Category: Books for Adults

10 Virtual Author Events Coming Soon

Posted in Books for Adults, Children's, Events, Read Aloud, Summer ReadingLeave a comment

Do you love hearing authors discuss their books and writing lives? One upside of this challenging time is all of the virtual author events now available.

You don’t have to live within driving distance of a particular bookstore or library to see some of your favorite authors discuss all things reading and writing. All you have to do is cozy up on your couch and turn on a device!

Not sure where to start? Here are 10 virtual events to add to your calendar. 

1. Tuesday July 14th at 7pm

J Courtney Sullivan Presents Friends and Strangers in Conversation With Robin Young

jcourtney

“J. Courtney Sullivan’s latest novel, Friends and Strangers, follows Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother struggling to adjust to small town life, and Sam, a college senior worrying about what her future might hold. Sullivan explores themes of power dynamics and motherhood through flawed but relatable characters, and their complicated relationships. Sullivan has won multiple prestigious awards for her fiction, including Time Magazine’s Best Book of the Year in 2011 for her novel, Maine. Join us to learn more about her most recent book!

2. Wednesday July 15th – 6:30pm, Belmont Books

VIRTUAL: Christina Soontornvat and Erin Entrada Kelly in support of Read It Forward

erin

“Join usfor an amazing dual event with two fantastic middle grade authors: Christina Soontornvat and Newbery award-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly!”

3. Thursday July 16th- 7pm- Bay Area Book Festival

Virtual: Braving Deep Waters: Female Fearlessness and Friendship with Sue Monk Kidd and Lisa See

suemonkkidd

“Dive into an exploration of female power and brilliance like you’ve never seen before with bestselling authors Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees, The Invention of Wings) and Lisa See (The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane) moderated by Aimee Phan (The Reeducation of Cherry Truong).”

 

Virtual: National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi discusses “How to Be an Antiracist.”

ibram

“2019 Guggenheim Fellow and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi will discuss his renowned book “How to Be an Antiracist” on Monday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m. with Dr. Charlene M. Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College. Dr. Dukes is the first African-American woman to serve as president of the College and has 30 years of progressive leadership experience and administrative responsibility in higher education.”

5. Thursday July 23rd at 4pm – A Mighty Blaze

Virtual: Amy Poeppel in Conversation With Fiona Davis

 

 
“Please join Amy Poeppel, author of Musical Chairs and Fiona Davis, author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, on the A MIghty Blaze Facebook page. Event link to come!”

 

Ep. 59: Maggie Doherty, Author of The Equivalents

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This week, Maggie Doherty joins me on the podcast to discuss her new book, The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s. Maggie Doherty is a literary scholar, historian, and critic based at Harvard and has written a fascinating account of an experiment in combining intellectual pursuits and motherhood by providing “a room of one’s own” at Harvard for a select group of women in the 1960s.

equivalentscover

“The timely, never-before-told story of five brilliant, passionate women who, in the early 1960s, converged at the newly founded Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study and became friends as well as artistic collaborators, and who went on to shape the course of feminism in ways that are still felt today.”

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

“The Equivalents is such an exciting, engaging, and important book that I loathed doing anything but reading it. With great psychological acumen, and ever-mindful of the nuances of class, race, and gender, Maggie Doherty brings these women vividly to life, allowing us to hear them speak, to feel their conflicts and their triumphs. By the end, I was electric with insights into my own relationships and work, and, perhaps surprisingly, I felt very optimistic about the future. Being creative while female has never been easy, and our best hope for resolution is this variety of historical excavation, one that shows us how people have tried to resolve it before, so we may learn and keep pushing forward, newly enlightened.”
 —Kate Bolick, author of Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own 

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

A Bookish Home has teamed up with Bookshop.org! Support A Bookish Home and independent bookstores at the same time when you purchase books from our new online bookshop!*

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Browse books by authors interviewed on the podcast, titles mentioned on the show, and more recommendations from your host and librarian, Laura Szaro Kopinski.

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We hope this helps you discover your next favorite read! You can also browse titles here and then request them from your local library.

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Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home and your local indies!

 

Ep. 58: Mary Kay Andrews, Author of Hello Summer

Posted in Books for Adults, Podcast, Summer Reading1 Comment

This week I welcome New York Times bestselling author and queen of the beach read, Mary Kay Andrews, back to the podcast. Her novels include Sunset Beach, The Weekenders, Summer Rental, her latest, Hello Summer and many more.

“Hello, Summer is another gem by the always wonderful Mary Kay Andrews.” -PopSugar

hellosummercover

 

We spoke last month about launching Hello Summer during the height of the pandemic,  the ways her early career as a journalist influenced this love letter to the small town newspaper, what she’s been reading and writing at home, and much more.

 

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Did you miss last summer’s episode with Mary Kay Andrews? You can still listen to episode 36, when we chatted about Sunset Beach and Mary Kay’s fascinating journey as a writer.

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

A Bookish Home has teamed up with Bookshop.org! Support A Bookish Home and independent bookstores at the same time when you purchase books from our new online bookshop!*

Screen Shot 2020-06-22 at 9.23.50 AM

Browse books by authors interviewed on the podcast, titles mentioned on the show, and more recommendations from your host and librarian, Laura Szaro Kopinski.

We hope this helps you discover your next favorite read! You can also browse titles here and then request them from your local library.

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Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home and your local indies!

 

Looking for Something New To Read? Want to Support Indie Bookstores? A Bookish Home Has Teamed Up With Bookshop.org

Posted in Books for Adults, Children's, Summer Reading1 Comment

Have you ever dreamed of owning a bookstore? I know I have. This weekend I started a (virtual) bookstore for A Bookish Home using Bookshop.org and I’m having so much fun sharing book recommendations this way!

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If you haven’t heard of Bookshop.org, it’s a wonderful new site readers can use to shop for their next favorite reads. Bookshop.org has a mission to help financially support local, independent bookstores. And they make it so fun to browse and discover titles! 

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You can now browse books by authors interviewed on A Bookish Home, see my recent favorites, what I’ve been reading lately, and more.

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If you decide to purchase a book, A Bookish Home and independent bookstores both receive a commission. It’s a win win!

You can also use my new shop to browse and decide what you want to read next and then request the book for free from your local library.

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I hope this helps you discover your next favorite read! I’ll keep adding more categories and titles for readers to browse.

And stay tuned for a great bookish conversation on the podcast this week with the queen of the beach read, Mary Kay Andrews! Lookout for that episode on Thursday.

Happy Reading!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 57: Julie Clark, Author of the Last Flight

Posted in Books for Adults, Podcast, Summer ReadingLeave a comment

This week, I’m excited to share an interview with Julie Clark we recorded last month. We discussed her new book, The Last Flight, life as an author during quarantine, her writing journey, and much more.

In a starred review, Kirkus called The Last Flight, “A tense and engaging womancentric thriller…Propulsive prose drives Clark’s tale of the intersecting lives of these two smart and resourceful women, and emphasis is placed on the importance of female friendship and support. Readers will surely find themselves hopelessly invested in Claire’s and Eva’s ultimate fates.”

Born and raised in Santa Monica, CA, Julie Clark grew up reading books on the beach while everyone else surfed. After attending college at University of the Pacific and a brief stint working in the athletic department at the University of California, Berkeley, she returned home to Santa Monica to teach. She now lives there with her two young sons and a golden doodle with poor impulse control. She is the author of The Ones We Choose and her new book is The Last Flight.

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Books Mentioned On This Episode:

The Ones We Choose

The Last Flight

Long Great River 

Oona Out of Order

Pretty Things

Goodnight Beautiful

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to subscribe. If you could also take a moment to rate and review A Bookish Home on iTunes to help people find the show, that would be so helpful.

Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

 

Affiliate links are used in this post. At no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you purchase something through the links provided.

Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home!

 

Ep. 55: Anne Bogel, Author of Don’t Overthink It

Posted in Books for Adults, Podcast, Summer ReadingLeave a comment

This week I’m delighted to welcome author, podcaster, blogger, and book whisperer extraordinaire, Anne Bogel, back to the podcast.

