The Book Case
Are you stuck in a reading rut? The Book Case makes the case for books outside of your usual genre. Wander the aisles of your local bookstore with Kate and Charlie Gibson and meet fascinating characters who will open your appetite to new categories while deepening your hunger for books. This weekly series will journey cover to cover through the literary world, featuring interviews with best-selling authors, tastemakers, and independent bookstore owners. New episodes post every Thursday.
Episodes
November 6, 2025 • 36 mins
Catherine Newman’s latest, Wreck, is a beautiful meditation on the act of motherhood. Revisiting the family from Sandwich as they enter a new phase of familial life. We all know that successful parents raise kids just to lose them to the world, and that this launch into independence is something we all desperately hope for and deeply dread. Funny, touching and compulsively readable this is a novel about the beauty and pain of famil...
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October 30, 2025 • 37 mins
It’s Halloween…so who better to follow up our conversations about middle school reading than R.L. Stine? With over 400 titles to his name (the latest being The Last Sleepover In the Goosebumps House of Shiver series) this man has been scaring kids for decades and decades. And oh wow, are his stories worth the price of admission?! Join us as we talk to Bob (what he asked we call him) about what makes him tick, how he sees writing fo...
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October 23, 2025 • 38 mins
We knew that reading levels were in fluctuation, but we had no idea there was a Middle School reading crisis. According to the NWEA (The Northwest Evaluation Association which measures academic and student standards) only 30% of 8th graders are reading at grade level or above. Why? How did we get here and how do we get back on track raising great readers who love literature? We are joined by Miah Daughtery,
VP of Academic Advo...
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October 16, 2025 • 30 mins
Lily King’s newest, Heart the Lover, is a sparing, funny, painful and beautiful novel about the first loves we have, and how they never really let go. The humanity, joy and sadness of the novel will keep you turning pages and keep the characters with you long after you have closed the book. We talk to her about her inspirations, her struggles in writing this book and how she triumphed over difficulty in how to end the novel (no sp...
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October 9, 2025 • 32 mins
Angela Flournoy’s newest, The Wilderness was on the long list of nominees for the National Book Award, and we believe if you read it,
it’s easy to see why. The story of four friends growing apart and together,
it’s a lyrical work of real beauty. Over a series of decades, these four
friends tell you in their distinct voices about the important turning points in their lives, giving readers a rich glimpse into what makes them who thei...
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October 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Sometimes we look back on a season of great podcasts (humble podcasts hosts that we are) and consider what we like best within a season. Today, we look at the summer that was. From the great epistolary novel, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans to non-stop laughs with Dave Barry to the magical world of Leigh Bardugo, there is something for everyone in this episode. Join us as we look back on a truly great summer of reading. Plu...
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September 25, 2025 • 31 mins
Leigh Bardugo has written some masterful fantasy. And, the Six of Crows Duology (that means there is only two books in the series) is about to turn 10 years old. So we celebrate the anniversary of these two great reads with an in depth conversation with their author, Leigh Bardugo. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom tell the story of a small street gang as they pull of the biggest heist of their careers. Full of tension, atmosphe...
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September 18, 2025 • 45 mins
Joanne Harris is the writer of the “Chocolat" series, which began with the famous Chocolat (also made into a movie with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp) which spawned three sequels all continuing the story of the mysterious, talented and independent Vianne and her daughters as they struggle to find their place in the world. But in her newest contribution to the series, Vianne, she writes beautifully of Vianne’s prequel story. Wh...
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September 11, 2025 • 35 mins
Take a moment to sit down with us to talk to the Reynolds Brothers, Peter and Paul. On Thursday of this week we appeared on GMA to talk about International Dot Day, a worldwide creativity movement inspired by The Dot, an illustrated children’s book released more than 20 years ago. Tune in to find out more about why this book means so much to so many, and why it’s message has spread around the world. We also talk to a uniquely nam...
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September 4, 2025 • 39 mins
Occasionally, a book comes into your life that is a revelation. And The Correspondent by Virginia Evans was one of these books for us. A masterful epistolary novel in which the protagonist, a retired lawyer named Sybil, corresponds with…well, anyone and everyone. It’s an incredible read. Trust us. Don’t miss this great conversation with a wonderful writer. And to sweeten the pot? We also talk to The Vermont Bookstore. Join us.
