Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady

2018 marks 200 years since the birth of Frederick Douglass, and we now have the first major biography of Douglass in a quarter century.  Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by prize-winning historian and Yale Professor David Blight is based on nearly a lifetime of research as well as letters and private documentation to which no biographer has previously had access. It’s this revealing collection that helped shed new light on Douglass, particularly in the latter third of his life. 

On a special election edition of JTRB Bookmarks, we welcomed back Lissa Muscatine, owner of the renowned Politics & Prose in Washington, DC to give us the scoop on what books we should be paying attention to the weekend before the election.  Don't forget to hit your local bookstore before you hit the polls to vote!!

If you’re trying to fill your holiday wish list with amazing titles, look no further! Roxanne recently hosted a live event with Penguin Random House publishing powerhouses Michael Kindness, Jennifer Black and author, Matthew Dicks. The event, which took place at the Mandell JCC in Hartford, Connecticut, was titled “Buzz About Books” and we were there every step of the way! 

Whether you crave a hair-raising whodunit, a frightening family-friendly novel, or the book that inspired Netflix's hottest spine-chilling series, we've got you covered! We enlisted the help of David Canfield, Book Critic and Reporter for EW to get you in the mood for Halloween!

Entertainment Weekly is your one stop shop for all the latest news about TV shows, movies, music, theater, and of course books!  We were honored to welcome back David Canfield, Book Critic and Reporter for Entertainment Weekly to give us the scoop on what to read this Fall! 

Autumn days beg for pumpkin, apple cider and of course books!  There are an increasing number of book-to-film adaptations. Roxanne recommends reading these books before you hit the cinema this Fall! 

Jason Stanley stopped by the Just the Right Book studios last year to discuss his book How Propaganda Works and how language influences the way we think and reason about public issues.  In his new book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, the philosopher and Yale professor warns about the dangers of normalizing fascist politics.

The 2018 National Book Awards Winners will be announced on November 14th. Roxanne highlights some of her favorite titles from the longlist which feature five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.

In John Jay Osborne Jr.'s new novel, "Listen to the Marriage" we are introduced to a couple who seemed to be destined for divorce. Told through the therapist's eyes, we see the couple both confront and skirt issues that have torn them apart.  The former screenwriter and legal professor joined Roxanne to talk about his first novel in 37 years, his decade of experience writing in Hollywood, and how his own marriage counseling 35 years ago helped him "understand my wife for the first time".

Suffering from bad news overload? Well, we have a couple of remedies. One is dancing...and the other is books, of course! Roxanne shares four books that are distracting, witty, and engaging!

Bestselling National Book Award finalist Kate Walbert stopped by the Just the Right Book studios for an in depth interview on her latest book which Roxanne calls "gorgeous, restrained, and powerful." The 149 page novel is a timely story about a 15 year old girl, a charming and manipulative English teacher, a dark secret and how the protagonist Jo confronts a trauma many years later. 

This week is Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Across the country there are discussions about schools, libraries, and communities banning books for their incendiary content. They shockingly include books like The Color Purple and A Wrinkle in Time, among other titles. 

Alan Lightman is a physicist, novelist, and essayist who believes we are losing ourselves in the digital network and builds a case that the overload of Information and distraction from technology is making us less productive. The MIT professor joined Roxanne to discuss his latest book In Praise of Wasting Time. Lightman believes we need a mental attitude that values and protects stillness, privacy, solitude, and personal reflection, or at the very least, a half an hour a day to "waste time". 

From the Tri-state area to the Golden State, Roxanne responds to listener emails from coast to coast! 

We were delighted to welcome Dan Sheehan, the Bookmark's editor at Literary Hub to discuss what books are hot right now, and his debut novel, Restless Souls.  Also in this episode, we welcome back the creator of the popular blog Modern Mrs. Darcy and the podcast What Should I Read Next?, Anne Bogel. Anne spoke to Roxanne about her latest book I'd Rather Be Reading, her experience as a bookseller...for a day, and what books she is currently loving!