Anne’s new book, Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life, is a timely and practical guide to taming some of the anxiety and stress swirling around our minds.

dont

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Don’t Overthink It

Recipe for Persuasion

Evvie Drake Starts Over

The Unhoneymooners

Things You Save In A Fire

Royal Holiday

Party of Two

Get A Life, Chloe Brown

The Summer Before the War

The Gown

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

84 Charing Cross Road

Lovely War

The Jane Austen Society

 

Visit Anne’s blog Modern Mrs. Darcy and in particular get ready for her wonderful annual summer reading guide, coming soon! Anne also has two podcasts for bookworms, What Should I Read Next? and One Great Book.

annebogel

 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to subscribe. If you could also take a moment to rate and review A Bookish Home on iTunes to help people find the show, that would be so helpful.

Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

Affiliate links are used in this post. At no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you purchase something through the links provided.

Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home!

Mothers’ Day Read In

Posted in Books for Adults, Events, Holiday1 Comment

What are you doing for Mothers’ Day this year?

If you’re a bookish introvert like me, with littles at home, your idea of a fun celebration might look quite different than normal. Usually we go to a lilac festival in Boston as a family and out to lunch. This year, all I want is to read all day in bed by myself with coffee.

I want to kiss my kids as they hand me something tasty to eat, then send them on their way so I can soak up some quiet and escape into the pages of a book!

Ideal Mothers’ Day night? I’ve been saving renting the new Little Women and I think this is the perfect time for some Jo and Marmee.

Now I just have to decide what to read! I’m thinking something comforting, preferably book related…and British.

What books are you planning to curl up with on Mothers’ Day? I hope you can treat yourself to #MomsReadIn and #MarmeeMovieNight

You might also enjoy these past posts:

Reads for the Moms in Your Life

basket-book-books-63321

 

18 Ways to Celebrate Little Women’s 150th Anniversary Year

lw

 

And to the moms who are essential workers and can’t be home, we see you and are sending Mother’s Day love your way!

Happy Mothers’ Day Mamas!
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Stay safe and happy reading,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

10 Author Events Coming to Greater Boston in March

Posted in Books for Adults, Children's, Events, Read AloudLeave a comment

Are you looking for a bookish event to add to your calendar?

Here are some of the authors coming to bookstores and libraries in the Boston area this month.

Be sure to check your local library and bookstore’s event calendar to see what author events are coming to your community.

 

1. Wednesday March 4th at 7pm – Belmont Books

Katrin Schumann in conversation with Whitney Scharer

From the bestselling author of The Forgotten Hours comes an unforgettable story of one woman’s journey to reclaim what she lost in a country torn apart by the devastating legacy of WWII.

 

2. Thursday March 5th – 7pm, Belmont Books

Gish Jen – The Resisters

“The Resisters is palpably loving, smart, funny, and desperately unsettling. The novel should be required reading for the country both as a cautionary tale and because it is a stone-cold masterpiece. This is Gish Jen’s moment. She has pitched a perfect game.” –Ann Patchett

A moving and important story of an America that seems ever more possible, The Resisters is also the story of one family struggling to maintain its humanity and normalcy in circumstances that threaten their every value–as well as their very existence.

 3. Tuesday March 10th at 6pm – Boston Public Library, Copley

Ken Liu at the BPL Newsfeed Cafe

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From stories about time-traveling assassins, to Black Mirror-esque tales of cryptocurrency and Internet trolling, to heartbreaking narratives of parent-child relationships, THE HIDDEN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES is a far-reaching work that explores topical themes from the present and a speculative look at humanity’s future.

4. Thursday March 12th – 7pm at An Unlikely Story

Rebecca Serle, In Five Years

 

What will your life look like in five years? Rebecca Serle’s new book, IN FIVE YEARS, plays with this question when an ambitious young woman has a vision of her life five years in the future. Perfect for fans of ME BEFORE YOU, IN FIVE YEARS is a love story that brings heartbreak and joy in equal measure. At the event, Rebecca will be joined onstage by Robin Kall, of Reading with Robin, to talk about her new book, answer audience questions, and sign copies. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

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Called a “heroic narrative” and “compact and energetic” by The Wall Street Journal,Tina’s work tells the the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.

 

6. Sunday March 15th at 10am -Bull Run Restaurant with Silver Unicorn Books

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Leadership In Turbulent Times

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Ticketed Community Event: Doris Kearns Goodwin will be speaking at the Bull Run Restaurant and we’ll be there to sell her book!  Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author. Her seventh book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, was published in September 2018 to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller. A culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career of studying the American presidents focusing on Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our everyday lives.

