Kate often says that if she were a writer she would have trouble reading James McBride. It's hard not to hear a mic drop when you close the back cover. He is a master of storytelling; his sentences so packed with history, humor, and meaning that at times you forget what he was talking about, but you won't mind a bit. His writing often knocks off our socks, and his new novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, is no exception. For our bookstore this week? We let James choose one of his favorites, Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey.

Books mentioned in this week's podcast:

• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• Kill 'em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride
• The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
• Song Yet Sung by James McBride
• Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
• Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride
• The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
• Deacon King Kong by James McBride
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole
• Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
• A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley
• Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices