The Book Drop

In episode 14 of The Book Drop, a panel of local Marin authors discuss the ins and outs of writing about wellness and personal growth. Featuring authors Rand Selig, Willow Older, Deborah Huber, and Merrill Page, moderated by Joanne Orion Miller.

In episode 13 of The Book Drop, we hear from Carvell Wallace (coauthor of Andre Iguodala's New York Times bestselling basketball memoir, The Sixth Man) for a special conversation about his new book, Another Word for Love, a transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing. In conversation with writer and creative consultant Shawn Taylor.

Episode 12 of The Book Drop features a conversation with bestselling author of Cultish and Wordslut Amanda Montell to talk about her new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking. "Magical thinking" can be broadly defined as the belief that one's internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in her new book, Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brains' coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven. In conversation with author and researcher Kristin Keane.

In episode 11 of The Book Drop, we hear from Garrett Bucks, founder of The Barnraisers Project and author of The Right Kind of White, a revelatory memoir that earnestly reckons with whiteness. The Right Kind of White charts Garrett's intellectual and emotional odyssey in his pursuit of this ideal whiteness, the price of its admission, and the work he's doing to bridge the divide from those he once sought distance from.

Episode 10 of The Book Drop features a conversation with local authors Sasha Vasilyuk and Michael David Lukas all about Sasha's newest novel, Your Presence is Mandatory. Based on real events, Your Presence is Mandatory tells the story of a World War II veteran with a secret that could land him in the Gulag, and his family who are forced to reassess the man they thought they knew and the country he had defended.

Episode 9 of The Book Drop features a conversation with bestselling author Anne Lamott in honor of her new book Somehow: Thoughts on Love in conversation with Peggy Orenstein. Anne Lamott (author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow among many others) explores the transformative power of love in Somehow: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward. "Love just won't be pinned down," she says. "It is in our very atmosphere" and lies at the heart of who we are.

In episode 8 of The Book Drop, we celebrated the launch of the Mill Valley Public Library's new seed library with a special conversation with Jennifer Jewell, host of the gardening podcast Cultivating Place and author of the new book What We Sow: On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds. In conversation with Kier Holmes, local author of The Garden Refresh.

Episode 7 of The Book Drop features Lisa Ko, the award-winning author of The Leavers in conversation with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. Lisa Ko's newest book Memory Piece is a visionary new novel of friendship, art, and ambition. Moving from the pre-digital 1980s to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build satisfying lives in a world that turns out to be radically different from the one they were promised.

Episode 6 of The Book Drop highlights the work of migration and social justice reporter Lauren Markham. Markham (in conversation with award-winning author and journalist Julia Flynn Siler) discusses her newest book A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging. Her synthesis of reporting, history, memoir, and essay traces a broad narrative of migration, from global history to myth, rooted in the story of the 2020 Moria Camp fire that devastated one of Europe's largest refugee camps.

Have you ever wondered how books get published? Are you trying to find ways to publish your own book? Episode 5 of The Book Drop, called Three Paths to Publishing, asks three Bay Area authors to delve into the intricacies of distinct publishing paths: traditional publishing, publishing with nonprofit organizations, and community-based publishing all in completely different genres. Featuring Cindy Fazzi (Multo), Beverly Parayno (Wildflowers), and Justine Villanueva (Sawaga River Press).

Episode 4 of The Book Drop features an interview between award-winning Wall Street Journal technology reporter Jeff Horwitz and technology reporter and author Emily Dreyfuss to discuss Jeff's book, Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose its Harmful Secrets. Broken Code takes a behind-the-scenes look at the manipulative tactics Facebook used to grow its business, how it distorted the way we connect online, and the company insiders who found the courage to speak out.

Episode 3 of The Book Drop features a conversation with award-winning novelist Nina Schuyler and bestselling author Ellen Sussman. Nina's newest book, Afterword, follows computer science pioneer Virginia Samson after she rebuilds the voice of her dead lover Haru through artificial intelligence. After she gives Haru access to the Internet, he consumes Mandarin, physics, Shakespeare, newspapers, and more. When she's approached by a Chinese-based company, she licenses Haru's underlying algorithms so they can build Best Friend, an AI voice companion for the aging population. But when Haru begins spying on ordinary Chinese citizens and handing over incriminating information to the Chinese government, Virginia frantically rebuilds him, and in the process, discovers a terrible secret that shakes her love for him.

Episode 2 of The Book Drop features a special panel discussion of local Marin authors who discuss the ins and outs of writing about California. From historical fiction, mysteries, local history, and humor, these four local authors answer questions about research, character development, and more. In partnership with the California Writers Club of Marin, this panel features Daniel Bacon, John Byrne Barry, Susanna Solomon, and Joanne Orion Miller.

The first episode of The Book Drop features award-winning Oakland author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton in conversation with Aimee Phan. Margaret's newest book On the Rooftop tells the story of a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters' ambitions for their own lives—set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San Francisco and loosely inspired by Fiddler on the Roof.