Book Gang

Author Ellery Adams discusses her genre-blending novel Invasive Species, the power of public reviewing, and why honesty and horror make the best book club fodder.
This week on Book Gang, we’re joined by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ellery Adams, whose genre-blending new release, Invasive Species, is a darkly funny, horror-tinged romp set in 1980s suburbia. With more than forty novels to her name—including beloved series like The Secret, Book, & Scone Society—Ellery shares how she’s redefining what cozy, horror, and women’s fiction can be.
In this episode, we dive into Ellery’s journey from cozy mysteries to genre-blending horror and satire, the art of honest book reviews (even as an author), and what it takes to build a world readers want to revisit again and again.
In this week’s juicy episode, we discuss:
📚 Honest Reviews & Reader Connection: Ellery is famous for her candid book reviews—even as a working author—and her willingness to engage in tough conversations on Goodreads. We explore the etiquette (and emotional toll) of public feedback, how she handles criticism, and why she believes honest dialogue between writers and readers makes the book world stronger.
📚Reinventing a Writing Life: Ellery Adams’s journey from cozy mysteries to genre-blending horror is anything but linear. We discuss her bold leap from beloved series writer to risk-taking genre bender, how she navigated industry upheaval and shifting contracts, and what it means to trust your instincts even when readers expect you to "stay in your lane."
📚 Monsters, Myth, and Suburban Drama: Invasive Species is more than a monster tale. We unpack Ellery’s sharp satire of 1980s suburbia, the real-life and mythological inspirations behind Mrs. Smith, and why the monstrous can be both literal and metaphorical. Plus, how horror (even cozy horror!) reflects our deepest anxieties about ambition, community, and what it means to be an outsider.
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: This week’s bonus book list features 11 Creature Feature Books that every reader should try for spooky season! Patrons of the show will receive a printable list to take to their local library and a bonus spoiler chat with Ellery Adams, where we dig deeper into the monstrous twists in Invasive Species.
Meet Ellery Adams
Ellery Adams is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels. A native New Yorker, she now resides in central North Carolina. Her acclaimed series include the Secret, Book, & Scone Society (Kensington), Book Retreat Mysteries (Kensington), Books By the Bay Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), Molly Appleby Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries (Beyond the Page), and Hope Street Mysteries (Beyond the Page).
In addition to her cozy and traditional mysteries, Ellery writes genre-blending fiction focused on women and their inner monsters. Her latest, Invasive Species (2026, HarperCollins), marks an exciting new direction—one that’s already winning over fans of dark, witty, and emotionally resonant storytelling. Friends in Dark Places will follow in 2027.
Mentioned in this episode:
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Join the Book Gang- patreon.com/momadvice
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Make a One-Time Donation in ANY AMOUNT- buymeacoffee.com/bookgangpodcast
NEW BOOK LIST: 11 Creature Feature Books to Try This Spooky Season
2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)
October Book Club Episode: One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford
Cancer Made Me Do It by Melissa Fuoss
Invasive Species by Ellery Adams (Available on Kindle Unlimited)
The Secret Book & Scone Society
Book Retreat Mysteries
Pie Shoppe Series
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Jennifer Saint
Madeline Miller
Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
Shark Heart podcast episode
Ellery’s Book Rx
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Women of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller
The Change by Kirsten Miller
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Obsession
Weapons
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Leigh Radford joins our October Book Club to discuss One Yellow Eye, a haunting novel that explores love, grief, and survival in the aftermath of a pandemic.
This week on Book Gang, we’re joined by Leigh Radford, whose haunting debut One Yellow Eye is our October pick for the MomAdvice Book Club. In this genre-bending debut, Radford weaves her personal journey of loss into a haunting story of a scientist, Kesta, whose devotion to her husband pushes the boundaries of science, ethics, and the human heart.
We explore how horror fiction can expose the hidden costs of caregiving, the complexities of grief, and the fierce hope that keeps us moving forward—even when the world feels unrecognizable. Join us for a gorgeous conversation that goes beyond scares and excavates the messy, unbreakable bonds that make us human.
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
📚Blurring Boundaries: Genre, Publishing, and the Art of Defying Labels: Leigh shares the real-world complexities of bringing a genre-bending novel to market. From conflicting advice on editing and cover design to the challenges of positioning a book that sits between literary fiction and horror, we discuss how One Yellow Eye’s unique identity created both obstacles and opportunities—from the UK to the US—and what it’s like to navigate a publishing landscape that often resists stories that don’t fit neatly into a single box.
📚 Writing, Caregiving, and the Birth of a Novel in Crisis: Leigh opens up about how caring for her terminally ill father during the pandemic didn’t just inspire her horror novel—it transformed it into an intimate meditation on love and the unseen burdens of caretaking. We explore how Leigh’s personal grief and resilience, coupled with her desire to honor her father’s memory, became the emotional core of this engrossing debut.
📚 The Humanity in Horror: Turning Fear into Connection: Leigh examines how horror, at its best, can be a mirror for our deepest vulnerabilities, allowing us to explore the messy realities of love, loss, and ethical choice. We discuss why discomfort on the page can spark empathy, how horror reveals the hidden costs of survival and devotion, and why stories that unsettle us are sometimes the ones that linger.
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: This week’s bonus book list features 16 Zombie Books to Try This Spooky Season that play with those blurred lines between humanity and monstrosity. Patrons of the show will receive a printable list to take to their local library and a bonus spoiler chat with Leigh Radford, where we dig deeper into the ethical and emotional questions at the heart of One Yellow Eye.
Meet Leigh Radford
Leigh Radford trained as a broadcast journalist before producing and presenting arts and entertainment content for commercial radio, Time Out, The Times, and The Sun. She has made documentaries for the BBC, including Rilke’s Women for Radio 4. A former book publicist, she is a 2023 graduate of Faber Academy and the founder of Kenosha Kickers, her film and television production company. One Yellow Eye is her debut novel, available now wherever books are sold.
Mentioned in this episode:
Gratitude to Our Show Patrons: This week's episode is open to all listeners thanks to generous donations made through Buy Me a Coffee and your community memberships. If you'd like to keep the conversation going, you're invited to join our Patreon Book Club chat on October 29th at 8 PM ET, where we'll dive deeper into spoilers, themes, and reader reactions. Membership is $5 a month, or you can prepay for the year and save 10%.
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Join the Book Gang- patreon.com/momadvice
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Make a One-Time Donation in ANY AMOUNT- buymeacoffee.com/bookgangpodcast
2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: 16 Zombie Books to Try This Spooky Season
One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford
Carrie by Stephen King
Misery by Stephen King
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Mrs March by Virginia Feito
Shaun of the Dead
Lucy Steeds
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
Leigh’s Youtube interview
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Can love survive if only one person remembers? Evann Normandin joins Book Gang to share how The Good Parts explores memory, healing, and the cost of letting go.
What if you could forget your greatest heartache—would you do it? Today we’re joined by Evann Normandin, whose debut, The Good Parts, is a hauntingly beautiful meditation on memory, trauma, and a love story that refuses to be erased.
When Rose takes a pill to erase her most painful memories, she loses not only her grief but every trace of the love she once shared with Landon. As Landon tries to rekindle their connection, they both discover that love and memory are never so easily erased. Evann draws from her studies in traumatic memory—and a real-life love letter—to ask one unforgettable question: Can love survive if only one person remembers it?
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
📚 Writing, Rejection, and the Road to Publication: Evann shares the long journey behind her “overnight success”—from trunk novels to querying, agent switches, and finally, a book deal that went to auction. We’ll talk about the resilience every writer needs, and why every story—even the ones that don’t sell—matters.
📚NetGalley Insights: How early reader feedback shaped the marketing and genre positioning of The Good Parts, and what Evann learned from reader expectations, especially when penning a love story.
📚 Memory, Trauma, and Healing: Evann reveals how her academic fascination with traumatic memory shaped the speculative premise of The Good Parts, and why she believes stories can help us bear witness to each other’s pain and joy—even when the truth is fragmented or rewritten.
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: This week’s bonus book list features18 Books Where Memory Shapes the Story. From forgetting pills and amnesia to the complex world of dementia, memory takes readers on some mind-bending adventures! Patrons of the show will receive a printable book list to take to their local library and a bonus spoiler episode with Evann Normandin as we discuss The Good Parts ending.
Meet Evann Normandin
Evann Normandin is a writer with a career in educational publishing. She studied English and Theatre at Middlebury College, then earned her MSc in modern and postmodern literature at the University of Edinburgh. After a stint as a theatre critic for BroadwayWorld in Washington, DC, she moved to Massachusetts, where she lives in a small, quirky town that inspires her daily. When she’s not working or writing, she’s exploring New England with her husband and son. The Good Parts is now available on store shelves.
Mentioned in this episode:
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Join the Book Gang- patreon.com/momadvice
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Make a One-Time Donation in ANY AMOUNT- buymeacoffee.com/bookgangpodcast
2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)
BOOK CLUB PODCAST FOR SEPTEMBER: DAVID JOY INTERVIEW (THOSE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW)
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST:18 Books Where Memory Shapes the Story
Book Talk, etc: Appalachian Authors Episode
The Good Parts by Evann Normandin
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown
The Last Five Years
Severance
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind
Abby Offsides by Anna McCallie
Assassin’s Anonymous by Rob Hart
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Cathy Caruth
Grand Central’s Book Club Guide
Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.
Connect With Us:
Join the Book Gang Patreon
Connect with Evann Normandin on Instagram or Her Website
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Ashton Lattimore joins us to discuss Runner, her soapy, escapist historical adventure set on Prohibition-era Martha’s Vineyard, where secrets, danger, and ambition collide.
This week on Book Gang, I’m joined by Ashton Lattimore, whose new novel Runner is a standout historical adventure that brings Prohibition-era Martha’s Vineyard to life. Ashton shares the real-life shipwreck that planted the seed for her story, the meticulous research behind her 1920s language and setting, and how she balances soapy drama with hard-hitting history. If you love novels where you learn something new while being swept away by twists and secrets, this episode is for you.
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
📚 Language, Landmarks, and Lingo: How do you make the Roaring Twenties feel brand new? Ashton shares her process of resurrecting the era with vivid period language, historical landmarks, and the daily rituals that anchor her characters in time and place. Ashton shares her tricks for finding the right word, her favorite hidden gems from the era, and why slipping in “old-timey” lingo and fun facts is more than historical window dressing.
📚 The Real Black History Behind Runner: Discover how a mysterious 1923 shipwreck off Martha’s Vineyard inspired Ashton Lattimore’s riveting tale. Ashton takes us into the island's lesser-known Black maritime history, revealing a world where whalers, fishermen, and smugglers navigated not just the perils of the sea, but also racial boundaries, discrimination, and the urgent need for community survival.
📚 Class, Crime, and Complicated Women: Runner is more than a story about rumrunners—it’s a sharp exploration of class, crime, and what it took for Black women to survive and thrive in the 1920s. We dig into the novel’s rich cast: from Lena, risking everything to save her family, to Dee, balancing privilege and vulnerability, to matriarchs wrestling with their own choices and regrets. Ashton opens up about navigating the tensions between Boston’s Black elite and the working-class locals.
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: This week’s bonus book list isUncorking 18 Prohibition Books— A Toast to Bookish Bathtub Gin—books full of secrets, danger, and unforgettable characters chasing dreams in the Roaring Twenties. Patrons of the show will receive a printable checklist to take to their local library and a bonus spoiler episode with Ashton Lattimore.
Meet Ashton Lattimore
Ashton Lattimore is an award-winning author, journalist, and former lawyer. Her debut novel, All We Were Promised, was a Book of the Month Club pick, a Washington Post and NPR Best Book of 2024, and one of People magazine’s Best New Books for April 2024. Lattimore also received the First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Prism, The Preamble, Slate, CNN, Essence, and elsewhere. She’s a native of New Jersey, where she lives with her husband and two sons.
Mentioned in this episode:
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Join the Book Gang- patreon.com/momadvice
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Make a One-Time Donation in ANY AMOUNT- buymeacoffee.com/bookgangpodcast
2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)
BOOK CLUB PODCAST FOR SEPTEMBER: DAVID JOY INTERVIEW (THOSE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW)
FREE BONUS BOOK LIST: Uncorking 18 Prohibition Books— A Toast to Bookish Bathtub Gin
Runner by Ashton Lattimore
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
John Dwight shipwreck
Oxford English Dictionary Historical Thesaurus
Shearer Cottage
Highland Beach
Ashton’s Insta
Captain William Martin
Maud Cuney Hare
The Quarter Queen by Kayla Hardy
Martha’s Vineyard Black Book Festival
Bookshop.org pays a 10% commission on every sale and matches it with 10% to support independent bookstores.
Connect With Us:
Join the Book Gang Patreon
Connect with Ashton Lattimore on Instagram or Her Website
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Julie Buntin joins us to discuss Famous Men, a literary page-turner about a young woman’s struggle with power and identity during her college years.
This week on Book Gang, we’re joined by Julie Buntin, whose new novel Famous Men plunges us into the heart of literary ambition, tangled mentorships, and the shadows that linger from girlhood into adulthood. Through candid storytelling and sharp insight, Julie unpacks the inspiration behind her groundbreaking new work, what drew her to the hallowed halls of campus settings, and how she writes into the gray areas of power and agency.
Famous Men traces the story of Will, a young woman shaped by family secrets and the gaze of powerful men. As Will moves from an oppressive childhood to the lure of literary circles and a complicated mentorship with a celebrated older writer, Buntin explores the aftermath of exploitation, the murkiness of agency, and the search for meaning in identity. This novel refuses easy answers and invites readers to reckon with the uncomfortable spaces where self-knowledge is finally forged. For readers who want to hear from a writer who prioritizes craft, this episode is for you!
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
📚 Writing Through Life’s Upheavals: Julie opens up about the nine-year journey between her debut and Famous Men, reflecting on how motherhood, shifting priorities, and the realities of publishing shaped her creative process. She discusses the challenges of returning to a manuscript after life-changing events, and how the evolving literary landscape—less media coverage, more grassroots reader communities—has transformed what it means to connect with an audience.
📚 The Power of Setting: Julie reflects on why campus novels—and the charged spaces of creative writing programs—continue to fascinate her as both writer and reader. She shares what’s unique about academic environments, how they incubate both ambition and vulnerability, and why they’re the perfect crucible for stories about coming of age and questionable mentorships.
📚 Power, Vulnerability, and Retrospective Voice: At Famous Men’s core is Will—a narrator whose sharp self-awareness is complicated by the forces that shape, trap, and sometimes free her. Julie discusses the delicate craft of writing a character who is both in control and deeply lost, and how the novel resists simple narratives of victimhood or complicity.
BONUS BOOK LIST: This week’s bonus book list offers readers 18 novels set in schools, giving you fresh worlds to explore in academia. I’m astounded by how many new releases have back-to-school energy, and I hope you enjoy browsing these selections. Patrons of the show will receive a printable book list and a bonus spoiler chat with Julie.
Meet Julie Buntin
Julie Buntin‘s new novel, Famous Men, is out now from Random House. Her debut, Marlena, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, released in ten territories worldwide, and named a best book of the year by over a dozen outlets, including The Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews. She is the co-editor of Notes to New Mothers, a collection of dispatches from postpartum life by sixty writers and artists. Previously, Buntin was an editor and director of writing programs at Catapult. Now, she writes and teaches in Ann Arbor, where she is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
Mentioned in this episode:
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Join the Book Gang- patreon.com/momadvice
SUPPORT OUR SHOW: Make a One-Time Donation in ANY AMOUNT- buymeacoffee.com/bookgangpodcast
2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)
BOOK CLUB PODCAST FOR SEPTEMBER: DAVID JOY INTERVIEW (THOSE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW)
NEW BOOK LIST: 18 NEW NOVELS SET IN SCHOOLS
Famous Men by Julie Buntin
Marlena by Julie Buntin
Notes to New Mothers by Rebecca Knight & Julie Buntin
Lucian Freud
Meghann Stephenson
Ana Luisa Corrigan
The Animators by Kayla Ray Whitaker
Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Ray Whitaker
The Good Mother Myth by Nancy Reddy nf
MacDowell
Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth
Contrapposto by Dave Eggers
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee & Walker Evans
Marion by Leah Rowan
Half a Life by Jill Ciment
Consent by Jill Ciment
Life with Picasso by Francois Gilot & Carlton Lake
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
My Education by Susan Choi
Connect With Us:
Join the Book Gang Patreon
Connect with Julie Buntin on Instagram or Her Website
Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice
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