Beyond the Next Chapter with Whitney Clark

<p class="MsoNormal">It's the Super Bowl for book lovers: the Tucson Festival of Books! It's the biggest book festival in Arizona, and it's happening at the University of Arizona on March 14 and 15 this year. There are hundreds of authors who will be there, including the headliners Salman Rushdie, Susan Lucci, and R.L. Stine. On this episode, we're joined by public librarian and Tucson-based author Sarah T. Dubb. She has advice if you're going for the first time, and she chats about her new romance book, "Honey Bee Mine." Dubb's first book, "Birding With Benefits," was made into a Hallmark movie!</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">If you're a fan of 90's rom-coms and cozy love stories, you're in luck! Romance favorite B.K. Borison is out with "And Now, Back to You." It's the second book in her "Heartstrings" series. B.K. joins the podcast to talk about her love of her hometown Baltimore, where the book is set, local news, and classics like "Sleepless in Seattle."&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">Every year February is recognized as Black History Month, but there's an Arizona-based bookseller who has made it her mission to highlight Black authors all year long. On this episode we're joined by Petra Sherbin-Fox. She owns The Lit Twis't: the first Black-owned mobile bookstore in the Valley. Petra opened the shop after not being able to find books by authors she was looking for, particularly Black female authors. She joins our host, Whitney Clark, with a list of ten recommendations, including fiction and non-fiction.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">That includes the following:</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Hood Wellness: Tales of Communal Care from People Who Drowned on Dry Land" by Tamela J. Gordon</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir and Manifesto on Reimagining" by Rachel E. Cargle</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Ride Or Die: A Feminist Manifesto for the Well-Being of Black Women" by Shanita Hubbard</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"A Long Song for Ricki Wilde" by Tia Williams</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Reel" by Kennedy Ryan</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Communion" by bell hooks</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Sula" by Toni Morrison</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"The Girls Who Grew Big" by Leila Mottley</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"Set Boundaries, Find Peace" by Nedra Glover Tawwab</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">"A Moth to a Flame" by Ashley Antoinette</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">Valentine's Day is just around the corner! If you're looking for a great romance book, we've got you covered. This week our host Whitney Clark is joined by two Arizona romance authors: Neely Tubati Alexander and Liana De la Rosa, who share their favorite picks. That includes "Honey Bee Mine" by Sarah T. Dubb and "The Magic of Untamed Hearts" by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. They also talk about their own books, the magic of the Tucson Festival of Books and how the romance author community has grown in the Valley.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal">It's officially 2026 and we're in for another great year of reading! In this episode we're joined by Ali Jaksich, a book buyer for the Changing Hands Bookstore with locations in Phoenix and Tempe. She chats about how she picks books for the store, how she became a book buyer and how you can read more in 2026.<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;">From cookbooks, to horror and other fiction reads, here are Ali's most anticipated books of the year: "Operation Bounce House", by Matt Dinniman, "Ending Writes Itself" by Evelyn Clarke, "Crux" by Gabriel Tallent, "And Now Back to You" by B.K. Borison, "Fabulous Bodies" by Chuck Tingle, "Cooking con Claudia: Celebraci&oacute;n!" by Claudia Regalado, "A Girl Like Her" by Talia Hibbert, "Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age" by Ibram X. Kendi, "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar, and "Half His Age" by Jennette McCurdy.</span></p>