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In this episode, I chat with Lovestruck Books owner and founder, Rachel Kantor. Rachel traces the thread from her years in classrooms and nonprofits to the moment she opened a shop that treats joy and access as serious cultural work. We dig into what it means to put the world’s best-selling fiction genre at the center of an academic neighborhood and how that choice reshapes conversations about taste, representation, and who gets shelf space.

Rachel shares the tightrope walk between mission and margin, revealing how a cafe and wine bar aren’t add-ons but engines of community: inviting readers to linger, meet, and return. We explore the store’s 75% romance focus alongside kids’ books, general fiction, and targeted nonfiction—from memoir to sexual health and wellness—plus a slate of events that range from bestselling rom-com authors to a sold-out pelvic floor workshop and visits from award-shortlisted historians. The mix is intentional, reflecting a wide and lively demographic: students, professors, longtime locals, tourists, and readers across the gender and orientation spectrum.

Representation sits at the center. We talk about the ongoing rise of queer love stories, poly relationships, Indigenous and BIPOC authors, and why fighting book bans and expanding access matter for a healthier literary ecosystem. Rachel offers gateway picks for skeptics, like Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, alongside current obsessions in sports romance and romantasy, and she explains how recognition, like a member-voted Best Bookstore award, signals that community is choosing this model of joyful, inclusive culture. Join us to rethink what a bookstore can be, and to leave with a stronger, more curious TBR.

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Mandy Jackson-Beverly
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Start with the truth: technology keeps changing the book world, but the love of reading isn’t going anywhere. That’s our springboard for a rich, candid conversation with publishing analyst and author Thad McIlroy about what AI can actually do for writers, publishers, translators, and readers—and where it crosses lines that matter. We trace his arc from bookstore floors to indie publishing, investigative journalism, and desktop publishing, then into the fast-moving landscape of modern AI.

We get practical fast. Want a sharper pitch, a cleaner description, better metadata, and smarter keywords? Use AI as a drafting partner—then apply human voice and judgment. Thinking about acquisitions or submissions? Run a secure, opt-out upload and ask the model who the audience is, what comp titles make sense, and how to position the work. We talk tools—Claude for colloquial nuance, Gemini for reasoning, ChatGPT with training opt-outs—and how to protect manuscripts while you explore.

We also tackle the hard edges. Headlines predicting the “death of authors” are noisy, but real concerns remain: training on copyrighted books without compensation, contracts that quietly assign AI rights, and the limits of AI detection tools. Thad breaks down recent rulings vs. piracy, separates legal allowances from ethical responsibilities, and shares what to renegotiate now so creators aren’t boxed out later. On translation, we sketch a hybrid workflow—machine draft, human craft—that can open doors for books that would never otherwise travel, while preserving the nuance great translators bring.

Through it all, we return to the point of the industry: a reader choosing a book, a poet on a shelf, an indie bookseller who knows your taste. AI can help us market smarter, iterate faster, and reach farther—but it shouldn’t replace the human spark that makes literature worth saving. If that balance resonates with you, follow along, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review to help more book lovers find the show.

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Mandy Jackson-Beverly
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In this episode, I chat with author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mirta Ojito about her novel Deeper Than The Ocean. This book is one of my top reads of 2026!

A century-old shipwreck with no survivors. A journalist haunted by dreams. A family secret whispered across oceans. Mirta Ojito shares the real history behind Deeper Than the Ocean and the intimate choices that make a sweeping story feel startlingly close.

Ojito takes us from Spain to La Palma in the Canary Islands, to Cuba, and to Florida, tracing the hidden currents that shaped migration from 1919 to today. She opens the archive on the Valbanera, the “poor man’s Titanic,” and shares how one chance encounter with a Spanish-language book in Key West became the seed for a dual-timeline novel.

We explore Spain’s post–World War I turmoil, the Spanish flu’s shadow, and why economic windfalls can deepen inequality when systems fail. Along the way, silk traditions, natural dyes, and island geography anchor the narrative in physical detail that lets history breathe.

We also talk about craft and conscience. As a newsroom standards leader and Pulitzer-winning reporter, Ojito explains how trust is built word by word, why details matter, and how to tell the truth without exploiting suffering. Her fiction draws on lived experience—from the Mariel boatlift to the tenderness and terror of motherhood—and on the unsettling idea that trauma can cross generations. The result is a story about courage, belonging, and the complicated love we carry for places we cannot return to, and places that no longer exist.

If you’re drawn to literary fiction rooted in real events, migration history, and ethical storytelling, this conversation will stay with you. Listen, then share your answer: what does home mean when it spans more than one shore?

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Mirta Ojito

Deeper Than The Ocean, Mirta Ojito

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