"Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Charmaine Wilkerson-Black Cake
Release Date: 12/09/2022
"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...
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Vicky Nguyen: Boat Baby
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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...
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“Bookaccino Live” Book Group: Clare Leslie Hall
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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....
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Brisa Carleton: Last Call at the Savoy
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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...
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Alex DeMille: The Tin Men
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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...
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“Bookaccino Live” Book Group: Paula Hawkins
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Paula Hawkins joined us for October’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group to discuss her most recent thriller, THE BLUE HOUR, a Bookreporter Bets On selection that is now available in paperback. Readers asked questions before and during the program, and we covered a lot of details, including the meaning of the book’s title. Paula shares her love of art and how much she enjoys visiting museums as she travels. THE BLUE HOUR got its start when she was on a vacation; she saw a remote island and thought about what could happen in a place like that. Paula explains how she creates her characters...
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Lily King: Heart the Lover
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Lily King joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her latest novel, the instant New York Times bestseller HEART THE LOVER, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Lily shares that she was working on a political murder mystery that came to a grinding halt when she got a manuscript from Ann Patchett, which led her to write college scenes that were the start of HEART THE LOVER. She talks about a significant plot point that was changed in the manuscript about 12 days before the book was submitted, as well as the long path to getting the right cover. She also touches on how this book is a...
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“Bookaccino Live” Book Group: Amy Neff
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Amy Neff joined us for September’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group to discuss her debut novel, THE DAYS I LOVED YOU MOST, a Bookreporter Bets On selection that is now available in paperback. Amy worked on this book for more than a decade, starting with writing in a notebook in Central Park when she was in her 20s. She talks about her own extended family and how their beach vacations (where picnics were held in the garage) influenced her writing about a long marriage, though she is only in her late 30s. Amy also shares that she developed the chapters with the three children later in the...
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Virginia Evans: The Correspondent
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Virginia Evans joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her debut novel, THE CORRESPONDENT. Virginia always saw the book as having an epistolary format, and she wrote it as readers are seeing it, with one letter after another. Carol thought this style worked for the storytelling as it allowed for pacing and for different aspects of Sybil’s life, and the world as she knows it now, to be explored. Virginia loved that Carol picked up on one detail that no one else has mentioned in an interview or a review. Carol listened to the audiobook recording, which features a 13-person ensemble cast, and...
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Hank Phillippi Ryan: All This Could be Yours
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Hank Phillippi Ryan joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest thriller, ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS. This Bookreporter Bets On selection follows Tessa Calloway, a debut author on a book tour who discovers she may have a stalker. The idea for the book came from Hank’s own experiences on book tours, including the realization that her public schedule and locations potentially could be misused for harmful purposes. Hank discusses the creative process behind the novel, including how Annabelle's voice unexpectedly emerged while she was writing and became integral to the plot. She also shares...
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
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Art Credit: Greg Fitzgerald
Edited by Jordan Hickman