Allegra Goodman’s latest, This is Not About Us is a treasure.  Centered around the Rubenstein family, each chapter examines the Rubensteins from a different lens, a different perspective.  The stories are funny, messy, heartbreaking, captivating; all adjectives that describe complex families.  You will laugh, you will be moved, and you will be left with some brilliant tableaus of an American family as they struggle through life.  We also have a terrific bookstore owner, Sarah Lacey (The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs and The Best Bookstore in Union Square, and yes, those are the names of the stores, brilliant right?). Come join us!

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

Isola by Allegra Goodman

Sam by Allegra Goodman

Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman

The Cookbook Collection by Allegra Goodman

The Family Markowitz by Allegra Goodman

The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

Intuition by Allegra Goodman

Total Immersion: Stories by Allegra Goodman

Paradise Park by Allegra Goodman

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Resistors by Gish Jen

Moby Dick by Herman Mellville

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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Belle Burden’s Strangers is not your everyday memoir about divorce.  After three kids, two decades and two homes, her husband was caught having an affair.  When confronted, he walked out, saying that marriage and family were not “for him”. It was not about the other woman nor was it about a long bout with depression, it seemed as if he just woke up and decided to begin anew.  Belle is left to search for answers as she questions her reality-did he ever love us?  Did I make him unhappy?  How can I move on with such a mysterious and traumatic narrative?  Written with humor, care and love, this book really is a memoir of marriage and the mysteries often associated with a broken home.  Trust us.  Read it.  Then tune into to our conversation with this amazing author and amazing woman.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden

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This week we dedicate our show to a documentary that we think is important.  We have promised our listeners to keep the podcast non-political (no shouting talking heads, no books with a political agenda).  But there are some issues that are vitally important that we also believe are non-political.  Book banning is first and foremost among these.  Next week on February 9th, The Librarians documentary starts streaming on PBS stations across the country as part of their beloved Independent Lens series.  Join us as we talk to two brave and brilliant librarians fighting book bans with all their might.  We also talk to Kim A. Snyder, the director of the film about why the stories presented in this documentary are so important.  Book banning is wrong.  And we are talking about it this week.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

The Library at Night by Alberto Maguel
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

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Roger Rosenblatt wrote a column for the NY Times called Before You Toss that Book… We already loved Roger’s books, and this column moved us to reach out to him. We asked if he would come on our show to read the column for our audience and to talk to us about what makes books so important, what keeping books can do to grow your love for the written word. Roger is a national treasure and this conversation was both moving and insightful. If you love books, you must join us.

Roger's column:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/opinion/favorite-books-cleaning-out.html

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt

Rules for Aging by Roger Rosenblatt

The Man in the Water by Roger Rosenblatt

The Boy Detective by Roger Rosenblatt

Cold Moon by Roger Rosenblatt

Unless it Moves the Heart by Roger Rosenblatt

Anything Can Happen by Roger Rosenblatt

Thomas Murphy By Roger Rosenblatt

Life Itself: Abortion and the American Mind by Roger Rosenblatt

Where We Stand by Roger Rosenblatt

Lapham Rising by Roger Rosenblatt

Beet by Roger Rosenblatt

The Story I am by Roger Rosenblatt

The Book of Love by Roger Rosenblatt

Cataract Blues by Roger Rosenblatt

A Steinway on the Beach by Roger Rosenblatt

Children of War by Roger Rosenblatt

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Far Field by Theodore Roethke

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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Susan Orlean, one of the best journalists of our generation, has written a memoir, along with some great advice about writing.  Beyond writing, she has thoughts on the importance of curiosity in these trying times.  Curiosity can break down barriers, and create beautiful stories out of the ordinary.  And Susan does it brilliantly in all of her writing, and especially in her new memoir, Joyride. It is a joy to read Joyride.  And we speak to a new bookstore owner in Charleston, South Carolina, Summer Anderson, who is also a joy and who seems to take joy out of all she does. Join us for a great discussion on writing, the art of curiosity and joy.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Joyride by Susan Orlean
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean
My Kind of Place by Susan Orlean
The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup by Susan Orlean
Saturday Night by Susan Orlean
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

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Janice Page’s The Year of the Water Horse is a funny memoir. At times, laugh out loud funny. But it is also about why we tell stories, what we make important in our lives, what we protect and what we share. Full of thoughtful reflection, this is a book that will have you looking at your own life, wondering where the magic is in your story. Janice Page has created magic out of her story through her prose and humor, and we talk to her about it.  Our bookstore this week is Booksmart in San Jose.  Join us!

