Steve Bertrand on Books

Ben Reeves has written a beautiful debut novel about…death. Travis seems like an ordinary guy; he’s single and lives alone with his cat in his apartment. But his job is to be with us when we die. Some of us recognize him at that moment while others don’t. Either way, Reeves’ accounts of their deaths remind us that ours is coming. But…don’t let that get you down. In the end, readers will be uplifted by the wonderful novel. In learning that death is everywhere, we realize that life is, too. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt...

You have too much stuff and Alan Anderson is the guy who convinced you to buy it. Now he sees the error of his ways and he’s shunned his worldly goods, living in a shed in his backyard and bathing in Long Island Sound. That’s the notion behind this very funny novel from Courtney Maum: Alan Opts Out. While advertising executive Alan is clearing out the clutter, his wife is collecting more. Maum tells us what we all know: we’re too consumed with consumerism. Maybe Alan has the right idea? Courtney laughs along with Steve as she sp...

You might know Bobby Finger from his two earlier novels, The Old Place and Four Squares, or maybe you follow his podcast, Who? Weekly, where he and his cohost Lindsey Weber keep track of would-be celebrities so you won’t have to. His latest novel is We Are Gathered Here Today, where he returns to Texas for a funny and meaningful look at marriage: gay, straight, or whatever.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

New York Times bestselling author Lisa See’s latest book is Daughters of the Sun and Moon. Publisher’s Weekly calls it one of the best books of the summer. She talks with Steve about the little-known story of the 1870 massacre of Chinese immigrants in what was then a small, dusty and very dangerous Los Angeles.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

In this week’s podcast, Steve catches up with author Phil Melanson as he teaches in London. Phil is the author of Florenzer…it’s a great account of life in Medici Florence told through the lives of Lorenzo de Medici, Francesco Salviati and Leonardo de Vinci. The book is now in paperback.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Chicago writer Melanie Benjamin has made a career out of writing historical fiction with stories that largely center around women. Put another way, Melanie has given us fictional accounts of our non-fiction world. In her latest, The Windsor Affair, she looks into the abdication of King Edward Vlll. It’s a story that’s been told many times, but not like this. The Windsor Affair focuses on the rivalry between Wallis Simpson and Queen Elizabeth, the woman we would later know as the Queen Mum. Melanie talks with Steve about her writing, her love of Chicago, and more.

Djamel White is being called a powerful new voice in Irish literature. His debut novel, All Them Dogs, takes a look inside the crime underworld of west Dublin, focusing on a lost young man looking to be found. Unfortunately for him, his search for male guidance only brings more struggle. Djamel talks with Steve about the book and about his own struggles in west Dublin: dropping out of school, finding his way back with the help of the legendary Roddy Doyles foundation, and, now, the toast of Irish literature.

Hannah Thurman’s smash debut novel is set in Raleigh, North Carolina, mostly at an under-pressure mental institution. At the center of Mercy Hill is a family of four daughters, their dad, and the mom who is the force fighting to save the hospital. The family grows up in the shadow of the institution, much in the way Steve grew up in the shadow of the Manteno State Mental Hospital.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Charles Schutt is a former Chicago priest who left the Church after 17 years and then successfully moved to the world of corporate recruiting. And he wants you to know why. He’s got a new book out called “A True Story of a Catholic Priest: Why I Got In, Why I Got Out, and What I Learned Through It All.”

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Maybe it’s in our 30s that the rubber finally meets the road and it’s time to confront life, maybe accept the fact that you can’t be anything you want to be after all. In a way, that’s a way to read Rachel Khong’s short story collection. It’s called “My Dear You.” Rachel says each short story is like a song. Well, this collection sings.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Sometimes a small story can help to paint a much bigger picture. That’s the case with The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons. Actually, his is not a small story at all, it’s a remarkable accounting of America’s assault on birds around the Gilded Age. McCommons writes about flocks of birds more than a hundred miles long: birds, the passenger pigeon in this case, that were hunted into extinction. Through McCommon’s stories, we learn more about the Gilded Age overall…and that, you might say, is a feather in his cap, though, in this case, that is no...

Clay Cane has written a pretty remarkable book in a personal, novel way. Burn Down Master’s House is a fictional account of a variety moments of resistance by several separate slaves in the days before the civil war. He fictionalizes the stories into one strand that stands as its own narrative. As a descendant of slaves, he also uses the names of some of his ancestors. But there’s more here than 19th century men and woman freeing themselves of their changes. Burn Down Master’s House is calling on us all to unchain ourselves as well.

