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We are on summer hiatus until July 10, 2024. Until then, please check out this episode about humor and books that made us laugh. It originally aired April 2023.
Did you know it is National Humor Month? Neither did we but now we do and so do you. Which means this week we are talking about books that make us laugh.
For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.
Books We Mentioned:
1- The Peripheral by William Gibson
2- Foundation by Isaac Asimnov
3- Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
4- The Martian by Andy Weir
5- The Alaskan Laundry by Brendan Jones
6- Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
7- The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
8- The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
9- Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
10- Yearbook by Seth Rogen
11- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
12- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
13- Why Don't You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It? A Mother's Suggestions by Patricia Marx; illustrated by Roz Chast
14- Calypso by David Sedaris
15- A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson
16- Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel by Suzanne Roberts
17- Dirtbag, Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald
18- She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
19- Sacred Geometry by Robert Lawlor
20- Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis
21- What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry
22- Hestia Strikes A Match by Christine Grillo
23- My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimers by Sandeep Jauhar
24- Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson
TV Series mentioned:
1- The Peripheral (Amazon Prime 2023)
2- Foundation (Apple+ 2021)
Bookish News
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/…olastic.html
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****We are still on hiatus but will be back with all new episodes in a few weeks. Until then, enjoy our Summer Reading episode from last year with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, from Carmichaels Books. Her suggestions may not be hot off the press but still make for great reads. Happy Reading!
At the start of summer, we like to chat with Sam Miller, bookseller and manager at Carmichael’s Bookstore here in Louisville (We actually like to chat with Sam anytime, but she has especially useful information about new books twice a year.) Sam does the heavy lifting this week by telling us what is coming out and might be good for your TBR list.
For show notes for any episode, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.
Books mentioned in this episode:
1- The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
2- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
3- Be Mine by Richard Ford
4- The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
5- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
6- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
7- Color of Water by James McBride
8- Deacon King Kong by James McBride
9- The Tusk that Did the Damage by Tania James
10- Loot by Tania James
11- Happy Place by Emily Henry
12- I Didn’t Do It by Jamie Lynn Hendricks
13- Only One Left by Riley Sager
14- Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
15- Independence Square by Martin Cruz Smith
16- Small Mercies by Dennis LeHane
17- Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
18- Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
19- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
20 The Other Renaissance by Paul Strathern
21- Ice by Amy Brady
22- The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II by David Chrisinger
23- Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
24- A Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
25- Pageboy by Elliot Page
26- Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams
27- Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
28- King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
29- Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby
30- Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman
31- Franklin Smoke by Aaron Franklin
32- Love is a Pink Cake by Claire Ptak
33- Back to the Dirt by Frank Bill
34- Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt
35- If You Write Me a Letter, Send it Here by Louisville Story Program
36- Gay Poems for Red States by Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.
37- Tar Hollow Trans by Stacy Jane Grover
38- The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
39- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
40- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
41- Weather Together by Jessie Sima
42- The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
43- Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane
44- Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
45- Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott
46- Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
47- Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
48- The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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We are on hiatus for the month of June. This replay episode originally aired June 2023.
This week we celebrate all the special days of June! Want a book rec for Pride month? We have one. What about Juneteenth or Father's Day? We have you covered. And did you know it's National Audiobook Month? It's new to us as well but we love audiobooks so we give you some recommendations for that too. And we throw in one wildcard category - one of those random National Days or Months that always makes you wonder why there needs to be a month for that:)
This is the last episode for Season 8. We are taking a month off for summer family travel and some rest and relaxation. We will be back the late July/ early August with all new episodes. Until then, we will air some of our favorite past episodes in case you missed them the first time around.
Happy Reading!
For show notes for any episode or to contact us, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
2- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
3- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
4- Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo
5- Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo
6- The Scent of a Garden by Namrata Patel
7- The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
8- The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule
9- Fun Home: A Famliy Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
10- Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
11- And Then the Grey Heaven by RE Katz
12- Lone Women by Victor Lavalle
13- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
14- Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
15- The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
16- The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
17- The Chosen by Chaim Potok
18- Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
19- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
20- The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
21- Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham
22- The Good One by Polly Stewart
23- On Earth as it is on Television by Emily Jane
Shows/movies mentioned--
1- No Country For Old Men ( 2007)
2- My Octopus Teacher (Netflix, 2020)
Articles Mentioned:
1- Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian writer who was voice of African women, dies at 81
2- The convoluted world of best-seller lists, explained
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We are on hiatus for the month of June. This is a replay episode from 2023.
For show notes for any episode, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.
This week are celebrating AAPI Heritage Month (Asian American Pacific Islander) and we give you a list of 10 (plus maybe a few more) of our favorite books to add to your TBR written by authors with family heritage from this part of the world. We give you books in a variety of genres; literary fiction, historical fiction, memoir, food writing, graphic novels, horror, poetry, and middle grade.
So join us this week as we explore the big wide world of Asia and the Pacific Islands heritage in literature. Plus, we talk about the most recent Jane Austen film adaptation we've watched, a new environmentally friendly product we've tried, and why sometimes it might be nice to be a disembodied head.
Books mentioned--1- Persuasion by Jane Austen
2- Emma by Jane Austen
3- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
6- The Girls of Fall by Jessica Minyard
7- You Should Have Known by Rebecca Keller
8- An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helen Tursten
9- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
10- Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia
11- The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
12- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
13- The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
14- The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
15- Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine by Edward Lee
16- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
17- The Fervor by Alma Katsu
18- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
19- Two Brown Dots by Danni Quintos
20- World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
21- A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
22- The Milk Lady of Bangalore by Shoba Narayan
23- Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
24- Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
25- Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
26- The Cheating Cell: How Evolution Helps Us Understand and Treat Cancer by Athena Aktipis
27- A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
28- The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
29- Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and 500 Miles Across Spain by Andrew McCarthy
Movies mentioned--
1- Persuasion (Netflix 2022)
2- Ted Lasso - Season 3 (Apple TV 2023)
3- Jury Duty (Amazon 2023)
4- Enchanted (2007)
5- The Terror (Hulu 2018)
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the contact button.
We will be on a much needed hiatus for the entire month of June and a smidge into July. You will get replays of some of our book recommendation episodes from last year, but toward the end of June, we may have a remix episode where we catch up with a former guest.
This last episode of Season 10 is about a very important topic. Although May is almost over, it isn’t too late to recognize books for Mental Health Awareness month. Carrie and I both know and appreciate that mental health is part of total health. Your brain is a really big, extremely powerful, exceedingly important part of your body. If it ain’t happy, no other part of you is happy either. It’s no different than your kidneys or heart not performing their best. This week we give you some book recommendations, both fiction and nonfiction, that highlight mental health or bring some exposure to mental health issues.
Books Mentioned in This Episode:
1- Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler
2- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
3- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
4- And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps - A 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover Cassie Sanders @allroadsleadtoausten
5- Starfish by Lisa Fipps
6- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
7- The Professor and the Madman: a Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
8- The Sleeping Beauties by Suzanne O' Sullivan
9- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
10- Wesley Yorstad Goes Outside by Stephanie Hunter
11- All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
12- Homer and Langley by EL Doctorow
13- The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
14- The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
15- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
16- Sylvia Plath: A Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin
17- Anne Sexton: A Biography by Diane Wood Middlebrook
18- The Act of Disappearing by Nathan Gower
19- The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum
20- Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-Trotting Hypochondriac by Jeremy Hance
21- The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
22- Jingo by Terry Pratchett
23- Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
24- Mort by Terry Pratchett
25- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Shows/podcasts mentioned—
1- Barry (HBO, 2018 - 2023)
2- Reservation Dogs (Hulu, 2021 - 2023)
3- Good Omens (Amazon Prime, 2019 - present)
4- Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch - podcast
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find Nathan Gower at his website www.nathangower.com or on IG @nathan_gower_
Our guest this week is Nathan Gower, a writer with roots in Kentucky, having earned degrees from Spalding University and the University of Louisville. He now serves as a professor of English at Campbellsville University. His debut novel, The Act of Disappearing, publishes on May 28 with Mira Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.
