Host Megan Labrise highlights two of 2023’s most memorable conversations.

Happy holidays, Fully Booked fans! On this week’s special episode, we reflect on another wonderful year of podcasting with deep gratitude: To the authors who shared their stories with us. To Kirkus’ editors, who gave us top-notch reading recommendations each week. To recording engineer and producer Cabel Adkins, who ensured every episode sounded its best. And to all our listeners, for your enthusiasm and support over the course of 350 episodes and counting.

While there were far too many favorites to choose from this year, here are two episodes that really stood out:

In February, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Ilyon Woo about Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 14), the amazing true story of an enslaved couple’s mutual emancipation. Her luminous rendering of the lives of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped enslavement in 1848 Georgia by posing as a wealthy ill young man and his devoted slave, was a finalist for the 2023 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and one of the New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2023. Woo generously recounted the awe she experienced when she first heard the Crafts’ story, shared her thoughts on how to tell the stories of historical figures largely absented from official records, and explained why she considers the Crafts to be American heroes.

And in October, Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider and I had a blast talking about her stellar debut memoir, In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life (Avid Reader Press, Oct. 3). How did the winningest woman in Jeopardy! history get so smart? That’s one of the first questions she explores in her wryly funny, often surprising memoir—and one of the first questions we discussed on this unforgettable episode. We geeked out over our shared love of learning, how she titled her chapters, the best cartoon series of all time (Daria, duh), and much more.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

The Jericho Manuscript by Julian Doyle

The Queen of Gay Street by Esther Mollica

Conch Pearl by Julie E. Justicz

Boomsters by David Marks

As the Sycamore Grows by Jennie Miller Helderman

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.