On today’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by the great Paula McLain. Paula is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin, as well as two collections of poetry and a memoir. This winter, we are looking forward to Paula’s return to Paris in her forthcoming novel, Skylark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are remembering the great Rob Reiner and his beautiful wife, Michele Singer Reiner. We had the honor of hosting Mr. Reiner on You Are What You Read in October with his memoir, A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, which he co-wrote with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and David Kamp.  Rob is a two-time Emmy–winning actor for his role in All in the Family. He is also the acclaimed director of This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, and The Bucket List. When Rob Reiner met Michele Singer on the set of When Harry Met Sally, he changed the ending of the film to the now-iconic conclusion… Michele Singer was a world-renowned photographer, producer and activist. Together, they spearheaded a tobacco tax initiative in California to fund early childhood development and chaired the state commission to oversee its implementation. In 2008, Michele and Rob cofounded The American Foundation For Equal Rights, which paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special episode of You Are What You Read, we are LIVE from the annual Frank Sinatra Birthday Party at his very favorite restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant in New York City. In this episode, we bring you right to the table filled with fabulous guests and fans of Mr. Sinatra. Frank’s granddaughter, AJ Lampert, his great-granddaughter, Miranda, and David Lawrence, the son of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, join us for special tribute to old blue eyes. You’ll also hear from the Scognamillo family: Sal, Lisa and Joe. They have owned and operated Patsy’s for generations; their stories will illuminate why Mr. Sinatra has remained one of the greatest American voices of all time. Happy Birthday, Frank Sinatra! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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+.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades universe, the Villains series, the City of Ghosts series, Gallant, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Fragile Threads of Power. Her latest, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soul, is a genre-defying novel about immortality, hunger, love and much more. In this conversation we talk about Victoria’s process, her literary influences, and the books that informed her writing life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read we are joined by Jen Hatmaker with her instant New York Times best seller, AWAKE. This memoir is a brutally honest, funny, and revealing memoir about the traumatic end of her twenty-six-year-long marriage, and the beginning of a different kind of love story. You can tune in to Jen’s award-winning podcast For the Love every week.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this very special episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by one of American music’s biggest names, Kenny Chesney, with his all-new memoir, Heart Life Music. Kenny Chesney enters the Country Music Hall of Fame this year. Selling out stadiums for two decades, he’s sold 105 million albums and holds BILLBOARD’s record for Most Country No. 1 hits. Kenny co-wrote Heart Life Music with Holly Gleason, the world-renowned journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and HITS. This episode was recorded live at Book of the Month in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays are upon us, and we could not wait to bring Angela Kinsey and Joshua Snyder on You Are What You Read for a conversation about their brand new cookbook, You Can Make This. You know Angela for her award-winning role as Angela Martin on all nine seasons of The Office. Angela is also the New York Times bestselling author of The Office BFFs, which she co-wrote with Jenna Fisher. Together, they host the sensational Office Ladies podcast. Angela’s husband, Josh, is an actor, influencer, and self-taught baker with a passion for bringing people together through food, which you will see in this conversation. He and Angela turned his love of baking into the popular YouTube series, Baking with Josh & Ange. You can check it out after this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by acclaimed screenwriter, director and author, Tim Sullivan. Tim’s screen credits include A Handful of Dust, starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Where Angels Fear to Tread, starring Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham Carter, Jack and Sarah (which he also directed) starring Richard E Grant, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen and Letters to Juliet, with Amanda Seyfried. Tim has directed the television series: Sherlock Holmes and Cold Feet. Tim has written extensively in Hollywood in both live action and animation, working with Ron Howard, Scott Rudin and with Jeffrey Katzenberg on the fourth Shrek movie. He has now embarked on a series of crime novels featuring the autistic, and brilliantly persistent DS George Cross, which have hit shelves in the United States this fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by the great Rob Reiner with his new memoir, A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, which he co-wrote with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer with David Kamp. Rob is a two-time Emmy–winning actor for his role in All in the Family. He is also the acclaimed director of This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, and The Bucket List. Recently, Rob directed the Emmy–nominated documentary Albert Brooks: Defending my Life, and the sequel to This Is Spinal Tap. Rob is a dedicated political activist, he spearheaded a tobacco tax initiative in California to fund early childhood development and chaired the state commission to oversee its implementation. In 2008, he cofounded The American Foundation For Equal Rights, which paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by our good friend Mitch Albom with his brand new novel, TWICE. Mitch is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie. His books of fiction and nonfiction have sold forty-two million copies in forty-eight languages worldwide. Mitch is founder of the nonprofit SAY Detroit, supporting Detroit community members with healthcare, housing and education initiatives. He also founded a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn line to help fund it. saydetroit.org Mitch operates Have Faith Haiti, a home and school for impoverished children and orphans in Port-au-Prince, which he visits monthly. havefaithhaiti.org TWICE is all about second chances, and we were thrilled that some of you wrote in with your questions and second-chance stories to share with Mitch today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by poet and author Silas House who has not one but two books out this September that you don’t want to miss: a new novel, Dead Man Blues, and a book of poetry, All These Ghosts. Silas was the recipient of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the nation. He was inducted as the Poet Laureate of Kentucky for 2023–2025 and became a Grammy finalist. Silas teaches at Berea College and at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season Three of You Are What You Read, a podcast with the luminaries of our time about the books that built their souls. This season, we have an incredible lineup of special guests you don’t want to miss. We are kicking off Season Three with a fan favorite who is touring the country now, the great Matthew McConaughey. Matthew joined us for a few conversations about his bestselling book Greenlights, which we discuss in this episode. Matthew tells us later about his plans to write more books, which culminated into his latest, Poems & Prayers.  You can watch this week’s episode with Matthew now on Youtube! Head to the You Are What You Read podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@youarewhatyoureadpodcast  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are in the kitchen with one of the world’s most celebrated chefs, Jacques Pepin. You know Jacques as the award-winning cooking show host, master chef, food columnist, cooking teacher, and author of nineteen cookbooks. In this conversation, we talked about one of our favorite cookbooks by Jacques, Art of the Chicken. Jacques’ latest cookbook, The Art of Jacques Pepin, just hit shelves in time for his 90th birthday. It’s a collection of Jacques’ favorite recipes and signature artworks- don’t miss it!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by biographer Nicholas Boggs to talk about literary icon James Baldwin. Nick is the author of Baldwin: A Love Story, a deep dive into Baldwin’s personal relationships and their influence on his life and work. Nick’s biography was named a “A Most Anticipated Book” by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, Publisher’s Weekly and more. Nicholas also co-edited a new edition of Baldwin's collaboration with French artist Yoran Cazac, Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are traveling back in time to 1962 when the one-and-only Johnny Carson redefined late-night television as host of The Tonight Show. Traveling with us, is Mike Thomas with the best selling biography he co-wrote with Bill Zehme, Carson the Magnificent. In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Following Carson’s passing in 2005, Zehme embarked on an exhaustive nearly decade-long research journey, interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends to craft this biography, although his efforts were halted by a cancer diagnosis. ” Mike Thomas, Zehme’s former research assistant, completed Carson the Magnificent to offer this honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices