KGNU Radio Book Club

Author Pam Houston answers questions from the audience at the Boulder Public Library on October 15th, 2026, and talks more about her love for Icelandic horses, and the themes of ageing and death in her book "Animals Taught Me Everything."

The October selection for the Radio Book Club is “Animals Taught Me Everything” by Pam Houston. The book explores the profound lessons that Pam Houston has learned from animals, both domestic and wild—from her beloved wolf hounds and donkeys at her ranch in Creed, Colorado, to the horses she has ridden across the Icelandic highlands and a herd of zebras at a watering hole in Namibia.
This episode was recorded at the Boulder Public Library on October 15th, 2026. This interview will be broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.

Hear author Virginia Evans answer questions from the audience at the annual Boulder Library Foundation gala that took place on September 17, 2026.

The September selection for the Radio Book Club is The Correspondent by author Virginia Evans. The book which follows the life of a retired lawyer Sybil, through her personal letters and emails, won the 2026 women’s prize for fiction.

Today’s conversation was recorded on September 17, 2026, at the annual Boulder Library Foundation gala.

This interview was broadcast on KGNU at 9 am on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

In this episode, author Claire Boyles talks more about some of the characters in her novel Appraisals, especially Paul, a billionaire who is buying up land and water rights in Weld County. She also talks about her experience as a writer, including the difference between writing screenplays and writing a novel.

The August 2026 selection for the Radio Book Club is Appraisals by author Claire Boyles. The book follows four generations of women tied to a family farm in Weld County, Colorado. The story is set against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crash and talks about land and family and what it takes to hold onto both.

In this podcast episode author David Heska Wanbli Weiden talks about the real place that is Wisdom Corner, and about life on the Rosebud Reservation. He also talks about the importance of Native American writers telling the stories of Native American communities, especially in the light of current efforts to whitewash history.

The July selection for the Radio Book Club is Wisdom Corner, the latest novel by David Heska Wanbli Weiden and the long-anticipated sequel to his bestselling debut, Winter Counts.

In Wisdom Corner, we once again meet protagonist Virgil Wounded Horse, who is trying to leave behind his past as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. But the murder of a close friend and respected community member draws him back into a life he had tried to leave behind. The book explores the terrible legacy of Native American boarding schools, and how the American justice system has failed tribal communities.

Listen to more of our conversation with author T. A. Barron where he talks about the origins of the names of creatures from the vampire squid from hell to the aquatic salamander called the hellbender, also known as the Allegheny alligator. We also hear about the fertility benefits of eating truffles and T.A. Barron's spiritual encounter with an ancient redwood tree.

The June selection for the Radio Book Club is Naming Nature: A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities for Word Lovers by Colorado author T.A. Barron.

Barron is best known for his fantasy novels for children and young adults, including the popular Merlin series. Throughout his more than 30 books, he has frequently explored themes of nature, stewardship and conservation.

In his latest work, Barron turns to nonfiction, examining the fascinating stories behind how plants, animals and birds came to be named across different cultures and societies. The book also highlights the importance of protecting biodiversity and preserving the species that share our world.

In this edition of Afterhours at the Radio Book Club, author Nina McConigley talks more about growing up as an immigrant in 1980s Wyoming, and navigating an Indian, Irish, American identity.

The May 2026 installment of the Radio Book Club, a collaboration between KGNU and the Boulder Bookstore, is How to Commit a Post Colonial Murder, by author Nina McConigley. The book is set in 1986 in rural Wyoming and tells the story of two sisters Georgie Ayyar and Agatha Krishna as they plot to murder their uncle to end a cycle of abuse. The book is darkly funny and explores themes of identity, immigration, sisterhood and 1980s Wyoming.

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.