Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady

Books about the LGBTQ community that reflect their lives and experiences as chosen by the expert staff of RJ Julia.

No birth certificates, no school, no doctors, no registered existence, and abuse at the hands of one of her brothers.  Westover’s first book “Educated” describes how she escaped a traumatic childhood to graduate from Brigham Young, Harvard, and Cambridge University with a PhD. Also in this episode, Roxanne discusses some of her favorite memoirs and some of yours!

Roxanne shares 6 of her favorite beach reads to help you kick off your Memorial Day weekend in our first Bookmarks episode of the new season! Whether its a classic beach read, a political thriller or a short story collection, we've got you covered! "I think about it as this sort of unfettered time to read" says Roxanne. 

Two-time National Book Award finalist Rachel Kushner’s new book, “The Mars Room” tells the story of Romy Hall who was serving two consecutive life sentences plus six years at the Stanville Women's Correction Facility in California’s Central Valley. Also in this episode, we welcome back Lissa Muscatine, the owner of Politics & Prose in Washington DC for our segment “What’s on The Front Table.”

Luvvie Ajayi dished on meeting Oprah, moving to the US from Nigeria, and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS among women in our inaugural episode! The comic phenom and award winning author's first book I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual became an instant New York Times best seller! Also in this episode, we debuted our very first installment of “What’s on the Front Table” with Lissa Muscatine, former speech writer for Hillary Clinton and owner of the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington,

Amy Dickinson chats about finding love at middle-age, the heartbreak of caring for an ailing parent at the end of life and moving back to her hometown of Freeville, NY. The nationally syndicated advice columnist's book, “Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Coming Home” is out on paperback now!

John Grisham revealed just how close he came to ending his writing career when the mega-bestselling author joined us last summer to promote the crime fiction thriller, Camino Island. (now out in paperback) “If this book doesn’t work, I’m quitting this,” said the former attorney about The Firm, his first major success.

Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout gives us the scoop on the Emmy Award-winning HBO series based on her book Olive Kitteridge and shares her thoughts on Frances McDormand as the title character. We celebrate the paperback release of her renowned novel Anything is Possible.  Roxanne also talks to super-fan, Kim Nelson-Layman, who got a special surprise when she heard who else was on the phone!

Daphne Merkin opens up about her battles with depression and offers advice on supporting loved ones struggling with the disease as we welcome the paperback release of her acclaimed memoir. This is a fascinating conversation with the novelist and critic you won't want to miss.

Just in time for the paperback release of The Late Show introducing Det. Renée Ballard, a driven young detective trying to prove herself in the LAPD, we reflect on the best-selling author Michael Connelly's discussion with Roxanne at an exclusive live event.   The former crime reporter dished on what's it like being the Executive Producer of the hit TV series, Bosch, jazz, how he chose writing over engineering, and of course, talked about his brand-new book series.

In part two of Roxanne’s sit-down with James Forman Jr., the two dive further into James’ first book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Forman tells us his first-hand story of the criminal justice system from his experience as a public defender and shares his incredulity over his results of Harvard’s Implicit Association Test in this season finale.

The Wall Street Journal says, “If we are going to have a national conversation about race in the United States, a book like [James Forman Jr.'s] Locking Up Our Own ought to set the tone." James and Roxanne explored the intricacies of political activism and discuss the current gun debate, the decriminalization of marijuana, James’ father, civil rights leader James Forman Sr. and his first book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America.

Business Insider recently asked a group of Harvard Professors which included Nobel laureates, scientists, economists, and Pulitzer Prize winners to share the single book they think students should read in 2018.  Roxanne tells us, "I love lists because it reminds me of what I should pay attention to." 

She flipped the notion of parenting on end with her last book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Now she takes her latest shot and claims the way we act is destroying the world.  Her latest book, Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations offers a bold new remedy for reversing foreign policy failures and overcoming our own destructive political tribalism at home.

Former FLOTUS Michelle Obama’s “deeply personal” memoir, Becoming drops this Fall!  Roxanne also discusses country music legend Dolly Parton’s non-profit, Imagination Library which just celebrated a huge milestone! Also, stay tuned for a sneak peek into our next episode featuring Amy Chua where she discusses her latest book, Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.