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Listen to more of our conversation with Laura Pritchett where she talks more about nature writing and the urgency for literature to address the climate crisis. 

The April 2026 selection for the Radio Book Club is "Three Keys" by Colorado author Laura Pritchett. The novel follows Ammalie, a recently widowed woman who sets out on a journey across the Mountain West and eventually to New Zealand. Along the way, she begins to reconsider her role as a mother, what it means to be a woman in her fifties, and how to navigate life after the loss of her husband. The three keys in the title refer both to literal keys that give Ammalie access to empty homes during her travels, and to three significant people in her life, as well as the new connections she forms along the way. The novel explores themes of grief, invisibility, middle age and self-discovery. This interview was broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

In this edition of Afterhours at the Radio Book Club, author Thea Weiss answers questions from the audience. This episode was recorded at Chautauqua as part of the inaugural Boulder Bookstore Reading Retreat on Sunday, March 1st, 2026. Thea talks more about her debut novel The Second Chance Cinema, and how her background as a screen writer influenced the book.

The March 2026 selection for the Radio Book Club is "The Second Chance Cinema" by Thea Weiss. The novel blends magical realism and  romance, telling the story of Ellie and Drake, an engaged couple preparing for their wedding. When they stumble upon a mysterious, seemingly abandoned movie theater, they find it’s anything but empty. Inside, films begin to roll, but instead of fictional stories on the screen, they see movies of their own pasts, revealing secrets each has kept hidden, not only from each other, but from themselves. This episode was recorded at Chautauqua as part of the inaugural Boulder Bookstore Reading Retreat on Sunday, March 1st, 2026. This interview was broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Thursday, March 26, 2026.

In this episode of Afterhours at the Radio Book Club, Peter Heller answers questions from the audience at the event that was recorded at the Boulder Public Library on Thursday, January 15th, 2026. Peter talks about his writing process, the upcoming movie version of his novel The Dog Stars, and his favorite places to visit in Boulder.

The February episode of the Radio Bookclub features The Orchard, the latest novel by best-selling author Peter Heller. The story's protagonist is Frith, a little girl who lives with her mother, Hayley, on a remote Vermont apple orchard. The story weaves in strands of Chinese poetry to explore memory, loss and the enduring complexity of love between parent and child. This episode was recorded at the Boulder Public Library on Thursday, January 15th, 2026.

In this episode of Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub, author Edward Hamlin talks more about the inspiration for his novel Sonata in Wax, including how the Spanish Flu pandemic and a tuberculosis outbreak ravaged Boston.

The January 2026 selection for the Radio Bookclub is "Sonata in Wax," by Edward Hamlin. The book weaves together two timelines: a contemporary story in 2018 about a music producer in Chicago, and a story set during World War I in Boston and France, that focuses on a mysterious, lost sonata recorded on wax cylinders. In 2018, Ben Weil, the music producer, attempts to recreate the sonata that is recorded on the wax cylinders, and discovers more than he could have anticipated about the composer and performer.

 Listen to more of our conversation with R.L. Maizes, where she talks about being part of a writing community in Colorado, and the reality of being a writer after having had a career in law.

The December 2025 selection for the Radio Bookclub is "A Complete Fiction," by R. L. Maizes. The book tells the tale of two feuding authors: George Dunn, an author and editor at Peapod Press, a small publisher, and P.J. Larkin, an author who has accused him of plagiarizing her novel. At the center of the novel is the question "Who has a right to tell a story?" This interview was broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Thursday, December 25, 2025. 

This special episode of the Radio Bookclub features book sellers from the Boulder Bookstore sharing their favorite books of the year. Arsen Kashkashian's recommendations: What We Can Know by Ian McEwan The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar Barrie Kenyon children's book recommendations:  The 13th Day of Christmas (picture book) by Adam Rex Flora and the Jazzers by Astrid Sheckels Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson  Stephanie Schindhelm's recommendations: Replaceable You. Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach Ew It's Beautiful. A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman  Julia Atwood's recommendations:  The Hounding: A Novel by Xenobe Purvis  We Love You, Bunny: A Novel by Mona Awad  The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig  Clement De Hoe's recommendation: There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm  Stacy Silverstein Apple's recommendation: Long Winter by Colm Tóibín  Alyssa Galvin's recommendation: Monk & Robot by Becky Chambers Leah Powers' recommendation:  Heart the Lover by Lily King  Reghan Gillman's recommendation: Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth  __________________________________________________________________________________ Find out more about the upcoming reading retreat that will feature a special recording of the KGNU/Boulder Bookstore Radio Bookclub.  

Listen to more of our conversation with author Robert McBrearty, where he talks about the art of the short story and combining light and dark tones in his stories.

Robert McBrearty's new collection of short stories is called "The Problem You Have." The stories explore the pressures of daily life, personal regrets, and the lasting impact of trauma. From a stranded man finding an unexpected bond in “Cold Night in Waterloo” to fathers and soldiers grappling with loss and moral dilemmas in “Convergence” and “Sarge and Hollings.” This interview was broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Thursday, November 27, 2025.

Listen to more of our conversation with best-selling author Shelby Van Pelt from the live event at the Boulder Public Library Foundation gala on September 18, 2025. In this special Afterhours segment, Shelby answers questions from the audience. 

The October 2025 selection for the Radio Bookclub is Remarkably Bright Creatures, which tells the story of Tova Sullivan, an elderly widow who forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a remarkably intelligent yet curmudgeonly Pacific octopus living at the aquarium where she works. This episode was recorded at the Boulder Public Library Foundation annual gala on September 18, 2025, and was broadcast on KGNU on October 22, 2025, at 9 am.