What Are You Reading This Spring?

Summary

All Of It: Episode Summary – "What Are You Reading This Spring?"

Release Date: March 21, 2025
Host: Kusha Navadar
Producer: Jordan Loft
Podcast: All Of It by WNYC

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Introduction

In the March 21st episode of All Of It, host Kusha Navadar joins producer Jordan Loft to explore the vibrant landscape of spring reading. As the publishing world gears up for the major releases in March, April, and May, the duo delves into emerging trends, highlights anticipated books, and engages with listeners' favorite spring reads.

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Spring Publishing Trends

The conversation kicks off with an insightful discussion on the notable trend of women authors taking center stage during Women's History Month. Jordan Loft emphasizes the surge in excellent novels authored by women, showcasing a diverse array of voices shaping the literary scene this spring.

Jordan Loft [02:10]:
"I think the trend I'm seeing which is perfect for Women's History Month is that women writers are releasing just great acclaimed novels. You've got a new book from Karen Russell. You've got a new book from Katie Kitamura. You've got a new one from Leila Lalami, all coming out in the next couple weeks if they're not out. So it's always nice to see women taking center stage during Women's History Month in the publishing world."

Jordan notes that this focus isn't merely personal preference but a broader industry trend, with many of the most anticipated books featuring female authors.

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Tips for Staying Current with New Releases

Kusha seeks practical advice on how listeners can stay abreast of the latest book releases. Jordan shares a valuable tip regarding the publishing industry's release schedule.

Jordan Loft [02:59]:
"It's something that I've learned just from working on booking the show that I realized maybe people don't know is that most new releases come out on Tuesdays. So the publishing industry tends to release all of their new books on a Tuesday. And that means that if you are, like, trying to stay on top of like, the newest of the new, you want, like, hot off the press, you want the stuff that just got released. You should go to your bookstore on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday."

This insider knowledge helps avid readers time their bookstore visits to snag the latest titles as they hit the shelves.

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Spotlight on Anticipated Books

Hunger Games Prequel: "Sunrise on the Reaping"

One of the episode's highlights is the discussion of the eagerly awaited Hunger Games prequel, "Sunrise on the Reaping." Jordan provides an overview of the book, focusing on the character Haymitch Abernathy.

Jordan Loft [04:15]:
"This new prequel is actually getting fantastic reviews. It just got a rave in the New York Times... This one is set in the 50th annual Hunger Games, and it is all about Haymitch Abernathy, who, if you're a fan of the Hunger Games, you know him as Woody Harrelson in the movies or in the books... So in this book, we learn what he went through in those 50th annual Hunger Games, and I was just really excited to see it get such good reviews."

The positive reception and immersive character exploration make this prequel a must-read for fans of the series.

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Listener Recommendations

The episode features several listener calls, each sharing diverse book recommendations spanning various genres and age groups.

1. Muriel from South Orange, NJ recommends the memoir "The Harder I Fight the More I Love You" by Nico Case, praising its honesty and writing quality.

   Jordan Loft [06:21]:
   "Wow, you've really been listening since you've been gone... We did have a great conversation with Nico Case and I'm such a fan of her music, so I think that sounds great."

2. Maria from Lower East Side shares "Mondrian: His Life, His Art, His Quest for the Absolute" by Nicholas Fox Weber, highlighting its exploration of the painter's life and artistic journey.

3. Mark from Union County, NJ suggests "Straight Man" by Richard Russo, noting its intriguing characters and humorous elements.

4. Saeeda from Queens introduces younger readers to the popular manga series "Demon Slayer," celebrating its widespread appeal among children.

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Featured Novels for Spring

"O Sinners" by Nicole Cuffy

Jordan discusses "O Sinners," a novel centered around a journalist embedded in a cult led by a charismatic Vietnam War veteran.

Jordan Loft [07:13]:
"It's something that I've always really interested in the psychology behind groups like this, and I think this will be a great novel for people who are interested in that kind of thing."

"Luminous" by Sylvia Park

Another exciting debut novel, "Luminous," is set in a future Unified Korea with lifelike robots integrated into family life. The story follows siblings searching for their missing robot brother.

Jordan Loft [08:23]:
"I was really fascinated by this article in the New York Times about this woman who fell in love with an AI boyfriend. I think we're closer than we might think to the future that's being depicted in this book."

