Author Adam O'Fallon Price (The Hotel Neversink) returns to talk about a great--if tough to categorize--Don Carpenter novel, Hard Rain Falling. We talk about the novel's many plot swerves, and the depth and surprise in its portrayal of complicated men. Plus: an update on Tom's fancy "white glove service" desk from West Elm.

For more on Adam, you can follow him on Twitter, or visit his website.

If you like the podcast, and want more of it in your life, we're doing two monthly bonus episodes for just $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight

Our guest this week is the series editor for The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and author of the book The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos. She had us read an Ursula LeGuin novella about a "generation ship," a science fiction trope involving humans traversing the universe in search of a new planetary home. Did she pick this specifically to troll Mike, who is on the record as a sci fi skeptic? It's entirely possible!

We talk about what drew Jaime to science writing, and why she considers herself an essayist, rather than a journalist. Also: what would be on our wish lists for a new planet? And will this LeGuin novella finally be the thing to win Mike over to the side of sci fi?

You can learn more about our guest, and her work, at her website: https://www.jaimegreen.net/

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We're joined by novelist James Hynes (Sparrow, The Lecturer's Tale, Next) to talk historical fiction. What are we looking for when we read a historical novel, and how is that different from what we want from actual history? How can writers put themselves inside the consciousness of someone living in a different time and place?

For our book this week, we read Light, by Eva Figes, a slim 1984 novel that recouts a day in the life of the artist Claude Monet. We also talked about Jim's new book, Sparrow, which tells the story of an enslaved Roman boy being raised in a brothel.

For all things James Hynes, visit his website here: http://www.jameshynes.com/

And if you like our podcast, and want more of it in your life (and want to help support its creation), check out our Patreon, where $5/month gets you access to bi-weekly bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight