Meet Ruth Reichl TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—May 14, 2025
Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, May 14th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Ron Block & Kristin Harmel welcome New York Times bestselling author and award-winning food editor and restaurant critic Ruth Reichl to discuss her book The Paris Novel, which was an instant bestseller that met with rave reviews in hardcover last year and was recently released in trade paperback.
Ruth Reichl is the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs (including Save Me the Plums), the novel Delicious!, and the cookbook My Kitchen Year. A former restaurant critic for both The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times and Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet Magazine, Ruth has been honored with six James Beard Awards and the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. An adventure through the food, art, and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris, Ruth’s The Paris Novel was called “mouthwatering” by the New York Times, “an enchanting and irresistible feast” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, and named a Best Book of the Year by Saveur and Food & Wine. Our resident cookbook reviewer and James Beard judge, Ron Block, and our very own Paris expert, Kristin Harmel, are so excited to talk to Ruth all about this irresistible novel that we devoured when it came out in hardcover last year.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 5/14 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 5/16.
Order Ruth’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!
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Latest News from the Fab Four!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY returned from a few events in SC and research in NC to a quiet weekend at home. She attended a screening for her friend, Lanier Isom’s book – Grace to Grit – which was adapted into a movie called LILLY about Lilly Ledbetter (the woman for whom the first Fair Pay Act was signed by Obama). Lanier Isom’s substack is chock full of amazing stories like Lilly’s. It was an extraordinary reminder of the battle other women have fought for us. Patti is excited about the coming weeks of tour while also happy to be sitting on her back porch while the rain falls and Winnie watches the birds at the feeder.
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a great mini-tour last week and loved seeing hundreds of readers in NC, FL, and wrapping up in GA with our MKA! She can’t believe we are less than two weeks from the launch of BEACH HOUSE RULES! So crazy! This week, she will be in Raleigh celebrating the launch of her friend Joy Callaway’s THE STAR OF CAMP GREENE and then in Albemarle, NC for a (sold out!) library event. She has tour stops in so many states coming up and would love to see you. Also… last call for preorder freebies for BEACH HOUSE RULES! Get all the details here!
KRISTIN HARMEL spent Mother’s Day with her mom, husband, and son, beginning with brunch and ending with a stroll through Magic Kingdom and a drink at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Late last week, she spent a wonderful morning and afternoon in Charleston, speaking at the annual Post & Courier Spring Author Luncheon, which also featured authors Brad Meltzer, Jim Axelrod, and Annabelle Tometich—who now happen to be three of her new favorite people. She can’t believe that her book tour for THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU kicks off in LESS THAN FIVE WEEKS and can’t wait to see you on the road!
MARY KAY ANDREWS loved sharing the stage with Kristy last week at her sold-out brunch in Atlanta. Her family gathered for a Mother’s Day dinner on Sunday, and this week they’ll gather again to celebrate grandson Griffin’s middle school graduation. She’s busily signing the forthcoming paperback of Summers at the Saint (out June 3rd!) so they can be sent to all our F&F book box subscribers from Oxford Exchange.
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Upcoming Events
View Kristy’s full 2025 book tour for Beach House Rules HERE.
View Kristin’s full 2025 book tour for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau HERE.
View Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.
Friday, May 30, 2025—Friends & Fiction Live in Myrtle Beach to celebrate the launch of Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey. Meet all four Friends & Fiction host authors! Hosted by Litchfield Books at 21 Main At North Beach in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The event begins at 10:45AM. Tickets are $80 and include a signed copy of Beach House Rules, a special gift, keynote presentation delivered by the Fab Four (plus Meg & Ron!), author Q&A, plated lunch & dessert, meet & greet, photo opportunity, and admittance to the private restaurant. Couples of the same household may exchange one event book for another title in the bookstore. Additional books by all four authors will be available for purchase at the event. GET TICKETS!
Tuesday, June 17, 2025—Friends & Fiction Live at the Jersey Shore to celebrate the launch of The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel. Meet all four Friends & Fiction host authors! Hosted by Booktowne at the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ. Doors open at 6:00PM. The show begins at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $45 and include a signed copy of The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, lively keynote presentation delivered by the Fab Four (plus Meg & Ron!), and live audience Q&A session—plus sips & nibbles, meet & greet, book signings, and photo opportunities in the courtyard after the show! Additional books by all four authors will be available for purchase at the event. GET TICKETS!
Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, the full Fab Four — Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry — welcomed New York Times bestselling author (and one of the original five founders of Friends & Fiction!), Mary Alice Monroe, to discuss her highly anticipated new book, Where The Rivers Merge, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman's life across multiple generations in the American South.
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: F&F March Pick of the Month: Patti Callahan Henry, The Story She Left Behind
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Emma Donoghue, The Paris Express
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Emilia Hart, The Sirens
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Nita Prose, The Maid’s Secret
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Happy Land
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: F&F April Pick of the Month—Jeneva Rose, The Perfect Divorce
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Jasmine Guillory, Flirting Lessons
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Carley Fortune, One Golden Summer
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Mary Alice Monroe, Where the Rivers Merge
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel
Watch May 14 | Listen May 16
F&F May Pick of the Month—Kristy Woodson Harvey, Beach House Rules
Watch LIVE May 21 | Listen May 23
Kristina McMorris, The Girls of Good Fortune
Watch May 28 | Listen May 30
Summer Kick-Off Beach Party with Mary Kay Andrews, Annabel Monaghan, Meg Mitchell Moore, Martha Hall Kelly, Wendy Francis, Amy Mason Doan & Brooke Lea Foster
Watch June 4 | Listen June 6
F&F June Pick of the Month—Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Collette Marceau
Watch LIVE June 11 | Listen June 13
Julie Clark, The Ghostwriter
Watch June 18 | Listen June 20
Jess Walter, So Far Gone
Watch June 25 | Listen June 27
F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!
*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (coming in paperback June 3)!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
F&F Merch Store
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.
Tees in New Summer Colors!
We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for the upcoming F&F Live events or when attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming tour stops. How fun to dress to match the books?!
F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed 35,000 of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Patti Callahan Henry about her novel, The Story She Left Behind. Mark your calendars for May 19th for their next author guest, Viola Shipman, when they’ll discuss her new novel, The Page Turner. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The April prompt is to read a book with a question as its title and for May it’s to read a book with water on the cover.
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