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April 8th: A Publishing Milestone

Kusha and Jordan highlight April 8th as a pivotal date for book releases, with numerous publishers scheduling major launches on this day. Jordan points out additional significant releases, including "Perspectives" by Laurent Binet, a murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence.

Jordan Loft [14:44]:
"This one is titled Perspectives by Laurent Binet... It's a murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence... It's got everything you want."

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Anticipated Non-Fiction Releases

Mark Twain Biography by Ron Chernow

A major non-fiction highlight is Ron Chernow's extensive 1,200-page biography of Mark Twain, promising an in-depth exploration of the iconic author's life.

Jordan Loft [21:06]:
"Ron Chernow writes these incredibly readable and compelling biographies... this one is 1,200 pages long."

"America: A New History of the World" by Greg Grandin

Greg Grandin's Pulitzer-winning historian presents a comprehensive five-century history of the Americas, emphasizing the intertwined relationships between Latin and North America.

Jordan Loft [25:43]:
"He goes through, like, five centuries of that history of those relationships between those two areas... this book will really examine those relationships over the course of a long period of time."

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Special Mentions and Additional Recommendations

The episode also features recommendations for children's literature, translated works, and specialized genres like political thrillers and feminist critiques. Noteworthy mentions include:

• "Don't Trust Fish" by Neal Sharpson – An absurdly funny picture book about the villainy of fish.
• "Ice Apprentices" by Jacob North – A fantasy novel for young readers set in an enchanted, frozen world.
• "Girl on How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves" by Sophie Gilbert – Analyzing the impact of late '90s and early 2000s pop culture on women's self-perception.

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Concluding Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Kusha underscores the importance of diverse reading choices and encourages listeners to explore the wide array of books discussed. She also promotes the availability of episode transcripts on the WNYC website for further reference.

Kusha Navadar [16:04]:
"If you have something that you feel like you want to go back and visit, just look at our website next couple days. It'll be there on the transcript for you."

Jordan expresses gratitude for the listeners' engagement and the enriching book recommendations, highlighting the collective growth of their reading list.

Jordan Loft [30:17]:
"I just want to say a heartfelt thank you always to people who want to weigh in and share what they're reading because it helps me build my to-be-read pile that's growing increasingly large over my bedside table."

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Notable Quotes

• Jordan Loft [02:51]:
  "Most new releases come out on Tuesdays... Tuesday after work to Wednesday morning is when you're getting like the brand, brand new books."

• Kusha Navadar [07:13]:
  "What can you tell us about 'O Sinners' by Nicole Cuffy?"

• Jordan Loft [14:36]:
  "April 8th or 9th, if you want to head to the bookstore, you'll have a whole new selection of things to choose from."

• Jordan Loft [19:46]:
  "Poets can write really, really beautifully about human nature and relationships, and just also on a sentence level, tend to have, like, just really beautiful detail and structure."

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Join the Conversation:
Interested in sharing your spring reading list? Call 212-433-9692 or send a text to participate in future episodes of All Of It.

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This summary captures the essence of the "What Are You Reading This Spring?" episode, highlighting key discussions, insights, and listener interactions that celebrate the rich tapestry of spring literature.

Transcript

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[Kusha Navadar]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Kusha Navadar. I'm in for Alison Stewart, who is on vacation right now. We are opening the phones this hour. Later on the show, we want to know what you are doing this weekend. That's coming up in about 25 minutes. So so get ready to shout out your plans. Plus, if your plans include watching the finale of Severance, we are going to be talking about it on the show on Monday. So be sure to tune in then. That's all in the future. Let's get this hour started with spring books. March, April and May are major months in the publishing world. Many of the year's most hotly anticipated new books will be released in the upcoming weeks, from Ocean Vuong's new novel to a new book from master biographer Ron Chernow. So let's talk about some of the spring's most exciting new books with Jordan Lof all of it and get lit producer. I am very lucky that she is sitting right across the table for me. Jordan, hello.

[Jordan Loft]

Hello, Kusha. So fun to be right here with you.

[Kusha Navadar]

It's fun to have you and listeners. We want to hear from you, too. What book are you reading right now and loving? What's a book that you want to recommend to our listeners? Give us a call at 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WN. I see we're taking your book recommendations. Give us a call. Send us a text. That's 212-433-9692. All right, Jordan, before we get into your list, are there any big trends that you're seeing this spring?

