Kate often says that if she were a writer she would have trouble reading James McBride. It's hard not to hear a mic drop when you close the back cover. He is a master of storytelling; his sentences so packed with history, humor, and meaning that at times you forget what he was talking about, but you won't mind a bit. His writing often knocks off our socks, and his new novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, is no exception. For our bookstore this week? We let James choose one of his favorites, Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Kill 'em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Song Yet Sung by James McBride

Five-Carat Soul by James McBride

Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus



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