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned on this week's episode:

The Year of the Water Horse by Janice Page

Where Rivers Part by Kao Kalia Yang

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Paula McLain’s Skylark is the GMA book club pick this month and we are so pleased she sat down with us too. This book is a beautifully written, touching and suspenseful story centered around the meaning of freedom, and the prices we pay to attain it.  Paralleling two stories in Paris, one in the 17th century, the other on the dawn of WWII, each story takes us into the depths of the Paris underground, exploring hidden tunnels, abandoned quarries and secret rivers.  There is a second Paris that is hidden under the streets that tourists know and love.  And this story explores the lost depths of the city while handing readers unforgettable characters with page turning action. McLain herself is an amazing woman who has taken her challenging life and turned it into a gift for the written word.  She shares her experience and how it shaped her writing.  Join us for an unforgettable conversation with a terrific writer.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Skylark by Paula McLain

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

LIke Family: Growing up in Other People’s Houses by Paula McLain

A Ticket to Ride by Paula McLain

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

When the Stars go Dark by Paula McLain

Martyr by Kaveh Akbar

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Grab a pen and pencil so you can write down what are some of our absolute favorite reads of 2025.  There is something for everyone, fiction, non fiction, romance, marooned sea travelers, epistolary greatness, fictionalized examinations of climate change….you name it.  Get yourself a glass of wine or a cup of tea and take a journey with Kate and Charlie through 2025.  We know you will find one of your new favorites in there.  We sure did.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Heart the Lover by Lily King
The Interpreter by David K. Shipler
A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmbhurst
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

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We have devoted several podcasts to the issue of how parents get children to read - off screens and into pages.  We talk about it - others DO something about it.  You might not expect to find Stephen Curry, the great pro basketball player, to be among that group.  However, Stephen and his wife Ayesha have a foundation - Eat.Learn.Play - and over the past few years they’ve given books every Christmas to every elementary school child in Oakland, California where Stephen started his pro career.  They invited us to Oakland to see the program in action.  Charlie went and had a chance to talk to the Currys about why they, like the two of us, think this issue is so critical.

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302
Books mentioned on this week's episode:

Shot Ready by Stephen Curry

The Boy Who Never Gave Up by Stephen Curry

I Am Extraordinary by Stephen Curry

I Have a Superpower by Stephen Curry

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

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Our next installment in the Book Case Classics series comes from listeners like you.  Many of you asked for Austen…you wanted it?  You got it!  We sat down with two of the world’s foremost Austen Scholars, Claudia L. Johnson, Murray Professor of English at Princeton and Devoney Looser, Regents Professor at Arizona State University (both of which have great Austen books on the market) to discuss the facts and fiction surround the great Jane Austen and her unique works.  Join us!

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Emma by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen

30 Great Myths about Jane Austen by Claudia L. Johnson

Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel by Claudia L. Johnson

Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane by Devoney Looser

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Abir Mukherjee was a revelation to us, even if he is already an international bestseller. The Burning Grounds, the sixth of the Wyndham and Banerjee mystery series will keep readers guessing while dazzling them with terrific writing. His series takes place during turn of the century in Imperialist India, and he exposes the good, bad and ugly, from both a British and native perspective.  He knocked us out, and we bet his Wyndham and Banerjee series will knock out our listeners too.  Join us! 

Find books mentioned on The Book Case:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and Banerjee Book 6)

A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham & Banerjee Book 1)

A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and Banerjee Book 2)

Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and Banerjee Book 3)

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and Banerjee Book 4)

The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee (Wyndham and Banerjee Book 5)

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee

Burmese Days by George Orwell

Shooting an Elephant (An Essay) by George Orwell

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Long Drop by Denise Mina

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

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