[Jordan Loft]

I think the trend I'm seeing which is perfect for Women's History Month is that women writers are releasing just great acclaimed novels. You've got a new book from Karen Russell. You've got a new book from Katie Kitamura. You've got a new one from Leila Lalami, all coming out in the next couple weeks if they're not out. So it's always nice to see women taking center stage during Women's History Month in the publishing world.

[Kusha Navadar]

That's wonderful. Are other People talking about that. Is that something that you've just noticed?

[Jordan Loft]

It's something that I've just noticed and I've been trying to figure out whether it's just something I gravitate towards naturally. Like, am I more drawn to women writers? But no. Even if you look at the lists of most anticipated books, a lot of them are just female centric this year. And I think that's great.

[Kusha Navadar]

That's awesome. Yeah. I also hear that you have a. A tip, which I'm very interested in. I want to know this. So you have a tip for how to follow the schedule of new books in the spring, right?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah. You know, it's something that I've learned just from working on booking the show that I realized maybe people don't know is that most new releases come out on Tuesdays. So the publishing industry tends to release all of their new books on a Tuesday. And that means that if you are, like, trying to stay on top of like, the newest of the new, you want, like, hot off the press, you want the stuff that just got released. You should go to your bookstore on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. Don't go Tuesday morning. I made this mistake once when the new Sally Rooney came out. I showed up to my book, my bookstore, bright and early, like 9am I was like, I'm here for the new Sally Rooney. And they're like, it's not here yet. We haven't gotten the mail. So sometimes the mail comes on like a Tuesday afternoon. So I would say like Tuesday after work to Wednesday morning. That's when you're getting like the brand, brand new books.

[Kusha Navadar]

Did you just hang out at the bookstore for another 12 hours?

[Jordan Loft]

Oh, no. I came back late in the afternoon. They're like, didn't we see you already? I'm like, yeah, I'm back.

[Kusha Navadar]

Jordan, do they know you by name at your local bookstore?

[Jordan Loft]

Yes, actually, they do, because I know the owner.

[Kusha Navadar]

Okay. Humble brag. Okay. We're gonna get to calls real fast. Before we do, I wanna bring up at least one fiction book that I'm very interested in. So, Jordan, the biggest story right now in publishing is the release of the new Hunger Games book. I'm a fan of the Hunger Games series. What can you tell us about Sunrise on the Reaping?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah. So I have to say I get a little skeptical of prequels, especially of a series that is as beloved as the Hunger Games. I was big into those books as a kid. I read them all. I think they're really excellent. I've reread them as an adult, and they're just. Suzanne Collins does a really, really good job of writing stuff for kids that's challenging and scary, but also just so well written and doesn't dumb anything down. This new prequel is actually getting fantastic reviews. It just got a rave in the New York Times, which I was so happy to see. People are so excited about this book that they're dressing up from characters from the books to go to the bookstore and get it, which I feel like is something I haven't seen since Harry Potter or Twilight. Twilight or whatever. So this one is set in the 50th annual Hunger Games, and it is all about Haymitch Abernathy, who, if you're a fan of the Hunger Games, you know him as Woody Harrelson in the movies or in the books. You know, he is Peeta and Katniss's mentor. He's sort of like an alcoholic who's struggling, clearly, with the trauma from his time in the Games. So in this book, we learn what he went through in those 50th annual Hunger Games, and I was just really excited to see it get such good reviews.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah, absolutely. I feel like I have to go back and refresh my memory of what happened in the Hunger. Or maybe I don't because it's the prequel and I can just dive in.

[Jordan Loft]

Exactly. You can go straight in.

[Kusha Navadar]

Okay, folks, we are taking your calls about spring books that you're most excited about or just, hey, books you're excited about this spring. We want to hear from you. What's a book you're reading and loving? We're here with producer Jordan Loft to give a bunch of recommendations. If you have one, give us a call or at 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC. Let's go to our first caller, Muriel in South Orange, New Jersey. Muriel, hey, what are you reading? What do you want to recommend?

[Muriel]

I would love to recommend a memoir called the Harder I Fight the More I Love youe by Nico Case. It's just an amazing book. I've so enjoyed it. I always liked her music, but she's an incredible writer and honest and just recommend it.

