Ann Patchett is an author, bookstore owner, two-time Reese’s Book Club pick author, and overall icon on everybody’s bookshelf. Her newest novel, “Whistler,” is out today. In it, a woman reunites with her long-lost stepfather on a fateful day in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What follows is a story of family, loss, and the brief connections that change our lives forever. Ann joins the podcast to talk about her unique writing process, working through grief and love in her latest novel, and her favorite books hitting the shelves at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Run by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Whistler by Ann Patchett

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

Python’s Kiss by Louise Erdrich

John of John by Douglas Stuart

The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen

The Color of Water by James McBride

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

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A great book is like a great pair of shoes — it can take you somewhere you never expected. But it’s also like that new car feeling — full of possibility, a little thrilling, and totally transformative. In the first episode of this special miniseries sponsored by cars.com, Danielle sits down with booktuber and author Cindy Pham to talk about the tools that have helped her navigate change in her life.

From start to finish, cars.com has everything you need to choose the right car confidently.

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This week on Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club, Danielle Robay sits down with bestselling author Alexandra Andrews to discuss May’s Reese’s Book Club pick, The Fine Art of Lying. Alexandra unpacks why stories about wealthy people behaving badly are so irresistible and how female desire gets tangled up with wonder and meaning. She also shares her unconventional writing process, the pressure of following up a hit debut, and the surprising advice that finally helped her finish a novel.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews

Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

Transcription: A Novel by Ben Lerner

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

Who Is Maude Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Why I’m Not an Atheist by Christopher Beha

All Fours by Miranda July

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Woman in Cabin 10 Ruth Ware

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

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This week, we’re “obsessed” with creator and debut author of Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It, Brooke Averick. First known as her online moniker, “@ladyefron,” Brooke Averick’s socials exploded after she posted a TikTok reading a letter to her older self. Brooke Averick has gone on to accrue thousands of followers, host the podcast Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast, and is now a published author. Brooke Averick shares her first obsessions, her current crushes, and how writing Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It may have helped her more than therapy.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

The Clique by Lisi Harrison

The Series of Unfortunate Events by Limony Snicket

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

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The hottest book of the year so far isn’t a steamy beach read or a page-turning thriller. It’s a heartbreaking — and empowering — memoir about a divorce. This week, Danielle sits down with Belle Burden to talk about her memoir, “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage.”

Belle Burden had a picture-perfect life. A husband in finance, three kids, a pristine apartment in Manhattan, and a summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. Then, one day — right at the start of the pandemic — she found out that her husband was having an affair. And the next morning, he tells her he wants out. Out of the house, out of the marriage — even out of custody for their kids.

Belle talks about the upcoming Netflix adaptation of her book, starting over after watching her world as she knew it fell apart, and why she wishes a book like hers had existed long before now.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Strangers by Belle Burden

Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Heart the Lover by Lily King

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

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This week, we’re joined by BookTube royalty and queen of reviews Cindy Pham. Now stepping into her author era, she’s here to talk about it all: what’s on her TBR, why she’s drawn to messy, flawed characters, and how years of reviewing books have shaped the way she writes her own.

Cindy also shares the story behind her debut novel, The Secret World of Briar Rose, from first drafting it as a teenager to returning years later with a completely new perspective and a fully developed frontal lobe. Plus, we get into reality TV deep dives, bookish trends she’s loving and side-eyeing, and the hilarious promise of a future rant video about her own main character, because no one is safe, not even her.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham

That Asian Girl Is a Problem by Rachel Phan (Coming Soon)

Just Between Us by Adeline Kon

Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Book Lovers by Emilty Henry

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

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This week, we’re back with Emma Brodie, whose second novel, Into The Blue, is April’s Reese’s Book Club Pick - and Emma and Danielle are going down aaaaall the rabbit holes. From what makes a good fandom, to how improv comedy is, in fact, inherently sexy, to the BTS secrets of filming reality TV, their convo is just as lush as Emma’s decade-spanning, sci-fi tinged, “will they, won’t they” romance.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

Hitmakers by Derrick Thompson

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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