The Watchung Booksellers Podcast

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, we feature a compilation of book recommendations from our customers, recorded in store on Independent Bookstore Day. Enjoy this varied and wonderful list of books!

Libro. Fm Audiobook of Walking Practice

Books:
A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available here.

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To celebrate the first anniversary of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, we share a live recording of a book club discussion of Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt, led by authors Alice Elliott Dark and Dagmara Domińczyk. 

Alice Elliott Dark is the author of the novels Fellowship Point and Think of England, and two collections of short stories, In The Gloaming and Naked to the Waist. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, children's book author Alliah Agostini talks with children's book illustrator Olivia de Castro about taking humor seriously, and celebrating the joy of underrepresented voices in kids' books.

Buffalo, NY native Alliah L. Agostini has marketed everything from iconic brands to scrappy start-ups, but motherhood helped her return to her first love: children's liter...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, we feature a recent book launch discussion with Benjamin Wallace, author of The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto, and author Jason Tanz.

Benjamin Wallace is The New York Times bestselling author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar and The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto. He has been a features writer at New York magazine and a contributing e...

In this week's episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, booksellers Asia and Caroline chat with longtime favorite customer, Edward. 

Asia Jannah was born and raised in Montclair, and has worked at Watchung Booksellers for a total of 9 years. She is currently the gift buyer for the flagship location. Her favorite genres include dark fiction, short stories, essays and memoirs. When she’s not at the bookstore arranging display...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, children's book author/illustrators Kristine Lombardi and Cat Min talk about their process and love of kids' literature.

Kristine A. Lombardi has written and illustrated several books for children, including Lovey Bunny, Mr. Biddles, My Wish for the World and The Grumpy Pets, which garnered an International Literacy Association Children’s Choice Selection. She loves quir...

In this week's episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, journalists Candy J. Cooper and Dale Russakoff share their excitement in the triumphs of journalistic writing.

Candy J. Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. She is the author, most recently, of Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and A Town that Looked Away, which was recently named a 2025 hono...

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, authors Laurie Lico Albanese and Anastasia Rubis discuss reading and writing historical fiction.

Laurie Lico Albanese is a historical novelist, most recently of the acclaimed novel Hester,  which gives voice to Hester Prynne in a retelling of The Scarlet Letter. Hester was a Book of the Month club selection and an Audible and Goodreads Best Books of 2022. Laurie’s previous histori...

In this week's episode, scientists Charles Liu and George Musser find joy in daily observations through science and writing. 

Charles Liu is a professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island and an associate with the Hayden Planetarium and Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on colliding galaxies, starburst galaxies, quasars, and the ...

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, journalists Farnoosh Torabi and Grace L. Williams talk about financial writing and books that focus on women and money.

Grace L. Williams is a scholar of feminism and economics who moonlights as a financial reporter and podcast co-host. She is the author of the newly released Give Her Credit, a book that spotlights women's banks in the 1970s. She is an alum of the Columbia Un...

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, novelists Marcy Dermansky and Hayley Krischer tackle challenges of a writer's life and troubleshoot helpful writing solutions.

Marcy Dermansky is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Very Nice, The Red Car, Bad Marie, Twins, and Hurricane Girl. She has received fellowships from the McDowell Colony and the Edward F. Albee Foundation. In March, she'll release her ...

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, poets Alicia Cook and Deborah Garrison share how poetry fosters connection and their own work. Plus, at the end of the episode, listen to some of the poetry readings from our special Valentine's Day Pop-Up Poetry Booth in The Kids' Room. 

Deborah Garrison began her career at the The New Yorker, where she worked for fifteen years and where her poetry first began appearing...

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, Montclair State Professor Lee Behlman and high school English teacher Nick Hernandez talk about their love of literature and teaching it to their students. 

Lee Behlman is a professor of English at Montclair State University, where he's taught since 2006. He's a scholar of Victorian literature and his most recent publication is a 2023 book from Palgrave-Macmillan called ...

Welcome to Season 2 of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast! In this episode bookstore owner Maddie Ciliotta-Young talks with her mom and former owner Margot Sage-EL about the past, present, and future of Watchung Booksellers.

Maddie Ciliotta-Young is the owner and operator of Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, NJ. Maddie grew up in Montclair and at the bookstore with her mom, Margot. After college she was a teacher and principal for ov...

In this bonus episode, we feature an in-store event held the day after the 2024 Presidential election with professors Kim Wehle and Jessica Henry, who discussed Kim’s book Pardon Power: How the Pardon System Works–and Why.

Kim Wehle is a constitutional scholar and tenured professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She was formerly an assistant United States Attorney and an associate counsel in the Whit...

As we gear up for Season 2 of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, we are re-airing an episode from the first season to celebrate the release of The Last Bookstore on Earth from debut author Lily Braun-Arnold, a Smith College student and employee of Watchung Booksellers.

Enjoy this repeat episode of Season 1 - Ep 10: From Reader to Writer with Lily Braun-Arnold and Laura Marx Fitzgerald. 

Books:
A full list of the books an...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers, the dedicated Kids' Room staff talks about their love of children's books and everything the store offers to the Montclair community.

Aubrey Cece is the Kids’ Room manager, children’s book and gift buyer, and children’s author event planner. She’s a born creative with the love of everything books and art. Her favorite color is lime green and her creative touch shows al...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers, authors and entrepreneurs Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry discuss becoming The Book Doctors--their business of teaching writers how to get published.

Arielle Eckstut is co-founder of The Book Doctors. She is the author of nine books including The Secret Language of Color: The Science, Nature, History, Culture and Beauty of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue & Violet. Sh...

In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers, social media mavens Sara Alli and our very own Evelyn Moulton chat about social media in bookselling.

Sarah Alli is an Associate Marketing Manager for Hachette Book Group, one of the Big Five book publishing houses in the country. She runs all of Hachette US’s central social media accounts. Outside of her 9-5, Sarah is also a social media influencer and creator of Slow Morning D...