[Kusha Navadar]

Wonderful. Thank you so much, Muriel. And I want to point out Nico Case was on all of it, talking about this book on January 28, 2025. I didn't know that off the top of my head, somebody gave me that note such as credit where credit is.

[Jordan Loft]

Wow, you've really been listening since you've been gone.

[Kusha Navadar]

I am very dedicated to this job, Jordan. You should know that people can go back and listen to that convo. Anything you want to say about Muriel's.

[Jordan Loft]

Call about that book? I didn't get to read it personally, but we did have a great convers with Nico Case and I'm such a fan of her music, so I think that sounds great.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah. And thanks so much for that call, Muriel. We got a text loving this short story collection. Short stories, so underrated. The Office of Historical A Novella and Stories by Danielle Evans. Let's go to some more of your recommendations. Jordan, let's talk about new novels for adults, starting with one that's out this week. What can you tell us about O Sinners by Nicole Cuffy?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah, so this is about a cult. I love books about cults. It follows a journalist who becomes embedded with a cult that is led by a charismatic black Vietnam War veteran who is leading this group that ends up in a kind of conflict with a fundamentalist church in the area. And this journalist embeds with them for what he thinks is going to be maybe a couple days or a couple weeks, and he ends up being there for a couple months, just following the cult and the story of this leader and also grieving the loss of someone in his life who was a devout Muslim and sort of grappling with ideas of faith and belief and trying to sort of sort out what this cult is all about and what these ideas are that draw people in and want them to follow this leader. So I'm always really interested in the psychology behind groups like this, and I think this will be a great novel for people who are interested in that kind of thing.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah, that's kind of what draws you towards the theme of cults in general is just what gets people there in the first place.

[Jordan Loft]

Exactly.

[Kusha Navadar]

Up next, there's a debut novel you're really excited about. It's set in Unified Korea. Is that right?

[Jordan Loft]

Yes. This is Luminous by Sylvia Park. I believe it's out now. And I actually was able to hear a little bit of Sylvia speaking about this book a couple months ago. And I was really impressed with how they were describing their process and the creative intention behind the book. So this is set in a future where north and South Korea have become reunified. And it's also a future in which robots are incredibly lifelike. And it follows these two siblings whose parents were sort of pioneers in the robotics space. So they actually grew up with a robot brother who again, was so lifelike and part of their family. And then one day he Disappeared. And so the book is following these two siblings as they're trying to figure out what's happened to their brother. Maybe he's still alive, quote, unquote. I don't know what that means for robots, but maybe he's still out there somewhere and they have to see if they want to find him. And I think, you know, I was, like, fascinated by this article in the New York Times about this woman who fell in love with an AI boyfriend. I think we're closer than we might think to the future that's being depicted in this book. So I think for people who like a little bit of speculative fiction, this would be a really good option.

[Kusha Navadar]

Absolutely. It sounds so fascinating. Let's take some more calls. We've got Maria in Lower east side. Hey, Maria, welcome to the show.

[Muriel]

It's Marja.

[Kusha Navadar]

Oh, Maria, sorry, I was reading your pronouncer wrong.

[Muriel]

My apologies, Mariah. Yeah, Maria, thanks. Yes, I wanted to recommend this book that I recently acquired. It's called Mondrian. It's about the painter. I'm actually from the Netherlands and moved here as an artist. But I was so interested in reading this book because it's about the life and his work, how he travels from Amsterdam to Paris and eventually escapes the World War Number two and lands here in New York. And some of what he's going through and what he's fighting for and his work and the times that were changing so rapidly, in a way is a translate to what I could say what might be going on with some people in their lives right now. So it felt very interesting to be reading about a writer from like, say the 1910, 1920, who died later here in New York. But his work is amazing. So it's called Mondrian, his life, His Art, His Quest for the Absolute. And it's written by Nicholas Fox Weber.

[Kusha Navadar]

Wonderful. Marja, thank you so much for that call. Really appreciate it. Let's hear some more recommendations. Let's go to Mark in Union County, New Jersey. Mark. Hey. Welcome to the show.

[Mark]

Hello.

[Kusha Navadar]

Hi. What's your recommendation?

[Mark]

Yes, there's a. It's not a new spring book, but it's an older novel, Straight man, by Russo. And I told the screener one of the most interesting things, if I read a lot of fiction anyway, there's one of the most interesting characters. It's a lesser character, not a lead character, but it's hilarious. He's courting or he's pursuing the protagonist, mother, as a. As a friend. And he's, he says, instead of Tarpaulin it says Tarkalin but the, the son knows what he's talking about because he does malapropisms and it's just interesting guy drives a truck and, and what's the.