The novel is about a woman named Julia, who her friends call Jules. Julia has been trying to make a name for herself as a fiction writer, but she works at a bar to make ends meet. It is there that she meets a famous older man named Jonathan Aster who gives her a photograph and offers to pay her to tell the story of the woman in the picture: the woman in the photo is jumping off a bridge holding a baby. Julia begins a quest to discover who this woman is and learns about herself in the process.
He also talks to us about how terrifying it was to write a book from a female point of view, how the women in his family inspired this story, and the sci-fi book he just read and thoroughly enjoyed even though he doesn’t like sci-fi.
Books Mentioned in This Episode:
1- The Act of Disappearing by Nathan Gower
2- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
3- Dead Boy Detectives by Neil Gaiman
4- Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
5- Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen
6- The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
7- The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Claire Boswell @clairesbookobsession
8- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
9- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
10- The Man In The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
11- Made for You by Jenna Satterthwaite
12- Johanna Porter is Not Sorry by Sara Read
Entertainment mentioned—
1- Beetlejuice (1988)
2- Beetlejuice (Broadway Across America)
3- Seinfeld (1989- 1998, Netflix)
4- Dark Matter (2024, Apple+)
5- The Dead Boys Detective (2024, Netflix)
6- Locke & Key (2020, Netflix)
7- The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
Photograph mentioned—time.com/3456028/the-most-bea…h-an-immortal-photo/
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we have our annual summer reading episode with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, store manager at Carmichaels Bookstore in Louisville, KY. By this point in our spring season, we are tired, so having Sam on and letting her do the heavy lifting on book suggestions is what we’re about. Sam clues us in to some new fiction, nonfiction, traditional summer reading, mysteries, sci-fi/fantasy, and children’s books you may want to scoop up.
Books Mentioned in This Episode:
1- James by Percival Everett
2- Hamilton by Ron Chernow
3- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
4- Sandwich by Catherine Newman
5- Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
6- By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
7- Long Island by Colm Tóibín
8- Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
9- Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
10- I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
11- The Summer Pact by Emily Giffen
12- Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
13- Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
14- Knife by Salman Rushdie
15- The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larsen
16- 1974 by Francine Prose
17- The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
18- Sociopath by Patric Gagne
19- An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin
20- The Searcher by Tana French
21- The Hunter by Tana French
22- One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
23- Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
24- Highway 13 by Fiona McFarland
25- This Bright River by Liz Moore
26- God of the Woods by Liz Moore
27- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
28- Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
29- The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville
30- Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
31- House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
32- Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
33- The Deading by Nicholas Belardes
34- Unicorn Woman by Gayl Jones
35- Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones
36- You Are Here edited by Ada Límon
37- Black Gold by Marguerite Henry
38- The Kentucky Oaks by Avalyn Hunter
39- Bourbonland by Edward Lee
40- Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee
41- Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee
42- The Gaga Mistake by Emma Straub
43- Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
44- The Squish by Brianna Carzoo
45- The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay
46- Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
47- Finna by Nino Cipri
48- The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird
49- I’m Afraid You Have Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
50- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Apps mentioned—Merlin app (birds)
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
May is Audiobook Appreciation Month so this week we suggest to you 10 plus books that give an added dimension when you listen to the audiobook version. And we aren't even entertaining the notion that listening to audiobooks isn't reading. Listening counts!
