Steve Bertrand On Books From Wgn Plus

Michel Faber talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about The Book of Strange New Things, a fantastical novel set in another world, but a story grounded very much on earth.

Cuban American poet Richard Blanco talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about convincing his abuela to make a turkey for Thanksgiving, about feeling fully American when he delivered the Obama Inaugural poem, and about his memoir, The Prince of Los Cocuyos.

Marja Mills remembers Alice Lee in this interview with Steve Bertrand on Books. Harper Lee’s older sister has died at the age of 103. Mills lived next door to the sisters as she wrote The Mockingbird Next Door.

Hercule Poirot has always succeeded against the odds. Now he’s back, long after the death of his creator, Agatha Christie. Author Sophie Hannah talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about what it was like to create the new Poirot mystery, The Monogram Murders.

Nearly 70,000 British girls married American GI’s during World War ll. So what happened when they got here? Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi tell their story in GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love.

Tavis Smiley talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about “Death of the King,” a look at the last year of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. Smiley discusses King’s failing popularity as well as his unfailing commitment to the power of love.

Author Karen Abbott looks at four female Civil War spies in her book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about sleeping with the enemy.

So how did your family get here? Novelist Diane Johnson looks at her Midwestern roots in Flyover Lives. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about happiness, history and why her French teacher told her not to bother with the familiar form of verb conjugation.  

Time Magazine says, “Let this be the year of Roxane Gay.” The author of Bad Feminist talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about privilege, Ferguson, and driving on Interstate 65.

Rebecca Makkai talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about The Hundred Year House, her novel that considers the possibility of human reinvention.  The book tells the story of a century old Lake Forest estate by tracking the lives of those who’ve lived there. Rebecca

Emma Straub has written one of the must reads of your summer vacation. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about The Vacationers, learning in Wisconsin, and why she’s loathe to write a book review.

Lily King talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel, Euphoria.  It’s a lyrical, fictional view of Margaret Mead, her husband and the man she would love as they studied the tribes of New Guinea in the years between the World Wars.

Craig Johnson talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his Sheriff Longmire series, life on the Wyoming range, and the need to help the slickers understand his land.

JoJo Moyes, the author of the runaway hit Me Before You, is back with One Plus One. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the novel, writing that makes her eyes bleed, and how the public comments on Amazon changed her writing.

Novelist Lisa See talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel, China Dolls; about the Chop Suey Circuit between the World Wars; and about the weird way she reads books.

Joël Dicker is one of the hottest commodities in Europe: His face is plastered on billboards, he can’t walk down the street without being approached by fans, and it’s all because of his smash novel, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair. Now, Dicker and his book are hoping for a successful American invasion. After five books he had nearly given up on writing.  He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books the rush of fame and the pressure to strike […]

The non-fiction smash The Boys on the Boat is just out in paperback, which means author Daniel James Brown has been talking about his book for over a year. What has he learned? Brown talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the boys, the book, and the daughter who made it happen.

Presidential aide Ken Adelman sat at Ronald Reagan’s knees, literally, during the hastily arranged superpower summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the unscripted and sometimes even wacky summit. Reagan and Gorbachev nearly agreed to eliminated nuclear weapons but failed. Adelman says they succeeded in beginning the end of the Cold War.

Novelist Meg Wolitzer talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about summer camp, the need to be special, and her latest novel, The Interestings.

What do you get when you mix The Merchant of Venice and Othello with Edgar Allen Poe? Only Christopher Moore knows. He explains himself and his latest, hilarious, book, The Serpent of Venice, with Steve Bertrand on Books.