Today I talked to Benjamin Resnick about his novel Next Stop (Simon and Schuster, 2024) < Back Next Stop Benjamin Resnick November 12, 2024 A hole opens in the universe and suddenly consumes a building, then a neighborhood, and then the entire country of Israel. Conspiracies and antisemitic paranoia simmer, violence erupts, and life for Jews around the globe becomes even more hate filled. But Ethan and Ella, both Jewish, meet and fall in love in an unnamed American city. Their relationship has its challenges, including those involving Ella’s seven-year-old son, but their biggest struggle is trying to survive. Then thousands of airplanes disappear, borders close, and the world unravels more. Drones and robotic dogs patrol the streets and Jews are forced to live in a single neighborhood, slyly named after the historical Pale of Settlement. Some Jews escape to underground cities and others are join militias and resistance efforts, but Ella and Ethan are trying to find things to smile about in this thought-provoking, dystopian novel about cultural memory, societal crisis, and living in an upside-down world. Benjamin Resnick is a writer and the rabbi of the Pelham Jewish Center. Before joining the PJC in 2021, he served as Rav Beit HaSefer at Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and as Rabbi and Education Director at Congregation Ahavas Achim in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Resinick majored in Literary Arts at Brown University in 006 and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2014. He has written nonfiction for multiple publications, including the Washington Post, The Forward, Tablet, Modern Judaism and My Jewish Learning. Benjamin is married to journalist Philissa Cramer, who is currently editor-in-chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. They have two boys, Jonah and Gabriel. In his free time, he enjoys gardening, playing squash, and the Chicago Cubs. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Ben Novotny was born with a rare chromosomal abnormality that caused profound mental retardation and seizures. He is severely limited but forms a tight bond with his older brother Hugo, who invents fun distractions and games that become dangerous as Ben gets older and bigger. Degrees of Difficulty follows the family over several decades as they each come to an understanding of how Ben affected their lives. < Back Degrees of Difficulty Julie Justicz October 21, 2019 Ben Novotny was born with a rare chromosomal abnormality that caused profound mental retardation and seizures. He is severely limited but forms a tight bond with his older brother Hugo, who invents fun distractions and games that become dangerous as Ben gets older and bigger. Ben’s mother, Caroline, a lit professor at Emory, is barely holding herself together with mind-numbing drugs. His father, Percy, a successful contractor in Atlanta, keeps hoping to find an institution that will provide the kind of care Ben needs. His sister, Ivy angrily longs to escape after graduation, and his brother, Hugo gives up his own dreams to take care of Ben. Degrees of Difficulty (Fomite Press, 2019) follows the family over several decades as they each come to an understanding of how Ben affected their lives. Born and raised in England, Julie Justicz moved to the Bahamas when she was ten, and then to the United States as a teenager. Julie comes from a family of Olympians: Her father George Justicz rowed for Great Britain in the 1960 Rome Olympics; her brother Robert competed in the Special Olympics as a swimmer; and Julie has been a proud participant as a triathlete in the Gay Games (formerly known as the Gay Olympics). She earned a law degree from the University of Chicago and received an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. As an attorney and advocate, Julie currently works on civil rights issues in Chicago. She lives in Oak Park, Illinois with her spouse, Mary, and their two children. When she’s not trying to read, Julie likes to run - physical motion seems to result in creative composting. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

In Sari Rosenblatt’s collection, Father Guards the Sheep, by turns tender and hilarious, we see fathers who are bullies and nervous watchdogs, haunted by their own pasts and fear of the future they may never see. And who do their daughters become? < Back Father Guards the Sheep Sari Rosenblatt March 30, 2021 In Sari Rosenblatt’s collection, Father Guards the Sheep (University of Iowa Press, 2020), by turns tender and hilarious, we see fathers who are bullies and nervous watchdogs, haunted by their own pasts and fear of the future they may never see. And who do their daughters become? A substitute teacher who encounters mouthy students who believe she’s not real. Another lands a job on her city’s arson squad, researching derelict properties their owners might want to burn. A beleaguered mother, humiliated by the PTA’s queen bee, finds solace in an ancient piece of caramel candy. “I keep sucking,” she says, “until some flavor, no longer caramel, comes out.” In the end, this is what all these finely wrought characters want: to wring sweetness from what’s been passed down to them. Rosenblatt’s comic sensibility, so present in these stories, entertains and consoles, while seeming to say to her readers: you might as well laugh. Sari Rosenblatt earned an MFA (1984) from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has won awards for her stories from Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry , Glimmer Train, New Millenium Writings, and Ms Magazine . She has been published in the Iowa Review and has taught fiction writing at several schools, most recently the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. Her first book of short stories, Father Guards the Sheep, was winner of the 2020 Iowa Short Fiction Award. Sari has also completed a novel, "Daughter of Retail", based on the first short story in Father Guards the Sheep . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Debra Spark’s latest novel was inspired by the life of Walt Kuhn, who introduced Americans to modern art, and also by an infamous east coast boarding school that was forcibly shut down in 2014. The novel twists and turns through the lives of an artist and his wife, a teenager forced to attend a horrifying boarding school, the artist and his wife’s lonely daughter after their deaths, and a divorced art appraiser studying the works of the dead artist. < Back Discipline Debra Spark April 15, 2025 Discipline (Four Way Books, 2024), Debra Spark’s latest novel was inspired by the life of Walt Kuhn, who introduced Americans to modern art, and also by an infamous east coast boarding school that was forcibly shut down in 2014. The novel twists and turns through the lives of an artist and his wife, a teenager forced to attend a horrifying boarding school, the artist and his wife’s lonely daughter after their deaths, and a divorced art appraiser studying the works of the dead artist. Discipline addresses teenagers whose lives are molded by thoughtless adults and women who struggle with loneliness or are taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. It’s a coming-of-age story, a mystery about an art theft, but this gorgeous novel is also about family, ambition, and suffering. DEBRA SPARK is the author of five novels, two collections of short stories, and two books of essays on fiction writing. Her most recent books are the novel Unknown Caller and the essay collection And Then Something Happened. With Deborah Joy Corey, she co-edited Breaking Bread, a book of food essays by Maine writers to raise funds for a hunger nonprofit. Her short work has appeared in Agni, AWP Writers’ Chronicle, the Boston Globe, the Cincinnati Review, the Chicago Tribune, Epoch, Esquire, Five Points, Food and Wine, Harvard Review, Huffington Post, Maine Magazine, Narrative, New England Travel and Life, the New England Review, the New York Times, Ploughshares, salon.com , the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, Yankee, and Yale Alumni Quarterly , among other places. In addition to writing book reviews, fiction, articles, and essays, she spent a decade writing about home, art, and design for Maine Home+Design, Decor Maine, Down East, Dwell, Elysian, Interiors Boston, New England Home, and Yankee . She writes a monthly book review column of French books in English translation for Frenchly.us. She has been the recipient of several awards including Maine’s 2017 READ ME series, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Bunting Institute fellowship from Radcliffe College, Wisconsin Institute Fellowship, Pushcart Prize, Michigan Literary Fiction Award, and John Zacharis/Ploughshares award for best first book. A graduate of Yale University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she is a professor at Colby College and teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. When she’s not working, Spark exercises, studies French, spends time with friends and family, bakes gluten-free, and belongs to a cookbook book club. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Six years ago, Katya Zamarin’s mother was murdered by a stranger who also maimed her Aunt Julia. More recently, her father died of a heart attack. < Back Marriage to the Sea Sarah Stone May 12, 2026 Six years ago, Katya Zamarin’s mother was murdered by a stranger who also maimed her Aunt Julia. More recently, her father died of a heart attack. He visits Katya in a dream, and she believes he wants her to head to Paris for a conference organized by his environmentalist hero. Katya’s youngest sister, Arielle, a recovering addict and aspiring actress, tags along. And Aunt Julia, once an infamous soap opera star, flies to Paris when Arielle suffers an unexplained sleeping sickness. Everyone is grappling with survival, grief, and worry about the climate in these two entwined novellas about sisters, family, identity, and finding one’s purpose. Listen