[Kusha Navadar]

Name of the book, Mark?

[Mark]

Straight Man.

[Kusha Navadar]

Straight man by Russo. Thank you so much for that recommendation. Let's go to one more caller before we turn it back to you. Jordan Said in Queens. Hi Saeeda, welcome to the show.

[Saeeda]

Hey, how are you? Thank you for having me. I just, I appreciate the segment and, and I just wanted to share that I have a 7 year old son who wakes up at 6am just so he can read a book and. What kind of books? Crazy excited to read manga. Right? Like so he is super addicted to this thing called Demon Slayer and it's, it's just, you know, it's a crazy thing but we've hunted together over the past two weeks different libraries that actually have the series in, in order and it's, it's just wonderful to see in an age of super, super screen to just sort of see just that return to the page. So I just wanted to share that and say that yeah, there are ways.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah, say that. Thank you so much for that. And you know, to maybe I don't think this is tmi but your son and I have something in common because we both like Demon Slayer. So that's really great. Happy reading. I hope you guys are able to hunt down all the copies of that manga that you're looking for. Jordan, I'll turn it back to you. There's another debut novel you're looking forward to. This one is titled Big Chief by John Hickey. What makes you excited about this one?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah, so this one is sort of being described as a political thriller about a tribal election. And that's just something. I don't know much about our internal tribal politics. From the very little I've read, I know it can get very intense and there are all sorts of different depending on the nation. The tribal nation rules about who is allowed to be in the nation and what running for an office there looks like. And I also got a chance to meet John Hickey and he said that a lot of this was inspired by a family member's experience sort of in tribal politics as a member of a tribe that his family's a part of. So I just think that's like an interesting new take on a political thriller. And I think that one is out on April 8th.

[Kusha Navadar]

Okay, so I know cause we talked about this beforehand but April 8th seems to be a very important Date. Right. For books.

[Jordan Loft]

So remember that thing I said about Tuesday? So it's a Tuesday and the beginning of April. And April is a big book publishing month. And it seems like all the publishers have decided, like, hey, every exciting book that we have, April 8th, that's where it's going. So again, April 8th or 9th, if you want to head to the bookstore, you'll have a whole new selection of things to choose from.

[Kusha Navadar]

So we got to take a break. But before we do, I Want to know, April 8th being such a big day, are there any other books that you want to highlight from that day?

[Jordan Loft]

Oh, there are so many. I will pick one that I think we won't have the chance to talk about more on the show since it's a work of translated literature. Literature. This one is titled Perspectives by Laurent Binet, who is a French writer. It's translated by Sam Taylor. This author has some really interesting books. My partner really enjoyed his last novel, Civilizations, which was like a counterfactual history about Incas and Martin Luther and conquistadors. Like, he really likes these sort of offbeat speculative fiction almost versions of history. This one is also historical. It's a murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence. And it is about a master painter like a da Vinci or a Michelangelo, who's found murdered underneath this big fresco he's been working on. And on the fresco, a goddess is painted with the face of Maria de Medici, like a daughter of the, you know, leaders of Florence. What does it all mean? Is she connected to the death who killed him? What's going on? I love Renaissance Italy. I love a murder mystery. Bang.

[Kusha Navadar]

It's got everything you want.

[Jordan Loft]

It's got everything you want.

[Kusha Navadar]

If there's a cult, even better.

[Jordan Loft]

Exactly. Well, maybe he was in a cult. I don't know.

[Kusha Navadar]

Maybe he was in a cult. Wow. So what's the name of that one.

[Jordan Loft]

Is titled Perspectives and the S is in parentheses. So we'll see what what that means. It's Perspectives by Laurent Binet.

[Kusha Navadar]

Wonderful. Okay, so we've got way more book recs coming up. Gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, producer Jordan Loff is gonna give us some more listeners. Give us a call if you have a book rec or send us a text. The number is 212-433-9692. That's 212433, WNYC. And if you're listen saying, hey, this is great, but how am I going to remember all this? Have I got good news for you. The transcript of this and every episode are all released on our website on wnyc.org normally within 48 hours of the show airing. So if there's something that you feel like you want to go back and visit, just look at our website next couple days. It'll be there on the transcript for you. All right, give us a call. 212-433-9692. And we will be right back after a this is all of it on wnyc. I'm Kousha Navadar. We are here with producer Jordan Loft talking about spring books that she's most excited about and of course, books that you are most excited about listening right now, this spring. So if you've got a book recommendation, give us a call or send us a text. I'm going to read some texts here. We've got these Days by Lucy CALDWELL Publishing date April 8th. It's Belfast in 1941 during the Blitz. We've also got for fans of the show Adolescence, which we talked about two segments ago today at the beginning of the show. The text reads for fans of the show Adolescence, people should read Wrong Place, Wrong time by Gillian McAllister. It's about a mother who witnesses her straight lace son kill a man in front of their house and she ends up going back in time to figure out what caused him to kill this man. Wow. We've got another text here. I recommend Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas which uses apparently new research in Japan to tell how Japan came to surrender in World War II. Those all sound super fascinating. Very good reads. If you've got a recommendation, listening right now for a book you're excited about this spring, maybe something you're reading right now, something you want to read, give us a call. We're at 212-433-9692. That's 212433, WNYC. Okay, Jordan, I'm going to turn back to you. We talked about April 8th, which is, you know, the blockbuster day for books. Let's move on to May. One of the most anticipated books of the year comes out May 13th. And that is the new novel the Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. It's his second novel after the acclaimed On Earth were briefly gorgeous. So what's the new one about?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah, this is definitely going to be one of the biggest books of the spring. This novel follows a 19 year old boy in Connecticut who makes the decision that he's going to end his own life. And as he's standing on a bridge about to jump, an elderly woman is driving by and stops him. And it turns out that this woman has dementia, and so he. This teenage boy, ends up becoming her caretaker. And so it's really this book about intergenerational friendship and how these two people who used to be strangers had this really meaningful connection and now are influencing each other's lives and how they see the world. And, you know, Ocean Vuong's a poet. I think poets can write really, really beautifully about human nature and relationships, and just also on a sentence level, tend to have, like, just really beautiful detail and structure. So if you are a fan of On Earth for Briefly Gorgeous, his first novel, you should definitely be excited for this one that's out May 13th.

[Kusha Navadar]

Wonderful. Wow. I love that point that you bring up about poets turning to prose kind of, and how that structure can come through.

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah. Kaveh Akbar had a really big novel essay year with Martyr, and that was another one. He's a poet who wrote a debut novel that was just huge. And I think part of the reason that people loved that book so much is that just on the sentence level, like, there were profound little, like, throwaway lines that in any other book, you just sort of keep going past. But in this novel, you're like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna read that a couple more times. Even as it does still have, you know, plot and interesting characters, but just these little sentences tend to jump out. So I think that's what makes poets really interesting fiction writers.

[Kusha Navadar]

Absolutely. For me, it brings up book that I've been reading, which is Hyperion, which I mentioned to you, Jordan, when we ran into each other on the street last week. By chance, in that book, that book series, poets are actually a big. It's a sci fi book. But poetry and poets are a huge part of the book. They kind of, like, make a big difference in society. I won't give too much away, but really happy to always talk about poetry. That's very cool.

[Jordan Loft]

Cool.

[Kusha Navadar]

Okay, so we finished talking about novels. Now we're going to talk about nonfiction. Let's start with some American history. First up is a hotly anticipated new biography from acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow, which he, of course, wrote the biography of Alexander Hamilton that Lin Manuel Miranda drew from. Who's his next subject?

[Jordan Loft]

Okay, drumroll. It is Mark Twain.

[Kusha Navadar]

Oh, dang.

[Jordan Loft]

And when I heard this, I was sort of like, huh? Like, I don't. Okay, I have to admit, this is a bad confession. I am an English major who has never read Mark Twain. I somehow got through all of high school, all of middle school, all of college. Not having read a single word of Mark Twain. That's bad. I know that's bad. I'll probably fix it. I did really like James by Percival.

[Kusha Navadar]

Everett, who we talked to last year around this time. Yeah.

[Jordan Loft]

But so you know, this will be a chance to learn more about him. And what I will say is that Ron Chernow writes these incredibly readable and compelling biographies. My dad just finished his biography on Ulysses S. Grant. I know. Luke, our producer on the show who will be on in a minute, also read the Grant biography and just loved it. Even though it was like 900 something pages. This one is 1,200 pages long.

