Catherine Newman’s ‘Sandwich’ family faces a rocky road in this brilliant sequel.

On this episode of Fully Booked, Catherine Newman joins us to discuss Wreck (Harper/HarperCollins, October 28), a follow-up to her 2024 New York Times bestseller, Sandwich. Rocky and her family face a health crisis and a local tragedy in a sequel that Kirkus calls “a heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life” (starred review).

Newman is the author of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, including the novelWe All Want Impossible Things, the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, and the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night. She writes the Substack Crone Sandwich and has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, O,and Cup of Jo. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Here’s a bit more from our starred review of Wreck: “Two years after the events of Sandwich, Rocky is back home in Western Massachusetts and happily surrounded by family—her daughter, Willa, lives with her and her husband, Nick, while applying to Ph.D. programs; her widowed father, Mort, has moved into the in-law apartment behind their house. When a young man who graduated from high school with Rocky’s son, Jamie, is hit by a train, Rocky finds herself spiraling as she thinks about how close the tragedy came to her own family. She’s also freaking out about a mysterious rash her dermatologist can’t explain.…Newman excels at showing how sorrow and joy coexist in everyday life. She masterfully balances a modern exploration of grief with truly laugh-out-loud lines.…As Rocky deals with the byzantine frustrations of the medical system, she also has to learn, once more, how to see her children, husband, father, and herself as fully flawed and lovable humans.”

Newman and I talk humor, reading your own reviews, following up an instant New York Times bestseller, complex relationships, her signature approach to dialogue, mirepoix, Substack, literary awards, and much more.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, John McMurtrie, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Self Portrait by Ludwig Volbeda; trans. by Lucy Scott (Levine Querido)

Zohran Walks New York by Millie von Platen (Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers)

The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir by Roy Wood Jr. (Crown)

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti (St. Martin’s Griffin)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Fox Creek by M.E. Torrey

Stormbringer by G.R. Boden

All Bones Considered by Joe Lex

Goddess From the Machine by Daniel Rodrigues-Martin

Poems: Is Amma Angry? by Vani Desai

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