to this interview about Marriage to the Sea: Linked Novellas (Four Way Books, 2026) Sarah Stone was born in San Francisco; her father was a professor of psychology and an environmental activist and her mother a collagist, assemblagist, and ceramic sculptor. Sarah studied art and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and later got her MFA in Fiction from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has taught ESL in Bujumbura, Burundi, and in person and on TV in Seoul, South Korea. She was a volunteer at the Jane Goodall chimpanzee orphanage in Bujumbura, a psychiatric aide in a locked facility by the Pacific Ocean, and office help at an apparently haunted massage school and retreat center in the Santa Cruz mountains. She has taught at UC Berkeley and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, among other places. She now lives in the SF East Bay and teaches creative writing online through Stanford Continuing Studies. She’s also a facilitator of the Jewish Studio Process. Her books include Hungry Ghost Theater , a finalist for the 38th annual Northern California Book Awards; The True Sources of the Nile ; and now Marriage to the Sea . She is also the co-author, with her spouse, Ron Nyren, of Deepening Fiction: A Practical Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Writers . When she’s not writing or reading (though mostly she is writing or reading), she loves drawing, inventing recipes, exploring art museums, or picnicking on the beach with her extended family (bundled up, winter or summer, because the Northern California beaches tend to be bracing). You can find Sarah online at here . Comments Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

In John DeSimone's Road to Delano (Rare Bird Books, 2020), it's 1968, and Cesar Chavez is organizing the United Farm Workers to fight for decent working conditions and basic human rights, while growers get increasingly violent in trying to prevent unionization. < Back Road to Delano John DeSimone August 12, 2020 In John DeSimone's Road to Delano (Rare Bird Books, 2020), it's 1968, and Cesar Chavez is organizing the United Farm Workers to fight for decent working conditions and basic human rights, while growers get increasingly violent in trying to prevent unionization. Teenager Jack Duncan learns that his father’s death did not happen the way he’d been told. His best friend Adrian joins his own father in fighting for workers rights with Chavez. Jack and Adrian hope baseball will be their ticket to college scholarships and a way out of Delano, California, but Jack’s widowed mother is about to lose her house to a greedy grower, and because of his father’s activities, school officials threaten Adrian’s hope of graduation. Turns out the growers own the town, including the police department and the school officials. The plight of pesticide-poisoning and other injustices to immigrant workers (which we are sadly still fighting today) pulls the two best friends away from their goal of getting out of Delano and pushes them into a deadly game of survival. John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He's been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers) with Enjeela Ahmadi, and Courage to Say No with Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His novels Leonardo's Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition, and in 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete Road to Delano . He works with aspiring writers with stories of inspiration and determination or with those who have a vital message. When he isn’t reading or writing, John loves traveling and tasting different foods and cultures, but he is currently a caregiver for his wife. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Teri M. Brown's novel Sunflowers Beneath the Snow opens in 1973 with a Ukrainian man being spirited out of the USSR. He’s part of the resistance and his cover was blown. < Back Sunflowers Beneath the Snow Teri M. Brown February 15, 2022 Teri M. Brown's novel Sunflowers Beneath the Snow (Atmosphere Press 2022) opens in 1973 with a Ukrainian man being spirited out of the USSR. He’s part of the resistance and his cover was blown. Ivanna, his wife is told that he died in another woman’s bed, and she never wants to hear his name again. Loyal to the Soviet Union, Ivanna manages to raise her daughter Yevtsye, who grows up, falls in love, gets married, and gives birth to a daughter, Ionna. Then Gorbachev comes to power and the Soviet Union collapses, leaving Ivanna in shock but offering hope to Yevtsye, Danya, and their daughter. The years pass, and Ionna wants to learn languages and see the world. She takes a job at an American summer camp and slowly overcomes the prejudices of the rest of the staff. Then the Soviet army invades Crimea, and she can’t get home, so she heads to New York City in hopes of blending into the large Ukrainian population. This is a story of resilience and courage. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