When you think of Bob Dylan, what comes to mind? A cultural revolutionary, right? Lyrics, musicianship, even painting. But did you know Bob Dylan was a filmmaker? Fellow filmmaker Michael Glover Smith did….and his book Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time to Think is out.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Irish writer Tana French joins Steve to talk about her Cal Hooper Series. Hooper is a retired Chicago police detective who settles into life in small town Ireland. It’s not as easy as it is sounds. And, don’t tell Steve, but the latest book The Keeper is the last in what turns out to be a trilogy. Tana talks about small town life with Steve, along with many of the major issues facing Ireland today.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Irish writer Colm Tóibín is a master, whether it’s his novels like Brooklyn or Nora Webster or The Testament of Mary, he has a settled style of writing that brings you not just to a place but to a specific moment.

It’s the same for his short stories. His latest collection of stories is The News From Dublin. I’m thrilled to have him on this edition of Steve Bertrand on Books.

Colm is something special. He makes this podcast special, too.

Alright, it’s time to move to the edge of your seat. Nick Petrie joins Steve to talk about his new thriller, The Dark Time. It’s the ninth book in his acclaimed Peter Ash series. The book takes on the threat of rapidly expanding Artificial Intelligence in a way only Peter Ash can.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

One of the spring’s most anticipated books is a biography of American literary icon Judy Blume. Author Mark Oppenheimer joins Steve to talk about the writer who helped us grow up and how she’s developed as she’s grown up. Blume cooperated with the writing of the book but has kept her distance from the final product.

And, would you wear a book on your purse? Coach is betting on it. They’ve created high fashion book charms for purses. Chris Kelly from Marketing Drive will explain.

In this episode, Steve talks with two authors.

Johnny Compton writes horror/fantasy stories and his latest is Dead First. Johnny has and interesting theory on horror stories. He says most of our most famous stories all have some aspect of horror in them. You might agree after you hear what he has to say.

Also in this episode we hear from Jordy Rosenberg. Jordy has created a fantastic character, who might actually be his mom. In the novel Night Night Fawn, Barbara Rosenberg is dying. She tells her story from two perspectives: one is a...

Mark Greaney joins Steve to talk about The Hard Line, the 15th installment of his Gray Man thriller series. In the book, the intelligence community is under attack by selective assassins. It’s up to Court Gentry and his team to stop them. Greaney is well known to those who like to read on the edge of their seat. He also talks with Steve about his collaboration with Tom Clancy on Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. In fact, Greaney carried on the Ryan series after Tom Clancy died.  How’s that for pressure?

And did you know Rockford...

How about we get a few chuckles from the emergency room? Dr. Ashely Alker takes a light-“hearted” look at how we die in “99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them”. It’s actually a fun read with a very personal origin story. Ashely’s mom was diagnosed with a serious illness and the family couldn’t keep up with the medical jargon. She went into medicine to help translate what doctors were telling telling them about her mom. Sadly, her mother died before she became a full-on doctor. And, Minnesotans are still coping with the immigration trauma, and many are d...

Why is it we’re so drawn to Victorian novels? Charles Finch has some ideas. He’s the author behind the Charles Lenox detective series. His novel The Hidden City was a hit last year. Charles is also a respected book critic. That’s a job that comes with some heavy responsibility. He talks about that and about what he hears from authors who don’t like his reviews. Also, do you have a hard time putting a book aside, even if you don’t like it? Sophie Vershbow writes about that in The Atlantic. She helps Steve know when to sa...

In this episode of Steve Bertrand on Books, Steve talks with author Brad Meltzer. Brad has succeeded in every type of writing he’s explored, including television, non-fiction and even children’s books, but he’s best known for his thrillers. Brad is currently on the New York Times best seller list with The Viper. In the interview, he talks about the novel and about how he was faced with the prospect of having his own father arrested. And, are you have trouble getting into a reading routine? Turns out there’s a science behind reading habits. Steve talks reading...

British writer Kazuo Ishiguro has been named the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2015, he spoke with WGN Radio’s Steve Bertrand about his novel The Buried Giant:

Kazuo Ishiguro, who has won the Man Booker Prize and been awarded the O.B.E., has been called one of Britain’s most important living novelists. His latest, The Buried Giant, examines the frailty of collective memory with the story of an elderly post-King Arthur era couple on their way to visit their long lost son. Their memories aren’t altogether reliable. In this interview with Steve...