Storytime with E.B. Goodale

In this lush and playful picture book from E. B. Goodale, illustrator of Windows, Kate feels ignored by her mother and sister and so decides to run away. In a neighboring yard, she builds a fort and enjoys a sense of independence—until she finds herself making room for her family in her new home … Under the Lilacs is the perfect celebration of striking out on your own—while still making room for everyone.

 

8. Friday March 20th at 6:30pm – An Unlikely Story, Plainville

Nick Bruel, Bad Kitty Joins the Team

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Ticketed Event: See Kitty as you’ve never seen her before: EXERCISING (reluctantly) in Bad Kitty Joins the Team, the latest installment of Nick Bruel’s phenomenally successful New York Times bestselling series.

 

9. Friday March 20th- 7:30pm at Back Bay Events Center

Hilary Mantel, The Mirror & The Light with Harvard Bookstore

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Ticketed Event: Harvard Book Store is honored to welcome acclaimed writer HILARY MANTEL—two-time winner of the Booker Prize for her bestselling novels, Wolf Hall, and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies—for a discussion of the highly anticipated, final book in the Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror & the Light.

 

Raúl the Third, ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat

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Porter Square Books is pleased to welcome Pura Belpré Medal-winning illustrator Raúl the Third for ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat! Little Lobo returns to share his love of food and wrestling in this delicious follow-up to Vamos! Let’sGo to the Market, a Porter Square Books staff favorite!

 

Ep. 49: Author Kate Bolick Discusses March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women

Posted in Books for Adults, PodcastLeave a comment

This week, I’m delighted to welcome author Kate Bolick to the podcast. 

Kate Bolick is the author of the bestselling Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own. Today we’re discussing her wonderful essay on Meg in March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women.

Kate Bolick

If you can’t stop thinking about the new Greta Gerwig adaptation, I would highly recommend picking up this collection. Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado and Jane Smiley also share thought-provoking essays on Jo, Beth and Amy. A must read for Alcott fans!

 

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Books Mentioned On This Episode:

marchsisterscover

March Sisters

 

LWimageLittle Women

 

megjo

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy:

The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters

 

roomofonesown

A Room of One’s Own

 

dearestfriend

Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams

 

thick

Thick

autobiographyofredAutobiography of Red

 

wakesiren

Wake Siren

 

toni

The Source of Self-Regard

equivalents

The Equivalents

To find out more about Kate Bolick visit her website www.katebolick.com.

 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to subscribe. If you could also take a moment to rate and review A Bookish Home on iTunes to help people find the show, I’d be so grateful.

 

Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

Affiliate links are used in this post. At no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you purchase something through the links provided. Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home!

 

 

Ep. 47: Heather Bell Adams, Author of Maranatha Road

Posted in Books for Adults, PodcastLeave a comment

This week, I’m sharing a conversation with Heather Bell Adams, author of Maranatha Road and a forthcoming novel, The Good Luck Stone (coming July 2020).

Southern Literary Review calls Maranatha Road “[A]n exquisite story with characters so real they could step off the pages into your living room” and says Sadie Caswell is “reminiscent of Olive Kitteridge, the titular character that earned a Pulitzer for Elizabeth Strout. The portrait Adams draws of Sadie is just as fine and unforgettable.” This is a novel to slow down and savor.

 

maranatha

 

You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Books Mentioned On This Episode:

maranatha
Maranatha Road
goodluckstone
The Good Luck Stone
aoogcover
Anne of Green Gables
emilyofnewmoon
Emily of New Moon
egyptgame
The Egypt Game

 

Bloodroot
Blood Root
long man
Long Man
perennials
Perennials
winterloon
Winter Loon
dearlybeloved
The Dearly Beloved
bookoflongings
The Book of Longings

To find out more about Heather Bell Adams visit her website heatherbelladams.com.

 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to subscribe. If you could also take a moment to rate and review A Bookish Home on iTunes to help people find the show, I’d be so grateful.

 

Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.

Happy Reading and Listening!

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

Affiliate links are used in this post. At no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you purchase something through the links provided. Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home!