[Kusha Navadar]

Wow.

[Jordan Loft]

So, you know, it will be an undertaking. You might not want to take it with you on the subway, but if Chernow is to be trusted, and I think that he is, it'll be really readable and compelling, even if you're a little daunted by the size.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah. Don't take it on the subway unless you want something for self defense because it's so big and heavy.

[Jordan Loft]

You said it, not me.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah, sure. So we've got a text here that I'd love to read. Children's librarian on my lunch break here. I can't wait for the picture book, Don't Trust Fish by Neal Sharpson. According to Amazon, it's an absurdly laugh out loud funny picture book about the villainy of fish. I'll have to check that one out. I have a nephew that might be interested in that book. That's pretty great. Thanks for that text during your lunch break. Let's go to Sheila in Westchester. Hey, Sheila, what are you reading?

[Sheila]

Hi there. Yeah, this is actually a children and middle grades novel. It's called Ice Apprentices by Jacob North. It's a debut novel and it's brilliant in terms of. It's fantastic. The fantasy, the new world that he creates is incredible. The characters are so relatable. Oswin is. He's a foundling that is in the tundra, the frozen wasteland, and he's been brought up and then he's recruited to become an iset apprentice. Just like this magical thing in an enchanted world. I mean, I just have gotten through a few chapters and it's definitely compelling. Oswin, you immediately relate to him. You're like, you know, oh, what a wonderful kid. You kind, curious.

[Kusha Navadar]

Very cool. Can you give me the name of it one more time, Sheila? Is it Ice Apprentices? Is that right? Right?

[Sheila]

Yeah, Ice Apprentices. And it's Jacob North.

[Kusha Navadar]

Jacob North.

[Sheila]

J, A, C, O, B. Jacob North.

[Kusha Navadar]

Sheila, thank you so much. I love hearing recommendations from across the age spectrum. That's really wonderful.

[Jordan Loft]

Totally. And I actually think, like, part of the reason that Romantasy as a genre this is people might know about, like, the Iron Flame series or sorry, Fourth Wing or A Court of Thorn and Roses. I honestly think part of why those series are taking off in the way that they are is because people miss that feeling of being a middle school reader and like reading a really good fantasy series for the first time. Like that first time you read Harry Potter or like Eragon. Like, I know people really into Aragon, the Dragon series. Like, I think that's a feeling that adult readers are chasing. So one way you can chase it is by reading Romantasy or fantasy. And another way you can chase it is just by reading young adult novels. No shame in that at all.

[Kusha Navadar]

No shame. I just finished the second book of the Fourth Wing series.

[Jordan Loft]

Oh, there you go.

[Kusha Navadar]

It's fun. It's a very fun read. It's a good book. We've got some more texts that I'd like to read for Women's History Month. I would like to recommend Marlene Doubt, the First and Last King of Haiti, the Rise and Fall of Henry Kristof. I believe that the author is the first woman to write a biography of one of the heroes of the Haitian revolution. She was on all of it pretty recently, right?

[Jordan Loft]

She was on all of it. And this was just a fascinating story that I honestly didn't know much about. You can go back and listen to the interview. She's a really great talker. But this guy who was a revolutionary in Haiti participated in the American Revolution. He fought against the French, then he joined with the French, then he declared himself king and built a palace. I mean, the story is just like an epic tale. I mean, honestly, maybe Flynn Manuel Miranda wants another inspiration for a musical. This guy's life is pretty nuts.

[Kusha Navadar]

Let's bring it all the way back to the early history of north and South America. While we're talking nonfiction here, there's one book titled America A New History of the World. What can you tell us about that?

[Jordan Loft]

Yes, so this is by Greg Grandin and he's a Pulitzer Prize winning historian. And this is a five century history of the New World. So they're counting that as north and South America. And what this book is sort of arguing and examining is that the relationships between Latin America and North America did as much to develop the identities of both of those places as their relationship to European colonizers. So he's sort of arguing like, we spent all this time talking about how Spain and South America, you know, their relationship and the relationship between the colonies and England. But what we should be thinking more about is the relationship between the settlers in America, what we now call America and the settlers in South America, and that relationship between the southern border, which obviously is at the center of. Of so much of our political tension and conversations right now. But he goes through, like, five centuries of that history of those relationships between those two areas. And I think it's a good new lens through which to be examining history that isn't so Eurocentric and is really thinking more about, like, I just did a trip to Mexico City and was in a museum about Mexican history. And I just realized there's so much about this that I don't know and the conflicts between Texas and Mexico and the territories and all the back and forth. So I think this book will really examine those relationships over the course of a long period of time.

