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Novelist Paul Yoon has earned acclaim for fiction that examines lives shaped by war, exile, and resilience. His new novel, 'Etna,' tells an unforgettable story through the eyes of a combat-trained dog who leaves the soldiers he served alongside to undertake an odyssey back to the place he once called home.

Novelist Paul Yoon has earned acclaim for fiction that examines lives shaped by war, exile, and resilience. His new novel, 'Etna,' tells an unforgettable story through the eyes of a combat-trained dog who leaves the soldiers he served alongside to undertake an odyssey back to the place he once called home.

James Scott has become one of America's leading historians of World War II, bringing meticulous research and compelling storytelling to pivotal moments in modern history. A Pulitzer Prize finalist and 'New York Times' bestselling author, Scott now turns to one of the war's most consequential and controversial decisions in 'Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War.'Drawing on newly uncovered Japanese sources and survivor accounts, the book examines the final months of the Pacific War, the debates surrounding the atomic bomb, and the devastating human cost of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. James Scott joins us to discuss 'Empire of Ashes.'

In George Pelecanos' new novel, 'The Blue Flame,' Pelecanos brings back beloved private investigator Derek Strange for his first new case in more than a decade. Hired to verify an alibi in a murder investigation, Strange finds himself navigating a city where violence, corruption, and moral ambiguity collide.It’s a sharp mystery about justice, redemption, and the instincts that refuse to fade. George Pelecanos joins us to talk about 'The Blue Flame.'

Physician and acclaimed novelist Daniel Mason has a gift for finding the extraordinary in everyday life. His new novel, 'Country People,' follows a young family whose move to rural Vermont becomes an unexpected journey into folklore, community, and imagination.Daniel Mason is our guest on this week’s Book Show – this afternoon at 3, Thursday night at 8 and online at wamc.org. In this preview of the program, we talk with Daniel Mason about the book and reactions from early readers – including the question for the author, “do you listen to WAMC?”

Long before Joe Goldberg became one of fiction's most unsettling antiheroes, he was simply a lonely teenager looking for love. In 'You First: A Joe Goldberg Prequel,' Caroline Kepnes takes readers back to seventeen-year-old Joe, working in Mr. Mooney's Manhattan bookstore and chasing the promise of romance, only to reveal how obsession and deception first took root. Kepnes, the 'New York Times' bestselling author whose 'You' novels inspired the hit Netflix series, once again blends dark humor, psychological suspense, and razor-sharp social observation. This origin story offers longtime fans—and newcomers alike—a chilling look at how monsters are made.

Jan Carson has become one of the most imaginative voices in contemporary Irish fiction, blending folklore, magical realism, and the emotional complexities of everyday life. The Belfast-based writer is the award-winning author of 'The Fire Starters,' winner of the European Union Prize for Literature, as well as 'The Raptures' and several acclaimed short story collections. Her new novel, 'Few and Far Between,' imagines an alternate Northern Ireland where the draining of Lough Neagh creates a mysterious archipelago that becomes a refuge from the Troubles. As environmental disaster threatens this isolated community decades later, Carson explores memory, family, belonging, and the enduring scars of history with wit, compassion, and startling originality.

For more than three decades, Bruce Sconzo has chronicled the world with a cartoonist's eye, blending wit, sharp observation, and an unmistakable drawing style to capture everything from everyday life to politics and popular culture. His new collection, 'Bruce: Three Decades of Cartooning.'

The Tanglewood Learning Institute presents 'February 1933' at the Linde Center on Saturday at 2PM in Lenox, MA. It is a World Premiere of a reading, with music, of Uwe Wittstock’s 'February 1933: The Winter of Literature.'

Earlier this summer we had a lobster bake of sorts under a pavilion at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, part of SPAC's Culinary Arts events with chef Devin Finigan. Finigan is owner of Aragosta and recognized as one of food and wine's best restaurants in both 2024 and 2025. Finigan shares stories from her debut cookbook 'A Kitchen on Goose Cove: Recipes from the Heart of Maine.' Joe Donahue spoke with Devin Finigan in May 2026.