We love doing “classics” episodes. And since The Catcher in the Rye is turning 75 this year, it seems that lots of folks in the book world are talking about it and we thought we would hop on board. Our two distinguished guests for this conversation are Kenneth Slawenski, one of the world's foremost historians on J.D. Salinger, and Stephen B. Shepard, a magazine editor who penned a fascinating book on the complexities of Salinger’s character. We hope you will join us in thinking about how our readings of Catcher in the Rye change over the years, and how the novel continues to touch the souls of so many readers. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger J.D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski Salinger’s Soul: His Personal and Religious Odyssey by Stephen B. Shepard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer McMahon has been called the Shirley Jackson of her generation.  Her newest, Stay Unburied is a fascinating look at what can happen to a small town when beset with an almost inhuman pandemic, and how they turn on each other as the diseases claims victim after victim (sound familiar?). Come join us for a great conversation with Jennifer in which we talk abut her ides, her process, and how there is a touch of the scary in so many of the classics we love. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Stay Unburied by Jennifer McMahonThe Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahonMy Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahonThe Winter People by Jennifer McMahonThe Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahonPromise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahonKin by Tayari JonesThe Lottery by Shirley JacksonBeloved by Toni MorrisonLord of the Flies by William GoldingHamlet by William Shakespeare Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an interesting show, because the person who really championed the read this week was Arlene Gibson, the matriarch of the Gibson Family. A lifelong school teacher and administrator for girls’ schools, she fell in love with Paradise Pawn by Meg Richardson. And when Arlene tells us to do something, we do it. Paradise Pawn in the story from the perspective of a young 14 year old girl named Jackie who works in a Pawn Shop in Florida. Full of humor, heart and an adolescent voice that is sincere and true to a very difficult age, this is a great book. If the age of young teenagers confuse you (maybe you are a mom, dad, caregiver or yourself a 14 year old girl) this book is an eye opener and a heartbreaker. We talk to both Arlene and Meg. Join us! Find books mentioned in The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this episode: Paradise Pawn by Meg Richardson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris Bohjalian is prolific to say the least. With about 25 novels under his belt, he hits the bestseller list often with his unforgettable characters and twisty plots. But his newest, The Amateur, is his most personal novel to date. The narrator, Mira, was a caddy, just as Chris was for most of his high school career. And she is a writer, just like Chris, her sense of humor and feelings about writing are pure Chris. It’s a page turner with some terrific writing. And we talk to Elderberry and Plum, a new bookstore in Springfield, Illinois. Join us! Find books mentioned in The Book Case:   https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this episode: The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson The World According to Garp by John Irving Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should the Waters Take Us a is a novel of great beauty…centered around the swamp letters in the south of Louisianna. Whereas so many novels focus on story and character-this one focusses on place and how this place has shaped the lives of the characters that live there. As climate change shifts the land beneath our feet and oil companies have raided the Acadian swamps for their natural resources, the Cajun background is ever changing, and often full of tragedy. We also talk to Final Draft, the bookstore in Kansas that JUST opened. We check in to see how their opening went and how they are feeling now. Join us! Find books mentioned in The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this episode: Should the Waters Take Us by Stephanie Soileau Last One Out Shut Off the Lights by Stephanie Soileau On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward Gilead by Marilynne Robinson As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Les Miserables by Victor Hugo The Hill by Harriet Clark Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pamela Colloff is an accomplished investigative journalist and has written "Catch the Devil" about a frighteningly prolific jailhouse snitch.  Paul Skalnik testified in dozens of cases that inmates in Florida prisons had confessed their guilt to him.  Often prosecutors won convictions based largely on Skalnik’s testimony including four cases where he was instrumental on putting men on Florida’s death row.  One of them, Jim Dailey, was convicted of murdering a 14 year old girl.  Despite evidence that has come out since Dailey’s conviction, he sits on Florida’s death row.  He has been there over 40 years unable to get a new trial.  Colloff repeatedly met Skalnik who said he would tell her the truth about all his testimonies.  He never did.   But Colloff has reported the story in brilliant detail and writes about how often prosecutors use jailhouse snitches knowing their testimony may be tainted.  Skalnik’s repeated claims of jailhouse confessions defied credulity... so why did prosecutors continue to put him on the stand?  Why didn’t judges disallow his testimony?  Why did appellate courts accept his word?  It’s a compelling story - worth a reader’s time. Find books mentioned in The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this episode: Catch the Devil by Pamela Colloff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenny Jackson’s newest, The Shampoo Effect, tells the story of an insular gang of year-round beach residents who have known each other all their lives. Until one member of their clique begins to date outside of the group-they are generally an exclusive “they go out on and off” type of friends. So how will they handle a new girlfriend they don’t know or with whom they have so little in common? The book is nuanced, funny and asks the question: what does marriage mean in the current world? We also talk to Scott D. Reich whose book One Day in September tells the story of a historic baseball game that evolved into the All-Star game we know today. Join us! Find books mentioned on The Book Case: ⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson One Day in September by Scott D. Reich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Tremblay has written a science fiction book that will prompt all sorts of important questions about AI, the role of consciousness in humanity, and how writers might have to work around AI in order to keep their work original and sustainable and it’s called DEAD BUT DREAMING OF ELECTRIC SHEEP. We love a book that poses important questions like these while still being a good page turner, and this is one of those. This is the story of Julia, a semi professional video gamer asked to take remote control of a body in a vegetative state. It’s suspenseful, strange, and will leave you with all sorts of questions about the age in which we live. We also talk to Final Draft Books in Wichita Kansas, which is opening this weekend (TAKE NOTE WICHITA). This husband and wife owner team bring a starry eyed excitement to the store that will charm the pants of all our listeners. Join us! Find books mentioned on The Book Case: ⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul Tremblay Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Phillip K. Dick The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed by Christof Koch 2666 by Robert Balano Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin Powers’ Children of the Wild is a book about Roy and Ennis, two friends on a farm who sign up for WWI, one excited for battle, one a feral child baffled by war. What does war do to friendship? To the minds of men? We talk to Kevin, a veteran of the war in Iraq, about his ability to write war so well and the effects of PTSD on his characters. We also talk to Bartleby Books in Vermont…join us! Find books mentioned on The Book Case: ⁠https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: Children of the Wild by Kevin Powers A Line in the Sand by Kevin Powers A Shout in the Ruins by Kevin Powers Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting by Kevin Powers The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2026 is half over. And Kate turned 50 on June 16th. So in honor of all of this half life, we decided to talk about our favorite books so far of 2026. Tana French, Tayari Jones, Ann Patchett and Allegra Goodman all made the list, but there are so many books we have loved this year that we think we mention just about all of them. Then we quiz each other on rapid fire and get sort of gooey about it. Join us! Find books mentioned on The Book Case: ⁠ https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302   Books mentioned on this week's episode:  Kin by Tayari Jones The Keeper by Tana French This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman Whistler by Ann Patchett The Godfather by Mario Puzo A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving The Hero Next Door by Martha Raddatz On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen The Things We Do Not Say by Elizabeth Strout Python’s Kiss by Louise Erdrich Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott The Power Broker by Robert Caro The Holy Bible Martyr by Kaveh Akbar There, There by Tommy Orange The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices