Beyond the Next Chapter with Whitney Clark – Détails, épisodes et analyse

It's a new year, which means we have another year of new books and reading to look forward to! On this episode, we're joined by Rylie Occhipinto and Melati Parker from Wijaya House in Tempe. It's a locally owned bookstore and flower shop with regular classes for the community! They talk to Whitney about which books they are looking forward to this year. That includes the following:  

Whitney's picks: 

"Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

"Elphie" by Gregory Maguire

"One Golden Summer" by Carley Fortune

Melati's picks:

"King of Ashes" by S.A. Cosby

"Katabasis" by R.F. Kuang

"The Listeners" by Maggie Stiefvater

"Witchcraft for Wayward Girls" by Grady Hendrix

"The Unworthy" by Agustina Bazterrica

"Courtroom Drama" by Neely Tubati-Alexander

Rylie's picks: 

"My Friends" by Fredrik Backman

"The Lamb" by Lucy Rose

"Fun and Games" by John Patrick McHugh

"Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins

Do you set high standards for yourself or others? Do you consider yourself a "perfectionist"? In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Ellen Hendriksen who's out with a new book called "How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists." The author is a clinical psychologist who's been featured in major publications like the New York Times, the Washington Post, Psychology Today and many more. She also founded an award-winning podcast called Savvy Psychologist.  Dr. Hendriksen talks about different forms of perfectionism, how it can lead to burnout and what you can do if you recognize those symptoms in yourself. 

Only 41% of third-grade students in Arizona are reading at grade level. That's according to the most recent statistics from the Education Progress meter. Findings were released earlier this year by the non-profit, Center for the Future of Arizona. In this episode, our host Whitney Clark focuses on how we can improve literacy rates among kids, how we got here, why it's a skill that's so important, and what you can do to help. She's joined by Terri Clark, the Arizona Literacy Director for Read On Arizona, and Jennifer Deibel, who's an author and teacher in the Deer Valley Unified School District. 

Brace yourself for some serious Christmas magic! New York Times bestselling author of 29 novels (and counting), Mary Kay Andrews joins the podcast to talk about “The Santa Suit” the book she calls “a delicious, sweet, peppermint scented goodie.” The novella celebrates the magic of Christmas and second chances with a tale of a new beginning for Ivy Perkins, who is starting over personally and professionally with the purchase of The Four Roses farmhouse.

Mary Kay and Olivia chat about Friends & Fiction, which she co-founded and co-hosts, MKA’s skills at treasure hunting, hosting, and design, her early years as a newspaper reporter, how she became tech savvy in the pandemic, and the ritual of self-doubt she still goes through each time she’s set to write another book.

In A Moment With Margaret the readers discuss the fun in embracing the Christmas book genre, and Margaret recommends “One For the Books” by Jenn McKinlay, a previous guest on the podcast.

Grab a cup of cocoa and get cozy by the Christmas tree for this visit with Karen Schaler, author of new holiday romance, “A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale.” Entertainment Weekly calls her a “holiday publishing darling” who is equally successful as a novelist and screenwriter, with holiday films like Christmas Camp and A Christmas Prince among her credits. Before she was known as “Christmas Karen” – she had a successful career as a television news reporter. On the podcast, she talks with Olivia about making the transition from covering tragedies to creating festive magic full time.  

In a Moment With Margaret, Margaret talks about the idea of missed romantic connections in real life and fiction, and the mood of the holiday season when you’re not someone who feels quite so merry and bright, and why “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is her favorite Christmas song. Holiday themed books recommended: “Time Next Year” by Sophie Cousens and  David Sedaris’ “Holidays On Ice.”

Jeff Kinney is the creative mind behind one of the most successful book series for kids of all time. He joins the podcast to talk about his latest projects: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot,” the sixteenth in the series, and the animated film, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” currently on Disney+.

He talks with Olivia about why his characters should never grow up, the perks of running a bookstore, and reacts to recent efforts to ban books across the country.

In a Moment With Margaret, the two talk about the early books that paved the way for a lifelong love of reading.

“L.A. Weather” tells the story of one very tumultuous year in the life of the Alvarado family. Successful Mexican-Americans living and working in Los Angeles, the three adult daughters maintain a commitment of meeting their parents for weekly family dinners to share their passion for food, and commitment to family.  

Author Maria Amparo Escandon joins the podcast to talk about the narrative technique she uses in the novel: taking the reader through the dramatic year that changes each character profoundly, month my month, and who in her own life inspired the patriarch’s unsettling preoccupation with the weather. Escandon discusses writing the book in what is not her native tongue, her love for Los Angeles, and what she calls “transcreation.”

“L.A. Weather” is a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese’s Book Club Pick, and named to the Best Books of 2021 by Harper’s Bazaar.

Inspired  by the vibrant story showcasing a Latino family that defies common fictional stereotypes, Margaret and Olivia discuss “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Ericka Sanchez’s “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.”

When an unarmed Black teenager is shot by police while walking home from school, the grief and outrage ripples through the city of Philadelphia in the novel “We Are Not Like Them.” The shooting calls for changes in policing, revealing deep divisions among those who experience systemic racism and those who deny it exists.  For lifelong best friends Jen and Riley, the shooting is a deeply personal crisis that threatens to rip them apart for good.  Christine Pride and Jo Piazza join the podcast to talk about writing this deeply moving book together, navigating their own obstacles to openly discussing race, and the value of exploring divisive issues through the storytelling lens of friendship, forgiveness, and what it takes for two different people to take their shared history into the future.

In a Moment With Margaret: discussion of other recent books that tackle race, including Zakiya Dalila Harris’ “The Other Black Girl,” Brit Bennett’s “The Vanishing Half” and Emmanuel Acho’s “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Boy.”

“We Are Not Like Them” is the first novel Piazza and Pride co-authored today. The book was published in October, 2021 by Atria Books. 

Erick Rickstad is a New York Times and international bestselling author of novels including “What Remains of Her” and “The Silent Girls.” He joined the podcast to talk to Olivia about his latest dark, psychological mystery, “I Am Not Who You Think I Am.” It’s a tale that starts in 1976, with a tragic act of violence witnessed by then 8-year-old Maynard, who is not only shaped by the trauma and loss, but by the mounting pressure of keeping a secret from that day he grows to regret. The core of the story focuses on a teenage Maynard, convinced he has a mystery to solve, while navigating complicated teenage friendships and desires that drive him to hold new, even darker secrets. Rickstad talked about the book’s unique narrative that begins with a letter from the police chief to the community, how his life in Vermont and love of the outdoors influences both what he writes and the way he writes it, and reflects on his early love of books and memories of first joining a book club where he was the only boy.

Margaret and Olivia discuss similar, darkly affecting psychological thrillers involving younger characters. Margaret recommends “The Chalk Man” by C.J. Tudor, and Olivia reflects on Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History.”

Seven psychopaths enjoy a free ride to a prestigious east coast school, in exchange for being participating in a psychopathy study. What could go wrong? For one, students keep getting killed. One study participant, Chloe, isn’t at worried for her safety because she considers herself the dangerous one. Debut novelist Vera Kurian joins the podcast to talk about “Never Saw Me Coming,” and why readers find her protagonist irresistible, in spite of her homicidal plotting and lack of empathy.

Kurian discusses what it was like to achieve the dream of publishing a novel during a global pandemic, and in a Moment with Margaret, Margaret Stewart recommends “56 Days” by Catherine Ryan Howard.