Today we are bringing you an interview with Madeleine Wickham, also known as the international bestselling author Sophie Kinsella. As you may have read, Sophie lost her battle with glioblastoma. Sophie was a dear friend and beloved by readers around the world. Sophie’s Shopaholic series was a global phenomenon… 50 million readers (and counting) read about the worlds that Sophie created. Sophie was a balm and a comfort in this weary world, and she brought us 30 novels in 30 years. Our last conversation was about her What Does It Feel Like? Sophie's novel about Eve, a woman who wakes up in a hospital and can’t remember how she got there. The novel was published a year ago- and it became an instant bestseller. Readers related to Eve’s journey, the pain of sharing a diagnosis with her children, the good husband, who is a rock and the celebration of small victories that shored up the strength of the family in the face of a daunting illness. In this conversation are Sophie’s thoughts on life, death, creativity and the journeys of our souls… We hope you enjoy.
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The Best Books of 2025 with Jake Morrissey
We have had a spectacular year on You Are What You Read with some of the greatest writers in the world! Thank you all for joining us every week, for your comments and reviews, and for joining us on the road. We have loved meeting you and hearing your thoughts. This holiday season, we are highlighting some of your favorite guests from 2025. Here to join us, is our dear friend Jake Morrissey. Jake is the Executive Editor at Riverhead Books at Penguin Random House. Jake works with bestselling and award-winning authors, including Daniel H. Pink, Anne Lamott, James McBride, Priya Parker, Michele Harper, and Marlon James, with whom he cohosts the podcast Marlon & Jake Read Dead People. Today, we take a look back on some of our favorite books from this year…the best in fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, and the books we are looking forward to in 2026.
Titles mentioned in this episode:
Fiction:
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Nash Falls by David Baldacci
The Unraveling of Julia Lisa Scottoline
Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely by Sarah McCoy
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
My Grandma and Grandpa Rock! by Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
Dangerland by Eric Singer
Skylark by Paula McLain
It Girl by Allison Pataki
Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty Marisa Renee Lee
The Viper by Brad Meltzer
The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
The Award by Matthew Pearl
The Hollywood Fix by Richard Kirshenbaum
Nonfiction:
I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant
Before You Fly Away by Christina Geist
Heart Life Music by Kenny Chesney
Waiting on the Moon by Peter Wolf
When It All Burns by Jordan Thomas
The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by Richard Bell
We Did It, Kid by Anthony Hopkins
The Art of Spending Money by Morgan House
l1929 by Aaron Ross Sorkin
Cookbooks:
You Can Make This!
Lidia’s The Art of Pasta
Italian Snacking by Anna Francese Gass
Cooking with Nonna by Rossella Rago
My Harvest Kitchen by Gesine Bullock-Prado
The Delmonico Way by Max Tucci
Shows:
Oedipus
The Mousetrap
Oratorio Films:Hamnet
Knives Out
Frankenstein
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Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: "My Grandma & Grandpa Rock!"
This week’s episode of You Are What You Read is all about Rock & Roll. Today, we are joined by Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo with their adorable new children’s picture book.. My Grandma and Grandpa Rock! You know Pat and Neil’s hits, “We Belong,” “Invincible,” “Love Is A Battlefield,” “Promises In The Dark,” “We Live For Love,” “Heartbreaker” and “Hell Is For Children.” Together, Pat and Neil have created two multi-platinum, five platinum, and three gold albums, along with 19 Top 40 hits. They’ve sold more than 36 million records worldwide and earned four consecutive GRAMMY® Awards. Their honors also include three American Music Awards, a People’s Choice Award, induction into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2008), and most recently, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Their latest project, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling children’s book, continues their creative legacy in a whole new way. My Grandma & Grandpa Rock! is a labor of love for grandparents and grandchildren everywhere.
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Max Tucci: Thanksgiving at Delmonico's
The holiday season is upon us, and here to kick things off on You Are What You Read is world-renowned restaurateur, author and culinary ambassador, Max Tucci. Max is the third generation partner of Delmonico’s Restaurant New York, which he led in reopening. He is also the owner of TUCCI New York, one of the city’s hottest new Italian restaurants with Max’s signature flair, cuisine and down home glamour. Today, Max joins us with his gorgeous book, The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining and Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant That Made New York. This is the perfect gift for the holidays, filled with delicious recipes, family stories and history of one of NYC's finest restaurants. You can watch Max now in My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story on Paramount+.
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Hamnet: A conversation with author Maggie O'Farrell
In 2021, we hosted bestselling author Maggie O’Farrell for a Facebook Live conversation about her hit novel, Hamnet. Since we last spoke to Maggie, Hamnet has taken the world by storm, and next week, Maggie’s story will be a major motion picture starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, and directed by Chloe Zhao. Hamnet is the fictional tale of William Shakespeare, though he is never named. Maggie examines the death of his eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, and the effect it had on the playwright’s work. The novel was the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award Winner. In this episode, Maggie tells us about what it was like to write this book and also what it was like to bridge her life with the life of her characters.
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Adriana Trigiani is The New York Times best selling author of 21 books in fiction and nonfiction, award-winning filmmaker, and the host of You Are What You Read. In this podcast, Adriana goes one-on-one in deep, surprising, and humorous conversations with the great cultural figures of our time about the books that built their souls.