Ep. 41: Winter 2020 Book Preview with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.7 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2020
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back for the first episode of 2020…the Winter 2020 Book Preview with Catherine of Gilmore Guide to Books!
Catherine and I share our most anticipated books coming out for the first quarter (January – March) of 2020.
Also, stay tuned for my Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2020 blog post, which is coming out tomorrow. I'll share some of the books I talked about in this podcast, but also some that I didn't!
This post contains affiliate links (plus: here's your Amazon Smile-specific affiliate link), through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Announcement
Starting this month, I'm introducing a new bonus feature for $5/month podcast patrons! I'm going to do a monthly solo episode (i.e. no co-host) where I do the book recommendations segment from Sarah's Book Shelves Live.
So, I'll share…
- 2 Old Books I Love
- 2 New Books I Love
- 1 Book I Didn't Love (this could be a DNF)
- 1 Upcoming Release I'm Excited About
These episodes will be released around mid-month. I'm so excited to have a place to talk about the books I'm loving (and not loving) beyond just piping in when I happen to have read a book my guest is sharing.
If you'd like access to these episodes (and other bonus content), subscribe for $5/month on Patreon!
Highlights
- Catherine and my success rate for books we shared in our Fall 2019 Preview episode.
- Our Best and Worst picks from the Fall 2019 Preview episode.
- Catherine shares how her Louise Penny pick from the Fall Preview episode panned out.
- Sarah's and Catherine's #1 Winter book picks.
Winter 2020 Book Preview
January
Sarah's Picks:
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (December 31, 2019) | Buy from Amazon
[8:20]
- Long Bright River by Liz Moore (January 7) | Buy from Amazon
[14:57]
- We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan (January 14) | Buy from Amazon
[19:23]
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (January 21) | Buy from Amazon
[25:09]
Catherine's Picks:
- Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey (January 7) | Buy from Amazon [13:13]
- Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict (January 7) | Buy from Amazon [17:29]
February
Sarah's Picks:
- The Cactus League by Emily Nemens (February 4) | Buy from Amazon
[31:12]
- Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin (February 18) | Buy from Amazon [36:16]
Catherine's Picks:
- Weather by Jenny Offill (February 11) | Buy from Amazon [23:09]
- House of Trelawney by Hannah Rothschild (February 11) | Buy from Amazon [29:16]
- The Lost Diary of M by Paul Wolfe (February 25) | Buy from Amazon [33:57]
March
Sarah's Picks:
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (March 10) | Buy from Amazon [40:48]
- Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel (March 17) | Buy from Amazon [44:25]
- The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel (March 31) | Buy from Amazon [48:57]
Catherine's Picks:
- Writers and Lovers by Lily King (March 3) | Buy from Amazon [38:32]
- A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler (March 10) | Buy from Amazon [43:02]
- The Mountains Sing by Que Mai Phan Nguyen (March 17) | Buy from Amazon [46:26]
- The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel (March 24) | Buy from Amazon [50:44]
Other Books Mentioned
- The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[4:20] (My Review)
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[4:38]
- Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia | Buy from Amazon [4:54]
- The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [5:09]
- City of Girls
by Elizabeth Gilbert (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[5:09]
- Daisy Jones & the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [5:09]
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern | Buy from Amazon
[5:09]
- The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan | Buy from Amazon [5:50]
- Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (My Review)| Buy from Amazon [5:50]
- A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman (August 27) | Buy from Amazon [6:29]
- The Submission by Amy Waldman | Buy from Amazon [7:00]
- Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill | Buy from Amazon [14:11]
- Miracle Creek
by Angie Kim (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [16:49]
- A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [16:49]
- Dopesick by Beth Macy (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [17:13]
- The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict | Buy from Amazon [17:53]
- The Ensemble
by Aja Gabel (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [22:43]
- The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild | Buy from Amazon [29:36]
- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach | Buy from Amazon [32:27]
- Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[33:01]
- The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[33:57]
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[37:44]
- Euphoria by Lily King | Buy from Amazon [38:32]
- From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [39:45]
- Out East by John Glenn (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [39:45]
- Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [43:04]
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong | Buy from Amazon [48:05]
- The Roanoke Girls
by Amy Engel (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[49:40]
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[50:51]
Other Links
- Mommy Dead and Dearest (HBO documentary about DeeDee Blanchard)
- The Vietnam War (documentary by Ken Burns)
About Catherine Gilmore

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Catherine started The Gilmore Guide to Books over 6 years ago after wrapping up a career as a corporate librarian. She loves books and reading (surprise!) and currently lives in Seattle.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week, |
| 0:15.2 | I'm talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, |
| 0:20.5 | one book they don't love, and one new |
| 0:22.7 | release they're excited about. We're going to get real and sometimes a bit snarky about all things |
| 0:28.3 | books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word to your reader friends, |
| 0:33.8 | subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts, or get bonus podcast episodes |
| 0:40.8 | by supporting the podcast on Patreon. There's a link in the show notes and in my Instagram bio to my |
| 0:47.5 | Patreon page. Let's get rolling. Hey everyone, welcome to the first episode of Sarah's Bookshelves Live for 2020. It's been a minute |
| 0:57.0 | since I talked to y'all, so I'm thrilled to be back. Before we get to today's episode, I do have a |
| 1:02.7 | quick announcement, and I hope that it's a fun one for y'all. I'm introducing a new element for |
| 1:08.8 | Sarah's Bookshelves Live live $5 a month patrons. |
| 1:12.7 | This will most likely be around mid-month that I'll release these. |
| 1:16.8 | I will be releasing a bonus episode of me doing the book recommendations segment of the regular |
| 1:23.3 | show. |
| 1:24.2 | So once a month, I'll share two old books I loved, two new books I loved, one book I did |
| 1:29.8 | not love, and one upcoming release that I'm excited about. And these will be solo episodes. That |
| 1:34.7 | means no co-hosts. So it's just me talking about the books that I loved or didn't like and why |
| 1:40.3 | I loved or didn't like them. And I'm really looking forward to having a venue to share the |
| 1:45.4 | books that I love and don't love outside of just kind of piping in when I happen to have |
| 1:51.6 | read something that one of my guests is sharing. So if you'd like to get access to these bonus |
| 1:56.4 | episodes, as well as monthly superlatives episodes featuring every full-length episode guest picks for five bookish superlatives categories. |
| 2:05.8 | You can subscribe on Patreon for $5 a month. |
... |
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