Club Book

Fiction phenom Alison Espach is the author behind The Wedding People, a genre-straddling novel which holds company with the most anticipated and bestselling books of 2024. When newly minted divorcée Phoebe Stone arrives alone to the posh Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, she finds herself an accidental wedding crasher. Surprise follows surprise as Phoebe strikes up a unique rapport with bride Lila, who needs a confidante every bit as much as her last-minute bridesmaid. People calls it “a feel-good testament to the life-altering magic of chance meetings.” Early honors for The Wedding People included selection as a TODAY Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club pick, as a Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, and as the #1 Indie Next Pick for August 2024. It has been published in more than 20 countries to date. Alison Espach’s prior novels include Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, a Chicago Tribune and NPR “Best Book of 2022,” as well as The Adults (2011), a New York Times Editor’s Choice.The post Club Book Episode 185 Alison Espach first appeared on Club Book.

Mai Corland is a Korean American author, born in Seoul and adopted in New York. She is a Rollins College and University of Miami School of Law alumna. Her debut adult romantasy novel Five Broken Blades, the first of a trilogy from Red Tower Books, was a USA Today, Indie Booksellers List, Sunday Times, and instant New York Times bestseller. It was also the May pick for Book of the Month; an Amazon, Indigo, and Apple Books Best Book of 2024; a Book Page honoree; and a Goodreads Choice finalist for favorite 2024 fantasy. Her follow up, Four Ruined Realms, hit shelves in January 2025, with the series finale Three Shattered Souls expected later this year. Mai also writes award-winning children’s and young adult books under the name Meredith Ireland. She resides in New York with her children, partner, and a county fair goldfish who will probably outlive them all.The post Club Book Episode 183 Mai Corland first appeared on Club Book.

Fans and critics alike credit Alafair Burke with some of the most believable psychological thrillers and police procedurals in modern fiction. Her hallmark authenticity draws heavily from Burke’s professional background as a professor of law and former deputy district attorney in Portland. Her literary debut, Judgment Calls (2003), introduced mystery aficionados to Samantha Kincaid – a lawyer in Multnomah County, Oregon’s drug and vice division with bona fides markedly similar to Burke’s own. Burke’s impressive backlist also includes the five-entry NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher series, which the New York Post calls “perfect for Law & Order fanatics who want some ripped-from-the-headlines intrigue.” Burke is also co-author – alongside mystery titan Mary Higgins Clark – of the Under Suspicion series. Over the past decade Alafair Burke has also devoted considerable time to standalone thrillers. Her latest, The Note, follows three friends on a Hamptons beach vacation that goes terribly wrong. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews raves: “Engrossing… Burke builds an intricate structure of secrets layered within secrets, revealed for maximum suspense.”The post Club Book Episode 181 Alafair Burke first appeared on Club Book.

National Book Award finalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the author behind the acclaimed 2020 exposé The Undocumented Americans. Born in Ecuador and raised in New York, Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing career began while a senior at Harvard, where she was soon to be among the first undocumented students to graduate from the elite university. During the national debate around the DREAM Act, she penned an anonymous essay in The Daily Beast titled “DREAM Act: I’m an Illegal Immigrant at Harvard.” This vulnerable, vital, and ultimately viral piece directly inspired The Undocumented Americans. In this eye-opening book, described as a blend of memoir and reporting, Cornejo Villavicencio travels the nation to profile a diverse cross-section of her fellow undocumented Americans. The author’s anticipated follow-up, Catalina, is a work of fiction – at least in part. Catalina is an undocumented student from Queens who gains admittance to Harvard. With it comes entry into a new, complex world of prestigious internships, posh parties, and secret societies.The post Club Book Episode 179 Karla Cornejo Villavicencio first appeared on Club Book.