brown. It’s called The Last White Man.

Then Omar El Akkad talks about his novel What Strange Paradise. It’s about what happens when a Syrian refugee, a young boy, washes up on a Greek island.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.

And like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Continue reading

Podcast

Bruce Holsinger, THE DISPLACEMENTS & Elizabeth Cripps, WHAT CLIMATE JUSTICE MEANS AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE

Bruce Holsinger tells us about his novel, The Displacements. It’s about what happens to a family when the first Category Six hurricane hits the wealthy enclave of Coral Gables, Florida.

Then, we talk with moral philosopher Elizabeth Cripps about her book, What Climate Justice Means and Why We Should Care.

Bruce Holsinger
There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide in a world beset by the Climate Catastrophe—not even if you’re rich. The leveling impact of climate change is at the heart of Bruce Holsinger’s novel The Displacements.

It’s a page-turning dive into what happens to people when climate driven disasters take everything from them. And how they cope in an America where disaster response is ever more stretched to the breaking point.

Bruce Holsinger is the author of the bestselling novel The Gifted School, as well as two historical novels set in the Middle Ages, among other books. He teaches English at the University of Virginia.

Read an excerpt from The Displacements

Elizabeth Cripps
At the very heart of the climate crisis is the question: what is our responsibility to our fellow humans, future generations and all the other living beings we share the planet with?

Elizabeth Cripps examines the moral dimensions of the climate crisis in her book What Climate Justice Means and Why We Should Care.

Cripps is a moral and political philosopher and writer, specializing in climate justice and parental duties. She teaches at the University of Edinburgh and is Associate Director of CRITIQUE: Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought.

Podcast

Mary Pipher, A LIFE IN LIGHT & Anita Barrows, THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS

We talk to Mary Pipher about her new memoir, A Life In Light: Meditations On Impermanence.

And poet, therapist and translator Anita Barrows talks with us about her stunning debut novel, The Language of Birds.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Jonathan Lee, THE GREAT MISTAKE & Michael Mechanic, JACKPOT

We speak with Jonathan Lee about his historical novel The Great Mistake. It’s about the man who’s called “The Father of Greater New York,” Andrew Haswell Green.

Then, Michael Mechanic takes us on a tour into the lives of the super-rich and what their astronomic wealth says about America. His book is Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live- and How their Wealth Harms Us All.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

David Bollier THE COMMONER’S CATALOG & Katha Pollitt, PRO

We talk with David Bollier about his latest book, The Commoners Catalog For Change Making: Tools For The Transitions Ahead.

Then, in light of the Supreme Court ruling taking away the constitutional right of women to reproductive freedom, we listen back to our 2015 interview with Katha Pollitt about her book, PRO: Reclaiming Abortion Rights.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Antonio Scurati, M & Tsering Yangzom Lama, WE MEASURE THE EARTH WITH OUR BODIES

We talk with Antonio Scurati about his international bestseller about Mussolini, M: Son of the Century. It won the prestigious Strega Prize.

Then Tsering Yangzom Lama tells us about her powerful novel of Tibetan exile and resilience, We Measure The Earth With Our Bodies.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Antonio Scurati
Benito Mussolini came to power in circumstances that are resonant with the crises we face today: economic turmoil for the masses, disenchantment with elites that fail to govern, and the erosion of democracy.

In his international bestseller, M, Antonio Scurati takes a deep dive into the mind of the dictator and the social conditions he was able to exploit in his rise.

By combining fiction with documentary evidence and meticulous historical research, Scurati has invented a new genre, which he calls the “documentary novel.”

M is a cautionary tale that we would all do well to heed.

Read An Excerpt From M

Tsering Yangzom Lama

In today’s world, thirty people become refugees every minute and 68 million people have been displaced (almost certainly an undercount.)

One of the earliest post WWII refugee crises happened in 1959, when Mao’s People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet. About 80,000 Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, were forced to escape to India and Nepal, uprooted from their ancestral villages and way of life. Many people died during that exodus.

Tsering Yangzom Lama’s parents were among those who fled. She was born in Nepal. Yet there was much about her family’s history that she was unaware of growing up.

Her acclaimed debut novel We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies tells the story of the Tibetan diaspora. But it also brings alive the rich history, traditions and culture of Tibet.

Named a most anticipated book of the year by The Millions and Ms. and among the
Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for May, 2022, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a story of courage, survival resilience by an extraordinary young writer.

Podcast

Catie Marron, BECOMING A GARDENER & Sharon Charde, I AM NOT A JUVENILE DELINQUENT

We talk with Catie Marron about her gorgeously illustrated new book, Becoming A Gardener: What Reading and Digging Taught Me About Living.

Then, poet and therapist Sharon Charde tells us about the poetry program she founded for incarcerated girls. Her book is I Am Not A Juvenile Delinquent: How Poetry Changed a Group of At-Risk Young Women.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Writer’s Voice: Frans de Waal, DIFFERENT & Richard Louv, OUR WILD CALLING

We talk with world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal about his new book, Different: Gender Through The Eyes of a Primatologist.

Then we re-air our 2019 conversation with Richard Louv about his book Our Wild Calling. It’s about redefining the future of human-animal coexistence.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.
Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

NoViolet Bulaweyo, GLORY & Jennifer Haigh, MERCY STREET

We talk with NoViolet Bulaweyo about her powerful allegorical novel about the fall of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the chaos and opportunity that rose in its wake. It’s called Glory.

Then, Jennifer Haigh tells us about her new novel, Mercy Street. It’s a gripping tale about abortion: its defenders and its antagonists.

We also hear Theresa Davis reading her poem “What to Do When a Politician Tries to Fall into Your Vagina Feet First.”

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.
Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Oliver Milman, THE INSECT CRISIS & more

We talk with Oliver Milman about his book The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World. It’s a devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate.

Then, we round out today’s episode with some practical advice on how to make your lawn and garden pollinator-friendly. We talk with Gail Pellett of the group ChangeEHampton.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading

Podcast

Donald Cohen, THE PRIVATIZATION OF EVERYTHING

Whatever happened to public goods? And how do we get them back?

That’s the question we ponder this hour with Donald Cohen, talking about his book The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back.

We also remember Dr. Paul Farmer who died suddenly this week.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Continue reading