Books mentioned--
1- The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna
2- The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
3- Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North (A 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover Shannon Loar @shopcoffeekids
4- Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney, narrated by Kristoffer Tabori
5- Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci, narrated by Stanley Tucci
6- Nothing is Wrong and Here is Why by Alexandra Petri, narrated by Rebecca Gibel
7- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, narrated by Marin Ireland
8- The Assasination of Brangwain Spurge by MT Anderson and Eugene Yelchin narrated by Gildart Jackson
9- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by an ensemble cast
10- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, narrated by Tom Hollander
11- Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams, narrated by author
12- Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, narrated by Marin Ireland
13- Ava's Man by Rick Bragg
14-The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and his People by Rick Bragg
15- My Southern Journey: True Journeys from the Heart of the South by Rick Bragg
16- It's All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg
17- Calypso by David Sedaris
18- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
19- Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith, narrated by Bronson Pinchot
20- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
21- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
22- The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia
Movies and Shows mentioned--
1- Big Night (1996)
2- Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy (CNN)
3- The Hunger Games (2012)
4- The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
5- Daisy Jones and the Six (Amazon, 2023)
6- Leave the World Behind (Netflix, 2023)
7- Ripley (Netflix, 2024)
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
We interact with book publicists pretty often, but a few months ago, one of them, Sami Lien, emailed and asked for recommendations about things to do in Kentucky around Derby. She explained that she is in a travel book club; they read books over the course of 12 months about a particular US location and then take a trip to visit. The novel Horse by Geraldine Brooks was the book that inspired this particular trip for their club.
Well, we love books and travel so we had to invite Sami and her book club friend, Marilyn, to be guests on the show. We had a great time learning about the ins and outs of their travel book club and are excited to get to meet them this Friday at a restaurant about an hour outside of Louisville.
If you would like to see the full list of books they read this year preparing to travel to Kentucky and the Derby, you can find the list in the show notes.
Books Mentioned in the Episode:
1- Horse by Geraldine Brooks
2- Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim
3- Once Persuaded, Twice Shy by Melodie Edwards
4- 1984 by George Orwell
5- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
6- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
7- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
8- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
9- Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
10- South of Broad by Pat Conroy
11- My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
12- Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
13- Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse by Kim Wickens
14- Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz
15- Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon - A five star read recommended by fellow book lover Caitríona Shannon @these_thats_and_prose
16- Friday Harbor by DC Alexander
17- Blood in the Bluegrass by DC Alexander
18- Mary by Janis Cooke Newman
19- Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
20- Norah Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Shows mentioned--
1- Ripley (Netflix, 2024)
The Divine Destinations Reading List for Kentcuky and the KY Derby
1- Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks
2- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
3- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
4- Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
5- Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
6- Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
7- Lincoln by Russell Freedman
8- Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson
9- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
10- The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis by Elizabeth Letts
11- First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
12- The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
13- Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love with an Animal by Sarah Maslin Nir
14- Lexington by Kim Wickens
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we have a remix episode because we are attending the LA Festival of Books. We catch up with author Ellen Birkett Morris. We first spoke to her in 2020 about her short story collection, Lost Girls, and now she has recently published a novel Beware the Tall Grass. So we will hear a little something old and a little something new from her in that episode.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Beware the Tall Grass by Ellen Birkett Morris
2- Lost Girls by Ellen Birkett Morris
3- Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
4- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
5- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
5- Arabel's Raven by Joan Aiken
6- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
7- Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
8- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers by Mary Roach
9- Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
10- Lake Life by David James Poissant
11- Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
12- The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
13- The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
14- Door to Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn translated by Melody Shaw - 5 Star Read recommended by Sarah Phillips @cosymidlifebooknook
Article mentioned in this episode:lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-for-book-lovers/
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we are playing the nostalgia card. All of the books we mention are backlist in a big way; the majority are at least 15 years old. Our episode is about books that take up space in our heads. They may be books that, when we see them on a shelf, stir up all kinds of feelings or memories from years past. Or they are books that simply left a huge impression on us and we think about them from time to time. Even though they aren’t new and shiny, these books deserve a place on your TBR.
Books mentioned:
1- The Dead Boy Detectives comic series based on characters developed by Neil Gaiman
2- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
3- Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
4- The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
5- Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
6- When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker - A 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover - Kasey @kayree_reads
7-It by Stephen King (1986)
8- Jack Gance by Ward Just (1997)
9- Burglars Can’t Be Choosers (the Bernie Rhodenbarr series) by Lawrence Block (1977)
10- The Good Men by Charmaine Craig (2003)
11- The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir (1991)
12- Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography by Marion Meade (1991)
13- Nora: A Biography of Nora Joyce by Brenda Maddox (1998)
14- House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (1999)
15- Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones (1987)
16- Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith (1988)
17- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)
18- Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
19- Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs
20- Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
Shows mentioned—
1- Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix, 2024)
2- Catherine, Called Birdy (Amazon Prime, 2022)
3- Ripley (Netflix, 2024)
4- Sandman (Netflix, 2022)
5- Good Omens (Amazon Prime, 2019)
6- Sherlock (Hulu, 2010)
7- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
8- Emma ( Amazon Prime, 2020)
9- 3 Body Problem (Netflix, 2024)
10- Burglar (1987)
11- House of Sand and Fog (Max, 2003)
12- Lion in Winter (1968)
13- Jude (1996)
14- Far from the Madding Crowd (Max, 2015)
Theatre mentioned—
Broadway across America production of “Six”
Articles mentioned—
8 Bookish Podcasts for Booklovers -www.badasswomensbookclub.com/blog/2024/…booklovers
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find Judith Lindbergh at judithlindbergh.com/ and on IG @judithlindbergh.
This week’s episode is one that big history nerds may find fascinating. In fact, big nerd Carrie could have gone even further down a rabbit hole of Herodotus than she did with our guest Judith Lindbergh. If you feel like playing a drinking game with this episode, between the three of us, we say the word ‘fascinating” at least nine times. Judith’s second novel, titled Akmaral, will be published on May 7 and is a sweeping story of a nomadic woman warrior in Central Asia during the 5th century.
Judith tells us about her inspiration for the novel (and you can find more about the Ice Maiden she mentions in our interview on her website) and how the matriarchal community in which Akmaral lives has connections to the mythological Amazons. Judith relates the challenges of women during the Iron Age to those that modern women have through her story. A perfect saga story for fans of Madeline Miller.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh
2- Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
3- The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
4- The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh
5- Histories by Herodotus
6- Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer
7- The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan - A 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover Linda Lefler @lindalefler
8- This is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships by Matthew Fray
9- The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
10- The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
11- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl
12- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Movies mentioned--1- White Noise (2023)
Documentary mentioned:1- Secrets of the Dead: Amazon Warrior Women, www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/amazon…women-episode/1464/.
2- NOVA: “Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden.www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYitmlS1YU.
Article mentioned--
1- The Marriage Lesson That I Learned Too Late --www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/…-dishes/629526/
2- Tuvan Throat Singing - www.songlines.co.uk/features/essent…-singing-albums.
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
Earth Day is upon us in a few weeks, April 22, and what better time to explore literature that comments on the health of Mother Earth. This week we are talking eco-literature. Eco-literature engages readers on environmental concerns through the interactions between humans and the environment. And it encourages thought about our impact on the planet.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
2- That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
3- That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming
4- Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel
5- Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
6- Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul - A 5 Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Kristin M. @paws.read.repeat
7- Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
8- Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman
9- Dune by Frank Herbert
10- Don't Call Me a Hurricane by Ellen Hagan
11- Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America by Leila Philips
12- The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
13- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom
14- State of Wonder by Ann Patchet
15- What Blooms From Dust by James Markert
16- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
17- Days of Sand by Aimee de Jongh
18- The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
19- Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson
20- Hoot by Carl Hiassen
Links to articles we reference:
Library Book Returned After 102 Yearspeople.com/family-returns-pair…ranch%20on%20Monday.
