"Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Charmaine Wilkerson-Black Cake
Release Date: 12/09/2022
Paula McLain : Skylark
Bookreporter Talks To
Paula McLain joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her latest novel, SKYLARK. Paula has been enthralled with Paris since her 2011 bestseller, THE PARIS WIFE. Her new book features dual timelines set in Paris --- one in 1664 and the other in the 1940s during the Nazi occupation. The characters face parallel struggles across different time periods. Both storylines address how people find meaning and hope through connections with others. In SKYLARK, the underground tunnels beneath Paris serve as a space of refuge and resistance throughout history. Paula conducted extensive research, including...
info_outline
“Bookaccino Live” Book Group: Allen Levi
Bookreporter Talks To
Allen Levi joined us for January’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group to discuss his New York Times bestselling debut novel, THEO OF GOLDEN. The audience clearly was mesmerized by the insight he gave into the characters and setting. Allen talked about his inspiration for writing the book and expressed his appreciation for how it has resonated with so many people. He thoughtfully responded to a number of reader questions. Some were asked by attendees who appeared on the virtual stage, while Carol Fitzgerald shared questions and comments from those who were camera-shy or weren’t able...
info_outline
Belle Burden: Strangers
Bookreporter Talks To
Belle Burden joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her memoir, STRANGERS, which details how her husband abruptly left their marriage during the early days of the pandemic. The book, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection, chronicles Belle's journey from shock and grief to rebuilding her life as a writer and single mother. Belle started writing about her experience after her divorce was finalized in 2022, feeling "a burning need to write down what had happened." She initially wrote a piece for the New York Times “Modern Love” column, which ran in June 2023....
info_outline
Rebecca Armitage: The Heir Apparent
Bookreporter Talks To
Rebecca Armitage joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her debut novel, THE HEIR APPARENT, which was a Reese's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Rebecca describes the book as a modern-day fairy tale. Lexi, who is living in Tasmania and training to be a doctor, is summoned home after a skiing accident kills her father and critically injures her brother. Her grandmother is the Queen of England; she is the heir apparent and must return to London. Carol loved the cinematic opening scene with the helicopter landing to whisk Lexi away from her life in Australia. Rebecca drew upon...
info_outline
2025 Bookreporter Bets On Selections: Books We're Betting You'll Love
Bookreporter Talks To
Carol Fitzgerald shares commentary about her 42 Bookreporter Bets On selections from 2025. These are books that she is betting Bookreporter readers will love! (* means a video/podcast interview with that author is available.) Fiction Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall * The Correspondent by Virginia Evans * The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb Heart the Lover by Lily King * Buckeye by Patrick Ryan Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins * Culpability by Bruce Holsinger * The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (* to come) Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson * More or Less Maddy by Lisa...
info_outline
"Bookaccino Live": Our Reviewers' Favorite Books of 2025
Bookreporter Talks To
Carol Fitzgerald and Tom Donadio talked to eight Bookreporter reviewers about two of their favorite books of 2025. Our guests were Sarah Rachel Egelman, Megan Elliott, Harvey Freedenberg, Pamela Kramer, Bronwyn Miller, Rebecca Munro, Norah Piehl and Stuart Shiffman. Kate Ayers and Ray Palen, who have appeared on previous programs, were not able to join us live. But we showed Ray’s presentation on video, and we shared Kate’s picks, along with brief excerpts from her reviews of those books. Their selections cover a wide variety of genres, and there may be a few books you haven’t heard...
info_outline
Vicky Nguyen: Boat Baby
Bookreporter Talks To
Vicky Nguyen joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her memoir, BOAT BABY, which is about her experience as a Vietnamese refugee who came to America as an eight-month-old "boat baby" in 1979. She talks about the challenges of growing up as a child of immigrants, navigating cultural differences, and her path to becoming an NBC News correspondent. The interview includes honest conversation about multi-generational living, parenting approaches across cultures, and the importance of maintaining immigrant values while assimilating. Vicky emphasizes how her parents' work ethic, optimism and...
info_outline
“Bookaccino Live” Book Group: Clare Leslie Hall
Bookreporter Talks To
Clare Leslie Hall joined us for November’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group to discuss her New York Times bestseller, BROKEN COUNTRY, a Bookreporter Bets On selection that has received numerous “Best Of 2025” accolades. Clare talks about her inspiration for the novel, as well as the different paths that she took to writing it. She shares details on the development of her characters and explains how the trial was woven throughout the pages. She also touches on her earlier books, PICTURES OF HIM and DAYS YOU WERE MINE, which released this summer in the US as trade paperbacks....
info_outline
Brisa Carleton: Last Call at the Savoy
Bookreporter Talks To
Brisa Carleton joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her debut novel, LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. The inspiration for the book came when Brisa was visiting The Savoy Hotel in London more than a decade ago. She saw a footnote about Ada Coleman in a cocktail menu and was surprised that so little information existed about her. Ada was a prominent mixologist at the hotel from 1903 to 1925, and she invented many cocktails, including the “Hanky Panky.” Brisa discusses writing a dual timeline for the book: the historical story about Ada and the modern one...
info_outline
Alex DeMille: The Tin Men
Bookreporter Talks To
Alex DeMille joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss THE TIN MEN, the third installment in the Scott Brodie & Maggie Taylor series, which he wrote with his father, Nelson DeMille. Set at a fictional military base in the Mojave Desert, the book explores autonomous weapons and AI in warfare. Alex explains what drew him to set a thriller in the American Southwest and fills us in on the research trip that he took there. He talks about the themes of humanity versus technology in warfare, which he and Nelson wanted to address. Alex also shares his personal reflections on completing the book while...
info_outlineCharmaine Wilkerson joined Carol Fitzgerald for a "Bookaccino Live" Book Group discussion about her debut novel, BLACK CAKE. Three readers shared questions on screen, and then there were numerous audience questions. Charmaine explained how she writes in bursts, and that her writing can sometimes appear in brief on the page, while at other times more is explored. She talked about her characters, her background that inspired the story…and, yes, black cake! There was also discussion about the cover and the additional materials in the paperback edition.
Check out our past "Bookaccino Live" Book Group events!
Joyce Maynard: https://youtu.be/atXP9_gxGU8
Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray: https://youtu.be/rYelwWiTJbE
Janet Skeslien Charles: https://youtu.be/47Sx9DtcAkA
Miranda Cowley Heller: https://youtu.be/gVlKvApDO8M
More “Bookreporter Talks To”:
Clare Mackintosh: https://youtu.be/yxU_npofftw
Jamie Fiore Higgins: https://youtu.be/bz6tTCLmxlE
Thrity Umrigar: https://youtu.be/295H-VzRJeU
Alli Frank and Asha Youmans: https://youtu.be/4kvcZ6nqoo4
Sign up for newsletters from Bookreporter and Reading Group Guides here: https://tbrnetwork.com/newsletters/
FOLLOW US on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookreporter
Website: https://www.bookreporter.com
Art Credit: Greg Fitzgerald
Edited by Jordan Hickman