History and The Brain in bestselling novels

This week two bestselling authors join me on Realgoodwords.

Jed Rubenfeld is a Yale law professor whose first novel was an international bestseller. His new one is out called "The Death Instinct" and it's set around the terror attack on Wall Street on Sept. 16th of 1920. There are some amazing parallels to now - not just to the 9/11 attacks but to the economy and how the government dealt with the attack....

I'm also excited to talk with Lisa Genova again. I read her new novel, Left Neglected, a month ago or so, and still haven't been able to get it out of my mind. It's the story of Sarah Nickerson who is in a car accident that leaves her with brain damage that is termed left neglect.

“Genova is a master of getting into the heads of her characters, relating from the inside out what it's like to suffer from a debilitating disease. How she does it we don't know, but she does, and brilliantly.”

--Craig Wilson, USA Today

A sneak preview of Ayelet & Michael

This week I get the chance to check in with the literary super-couple Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon. Besides their works of fiction, they both have books of essays out about parenting. Ayelet's is called "Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace". Michael's is called "Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son".

In searching for a photo of them and more information online, I found some really vitriolic pieces about the two of them - and especially about Ayelet. But I'm here to say that I had a wonderful time talking with them... and found them very down to earth. I didn't get a sense of them being the "new overshare-y parents" as one blog called them. Really? Overshare-y is a word? It seems to me that being honest and frank about some of the hardest jobs out there (parenting) is always welcome.

Here's a sneak peek of my conversation with them.

I asked Michael & Ayelet to describe each other as spouses.

Michael: Ayelet is an amazing mother. She is an extremely fierce advocate on behalf of her children. She spends what I as a father and as a man would probably consider an inordinate amount of time worrying and fretting over the food that they eat and the clothes that they wear and the toxic chemicals that they are being exposed to... and when the alert comes through the preschool that some manufacturer brand of lunch boxes in Scarsdale, NY was defected to have a certain amount of lead in the plastic my reaction to that would probably be like "oh that's too bad for the people in Scarsdale".... And Ayelet's reaction and I think the proper reaction - was to get our kids lunch boxes tested because they might have the same thing...

Ayelet: AND THEY DID!

Michael: (laughter) Exactly! And the kits got ordered and sure enough one of them shows a positive result and that attention - that level of attention that it requires - to successfully raise children is something that I always look to Ayelet as my role model for that. And you know, she's warm and encouraging and all those things as well....

Ayelet: And he says that even though I've been SO crabby for the last couple of days! Thank you honey!

Michael: (laughter) Well, yeah, I'm not talking about the last couple of days. I need to stipulate...

I asked Ayelet to describe Michael as a father.

Ayelet: Well you know, I could wax rhapsodic...

Michael: You don't need to! you've already done it so many times!

Ayelet: But I think the best way to describe it is that I think that he is a really awesome mother.

Michael: (laughter) Thank you! That's high praise!

Tune in this week to Realgoodwords to hear more of the conversation - and check out what the New York Times had to say about them.

Minnesota Bestselling Novels this week

Here's the StarTribune's list of local bestsellers.

1. The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich ($25.95, Harper). Innocents are blamed for the slaughter of a family.
2. Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri ($25, Knopf). Eight stories of exile, identity, disappointment and maturation.
3. So Brave, Young and Handsome, by Leif Enger ($24, Atlantic). An outlaw sets out to correct his misdeeds.
4. Phantom Prey, by John Sandford ($26.95, Putnam). A widow comes home to find blood everywhere and her daughter missing.
5. The Miracle at Speedy Motors, by Alexander McCall Smith ($22.95, Pantheon). A detective helps a woman find her family.

So here are my questions to you:

What novels are the non-city folks reading?

Have you read any on this list?

Tell us about a book you recommend....

what are KAXE listeners reading?

The Star Tribune publishes a weekly list of bestsellers from selected bookstores in the Twin Cities. There is only one that I've read, which got me to thinking, what about a "what's hot with KAXE readers" kind of list? That's what I'd REALLY be interested in!

Help me compile this list and post what you are reading!!

Here's the Star Tribune's list for 2/16/08:

FICTION
1. Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson. ($22, Graywolf).
A Norwegian man's self-imposed exile is disrupted by a neighbor.
2. The Appeal, by John Grisham ($26.95, Doubleday). A jury returns a verdict against a chemical company.
3. Duma Key, by Stephen King ($28, Scribner). A man recovers from an accident in which he loses an arm.
4. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks ($25.95, Viking). A rare-book expert is offered the job of a lifetime.
5. 7th Heaven, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. ($27.99, Little, Brown and Co.). A fire in a wealthy community leaves a couple dead and detective Lindsay Boxer searching for clues.

NONFICTION
1. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan ($21.95, Penguin). How to eat for good health.
2. The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne (Beyond Words, $23.95). The law of attraction is the key to getting what you want.
3. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois ($27.95, Harper). A guide on preparing fresh breads.
4. Fair Game, by Valerie Plame Wilson ($26, Simon & Schuster).
A memoir by the former CIA operative.
5. The Dog Says How, by Kevin Kling ($22.95, Borealis). A collection of autobiographical stories.