Just The Right Book With Roxanne Coady

Ron Chernow is the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who wrote the biography which became the inspiration for the record-breaking, hip-hop Broadway musical Hamilton. Chernow joins Roxanne to talk about his latest expository biography on Ulysses S. Grant. Chernow reveals that after getting thrown out of the Army for drinking on payday, Grant must beg his father for a menial job selling leather goods while working below his two younger brothers.

The New York Times best-selling author of The Emperor's Children joins Just the Right Book to discuss her latest novel, The Burning Girl, which explores the unraveling of two adolescent girls' friendship as they set out on a dangerous journey. Roxanne describes Claire as "one of the finest storytellers today about women's friendships." 

One of the questions that Roxanne loves to ask all of our guests is "What is the book that changed your life?" "The stories are often poignant, personal or funny", says Roxanne "and inevitably they become a list of books that you are dying to read." On a special edition of Just the Right Book Podcast, we take a look back at some of our favorite stories from the past forty episodes. Looking to start a new book this Labor Day weekend? We have 25 suggestions for you to choose from!

One of Roxanne's favorite authors, Elizabeth Strout joins Just the Right Book Podcast to talk about her latest novel, Anything is Possible. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author also gives us the scoop on the Emmy Award-winning HBO series, Olive Kitteridge (based on Strout's book of the same name) and shares her thoughts on Frances McDormand as the title character. "You read Strout, really for the same reason you listen to a requiem: to experience the beauty in sadness," says Jennifer Senior of the New York Times.  We also talk to our first JTRB book club winner, Kim Nelson-Layman, who got a special surprise when she heard who else was on the phone with Roxanne. Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast We’re trying to get a better demographic handle on the people like yourself who listen to Just The Right Book Podcast. Just go to our website, www.BookPodcast.com, and click on the “Listener Survey,” it should take you about 30 seco

Colm Toibin is the bestselling, award-winning author of seven novels, including The Master and Brooklyn. The Irish-born author joins Just the Right Book Podcast to talk about his new novel, House of Names, a retelling of the Greek myth of Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, and their children.  And later in this episode, we hear from Miriam Sontz, CEO of the famous Powell's Books in Portland Oregon for a special installment of "What's on the Front Table."   Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast We’re trying to get a better demographic handle on the people like yourself who listen to Just The Right Book Podcast. Just go to our website, www.BookPodcast.com, and click on the “Listener Survey,” it should take you about 30 seconds and be most helpful to us. Thank you in advance for this! Books in this episode: House of Names by Colm Toibin News of the World by Paulette Jiles Exit West by Mohsin Hamid The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art

Deborah Tannen is a mega bestselling author and renowned Georgetown linguist. Her previous book, You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, was on the NY Times Bestseller List for four years, and as Roxanne puts it, "has become the bible for the differences in the way in which girls and women and boys and men converse." Tannen joins Just the Right Book to discuss her new book, You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships, guiding us to understand the conversational ingredients and behavior that bond or break our friendships with women. Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast Books in this episode: You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation by Deborah Tannen You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships by Deborah Tannen A Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court by Mark Twain Poem in this episode: Some People by Rachel

John Grisham recently sat down with Roxanne in a rare and candid interview as part of his first book tour in twenty-five years! The bestselling author chose RJ Julia for the second stop of his thirteen-city tour to promote his latest book, Camino Island. "If this book doesn't work, I'm quitting this." says Grisham of The Firm, the book that changed his life. The former lawyer also talks book-selling, about his work with the Innocence Project, and even reveals which books are in the works to become TV series.  Later in this episode, we hit the Yale campus to see what students are looking forward to reading this summer.  Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast We’re trying to get a better demographic handle on the people like yourself who listen to Just The Right Book Podcast. Just go to our website, www.BookPodcast.com, and click on the “Listener Survey,” it should take you about 30 seconds and be most helpful to us. Thank you

Novelist and television writer Sarah Dunn may be the creator and executive producer of the hit ABC sitcom, American Housewife, but it's her latest novel, The Arrangement that has everyone buzzing. The novel, which Roxanne called "absolutely delicious," tells the story of a couple that embarks on an open marriage while raising a special-needs son. The Arrangement has been called "this summer's must-read" by Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell, but as Sarah warns, "Do not try this at home." Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast Books in this episode: The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author of "The Power of Habit," which has spent over two years on the New York Times best-seller list. The Harvard Business School and Yale graduate, recently joined Just the Right Book Podcast to talk about his latest book, "Smarter Faster, Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity." "People often get tied up in being busy, rather than being productive," says Duhigg. His book explores how to get more done without sacrificing what we care about most. Also in this episode, we hear from Cathy Langer, the director of buying for the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver Colorado for our segment, "What's on the Front Table."  Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast Books in this episode:  Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity By Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Busine