The New York Times has called Alan Furst “America’s preeminent spy novelist.” His new book, A Hero of France, about the French Resistance, is the first in a long time set during the war years, rather than the eve of World War II. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the novel and about the importance of learning to look at the world from someone else’s angle.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Let’s go back to Boston in 1721. Historian Stephen Coss says it was one of the most influential years in U.S. history. And why not: We meet a young Ben Franklin, a chastised Cotton Mather and the beginning American arguments over faith and science. You’ll be surprised by who is on which side. Coss talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about “The Fever of 1721.”

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Anna Quindlen has been telling us what we’re thinking,  or maybe how we’re thinking, for decades. First as a columnist for Newsweek and the New York Times and now as a novelist. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel, “Miller’s Valley,” with stops along the way about what it means to be home, keeping current in the fast-moving world of the internet, and, of course, the ubiquitous campaign for president.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

How many bad ideas have you had today? Wharton School of Business professor Adam Grant says the more the merrier, or original anyway. In his book Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World, Grant looks at what makes a truly original thinker. Bad ideas can be a good sign. Much more in this interview with Steve Bertrand on Books.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Chris Pavone is not your run of the mill espionage writer. Think of it this this way: Pavone writes and about real and compelling people who happen to be spies. His latest novel, “The Travelers,” proves that point wonderfully. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the novel, about writing, and about being a stay-at-home dad in Europe.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Did you know the idea of an average person was unheard of until the 19th century?  Today, we measure ourselves against the average: the average ACT score, the average income, it goes on and on.  Harvard professor Todd Rose, who’s written “The End of Average,” says that’s a big mistake that costs us all.  He wants to do away with college diplomas, among other things, and focus on the science of the individual.

He explains it all in this chat with Steve Bertrand on Books.

Let’s do lunch with the 1960s socialites of New York City. Truman Capote will be there, so will Baby Paley. Novelist Melanie Benjamin writes about the rise and fall of Capote as seen through his relationships with the very rich in “Swans of Fifth Avenue: A Novel.” Melanie is the guest on  this edition of Steve Bertrand on Books.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Author Eric Weiner is chasing genius, trying to figure out what made Athens or Renaissance Florence tick. For that matter, what does today’s Silicon Valley have in common with Vienna during Mozart’s time or Edinburgh during the Enlightenment? He talks about his book The Geography of Genius in this edition of Steve Bertrand on Books.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Author Rebecca Makkai talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her short story collection Music for Wartime.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Novelist Vanessa Diffenbaugh adopted her son when he was 25-years-old. That’s not surprising at all if you know her. Diffenbaugh writes books but she rescues hearts. She created the Camellia Network after her first novel “The Language of Flowers.” The non-profit helps children who “age-out” of foster care at 18-years-old and are then left on their own. She talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel “We Didn’t Ask for Wings,” about her help for abandoned kids and about her bouncing “baby” boy.

Rec...

Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins, talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about her latest novel: Saint Mazie.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Pet coke, crooked politicians and corruption at Wrigley Field: today’s news or a new Sara Paretsky novel? Sara talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about V.I. Warshawky’s latest adventures in Brush Back. She and Steve also discuss her challenges as the president of the Mystery Writers of America.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Ryan Stradal’s debut novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest is getting rave reviews and it’s no wonder.  He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about growing up in Minnesota and writing the book his mom would have loved.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Michel Faber talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about The Book of Strange New Things, a fantastical novel set in another world, but a story grounded very much on earth.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

With the release of Harper Lee’s novel Go Set a Watchman, Steve Bertrand on Books gets the lowdown on Harper and Alice Lee with Marja Mills. Her book The Mockingbird Next Door details her time living next door to the Lee sisters in Monroeville, Alabama.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Brad Meltzer talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about the pull of parents, the secrets of Devil’s Island, and Ronald Reagan’s gun. It’s all in Meltzer’s latest political thriller, The President’s Shadow.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books

Michael Alan Peck is the winner of the 2015 Soon to Be Famous Authors Project. He talks with Steve Bertrand on Books about his award winning novel and the wonder of librarians.

Recent Posts

Steve Bertrand on Books