Literary critic and memoirist Bethanne Patrick sits down with author Luis Alberto Urrea to discuss writing family in fiction. Luis is a multi-genre talent, having published pieces in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. “The magic of words” is something he fully believes in, and what it means for him to have a platform is discussed.

Our #FridayReads are plentiful this week, with Persuasion by Jane Austen, Fantastic Pacific Crucible by Ian W. Toll, Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson, Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs, The Bone Orchard Mythos Tenement by Jeff Lemire, Young Goodman Brown and other short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mother Tongue by Jenni Nuttall, Brushback by Sara Paretsky, Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson, Dragged Up Proppa by Pip Fallow, and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett.

John Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath may be a classic no more- listen to this weeks’ Canon or Can It.

Bethanne’s Six Recs this week are about regional truth and are: The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urea, A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel, Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink, The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bettyville by George Hodgman, and The Late Homecomer by Kao Kalia Yang.

Find Bethanne on X, Substack, Instagram, and Threads.

The Book Maven: A Literary Revue is hosted by Bethanne Patrick, produced by Christina McBride, and engineered by Jordan Aaron, with help from Lauren Stack.

All titles mentioned: Across the Wire and Into the Beautiful North and The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urea, Persuasion by Jane Austen, Fantastic Pacific Crucible by Ian W. Toll, Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson, Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs, The Bone Orchard Mythos Tenement by Jeff Lemire, Young Goodman Brown and other short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mother Tongue by Jenni Nuttall, Brushback by Sara Paretsky, Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson, Dragged Up Proppa by Pip Fallow, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett, The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urea, A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel, Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink, The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bettyville by George Hodgman, and The Late Homecomer by Kao Kalia Yang

Literary critic and memoirist Bethanne Patrick sits down with author Louis Bayard to discuss “the marriage plot” and his eleven novels. They talk about writing from an unfamiliar point of view and pushing yourself as a writer. His newest book, The Wilds, released September of this year by Algonquin Books.

The Friday readers tweeted about Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Free Thinking, Inquiry, and Hope by Sarah Bakewell, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, 1979 by Val McDermid, Willful Behavior by Donna Leon, and State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg.

Little Women and its various adaptations are discussed in this week’s Pop! Goes the Culture.

Bethanne Patrick’s Six Recs for the week are all memoirs: All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner, Dirtbag Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald, The Yellow House by Sarah Broom, Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James, and finally Country Girl by Edna O'Brien.

Find Bethanne on X, Substack, Instagram, and Threads.

The Book Maven: A Literary Revue is hosted by Bethanne Patrick, produced by Christina McBride, and engineered by Jordan Aaron, with help from Lauren Stack.

All titles mentioned: Courting Mr. Lincoln and The Wilds by Louis Bayard, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Free Thinking, Inquiry, and Hope by Sarah Bakewell, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, 1979 by Val McDermid, Willful Behavior by Donna Leon, State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Little Women II directed by Kōzō Kusuba, Little Men directed by Ira Sachs, Younger created by Darren Star, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, March by Geraldine Brooks, This Wide Night by Sarvat Hasin, All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner, Dirtbag Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald, The Yellow House by Sarah Broom, Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James, and finally Country Girl by Edna O'Brien.

Book critic and memoirist Bethanne Patrick sits down with author Dolen Perkins-Valdez to discuss teaching the writing process. Chair of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors, Valdez’s latest novel, Happy Land, comes out this April with Penguin Random House.

This week’s Canon or Can It subject is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Before we ruffle some feathers—just, hear us out.

Bethanne recommends Jim Shepard's The Book of Aaron, Percival Everett's James, Keri Hulme’s The Bone People, Rosa Liksom's Compartment Number Six, Marie NDiaye's Vengeance is Mine, and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.

Find Bethanne on X, Substack, Instagram, and Threads.

The Book Maven: A Literary Revue is hosted by Bethanne Patrick, produced by Christina McBride, and engineered by Jordan Aaron, with help from Lauren Stack.

Jim Shepard's The Book of Aaron, Percival Everett's James, Keri Hulme’s The Bone People, Rosa Liksom's Compartment Number Six, Marie NDiaye's Vengeance is Mine, Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, Tommy Orange's latest book, Wandering Stars, Patric Gagne's Sociopath, and Ludwig Bemelmans's Hotel Splendide.