Wishtree censorship—www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/…ishtree.html
Sting Ray article—www.npr.org/2024/03/07/12366785…tery-north-carolina
Bringing Back the Wooly Mammothwww.npr.org/sections/health-sho…-mammoth-extinction
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find this week’s Austen authors at their websites:
AH Kim - www.ahkim.net/ and @ahkim.writer
Melodie Edwards - www.melodieedwards.com/ and @melodiewritesedwards
Jane Austen was born in 1775 and died in 1817 but she remains a writer who has captured the minds and hearts of many readers. The themes she addressed in her time remain ones that are relevant today: the need to be an individual despite the binds of society’s rules, the complications of marriage, and the power and powerlessness that comes with changes in social class.
Our guests this week, AH Kim, and Melodie Edwards, both love Jane Austen and with such gusto that they wrote their own reimaginings of her novels. They talk about the potential pitfalls of their endeavors given how exacting many Austen fans are, as well as the things they wanted to ensure they kept from Austen versus the creative license they took to make their stories unique to their own experiences and modern times.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim
2- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
3- Once Persuaded, Twice Shy by Melodie Edwards
4- Persuasion by Jane Austen
5- Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James
6- Jane and Edward by Melodie Edwards
7- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
8- A Good Family by A.H. Kim
9- Long Live by V. B. Lacey - A Book recommended by a fellow book lover Brianna Wright @bwrightsbookreviews
10- Deacon King Kong by James McBride
11- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
12- Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner
13- The Fetishist by Katherine Min
14- Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes
15- The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
TV series mentioned:
1- Northern Exposure ( Amazon, 1990-1995)
2- The Reluctant Traveler (Apple +, 2023-present)
Movies mentioned-
1- Pride and Prejudice (1995) with Colin Firth
2- Sense and Sensibility (1995) with Emma Thompson
3- Persuasion (Netflix, 2022) with Dakota Johnson
4- Persuasion (2007, iTV) with Sally Hawkins
5- Persuasion (1995) with Ciarin Hinds
6- Emma (1996) with Gwyneth Paltrow
7- American Fiction (2023)
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Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we’re talking about linked short story collections. What are linked short stories, though?
These are stories that are collected and somehow linked to each other. That link can be very explicit or very subtle. They can be linked by one character who threads her/his way throughout every one or who is only mentioned marginally. They can be linked by several characters. They can be linked by the setting–if they are set in a certain town or state or country.
But they can also be linked by theme or symbol or a common experience of characters. They could all be about a shared experience, like parenthood or death orlove. Or a combination of these things.
Books Mentioned in This Episode:
1- Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar
2- We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
3- Good Taste by Caroline Scott
4- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - a 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover Anastacia @ms_a_m_c
5- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
6- The Decameron by Giovanni Boccacio
7- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
8- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
9- Dubliners by James Joyce
10- Dear Chrysanthemums: A Novel in Stories by Fiona Sze-Lorrain
11- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
12- Birth Canal by Dias Novita Wuri
13- There, There by Tommy Orange
14- Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
15- What Makes You Think You’re Supposed to Feel Better by Jody Hobbs Hessler
16- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
17- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
18- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
19- Music of the Swamp by Lewis Nordan
20- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
21- Crooked Hallelujah by Kelly Jo Ford
22- Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta
23- Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
24- Throne of Glass (series) by Sarah J. Maas
25- The Bone People by Keri Hulme
26- The Extinction of Irina Rey by Jennifer Croft
Podcasts mentioned--Ologies with Alie Ward - www.alieward.com/ologies/oikologyencore
NPR's Book of the Day - www.npr.org/2024/03/14/11969793…-rey-jennifer-croft
Movies mentioned--
1- Oppenheimer (2023)
2- Spaceman (2024, Netflix)
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To find more of Kari’s book thoughts, you can find her on instagram @checkedoutbooks.
Our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFacebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we chat with Kari Heggen, a bookstagrammer from Iowa who set herself a goal to read all the Newbery Award winners from the past 102 years. Originally she had planned to read 10 a year but she ultimately decided to just get her done. She read 49 of the winners in 2023 and got a jump start on 2024 by reading this year’s winner, The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers.
