Welcome bookcasers. It is the end of February, which means you've eaten all your chocolates, and it's time to figure out what to do with your candy, Tom's hearts, until next year.

The good news is I have it on good authority that they will last. I think they're a little like Keith Richards. They'll live through whatever. And so you can keep those for another year, those candy hearts. We're back on the candy hearts. We are. I figure we can squeeze one more week out of this for the intro. So I'm doing it. Yeah, I've thought about it over this couple of weeks

since we've been talking about it. Yeah. I think they would survive a nuclear attack. I think they would

too. I think it would be like the smoke would clear and you'd have cockroaches and Tom's

hearts and Keith Richards. Anyway, I'm Charlie Gibson. The bookcase with Kate and Charlie is what you're listening to.

And if you are listening to it, we're very appreciative.

We have a terrific book for you this week, Tyari Jones, who you may remember wrote an American

marriage a few years ago, which was an Oprah Book Club selection, but she's written some wonderful

other books like the Silver

Sparrow. Anyway, we actually talked to her a couple years ago, which we'll talk about in a second,

but her new one is called Kin. And it is the moving story of two women raised in the South. They're

not sisters by blood, but they are sisters because they are drawn together. This is very much

about the family you choose. One of their mothers was killed when she was a baby, and the other

one's mother walked out on her when she was a baby. So they're both living motherless existences for

two very different reasons, and they're drawn together as a result. This is a period piece. It reminded me of

Tony Morrison. It reminded me of Harper Lee. And so I see what you're saying when you say it's more

than a southern novel, but I also think it fits beautifully within the canon and tradition of great

southern novels, especially historic period pieces. It's beautiful book.

And there's some parallels to Tyari Jones' life. One of these two friends goes to Atlanta

from a small town in Louisiana, and Tyari Jones said that she has been much more comfortable

in her life since she went back to Atlanta. She feels very

much a part of that city. She's a wonderful writer. But you know, we've had many, many,

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