...
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August 28, 2025 • 34 mins
Thomas Schlesser is a French Art Historian whose new novel, Mona’s Eyes is a brilliant way of exploring the great museums of Paris. When Mona, his title character, is in danger of losing her sight, her grandfather, Henri, decides to show her one work of art a week for a year in the hopes that she can absorb all the beauty of the world before she goes blind. It is not just the touching story of a wonderful French girl and her grand...
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August 21, 2025 • 32 mins
Kathy Wang’s newest, The Satisfaction Café is the story of Joan Laing, her compromises, her victories, her loves and her loneliness. In this memorable story, Joan and her reflections lead us through the journey of her life…culminating in the opening of a unique, strange and lovely café.. Kathy’s writing is poignant, subtle, and Joan, her protagonist is flawed yet inspiring. Take a seat at the Satisfaction Café with us as we talk...
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August 14, 2025 • 39 mins
J. Ryan Stradal is our Writer in Residence, if you have been following along. What does that mean? Well, we have been with him from step one since he started his fourth novel, as yet unnamed. A deeply personal novel that imagines the third act his mother might have lived if she had progressed past the age of 55. She was J.’s person, his guiding light and his North Star. He has now finished his first draft and we talk to him as...
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August 7, 2025 • 36 mins
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a feverishly paced, lyrical portrait of an unnamed African American man in the 1930’s. Hauntingly beautiful and raw, this book changed how Americans think about race. Immediately popular and the winner of the National Book Award in 1953, Ralph Ellison’s classic does not fit neatly in any literature genre (is it satire? Is it fiction? Is it historical fiction?). We sit down with two professors f...
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July 31, 2025 • 32 mins
Adriana Trigiani is a true joy, and her new novel, The View from Lake Como, is a love letter to Italy. Italian by birth, Italy always plays a big role in Adriana's books, and in this novel, Italy is the central character. This book contains unforgettable characters, subtle and complex relationships with the artisan beauty of marble thrown in…Adriana writes it all with authenticity and heart. Join us while we talk about what make...
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July 24, 2025 • 37 mins
Stacey Abrams is a prolific figure in American history. And although her bread and butter come from political organization and practicing law, a lot of her heart is wrapped up in writing. A writer with many titles to her name, her newest, Coded Justice puts forth a murder that may very well have been committed by a rogue AI system. Is it possible and of what is AI
capable? We ask Stacey Abrams all these questions…join us.
Fi...
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July 17, 2025 • 42 mins
Dennard Dayle has written a laugh out loud satire about the Civil War. It’s both risky and ambitious and he pulls it off beautifully in How to Dodge a Cannonball. It’s a novel about Anders, a man totally unequipped to handle the horrors of the Civil War, in which he switches sides three times. How to Dodge a Cannonball is moving, the language is both intense and incredible, and it will make you giggle at things you never thought...
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July 10, 2025 • 31 mins
Sophie Elmhirst has done something extraordinary. In her new book, Marriage at Sea, she rediscovers and adds new mystery to the true story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who, on their journey across the world, lost their boat and were forced to live on a life raft for 117 days. How did they do it? How did they FEEL about doing it? Sophie, in her impeccably researched volume, has brought readers a nail-biting thriller while also...
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July 3, 2025 • 35 mins
It’s been a while since we have covered a good mystery on the Book Case, so this week, take a seat by a book that will keep you guessing. Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall is both a terrific old-fashioned mystery combined with a modern police procedural drama and EVERYONE in the town is a suspect. Kate read it in 36 hours, Charlie in about 48…we guarantee this will be one you can’t put down. Join us and find out why.
Fi...
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June 26, 2025 • 36 mins
It’s the third in our classics analysis series! To Kill a Mockingbird is one of America’s favorite novels. Is it worth its weight in the public’s love? Is Atticus Finch the hero we always thought, and does Go Set a Watchman call the novel’s moralism into question? We examine these questions with two Harper Lee scholars, Michele Reutter and Jonathan S. Cullick, who wrote Mockingbird Grows Up, a re-examination of Mockingbird thro...
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