Eliana Ramage earned her MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Her debut novel is To the Moon and Back and is published by Avid Reader Press. It’s the story of Steph Harper who wants to be the first Cherokee astronaut in space, as well as the sacrifices and drive it requires from her, and how it affects her relationships with her family, partners, and people.   

Susan Gregg Gilmore has appeared on Book Talk for her three previous novels, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove, and The Funeral Dress. Today we’ll be discussing her latest title, The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush which is published by Blair.  

Nat Segaloff has worked in show biz as a publicist, producer, writer and more. His previous titles include: Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin, A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, and Breaking the Code: Otto Preminger Versus Hollywood’s Censors. Today we’ll be discussing his latest book Bogart and Huston: Their Lives, Their Adventures, and the Classic Movies They Made Together which is published by Pegasus. 

Dr. Kate Marvel is a climate scientist. She earned her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge. She conducted post-doc research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. She was a columnist for Scientific American for several years. Today, we’ll finish our two-part discussion of her first book for general audiences, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet, which is published by Ecco. 

Dr. Kate Marvel is a climate scientist. She earned her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge. She conducted post-doc research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.    She was a columnist for Scientific American for several years. Today we’ll have the first of our two-part discussion of her first book for general audiences, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet, which is published by Ecco. 

  Jerry Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His previous book is Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, and today we’ll be finishing our discussion of his recent release, Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take which is published by Simon and Schuster. 

  Jerry Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His previous book is Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, and today we’ll begin our discussion of his recent release, Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take which is published by Simon and Schuster. 

Elizabeth Birkelund is a novelist whose previous works include The Runaway Wife and The Dressmaker. Prior to writing novels, Elizabeth was a personal finance columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine and a full-time freelance writer for publications such as Glamour, Self, Victoria and Working Woman. Today, we’ll be discussing her recent novel, A Northern Light in Provence, which is published by Ballantine Books.  

Heather Clark is a biographer, literary critic and novelist. She is the author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, The Ulster Renaissance: Poetry in Belfast 1962 – 1972 and Sylvia Plath, a Very Short Introduction. Today we’ll be discussing her novel, The Scrapbook, which is published by Pantheon Books.   

Rickey Fayne is a native of western Tennessee but currently makes his home in the upper Midwest. His fiction has appeared in publications such as The Kenyon Review, The Sewanee, and Guernica. Today we’ll be discussing his debut novel, The Devil Three Times which is published by Little, Brown and Company.   

  Michael Farris Smith is a novelist who has appeared on Book Talk many times discuss his books, including Blackwood and Salvage this World. Today, we’ll be discussing his most recent novel, Lay Your Armor Down which is published by Little, Brown and Company. 

  Dr. Roxane Gay is writer, editor, social commentator and a professor of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University. She has written many best-sellers, including her essay collection Bad Feminist, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, and the novel An Untamed State. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, The Portable Feminist Reader, which is published by Penguin Classics. 

  We are delighted to welcome Dr. Dolen Perkins Valdez back to the program today. Dolen is an associate professor of English literature at American University, but our listeners better know her as an award-winning, critically-acclaimed novelist. Her previous works are Wench, Balm, and Take My Hand. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, Happy Land, which is published by Berkley. 

We welcome Amor Towles back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novella, Table for Two, which is now in paperback from Penguin Books. 

We welcome Amor Towles to the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novella, Table for Two, which is now in paperback from Penguin Books. 

Today we welcome a new co-host to the program today, Miriam Oliphant. Miriam is a veteran of the publishing industry and recently joined WYPL on a full-time basis. Her first interview for Book Talk is with novelist Anita Kopacz, who has found great success in the magazine world and become a spiritual advisor. She currently in the midst of a trilogy looking at spirits in the Yoruba tradition. The first book was Shallow Waters, and today she and Miriam will discuss the second installment, which is entitled The Wind on Her Tongue and is available from Atria/Black Privilege Publishing.

Tova Mirvis, a native of Memphis, is an author, who has previously joined us on Book Talk to speak about her memoir The Book of Separation as well as her novels, Visible City and The Outside World. Today, we’ll discuss her latest novel, We Would Never, published by Simon and Schuster.  

Preston Lauterbach is a former Memphian who has written extensively about African-American music and history and has helped musicians tell their own stories, as well. Preston has appeared on Book Talk several times to discuss his books, The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Beale Street Dynasty, and Bluff City. Today, we’ll be discussing his latest title, Before Elvis:The African American Musicians Who Made The King, which is published by Da Capo Press. 

Mark Greaney is a New York Times best-selling author of international thrillers. He co-authored several Jack Ryan novels with Tom Clancy, and continued the series for a few years after Mr. Clancy’s passing. He recently started a new series starring Josh Duffy, a security contractor, but today we’ll be discussing his 14th installment in his Grey Man series, featuring burned CIA asset, Court Gentry. Midnight Black features Gentry trying to infiltrate Russia in order to free his love Zoya Zakharova. 

  Guest host Dr. David Mason is back to conclude a special two-part interview with historian Dr. Manan Ahmed Asif. Dr. Ahmed is an associate professor of history at Columbia University. A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia,  Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, and The Loss of Hindustan. He and Dr. Mason will wrap up their conversation today about his latest title: Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore which is published by the New Press.