Fully Booked by Kirkus Reviews

On this week’s episode, Chad Harbach joins us to discuss The Brightness (Little, Brown, Oct. 27), the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his sensational debut novel, 2011’s The Art of Fielding. In a starred review, Kirkus calls The Brightness—which returns readers to fictional Westish, Wisconsin, four years hence—“brilliant, poignant, and absorbing” (starred review).
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
Poor Farm Meadow by Cynthia Centerbar
Frail Blood by Edward Stanton
Under an Indiana Sky by Lynne Hugo
Maybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. by Dawn Dolan, illus. By Olena Kharkovenko
The Seven by Igor Stefanovic

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Description:
On this week’s special episode, we’re celebrating the 2026 Kirkus Prizes, announced Oct. 7th at a ceremony in New York City. Kirkus Prize for Fiction winner Tayari Jones joins us to discuss the ceremony, literary prizes, and her stellar novel, Kin, which judges selected from 3,584 eligible titles.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
Poor Farm Meadow by Cynthia Centerbar
Frail Blood by Edward Stanton
Under an Indiana Sky by Lynne Hugo
Maybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. by Dawn Dolan, illus. by Olena Kharkovenko
The Seven by Igor Stefanovic
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s special episode, recorded live at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., we’re joined by Jordan Moblo, Executive Vice President of Creative Acquisitions and IP Management at Universal Studio Group, and founder of Jordy’s Book Club, for a conversation about what it takes to develop books for TV series, book clubs, reading recommendations, and more.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
Where the Wild Horses Are by Amy Alznauer (Neal Porter/Holiday House)
World News From Waverly High by Linda Kass
Hugo by Karl Linden
Sebastian the Belgian Koala by Jill Charlotte Thomas, illus. by Parks Sadler
The Hourglass by Michelle Christina

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On this week’s episode, comedian, host, actor, writer, and producer Murray Hill joins us to discuss Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man (Gallery Books, Oct. 6). Kirkus: “A rip-roaring story of Liza-esque unsinkability from a Don Rickles–esque entertainer.”
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell (Simon & Schuster Audio)
The Stirling Defense by Gerald Patnode
Life With Less of Me by Julianna Burmesch
The Noema Field by Salvatore Cataudella
The Drop by Iohamil Navarro
A Stranger in Every House by Richard Carr

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On this week’s special Kirkus Indie Awards episode, C.W. Johnson discusses his award-winning novel, A Life Full of Quarks (Baryon Dreams Press, Sept. 24, 2024). “In Johnson’s novel, a brilliant physicist tries to build a life after narrowly surviving a childhood filled with reanimated dinosaurs, runaway aliens, and mutated Mexican beaded lizards,” Kirkus writes in a starred review. “Heartbreaking and hilarious.”
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
The Inner Compass by S.J. King
Born Sick in the USA by Stephen Bezruchka
Good Lookin’ by T.L. Bequette
The Conclusion of the American Experiment by Jonathan Morrow
Adams Morgan Fugue by Alex Fardon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.