The message essentially parentless Sandi Donovan learns after being dumped first at an inattentive aunt’s and then at a bootcamp for delinquent teenagers, is to never put her destiny in anyone else’s hands. After her mother dies, her father uses her for cons but can’t be bothered to raise her. < Back Sandstorm Joyce Yarrow August 24, 2021 Today I talked to Joyce Yarrow about her new novel Sandstorm (D.X. Varos, 2021). The message essentially parentless Sandi Donovan learns after being dumped first at an inattentive aunt’s and then at a bootcamp for delinquent teenagers, is to never put her destiny in anyone else’s hands. After her mother dies, her father uses her for cons but can’t be bothered to raise her. She’s fifteen but passes for twenty, and the man who takes her in after she escapes the bootcamp teaches her how to create and sell counterfeit goods. She already knows how to reinvent herself and is surprised at how easy it is to lie. She’s a quick study but struggles with wanting to live a legitimate life rather than continuing to be the grifter and con artist she was raised to be. No matter how good her intentions, everything she does triggers a sandstorm in this heartwarming, fast-paced coming of age tale. Joyce Yarrow was raised in the Southeast Bronx, but escaped to Manhattan, where she wrote poetry while riding the bus through the Lower East Side. The Bus Poems were published, and her writing career was launched. She graduated from Antioch University in L.A. with a combined degree in Music and Communications – two lifelong interests. In addition to five published novels, Joyce's short stories and essays have appeared in numerous national publications, and she is a member of both the Authors Guild and Sisters in Crime. When she’s not writing, Joyce loves gardening, and when the pandemic is over, she plans to return to singing with the world music vocal-with-percussion ensemble, Abráce. They sing in 20 languages, and she’s great at memorizing lyrics but terrible in foreign language conversation. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

I'm grateful to author Molly MacCrae at Mystery Lover's Kitchen ((https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/2026/06/welcome-guest-author-gp-gottlieb-with.html) for giving me the impetus to write this old and true recipe down! < Back Sweet Pea Basil Tahini Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Serves: 6-10 Tags: Dips and Sauces, Vegan, Vegetarian About the Recipe I love recipes that use pantry or freezer ingredients, and this one only requires the addition of fresh basil (or fresh mint if you're making the Sweet Pea Mint version of the dip. Earlier in the week, I had about a cup of leftover Sweet Pea Basil Tahini and poured it over sauteed veggies and pesto to create a new dish! This dip/sauce is extremely versatile. Ingredients 2 cups frozen sweet peas 3 TBSP olive oil 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice (or more to taste) 3 TBSP water 2 TBSP tahini 1 tsp powdered garlic (or 2 fresh, small, minced cloves) 1 or 2 large sprigs fresh basil with leaves and stems (about ¼ cup) ½ tsp salt Pinch of pepper Preparation In a small glass bowl, microwave peas for 2 minutes in about 1/3 of a cup of water. Remove and chill in an ice bath or under cold water for a minute. Then strain out the water. In a food processor, blend everything until smooth for about 1 to 2 minutes. (Taste and add more salt as needed.) Alternative: For a Sweet Pea MINT Pesto, skip the tahini and basil, add 2 large sprigs of fresh mint with leaves and stems, ¼ cup toasted pine nuts, and 2 TBSPs nutritional yeast. (It’ll already be salty from the nutritional yeast but add more if needed!) Except for fresh basil or mint, I always have the rest of the ingredients at home. Enjoy either version as a dip or add water to thin it into a sauce. I like to spread it on toast or drizzle it over vegetables, pasta, and fritters. Previous Next

A Kentucky father treats Carol, his thirteen-year-old motherless daughter like a servant up to the moment he loses her in a poker game. It’s 1933, and Carol’s aching heart begins a novel of stories filled with heartache or joy that weaves back and forth across decades. < Back Night Came With Many Stars Simon Van Booy December 21, 2021 Night Came With Many Stars (Godine, 2021) ebbs and flows with people who only take or destroy, balanced by those who give or heal. And everything centers on a family. A Kentucky father treats Carol, his thirteen-year-old motherless daughter like a servant up to the moment he loses her in a poker game. It’s 1933, and Carol’s aching heart begins a novel of stories filled with heartache or joy that weaves back and forth across decades. Carol gets rescued on the side of the road and finds a home with two women who help pregnant teenagers, a woman survives a botched self-induced abortion, a Black family saves a starving white boy, and Carol’s grandson wins money playing poker. In this beautifully-written novel, characters are defined by what they do, not by what they are. Simon Van Booy is the award-winning and best-selling author of fifteen books that include: The Secret Lives of People in Love (short-listed for the Vilcek Prize), Love Begins in Winter (awarded the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award), Everything Beautiful Began After, The Illusion of Separateness, Tales of Accidental Genius, Father's Day, The Sadness of Beautiful Things (short-listed for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize), two novels for children, Gertie Milk & The Keeper of Lost Things and Gertie Milk & The Great Keeper Rescue, along with three anthologies of philosophy, Why We Fight, Why Our Decisions Don't Matter and Why We Need Love. He has has written for The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, National Public Radio, the BBC, and the Chinese edition of ELLE. His books have been translated into many languages and optioned for film. In 2013, he founded Writers for Children, a project which helps young people build confidence in their storytelling abilities through annual awards. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Louise Penny: Armond Gamache Mysteries < Back Louise Penny Author of The Armond Gamache Mysteries February 14, 2023 Canadian author Louise Penny is a little younger than me and has written one of the most beloved mystery series of all time ( I think). Her Inspector Gamache has a complex personality and has experienced much anguish but still maintains his kind dignity. She writes that he is based on her husband Michael, who developed dementia and died in 2016 at age 83. Penny credits her husband with having given her the ability to stop working and focus on writing . She was already forty when she published Still Life, the first of the Gamache books (which I loved). I think highly of Louise Penny’s ability to portray her characters with so much humanity. They feel the range of human emotions and seem like they could walk off the page and continue their conversations. I’ve devoured at least five Inspector Gamache novels and would continue reading the entire set if I wasn’t trying so hard to read at least one book of every author I know (and those I don’t)! Previous Next

When Leah Lax was asked to write an opera to celebrate local immigrants, she began by spending a year listening to accounts of upheaval, migration, and arrival told her in confidence by people from around the globe. She felt she had discovered America, found its great beating heart. < Back Not From Here: the Song of America Leah Lax June 17, 2025 After she was invited by the Houston Opera to create a libretto celebrating local immigrants, Leah Lax listened to hundreds of stories from fellow Texans about their struggles to reach the United States. In NOT FROM HERE: The Song of America (Pegasus 2024) Lax recalls her conversations with several of the immigrants who came from El Salvador, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Ukraine, Nigeria, and Cuba. Many fled their countries due to destruction instigated by this country, and although they had to endure terrible hardship to get here, they all feel lucky to be in the U.S. In story after story, Lax reminds us that we’ve always been a nation of immigrants - very few of us came from here. https://newbooksnetwork.com/not-from-here Leah Lax is an award-winning author who has also written libretti for some of America’s top composers. She began her career publishing essays and short stories in HuffPost, Longreads, Salon and others journals. Her “Berkeh’s Story ” won the first Moment Magazine Karma Fiction Award. She received grants from National Endowment for the Arts, Brown Foundation, Houston Arts Alliance, and residencies at Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and Vermont Studio Center. She created the sold-out Houston In Concert Against Hate featuring the Houston symphony and rapper Bun B. Her script was narrated by actress Audre Woodard. Her memoir, Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home was a Redbook Book of the Year, Houston Chronicle #1 Pick, a Booklist starred review, many “best of" lists, praised by Lambda Literary, Jewish Book Council, and Gloria Steinem. With composer Lori Laitman, Leah wrote Uncovered as an opera about a Hassidic mother/secret lesbian who has an abortion and dares to find real love. With Mark Buller, Leah wrote Overboard about survivors of WWII, Mass In Exile, a search for new faith in a broken world, and Requiem In the Light. These last two were performed in two cities and recorded and published by ECSchirmer. review, Midwest Books Book of the Month, Houston Chronicle Sunday Feature, etc... all before the 2023 Hamas attack in Israel, after which Leah and her book were boycotted. Not a full-time hack, Leah also loves making music with friends, romping with Airedale Gracie, and, with her awesome quirky wife, kayaking waterway around the world. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next