Club Calvi

Club Calvi is celebrating the paperback publication of "The View from Lake Como" by Adriana Trigiani, a Club Calvi 2025 Readers' Choice. The hardcover edition was an instant New York Times bestseller. The novel is about Giuseppina, a dutiful daughter in Lake Como, New Jersey, who is recently divorced and living in her parents' basement. When her family suffers an unexpected loss, she moves to Italy to carve a new life and possible love for herself. Mary and Adriana met up at Patsy's Italian Restaurant, a New York culinary institution, to talk about their shared experiences growing up in an Italian family, and how Giuseppina came to life on the pages of the book. Audio excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO by Adriana Trigiani, read by Mira Sorvino. © Adriana Trigiani ℗ 2025 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved.

James Patterson is perhaps the most popular author of our time with more than 300 million books sold worldwide. He includes Dolly Parton and Viola Davis among his co-authors, but Susan Patterson holds a special place. After nearly 30 years of marriage, James and Susan have released their new novel "The Mother-Daughter Book Club." It's about the reunion of four friends and their daughters in Italy to talk about books, life, and secrets. Susan told Mary how she and James came up with the story, and their trip to Lake Como to live the experiences in the book. James shared the motto that's been driving him for the last few years and how writing with his wife is a beautiful thing. Audiobook used with permission from James and Susan Patterson and Hachette Audio, all rights reserved.

Bestselling author Marie Benedict has traveled the world for her research into women who have left behind crucial legacies, but their stories have largely been forgotten. Her latest book "Daughter of Egypt," a New York Times bestseller, uses two timelines and two points of view to reimagine the lives of two women: Lady Evelyn Herbert, who was crucial in discovery of King Tut's tomb, and Hatshepsut, who was a powerful female Pharoah of ancient Egypt. Benedict told Mary that these women, and all the women she brings to light in her books, share three qualities. Audiobook Credit: Macmillan Audio

Sadeqa Johnson's historical fiction novels have shared the emotional stories of Black women navigating love and motherhood in the 1950s with the book "The House of Eve," and the story of an enslaved young woman trapped in a notorious jail in Richmond, Virginia in the 1800s in "Yellow Wife." Mary Calvi talked to Johnson about her latest book "Keeper of Lost Children," which is based on the woman who found homes for abandoned mixed-race children of Black American GIs and German women during World War II. Johnson and Mary discussed the reasons why these children were left in orphanages, and why Johnson believes their story found her. Copyright © 2026 by Sadeqa Johnson. Audio excerpt courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio from the audiobook KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN, read by Ariel Blake, Karen Chilton, Adam Lazarre-White, and Sadeqa Johnson, published by Simon & Schuster Audio, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

To mark the paperback publication of "Didn't You Use to be Queenie B?" Club Calvi is sharing its meetup with author Terri-Lynne DeFino from June 2025 when she talked to Mary Calvi and answered readers' questions. "Didn't You Use to be Queenie B?" is a story of second chances and redemption. It's about a woman who was once a celebrity chef and reigned over the culinary world until she lost everything and vanished from public life. She meets a young cook and takes him under her wing. They share a love of food and troubled pasts. DeFino talked about how her love of cooking shows, and her son's battle with addiction, inspired the book. Audiobook Credit: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Wade Rouse is known to readers for the 13 books he wrote under his pen name Viola Shipman, which honors the legacy of his grandmother. "That's What Friends Are For" is his first novel under his own name, and he told Mary it's his most personal novel yet. The book, based on the classic TV show "The Golden Girls," is about four gay men of a certain age who share Zsa Zsa Gabor's mansion in Palm Springs, but not all their secrets. Wade told Mary that the history of these men, and others over the age of 60, is relevant today.

Allison Pataki is known for historical fiction focused on women. Her latest novel, "It Girl," reimagines the life of perhaps the most famous woman at the turn of the 20th century. Evelyn Nesbit was discovered when she was barely a teenager. She became a celebrity, with women wanting to be her and men wanting to be with her. She soon found herself at the center of "The Crime of the Century" murder trial. Pataki says she was haunted by her research, discovering a woman exploited for her beauty who was also resilient. You can read an excerpt from "It Girl" and get the book at ClubCalvi.com Audio excerpted courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio from It Girl by Allison Pataki, read by Barrie Kreinik. © 2026 Allison Pataki, ℗ 2026 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved.

After 20 years of the bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series, J.R. Ward is taking a detour from vampires falling in love and fighting evil in upstate New York with her first romantasy. "Crown of War and Shadow" became an instant New York Times bestseller. Ward told Mary that she came up with the idea for the book, as a backup for the Black Dagger Brotherhood, two decades ago. She dives into her process, which she doesn't call writing, her commitment to her readers, and how the hero of "Crown of War and Shadow" appeared to her in a vision, big, brooding, and ready for battle.

Welcome to Club Calvi, a new series from the book club where you get to choose which book we read next. Each week, host Mary Calvi talks to authors who are established and those we think should be on your radar. The conversations explore writing inspirations, rituals, and routines, achievements and challenges to becoming published, and advice for aspiring authors. Book lovers also share their favorite reads. Join Mary and Club Calvi to discover your next reading adventure.