Julia Alvarez

Literary icon and great American novelist Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of “In the Time of the Butterflies” and “How the García Girls Lost Their Accents”, joins the PBS Books Readers Club to discuss a luminescent novel about storytelling that reads like an instant classic. Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. 

Tana French

Welcome bestselling Irish crime fiction writer Tana French to discuss her books The Searcher and The Hunter. It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die. Fans of PBS crime dramas D.I. Ray and Grantchester will be drawn into this nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.

Percival Everett

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with literary icon Percival Everett to discuss James—named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Time, NPR, The Seattle Times, Elle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Oprah Daily. James is an instant New York Times bestseller and highly acclaimed novel that puts a transformative spin on the canonical work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Olivia Ford

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author Olivia ford to discuss her super sweet novel. A huge-hearted, redemptive coming-of-old-age tale, a love story, and an ode to good food. Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends’ lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Rachel Khong

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author of Real AmericansRachel KhongReal Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

Scott Alexander Howard

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we plumb the depths of Scott Alexander Howard’s debut novel, The Other Valley. Fans of the PBS series A Brief History Of The Future and books like Never Let Me Go and The Giver will enjoy this tale about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future. The Other Valley tells the story of Odile, an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. This thrilling page-turner will make readers ask the question: would you want to know your future if you could? And what would you risk to change it? 

Allison Pataki

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author of “Finding Margaret Fuller”, Allison Pataki. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller, The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, The Queen’s Fortune, The Traitor’s Wife, The Accidental Empress, Sisi: Empress on Her Own, Where the Light Falls, as well as the nonfiction memoir Beauty in the Broken Places and two children’s books, Nelly Takes New York and Poppy Takes Paris. Allison’s novels have been translated into twenty languages. A former news writer and producer, Allison has written for The New York Times, ABC News, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Fox News and other outlets. She has appeared on The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Good Day New York, Good Day Chicago and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Join the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author, scholar, and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for a deeper look at the stories and inspirations behind his bestselling book The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. Prof. Gates guides us through the roots of the Black church and its importance as a foundation of American identity. Prof. Gates also explores over a century of Black spirituality through sermon & song in his newest PBS series Gospel, discusses the long-buried secrets that are brought to life in his hit PBS series Finding Your Roots, and teases his soon-to-be-released book The Black Box: Writing The Race.

Horse and All Creatures Great & Small

Join the PBS Books Readers Club hosts Fred, Lauren, Heather, and Princess as they sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Geraldine Brooks to discuss her bestselling novel HORSE. We’ll talk with Geraldine about the captivating relationship between horse and human, her process when writing this novel, and get to know more about her life off the pages. With the not to miss season 4 of All Creatures Great & Small finally here, we sit down with the new Executive Producer, Jamie Crichton, to get an inside look on what’s in store for our beloved characters, learn about adapting these treasured tales from Darrowby, and learn about life on set of the MASTERPIECE favorite.