August 13, 2020
Join CapRadio and host Donna Apidone for a virtual author interview with Alka Joshi about her debut novel, The Henna Artist, a New York Times bestseller. Joshi takes readers to 1950's India, where 17-year-old Lakshmi escapes an arranged and abusive marriage to start a new life in Jaipur as a henna artist — and confidante — to the city's upper-caste elite women. In this complex society, she must work cautiously to build and protect her reputation from the "gossip-eaters" who spread humiliation like oil.
At this time, CapRadio’s signature events are free and open to the public. We hope you are able to enjoy and share with others. Broadcast Circle members and above continue to gain first access to registration. Please contact Patti Stoltz at 916-278-8945 for questions about the event or member benefits.
The Henna Artist is an amiable and entertaining debut novel about an important theme — balancing family with personal ambition — that allows readers to escape into a fantasy teeming with sensory pleasure.
Alka Joshi’s debut novel is so evocative, so expressive and so exotic that it leads me to suggest she drop whatever else she is doing and write a second novel — like now.
Devi Laskar’s debut novel, “The Atlas of Reds and Blues,” is an account of systemic racism told through a series of random memories and observations. They are the final thoughts of a woman of color who is shot in her driveway in suburban Atlanta.
Irene Butter was just three years old when the Nazis came into power in her hometown of Berlin. She was in her early teens when the Nazis were defeated. Her memoir is filled with childhood hope and the sense of purpose that comes with age.
A handful of San Francisco missionaries gave sanctuary to Chinatown’s prostitutes and their children starting in the Gold Rush. Julia Flynn Siler delivers non-fiction accounts of the women who escaped prostitution and the women who helped them.
CapRadio Reads Host Donna Apidone turns to to some lesser-known authors for their insights into life
Finding inspiration in the simple things helps CapRadio Reads Host Donna Apidone stay connected while staying at home
The Power of a Well-Asked Question Keeps Donna Apidone Coming Back to These Books
When it Comes to Fiction, Donna Apidone Continues to Count on CapRadio Reads’ Author Booker Vicki Lorini For the Best Tips
Donna Apidone Uses Books to Cross State Lines During the Coronavirus Pandemic
With bookstores and libraries still closed, Donna Apidone gets re-acquainted with two California authors known for creating landscapes with their writing.
With most travel across the world postponed indefinitely due to the Coronavirus pandemic, books can provide an escape while people stay at home
The Nazis were famous for raiding and ruining art collections throughout Europe during World War II. Some of the work was by little-known but prolific artists who documented the way of life they saw around them.
After almost 30 bestsellers, author John Lescroart can still dish up a surprise. In fact, his latest book features a new character.
Author Shanthi Sekaran has written a compelling and troubling story about immigration and motherly love. Her novel is called Lucky Boy. It’s about two women who love the same child.
In his book False Friend, author Andrew Grant asks his readers to explore a new way of understanding people.
The gender gap in WWII is the subject of the latest novel from New York Times Bestselling Author Meg Waite Clayton. Ahead of her visit for CapRadio Reads, she tells us a little more about her experiences and her latest novel.
In his debut novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, J. Ryan Stradal shows his knack for creating characters with Midwestern values, interwoven with the best recipes his homeland has to offer.
NPR Books
August 4, 2020
Akwaeke Emezi's new novel begins with a death; it adopts the form — but not the spirit — of traditional crime fiction, glorying in some of the genre's conventions while slyly subverting them.
August 3, 2020
You know what's going to happen in Akwaeke Emezi's new book — it's right there in the title: The Death of Vivek Oji. But this novel about a death is full of gender-bending, boundary crossing life.
August 3, 2020
More than 2,000 newspapers have shut down in recent years, and some regions have become news deserts. Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan says the collapse of local news undermines democracy.
August 3, 2020
Laura Van Den Berg's new collection is full of uncanny, exquisite, and painful stories about death, about loss and isolation and falling for the wrong person. Her writing will get under your skin.
August 3, 2020
Performance poet John Giorno helped make poetry popular by circumventing the regular channels of publishing by using such projects as Dial-A-Poem. He died last fall, and his memoir is out Tuesday.