Kari talks about the highs and lows of her Newbery Award challenge. Books from the early days of the award were decidedly not great. But by the 1960s, Kari got into a better groove and found herself enjoying books for the first time and often the second time which brought back some childhood nostalgia.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Erasure by Percival Everett
2- Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
3- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
4- Holes by Louis Sachar
5- The Giver by Lois Lowry
6- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
7- The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loom
8- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
9- The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
10- Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
11- The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
12- Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
13- A Visit to William Blake's Inn by Nancy Willard
14- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
15- King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
16- Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
17- Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
18- Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
19- Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
20- The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
21- The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
22- The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
23- Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
24- The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
25- Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
26- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
27 - Five Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Hope @lifewithhopeann- Divine Rivals Duology by Rebecca Ross
28- Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack
29- The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
30- Starter Villain by John Scalzi
31- Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen
32- Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch
33- The Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson
34- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Movies and TV Series mentioned:
1- Oppenheimer (2023)
2- American Fiction (2023)
3- Poor Things (2023)
4- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023, Netflix)
5- Peaky Blinders (2013-2022, Netflix)
6- The Secrets of Nimh (1982)
Article about Serving on the Newbery Awards committee-www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/what-i…y-medal-winner
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Our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFaceBook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we talk about some of our favorite books coming out of small and independent presses. The Big 5 publishers print those blockbusters we love to stick in our beach bag but smaller presses support much more diverse authors and innovative and important stories that may be your next favorite read! We give you a little primer about the difference between a small press and an imprint by on the Big 5. And we give you 10 books (plus a few more) that we recommend from indie presses!
Books mentioned--
1- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
2- The Odyssey by Homer
3- Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit
4- Everyman by Philip Roth
5- Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell
6- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - 5 star readrecommended by fellow book lover Amy Bernath @mrsmillardfillmorereads
7- The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel (Tin House)
8- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom (Ashland Creek Press)ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/ep-3…26-20/
9- The Salt Fields by Stacy D. Flood (Lanternfish Press)
10- Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross Smith (Hub City Press)
11- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue (Hub City Press)
12- Places We Left Behind: A Memoir in Miniature by Jennifer Lang (Vine Leaves Press)
13- What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me by Donna Gordon (Regal House)ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s-6-…-8-22/
14- Menopause: A Comic Treatment edited by MK Czerwiec (Penn State University Press)
15- Bad Tourist by Suzanne Roberts (Univeristy of Nebraska Press)
16- Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia(WVU Press)
17- World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)
18- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl (Milkweed Editions)
19- Lungfish by Meghan Gillis (Catapult Books)
20- Tidepool by Nicole Willson (Parliament House)
21- The Keeper of the Key by Nicole Willson (Parliament House Books - coming Nov. 12, 2024)
Movies/Shows mentioned--
Maestro (Netflix, 2023)
The Changeling (Apple+, 2023)
For All Mankind (Apple+, 2019)
Links mentioned:
Odysseus Lunar Landing - www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/world/mo…nasa-scn/index.html
Solar Flare -www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news…outage-earth-att/
Human Isolation on Mars-www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/magazi…n-experiment.html
LA Public Library now owns a small press -www.latimes.com/entertainment-art…makes-total-sense
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You can Shawntaye on Instagram at @shawntaye1
Our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFaceBook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we chat with a Lexington, Kentucky bookstagrammer, Shawntaye, who is such a devoted reader that she makes books part of virtually everything she does, from socializing to volunteering. Amy met Shawntaye in real life before COVID and the Perks has been following her bookish adventures ever since.
Shawntaye talks to us about a panel discussion she lead in which she recommended books that uplift Black women, as well as what she has learned from being a board member of her local library and how the reading events she attends enrich her life. She also shares her very strong (and funny) feelings about why she does not set numerical reading goals each year.
Books Discussed in this Episode:
1- Finna by Nino Cipri
2- What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World by Henry Clark
3- What We Found in the Corn Maze and How It Saved a Dragon by Henry Clark
4- Heidi by Johanna Spyri
5- Forever by Judy Blume
6- Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan
7- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
8- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
9- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
10- The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
11- Power: The Rise of Black Women in America by Charity C. Elder
12 - My Beautiful Black Hair by St. Clair Detrick-Jules
13- My Hair is Like the Sun by St. Clair Detrick-Jules
14- Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
15- The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
16- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
17 -Water by John Boyne (Five Star Read recommended by Book Lover Lynley @bichons_and_books_nz)
18- Enter the Body by Joy McCullough
19- Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
20- Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen
21- The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner
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You can find Amy and the Gibson Girl review at www.gibsongirlreview.com/ as well as on Instagram at @gibsongirlreview
Our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFaceBook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.
As podcast people ourselves, we are always interested in checking out other unique book-related podcasts. You can find a podcast to fit any interest no matter how obscure; there is something for everyone out in the pod universe.
Our guest this week is Amy Drown, the founder, producer, and host of Gibson Girl Review, a podcast that focuses on novels from the Gilded Age and Progressive era, circa 1870-1920. Edith Wharton and Henry James are authors from this time you may have had to read in high school, but for the most part, novels from these time periods have mostly been forgotten among the general reading public. Amy likes to give them a fresh reading. She has found that many of the problems we deal with in 2024 are very similar to the ones people dealt with some 130+ years ago.
Amy is a historian herself with a vast collection of old books she inherited from her family. In the end, she just wanted to read them instead of have them languishing on a shelf, and The Gibson Girl Review podcast was born.
Books Discussed in This Episode:
1- The Passionate Epicure by Marcel Rouff
2- The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
3- My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
4- A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
5- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
6- Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
7- Jan of the Windmill by Juliana Horatia Ewing
8- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
9 - Heidi by Johanna Spyri
10- Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
11- Poor Dear Theodora by Florence Irwin
12- The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
13- Her First Appearance by Richard Harding Davis
14- Five Star Book Recommendation from Nelwina @toallreaders - The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan
15- The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage edited by M. Elizabeth Weiser and others
16- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
17- Winterfrost by Michelle Houts
Movies and Shows mentioned—
1- The Taste of Things (2023)
2- A Room With a View (1985)
3- The Gilded Age (HBOMax, 2022- present)
4- Downton Abbey (Peacock, 2010- 2015)
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To find out more about Minda, go to her website at www.mindahoney.com or find her on social media @mindahoney
Website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpodFaceBook- Perks of Being a Book Lover.To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.
We have a remix episode for you this week on Valentine’s Day, and the book we discuss is all about love and the loss of it.
We first talked with author Minda Honey back in the summer of 2019 During that interview, she spoke about her book of essays tentatively titled “An Anthology of Assholes,” which was about her dating experiences from her mid-20s to age 30 as a single black woman. In October 2023, her book now titled The Heartbreak Years was published by Little A.
We catch up with Minda about her memoir. We then transition back to parts of our original interview which also focuses on the Toni Morrison documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. In the summer of 2019, Speed Cinema featured this film, but if you missed it then you can find it now on most streaming platforms, including Netflix and Hulu. When we discussed Morrison, she was still living but she died a few weeks later, in Aug 2019.
Books Discussed in this Episode:
1- The Heartbreak Years by Minda Honey
2- All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
3- Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
4- What The Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
5- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
6- Sula by Toni Morrison
7- Beloved by Toni Morrison
8- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
9- The Mothers by Brit Bennett
10- Ruby by Cynthia Bond
11- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
12- How to Be Remembered by Michael Thompson - A Five star read recommended by Jessica Bearak @tonightsbookishfeast
13- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
14- Yinka, Where Is Your Husband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn; audiobook narrated by Ronke Adékoluejo
Shows mentioned--
1- Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)
2- Time Trap (2018, Netflix)
3- Dark (2017-2020, Netflix)
4- Will & Harper (2024)
5- Six Feet Under (2001-2005, Netflix)
6- Will and Grace (1998-2006, Hulu)
- Visa fler