Joshua Ferris’s first novel, Then We Came to the End, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a National Book Award finalist. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Best New American Voices, New Stories from the South, Prairie Schooner, and The Iowa Review. Ferris reads from and discusses his new novel The Unnamed, a dazzling novel about a marriage and a family and the unseen forces of nature and desire that seem to threaten them both. It is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.

($24.99) Reagan Arthur ISBN #978-0-316-03401-2. You can visit Joshua Ferris’s official web site as well.

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Connie Willis, who was recently inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, has received six Nebula Awards and ten Hugo Awards for her fiction. Her novel, Passage, was nominated for both awards, and her other acclaimed works include Doomsday Book, Lincoln’s Dreams, Bellwether, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and others. Willis discusses her new novel Blackout. In her first novel since 2002, Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds-great and small-of ordinary people who shape history. In the hands of this acclaimed storyteller, the past and future collide-and the result is at once intriguing, elusive, and frightening.

($26.00) Random House ISBN #978-0-553-80319-8. You can visit Connie Willis’s official web site as well.

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Robert Crais, the New York Times-bestselling author who sets the standard for intense, powerful crime-writing, reads from and discusses his new novel The First Rule, a blistering thriller featuring Joe Pike and Elvis Cole. This astonishing novel finds Pike and Cole on an investigation that quickly entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cutthroat criminality, and at the heart of it, an act so terrible even Pike and Cole have no way to measure it.

($26.95) Putnam ISBN #0-399-15613-5. You can visit Robert Crais’s official web site as well.

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Audrey Niffenegger, author of the acclaimed, bestselling debut novel The Time Traveler’s Wife, reads from and discusses her new novel Her Fearful Symmetry. An unnerving, unforgettable and enchanting ghost story, Niffenegger’s spectacularly compelling second novel is about love and identity, secrets and sisterhood and the tenacity of life-even after death.

($26.99) Simon & Schuster ISBN #978-1-43916-539-3. You can visit Audrey Niffenegger’s official web site as well.

Please also listen to Audrey Niffenegger Podcast The Three Incestuous Sisters.

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We feel an extra bit of pride when one of these books becomes a Hollywood film, a trip Carleen Brice’s Orange Mint and Honey will complete this Sunday, February 21 (8 PM ET/5 PM PT) as Sins of the Mother, based on Orange Mint and Honey, premiers on Lifetime Movie Network.

Boasting an all-start cast, Sins of the Mother stars Jill Scott (singer and star of the HBO original film The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) as Nona. Nicole Beharie (American Violet) portrays Shay, and Mimi Rogers plays Nona’s sponsor Lois.

Let’s rewind nearly two years to February 2008, when Carleen Brice returned to her old haunts to find a packed house waiting for her to read from her debut novel. In this Best of Authors On Tour podcast, Carleen reads two passages from Orange Mint and Honey. If you’d like to hear more, you can also listen to Carleen podcast her second novel, Children of the Waters

Check out a trailer for Sins of the Mother:

For only those whose names are in the Book of Life will be able to go to Heaven, which is our whole purpose for living on this Earth.

Xlibris, $34.99, ISBN#: 978-1-4363-2592-9

Award winning author Stephen Hunter reads from and discusses his new thriller I, Sniper. Filled with Hunter’s signature blend of brilliant plotting, vivid characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and extraordinary gunfights, this novel will satisfy Stephen Hunter’s legions of fans and win him droves of new ones.

($26.00) Simon & Schuster ISBN #978-1-41-656515-4 .

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He’s not just another great teacher. He is the procreator of a Life-Stream which includes Earthlings as a tiny fraction of his total Progeny. Even more important, the totality of his responsibilities is similar in scope to that which each of us must one day assume!

Xlibris, $19.54, ISBN#: 978-1-4134-8816-6

David Wroblewski reads from and discusses the new paperback edition of his extraordinary debut novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Filled with breathtaking scenes-the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain-The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a meditation on the limits of language and what lies beyond, a brilliantly inventive retelling of an ancient story, and an epic tale of devotion, betrayal, and courage in the American heartland.

($26.99) Ecco ISBN #978-0-06-137423-4. You can visit David Wroblewski’s official web site as well.

Please also listen to David Wroblewski’s podcast recorded while on book tour for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle hardcover edition.

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Zachary Lazar, whose novel Sway was named one of the Best Books of 2008 by Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications, reads from and discusses his new book Evening’s Empire: The Story of My Father’s Murder. When he was just six years old, Lazar’s father, Edward, was shot dead by hit men in a Phoenix, Arizona, parking garage. The year was 1975, a time when, according to the Arizona Republic, “land-fraud artists roamed the state in sharp suits, gouging money from buyers and investors.” How did his father fit into this world and how could his son ever truly understand the man, his time and place, and his motivations? In Evening’s Empire, Lazar brilliantly attempts to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to his father’s murder.

