Join us Wednesday, March 20th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Mary Kay Andrews and Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anna Quindlen to discuss her latest instant bestseller AFTER ANNIE, a hopeful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.
Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, non-fiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of ten novels including, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue. Her memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, which was published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her book, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at the New York Times, she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear. Anna’s new novel, AFTER ANNIE, was released earlier this month and instantly landed on both the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists. Called “luminous with life, hope and the power of love” by People Magazine (who also named it their Book of the Week), AFTER ANNIE is the Barnes & Noble National Book Club selection for March, an IndieNext pick, a LibraryReads pick, and an Amazon Best of the Month.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview Wed 3/20 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 3/22.
Order Anna’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for a bonus Q&A with Anna which includes a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about her work-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is working on a little project that’s still a secret, but here’s a hint: there’s snow, a spooky old house and a dog named Smoosh. In the meantime, with a maiden name like Hogan, she and Mr. MKA fixed up a St. Patrick’s Day feast of corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread for the family.
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Marriage Sabbatical by Lian Dolan. Lian Dolan is always witty and warm and The Marriage Sabbatical, about a mid-life married couple who decide to adopt a “500-mile-rule” in an effort to spice up their marriage is another winner.
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a great weekend of basketball at her son’s state tournament! The “beach boys” played great! She is so excited that the paperback of THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS is releasing next Tuesday! She cannot wait to share the tour of A HAPPIER LIFE with you at the end of this week! She hopes to see you all!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: Elizabeth of East Hampton by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding. I’m so excited about diving into this retelling of Pride and Prejudice!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had a great week celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and her birthday with friends and family in Birmingham! She’s been overwhelmed with the love and calls and posts and DM – a birthday is such a great time to remember all the love in one’s life. Tomorrow she leaves for the Lake District of England for research – follow along with her on Instagram!
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza. We’ll be interviewing her for the show, and I love this book that Jo wrote based on a true unsolved mystery in her Italian family. I have loved watching her Instagram as she travels to Sicily and we see places in this page-turning and thrilling novel.
KRISTIN HARMEL had an incredible time at the Komen Impact Luncheon at Cipriani New York last week—she even got to meet previous F&F guest Jill Santopolo in person!—and she returned to Florida just in time to walk in the St. Patrick’s parade in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, representing the Galleria Mall. This week, 8-year-old Noah is on spring break, so Kristin is taking the week off to spend with him and her husband, Jason!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin: I love Madeline Martin, so I was thrilled to be asked for a blurb for her upcoming novel, out Sept. 10, 2024. This one is an ode to the librarians of the Booklover’s Libraries, run by Boots (the drugstore!) from 1898 to 1966 in the UK! I hadn’t even known they existed–but in Madeline’s book, a widowed mother works in one such library in Nottingham–and must make the impossible decision to send her daughter away when it becomes clear that their town will be the target of German bombings. Harrowing, emotional, and full of incredible detail, it’s a spectacular read!
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Click HERE to see Patti Callahan Henry’s full book tour for the April 2nd release of the trade paperback edition of The Secret Book of Flora Lea.
Sunday, May 5, 3pm ET—See all four founders and hosts of Friends & Fiction—along with Managing Director Meg Walker, podcast host extraordinaire Ron Block & producer Shaun Hettinger—together in-person for a launch celebration for MKA’s Summers at the Saint hosted by The BookMark in Neptune Beach, FL. Get tickets HERE.
Last week on The Friends & Fiction Show, the Fab Four gathered to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter and playwright, Chris Bohjalian, to discuss his forthcoming novel, our March 2024 Pick of the Month, THE PRINCESS OF LAS VEGAS, in which a Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder on the Las Vegas strip. Order Chris’s book (out this week!) from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide!
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: 2024 Sneak Preview with the Fab Four
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House
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Already aired: F&F January Pick of the Month: Kristin Hannah, The Women
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Already aired: Abbott Kahler, Where You End
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Already aired: Jennifer Moorman, The Magic All Around
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Already aired: Amy Jo Burns, Mercury
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Already aired: Kate Quinn & Janie Chang, The Phoenix Crown
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Already aired: F&F February Pick of the Month: Tia Williams, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars
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Already aired: Rebecca Serle, Expiration Dates
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Already aired: F&F March Pick of the Month: Chris Bohjalian, The Princess of Las Vegas
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Anna Quindlen, After Annie
Watch: Mar 20 | Listen: Mar 22
Allison Pataki, Finding Margaret Fuller
Watch: Mar 27 | Listen: Mar 29
Stay tuned for the Spring 2024 season line-up which will be revealed soon!
The Fab Four are taking turns interviewing some additional authors in short 10-minute video segments we are calling “Behind the Book.” Check out a few recent bonus interviews that our host authors have run on the F&F YouTube channel!
WATCH Patti & MKA’s interview with Tamron Hall about her newest Jordan Manning novel, Watch Where They Hide! Tamron is an Emmy Award-winning TV show host and journalist. Watch Where They Hide is an edge-of-your-seat thriller featuring Jordan Manning as she delves into the case of a mother in danger and uncovers a dangerous web of secrets. You've been waiting for this sequel to As the Wicked Watch and it's here now.
WATCH MKA & Meg’s interview with Lisa Unger about The New Couple in 5B.
WATCH MKA & Meg’s interview with Susan Elizabeth Phillips about Simply the Best.
WATCH Patti’s interview with Karen Spears Zacharias about No Perfect Mothers.
WATCH MKA’s interview with author Ashley Elston and her editor Pam Dorman about First Lie Wins.
WATCH Patti & Ron’s interview with Roxana Robinson about Leaving.
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange. You can also order the F&F 2024 SUBSCRIPTION BOX exclusively through our friends at Oxford Exchange. You get the two first-edition autographed hardcover books (and the adorable pouch!) shown below, plus the option to add Patti’s & Kristin’s 2024 paperback editions of last year’s books. All details HERE!
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Tia Williams about her book, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. Mark your calendars for their April 15th discussion with Zibby Owens about her novel, Blank. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The March prompt is to read a book with some variation of “book club” or “bookstore” in the title, and for April it’s to read a book by an author who uses a pen name.
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