Hello, I'm Gilbert Cruz, editor of the New York Times book review, and this is the book review podcast. It's been a very busy autumn, partly of course, because every fall is full of big books, but also because I have been hosting a Sunday edition of the Daily.

I hope you have listened to a couple of those episodes.

This week we're going to run an episode of that show from early September,

in which my fellow editor here at the book review, Sadie Stein, joins me in conversation with Lewis Sacker,

author of the Fame Children's series

Sideway Stories from Wayside School. This year, he published his first novel for adults,

The Magician of Tiger Castle. Let's go to that conversation now.

Given that we are an author and two editors, I think it's fair to say that we're all book lovers now as adults, as grown-ups.

But, you know, Sadie and Lewis, did you always love books from the beginning from the time that you were a young child?

I read a lot as a child.

You know, the scholastic book fairs would come through, and I'd always order two or three

books.

I don't know that I loved reading.

The one book that stands out was actually our teacher read to us out loud when I was in

fourth grade,

which surprised me.

I didn't know teachers still read books aloud in fourth grade,

but she read Charlotte's Web.

Mm-hmm.

And I just loved it.

You know, the bad part was I cried in class at the end,

but it was funny, it was emotional.

...