Ep. 189: Karen Thompson Walker (Author of The Strange Case of Jane O.) + Book Recommendations
Release Date: 03/05/2025
Best of Horror with Meredith Monday Schwartz (Currently Reading) | Ep. 216
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Episode 216 continues the Best of… series with a deep dive into the horror genre. Meredith Monday Schwartz of the podcast joins the show to discuss her all-time Top Ten favorite horror books, along with a few buzzy titles that didn’t quite work for her. Meredith also talks about how she came to the genre and the wide range of reading experiences horror has to offer. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights How Meredith defines the horror genre — and where she draws the lines Subgenres of...
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The Best Backlist We Read in 2025 with Catherine Gilmore | Ep. 215
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Episode 215, Sarah and Catherine of share the best backlist books they read in 2025. They discuss their top 5 backlist books from last year, highlight some underrated backlist gems, and review their backlist reading statistics. Devoting an entire episode to backlist reading is both a team and listener favorite annual tradition! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Announcement The Best of the Backlist Guide: Favorite Backlist Books Read in 2025 is available now! Members of the Sarah’s...
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Winter 2026 Book Preview with Catherine Gilmore | Ep. 214
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
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Best Books of 2025 Genre Awards with Chrissie (@ChrissieWhitley) | Ep. 213
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Episode 213, Sarah and Chrissie () wrap up the year with the Best Books of 2025 Genre Awards. They reveal their Overall Best Books (Fiction and Nonfiction) and a full breakdown by genre, including: Best Literary Fiction, Best Romance, Best Brain Candy, Best Genre Mash-Up, and more! Plus, they share the winners for these same genres as chosen by the Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Member Community. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Announcements The 2026 Reading Tracker is out! This year brings...
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Best Books of 2025 Superlatives with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide) | Ep. 212
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Ep. 212, Sarah and Catherine of start wrapping up 2025 with the first of the two year-end episodes: Best Books of 2025 Superlatives. In this episode, they share their picks for over 25 superlative categories, including Weirdest 5-Star Read of 2025, The Book That Made Us Furious, Most Underrated Gem, Too Dark Even for Me, and so much more! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Our best books of the year from over 25 categories, including: My First 5-Star 2025...
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Fall 2025 Circle Back with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide) (Ep. 211)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Episode 211, Sarah and Catherine of catch up on the 14 new releases they shared in the , now that they’ve read them — or at least tried to! They share their reading stats and discuss which books worked and which didn’t…and why. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Catherine’s success rate bounces back from summer. Sarah’s fall reading felt kind of “meh” despite a higher success rate. They also share their combined 2025 Preview success rates....
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State of the Publishing Industry in 2025 with Laura McGrath, Author of the textCrunch Substack (Ep. 210)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Ep. 210, Laura McGrath, author of the popular Substack newsletter, , joins Sarah to take a sharp look at the State of the Publishing Industry in 2025. This packed episode covers a high-level look at the top sales and book trends, as well as Laura’s insights into the future of the book world for 2026. Also, Laura shares her favorite books of 2025! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights Laura McGrath’s book (publishing April 28, 2026) is available for pre-order...
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Ep. 209: 2025 Debuts Special with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide) and Chrissie (@ChrissieWhitley)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Episode 209, Catherine () and Chrissie () join Sarah for the 5th annual Debuts Special! They’re sharing their reading stats for debuts this year, along with their favorite debuts, new and backlist — so far for 2025. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights How debuts from 2025 compare to those from previous years. A full breakdown of Sarah’s, Catherine’s, and Chrissie’s 2025 debut-related stats. Featured debuts, split into two categories: Favorite Debuts of 2025 (so far) Favorite...
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Ep. 208: Best of Narrative Nonfiction with Elizabeth Barnhill of Fabled Bookshop (@FabledBookshop)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Ep. 208 brings the third installment of our “Best of…” series. Elizabeth Barnhill of joined Sarah for the Best of Narrative Nonfiction, sharing her ALL-TIME TOP books in this genre. Plus, she brings a few popular nonfiction reads that didn’t work for her. This episode is chock-full of fantastic book recommendations to get you ready for Nonfiction November or just your next nonfiction pick. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Highlights How Elizabeth got started with narrative...
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Ep. 207: Regina Black (Author of August Lane)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
In Episode 207, Sarah chats with author Regina Black about her newest novel, . A second-chance romance about two people healing from trauma, is set in Arcadia, Arkansas, with themes of family, generational scars, and a unique thread of Black country music. Regina also talks about how she got into writing Romance on top of her job as a law school administrator, how long she’s been writing, and what spurred her on to seeking publication. Plus, Regina shares some of her top book recommendations! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a...
info_outlineIn Episode 189, author Karen Thompson Walker talks with Sarah about her career to date and her newest novel, The Strange Case of Jane O. Karen discusses her writing journey, including each book’s inspiration and research process. She also touches on the challenges of promoting her latest book without giving away too much and her current work in progress. Plus, Karen shares her book recommendations.
This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.
Highlights
- Books by Karen Thompson Walker: The Age of Miracles (2012), The Dreamers (2019), and The Strange Case of Jane O. (2025)
- Karen talks about going from working as an editor to a being published author
- The genre Karen feels her books best fit in
- The real-life inspiration for The Age of Miracles
- A peek into her research process and which book required the most work
- Karen’s thoughts on writing about an epidemic (in The Dreamers) just before the real-life COVID-19 pandemic
- A brief spoiler-free overview of The Strange Case of Jane O. and the inspiration behind it
- Some of Oliver Sacks’ interesting case histories that inspired Karen
- The difficulty in trying to promote and talk about a book like The Strange Case of Jane O. without giving too much away
- How Karen sees the relationship between her three published books
- A bit about Karen’s current work in progress
Karen’s Book Recommendations [36:20]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (1993) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[37:22]
- The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:26]
- Other Books Mentioned:
- The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (2023) [40:51]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- The Antidote by Karen Russell (March 11, 2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[41:20]
- The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:39]
One Book She DIDN’T Love
- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:39]
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- Audition by Katie Kitamura (April 8, 2025) | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [47:22]
- Other Books Mentioned:
- The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (2024) [49:20]
- A Separation by Katie Kitamura (2017) [49:35]
- Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (2021) [49:39]
Last 5-Star Book Karen Read
- Trust by Hernan Diaz (2022) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [50:14]
Books From the Discussion
- Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (2012) [22:54]
- Awakenings by Oliver Sacks (1973) [24:16]