($24.99) Little, Brown ISBN #978-0-316-03768-6.

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During the choruses of the classic tune “Get Along Little Doggies,” Keillor even got the Tattered Cover crowd to sing along, a moment that won’t soon be forgotten by those in attendance.

If you enjoyed this Best of Authors On Tour podcast, please listen to the entire Garrison Keillor podcast.

This podcast was originally recorded on September 13, 2007.

Born to a family that always cared about food, Lucinda Scala Quinn started cooking professionally as a teenager. She has worked as a chef, cooking teacher, caterer, and food writer. She is Executive Food Director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and she appears regularly on NBC’s Today and Martha, as well as co-hosting PBS’s Everyday Food. Quinn discusses her new book Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys. With four hungry brothers, three ravenous sons, and a husband who loves to eat, Quinn has spent much of her life feeding the men and boys in her life and teaching them how to feed themselves. In her new book, she shares winning strategies for how to sate the seemingly insatiable, trade food for talk, and get men to manage in the kitchen.

($29.95) Workman ISBN #978-1-57965-356-9. You can visit Lucinda Scala Quinn’s official web site as well.

T.A. Barron is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such as The Lost Years of Merlin epic–soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including The Nature Conservancy and The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Barron reads from and discusses his new book Merlin’s Dragon: Doomraga’s Revenge, in which Basil becomes Merlin’s partner as they battle the mysterious shadows that threaten the new Avalon. In this jaw-dropping sequel to the mega-hit Merlin’s Dragon, Barron sends Merlin, Rhia, and Basil, the greatest dragon ever, on a mission across Avalon to root out this new enemy. But sacrifices will be made, relationships will be tested, and precious lives will be lost.

($19.99) Philomel ISBN #978-0-399-25212-9. You can visit T.A. Barron’s official web site as well.

Successful actress, stand-up comedienne, and television writer Elizabeth Beckwith reads from and discusses her hilarious first book Raising the Perfect Child through Guilt and Manipulation. A frequent guest on The Late, Late Show and one of seven comics featured in the Time magazine article, “Funny: The Next Generation,” Beckwith now puts forth a hilarious new parenting philosophy that would shock Dr. Spock and traumatize T. Berry Brazelton. Raising the Perfect Child through Guilt and Manipulation is a riotously irreverent take on contemporary child rearing.

($14.99) HarperCollins ISBN #978-0-0617-5957-4 . You can visit Elizabeth Beckwith’s official web site as well.

In Karl Alexander’s book Time After Time, H.G. Wells used his time machine to chase after Jack the Ripper who was on a killing spree in 1979 San Francisco. After H.G. met Amy Catherine Robbins, the love of his life, and banished the serial killer to the indefinite future, H.G. and Amy returned to 1893 London, believing they could live happily ever after. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Alexander reads from and discusses his sequel to Time After Time, Jaclyn the Ripper, in which Amy returns to the present, accidentally freeing Jack from his prison in the far future while also transforming Jack into a woman. Jaclyn the Ripper sets out on a new killing spree in 2010 Los Angeles, vowing revenge on H.G. and Amy. With the panache, excitement, and thrills that made Time After Time so popular, Karl Alexander has penned another winning tale of Wells: author, inventor, and unlikely hero.

($24.99) Tor ISBN #978-0-7653-1894-7. You can visit Karl Alexander’s official web site as well.

In this excerpt from The Sum of Our Days Allende reads from the chapter “Searching for a Bride.” She tells the hilarious tale of her quest to find a wife for her son Nico after his divorce.

Spoiler alert: Mother knows best!

If you enjoyed this Best of Authors On Tour podcast, please listen to the entire Isabel Allende podcast.

This podcast was originally recorded on April 10, 2008.

The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan’s editor–his wife, Harriet McDougal–to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, so The Gathering Storm is the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. Sanderson reads from and discusses Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm).

($29.99) Tor ISBN #978-0-7653-0230-4. You can visit Brandon Sanderson’s official web site as well.

Jonathan Lethem, the acclaimed author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude, reads from and discusses his new book Chronic City, a gorgeous, searing portrayal of Manhattanites wrapped in their own delusions, desires, and lies. Like Manhattan itself, Lethem’s newest masterpiece is beautiful and tawdry, tragic and forgiving, devastating and antic, a stand-in for the whole world and a place utterly unique.

($27.95) Doubleday ISBN #978-0-385-51863-5. You can visit Jonathan Lethem’s official web site as well.

Eoin Colfer is the author of the internationally best-selling Artemis Fowl series. His books have won several awards, including the British Children’s Book of the Year, the German Children’s Book of the Year, and a Betelgeusean Bloater award for shortest newcomer, which he keeps in his head as it is radioactive and scares the children. Colfer reads from and discusses And Another Thing…, the rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth installment in the late Douglas Adams‘ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone’s favorite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer, and at least one very large slab of cheese.