RJ Julia recently hosted an event for one of their favorite authors, Dani Shapiro and Just the Right Book Podcast was there every step of the way. The best-selling novelist and memoirist caught up with Roxanne prior to the event to discuss her latest memoir, "Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage." The book, says Roxanne, is an "exquisite jewel" that you will want to read whether you are thinking of marriage, newly married, or have been married for a long time. Shapiro describes the joys and challenges of matrimonial life as, "Just that sense of what it is to go through life together... the all of it, the beauty and the terror. Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about Just the Right Book Podcast Books in this episode:  Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro  Devotion by Dani Shapiro  Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy by Dani Shapiro      

You probably know Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Annie Banks in the popular Father of the Bride movies, from one of her many TV roles or as the wife of country music star, Brad Paisley. The NY Times bestselling author of "Where the Light Gets in: Losing My Mother Only to Find Her Again" opens up to Roxanne (who lost her own mother, Viola Ohlbaum just days prior to recording this interview) on a special episode of "Just the Right Book." Kimberly documents her mother’s rare form of dementia and tracks her family’s actions and emotions through the process and her death last year. “My mother didn’t want us to talk about her illness; she wanted it to be the family secret,” says Williams-Paisley. While she wanted to honor her mother’s wishes and “protect her pride, it was a mistake and I regret it. By keeping it secret, we missed out on a lot of resources we could have been using.” The book, says Roxanne, “does a brilliant job of normalizing a situation that many people find hard to think of as normal

Author, professor, philosopher, Jason Stanley stopped by the Just the Right Book studios to talk propaganda, how it works and how language influences the way we think and reason about public issues. The "How Propaganda Works" author holds a PhD from MIT, has taught philosophy at Cornell, University of Michigan and Rutgers, and is now a professor of philosophy at Yale University. Also in this episode, Roxanne gives us some of her favorite picks from the National Book Critics Circle Awards. Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about “Just the Right Book Podcast.” Books in this episode: How Propaganda Works by Jason Stanley The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Soujourner Truth Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond Lab Girl by Hope Jahren Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi    

You probably know Amy Dickinson from the nationally syndicated advice column "Ask Amy", which is carried in over 150 newspapers and read by an estimated 22 million readers daily! She is also a best-selling author and featured panelist on NPR's popular comedy quiz show "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me." Amy's new book "Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Coming Home", picks up where her New York Times best-selling memoir, "The Mighty Queens of Freeville" left off. She recently joined "Just the Right Book" to chat about finding love at middle-age, the heartbreak of caring for an ailing parent at the end of life and of course her moving back to her hometown of Freeville, NY.   Be sure to like us on Facebook and join our mailing list to hear more news about “Just the Right Book Podcast.” Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Coming Home by Amy Dickinson The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Sady Doyle is an award-winning writer and journalist who's work has appeared in The Guardian, Slate, Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, just to name a few. The Brooklyn resident and founder of the feminist blog Tiger Beatdown joined Roxanne to talk about her latest book "Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear...and Why.” In her interview, Sady talks about Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Hillary Clinton, Marilyn Monroe and even Mary Wollstonecraft. Later in the episode, Just the Right Book hits the streets of the Big Apple to find out what people are reading in NYC.  Books mentioned in this episode:  Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear…and Why By Sady Doyle Valencia by Michelle Tea Ariel by Sylvia Plath Black Wave by Michelle Tea We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to Covergirl, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement by Andi Zeisler Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver Emma by Jane A

Dr. Gina Barreca is a women's humorist, author, writer, speaker and professor at UConn. Her latest book, "If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?: Questions and Thoughts for Loud, Smart Women in Turbulent Times" is a collection of fun, feminist-infused essays. The feminist humor maven stopped by "Just the Right Book" right before the Women's Marches to chat with Roxanne about the women empowerment books that we all need to read.     Gina's site: http://ginabarreca.com/ Books in this episode: "If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?": Questions and Thoughts for Loud, Smart Women in Turbulent Times By Gina Barreca The Second Sex By Simone De Beauvoir The Golden Notebook By Doris Lessing Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo By Mary Douglas How Institutions Think By Mary Douglas The Powers of the Weak By Elizabeth Janeway We Should All Be Feminists By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman By Robe

Beth Macy's last book, "Factory Man" is a New York Times best-seller and now in development to become an HBO mini-series produced by Tom Hanks. Beth's latest book "Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South" is already generating film buzz. Beth came straight to Roxanne to dish about the book that is catching the attention of one of Hollywood's hottest leading men. Also in this episode, RJ Julia's General Manager stops by to tell us just what it takes to become a bookseller.  Books in this episode: Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy Commonwealth by Ann Patchett Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck News of the World by Paulette Jiles