[Kusha Navadar]

That's wonderful. I want to switch gears a little bit. You want to recommend a new book from Sophie Gilbert. It's titled Girl on How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves. Tell me about this one. Why are you excited about reading it?

[Jordan Loft]

Yeah. So this is about a period of pop culture from the late 90s into the early 2000s, which is the era that I sort of grew up in as a young girl, like, starting to consume pop culture and, you know, singing Britney Spears karaoke and, you know, engaging in all of that. And what this author is sort of arguing is that the late 90s and early 2000s for women in the public eye was a, quote, period of hyper objectification, sexualization and infantilization. And she's also sort of arguing that these beauty standards that women were held to and sort of were enforced also by other women. Like, I remember just horrible stuff about celebrities bodies. And I watched a lot of America's Next Top Model, which was. If you go back and watch some of that, I mean, the stuff that they were saying on television is just brutal by today's standards. So I'm really interested to hear her thoughtful and maybe a little more academic take on just what was going on in this period and why there was so much negative attention focused on women and our bodies and policing how we should behave and how we should be valued in society.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah, absolutely. That sounds like a really important piece of work and something that I'm sure a lot of listeners, especially those around our age, it will strike very close to.

[Jordan Loft]

Exactly.

[Kusha Navadar]

Yeah. I want to read some more text before we close it out. So I'm just going to go down the list. Listeners, it is so wonderful as always to hear all of your recommendations. See all your calls don't stop here. I'm going to go a little bit more. Here is one actually from all of it. Producer Simon Close. I'm read our very own John Schaeffer's book New A Listener's Guide to New Music. It's not just a radio show, it's a book too. Pretty great. Thanks for that shout out, Simon. Got another text here. Hello, I am reading before you say anything, the Untold Stories and Fail Proof Strategies of a Very Discreet Speechwriter by Victoria Wellman, which is like Kitchen Confidential meets. A really effective self improvement book for anyone who wants to be better at writing and speaking. Very helpful and hilarious too, I will say right now, as a former speechwriter myself, I love reading pieces by other speechwriters because it's a craft that brings so many different people from different parts of the world together on this idea of rhetoric. And we were talking about poetry before. It is its own form of poetry. Another text here. New book I'm reading songs she wrote, 40 hits by pioneering Women of Popular Music by Michael Garber, which is perfect for our series Equalizer right now. So thank you all so much for sending those texts. Jordan, I'm gonna let you close it out. Anything else you want, any advice or anything else you want to talk about?

[Jordan Loft]

I just want to say that I always really appreciate hearing our listeners suggestions. I think this is the first time I've done this where I haven't even heard of 95% of the books that were recommended today. And that's awesome. I heard so much stuff today that I want to write down and put in my Goodreads and go check out right away.

[Kusha Navadar]

Is Demon Slayer one of them.

[Jordan Loft]

I'm not a huge manga fan.

[Kusha Navadar]

Oh, okay. Well, I like to say fair. That's why there's so many great recommendations.

[Jordan Loft]

That's why we span all genres. We're doing nonfiction, doing fiction, we're covering it all. So I just want to say a heartfelt thank you always to people who want to weigh in and share what they're reading because it helps me build my to be read pile that's growing increasingly large over my bedside table. And it's just always so great hearing from so many of you.

[Kusha Navadar]

And I was just told I should read one more text. This is J. Loff and I am suggesting the Worldwide Sea by Hampden Sides about the last voyage of Captain Hook a riveting story that feels like a mixture of Moby Dick and the Wager. Also, he said, you guys rock. That's Jordan's dad, and today is his birthday.

[Jordan Loft]

It is his birthday. Happy 61st birthday to my dad, JLOF, who that was like reverse Nepo baby or something. He was like, I get to go on the air because this is my daughter. So sure, we'll take it.

[Kusha Navadar]

Perks of the job. Thanks, Jordan.

[Jordan Loft]

Happy birthday, dad.

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