($25.99) Hyperion ISBN #978-1-40132-358-5. You can visit Eoin Colfer’s official web site as well.

James Ellroy, author of the internationally bestselling L.A. Quartet novels-The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz-as well as many other bestselling mysteries and a critically acclaimed memoir, reads from and discusses his new book Blood’s a Rover. Summer, 1968. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are dead. The assassination conspiracies have begun to unravel. And fate has placed three men at the vortex of history. Ellroy’s new story is political noir as only he can write it. Blood’s A Rover is a novel of astonishing depth and scope, a massive tale of corruption and retribution, of ideals at war and the extremity of love.

($28.95) Random House ISBN #978-0-679-40393-7.

During the time in between, he paid a visit to the Tattered Cover book store in Denver to discuss his book of made-up facts, The Areas of My Expertise, along with his personal troubador, Jonathan Coulton.

Hodgman and Coulton are nothing if not obsessed with depression-era hobos, as you’ll hear in this podcast. They sing about hobo nickels, lint-knitting, the hobos’ failed attempt at a U.S. Government takeover, and much, much more.

If you enjoyed this Best of Authors On Tour podcast, please listen to the entire John Hodgman podcast, where, among other things, he conducts the entire audience Q&A session via walkie talkie.

This podcast was originally recorded on February 17, 2006.

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the popular cooking show America’s Test Kitchen, Chris Kimball, founder and host of America’s Test Kitchen and founder and editor of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, will discusses the new Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.

($39.95) America’s Test Kitchen ISBN #978-1-933615-55-4.

Journalist Jeanette Walls, author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Glass Castle, discusses her new novel Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant. Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls’s no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother, lived a life of adventure, toil, heartbreak and triumph. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa or Beryl Markham’s West with the Night.

($25.00) Scribner ISBN #978-1-41658-628-9.

Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose works include The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, reads from and discusses his new book Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Chabon’s first major work of nonfiction, Manhood for Amateurs is a memoir as inventive, beautiful, and powerful as his acclaimed, award-winning fiction. In these insightful, provocative, slyly interlinked essays, Chabon presents his autobiography and his vision of life and explores what it means to be a man today.

($25.99) Ecco ISBN #978-0-06-149018-7. You can visit Michael Chabon’s official web site as well.

Joseph Kanon, the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Good German and Los Alamos, discusses his new novel Stardust. In his most absorbing and accomplished novel yet, Kanon tells a mesmerizing tale of Hollywood, post-war political intrigue, and one man’s determination to learn the truth about his brother’s death.

($27.95) Atria ISBN #978-1-4391-5614-8. You can visit Joseph Kanon’s official web site as well.

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Revealing answers from college students cover each school’s unique character and give you extensive insight into their classes, financial aid, social life, and everything in between. Students are the experts, after all, and they talked to 122,000 of them!

Random House / Princeton Review Books, $22.99, July 2009, ISBN#: 978-0-375-42938-5

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and two-time candidate for President of the United States, is a relentless force for grassroots activism and democratic change in America. Nader discusses and reads from his new novel Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a vivid fictional account that answers the question “What if?” What if a cadre of super-rich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation?

($27.50) Seven Stories ISBN #978-1-58322-903-3. You can visit Ralph Nader’s official website as well.

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The book is full of side-splittingly familiar stories that most dog owners can, unfortunately, relate to. The passage from Marley & Me that Grogan chose to read, though, recounts an experience few of us have had to endure: watching our dog disrupt a day of shooting on a movie set.

Many of us assume that animals appearing in film are specially trained to “act,” but as you’ll hear in this podcast, sometimes low-budget movies cast low-budget pets and are forced to live with the consequences!

This podcast was originally recorded on March 20, 2006. You can also listen to the uncut John Grogan: Marley & Me Podcast.

David Cross, known for roles on the small screen such as “never-nude” Tobias Funke on Arrested Development and the role of “David” in Mr. Show With Bob And David, as well as a hugely successful stand-up routine full of sharp-tongued rants and rages, reads from and discusses his first book I Drink for a Reason. With a mix of personal essays, satirical fiction posing as truth, advice for rich people, information from America’s least favorite Rabbi and a top-ten list of top-ten lists, Cross’ first book is as unique as the comedian himself.

($23.99) Grand Central ISBN #978-0-4465-7948-3. You can visit David Cross’s official web site as well.

AOT Partner Offer:
Download the I Drink for a Reason audiobook from Audible.com

Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Gabaldon reads from and discusses An Echo in the Bone, the enormously anticipated seventh volume which continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.

($30.00) Delacorte ISBN #978-0-3853-4245-2 .

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