Episodes
9 hours ago
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November is Native American Heritage month so in this episode, we’re sharing some books written by Native American authors. There are so many great texts to choose from if you’re interested in broadening your reading. We bring your memoirs, poetry, Pulitzer Prize winners, and more. When we do these thematic episodes, we enjoy hearing from listeners who have their own recommendations within that theme so be sure to shoot us a message or comment on any of our socials.
Books Mentioned In this Episode:
1- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
2- Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
3- Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist by Jasmin Graham
4- A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Streets to the Stars by Hakeem Oluseyi
5- A Book Recommended by Fellow Booklover Vero Garcia @booksandcoffeemx - All This and More by Peng Shepherd
6- The Blessing Way and all books in the Leaphorn & Chee series by Tony Hillerman
7- Bad Indians: A Memoir by Deborah Miranda
8- Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis
9- House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
10-Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan
11- An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
12- Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez
13- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
14- The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage edited by M. Elizabeth Weiser, Timothy RW Jordan, and Richard D. Shiels
15- Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers
16- The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich (Birchbark House series #2)
17- The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
18- Shutter by Ramona Emerson
19- Exposure by Ramona Emerson
20- Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
21- The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
22- There, There by Tommy Orange
23- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
24- The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
Media mentioned--
1- Reservation Dogs (Hulu, 2021-2023)
2- Dark Winds (AMC and Neflix, 2022 - present)
Wednesday Nov 13, 2024
S11::Ep243 - Alice's Big Book Of Mistakes with Guest Alice Kaltman - 11/13/24
Wednesday Nov 13, 2024
Wednesday Nov 13, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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You can find Alice Kaltman at www.alicekaltman.com or on IG @alicekaltman
This week we chat with Alice Kaltman about her latest book, Alice’s Big Book of Mistakes. She has written books of linked short stories, novels for various ages, and more, but she decided to try her hand at a graphic memoir all about silly and not-so-silly mistakes she has made throughout the course of her life. Her book aims to make both young and old embrace their missteps in life as building blocks for a life well lived.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Alice’s Big Book of Mistakes by Alice Kaltman
2- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
3- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
4- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
5- The Keeper by Kelsey Ervick
6- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
7- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
8- Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
9- Middlemarch by George Eliot
10- Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz
11- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
12- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Emily Craddick - Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans
13- Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham
14- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
15- Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman
16- Sociopath by Patric Gagne
Media mentioned—
Small Things Like These (2024)
Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)
Salem’s Lot (Max, 2024)
Will & Harper (Netflix, 2024)
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
S11:Ep242 - Ask Big Questions: A Book Rec Episode - 11/6/24
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week our topic is philosophical. No, we’re not discussing those dull philosophy textbooks, but rather novels or nonfiction that ask big questions, such as “Who am I?” and “What is happiness?” and “Do we have free will?”. We will give you 10 books that will get you thinking with your big brains.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Carrie by Stephen King
2- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
3- Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan
4- Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
5- A Book Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Larissa @laralucretia - The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
6- Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville
7- Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
8- Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with Kids by Scott Hershovitz
9- Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti
10- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
11- How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Any Moral Question by Michael Schur
12- The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak
13- If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura
14- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
15- If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity by Justin Gregg
16- Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman
Media mentioned—
1- Trap (2024, Max)
2- Carrie (2013, Tubi)
3- Carrie (1976)
4- Penny Dreadful (2014-2016 Pluto)
5- The Little Prince (2015, Pluto)
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
S11:Ep241 - Smothermoss with Guest Alisa Alering - 10/30/24
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find Alisa Alering at www.alering.com or on Insta @alisa.alering.
This week we wrap up what has been a month of seasonally spooky books with guest Alisa Alering, the author of Smothermoss, a book that is set in 1980s Pennsylvania Appalachia. It is the story of two sisters who witness a murder on the Appalachian Trail. It is a book that Amy discovered while attending the Columbus Book Festival this past summer. If you like magical realism or gothic fiction, you will definitely want to check this novel out since there is a sentient mountain. Nature truly is a character in the story.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
2- Ritual by David Pinner
3- Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham
4- Watership Down by Richard Adams
5- Every Bone a Prayer by Ashley Blooms
6- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms
7- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Dina @ddemaiosmith - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
8- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
9- Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
10- Assembly by Natasha Brown
11- White Teeth by Zadie Smith
12- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
13- My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix (Remixed Classics) by Kalynn Bayron
Media mentioned—
1- What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu 2019)
2- What We Do in the Shadows movie (2014)
3- Wellington Paranormal (Max 2018)
4- Psycho (Netflix 1960)
5- The Wicker Man (Tubi 1973)
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
S11:Ep240 - Creature Feature: A Book Rec Episode - 10/23/24
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
This week we’re bringing you a Creature Feature in which we suggest books that tell the story of creatures. Those may be mythological creatures, cryptids, or beings from your favorite horror film. Some are scary, some are mysterious, some don’t seem that different from humans. All of them make for good October reads.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
2- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
3- Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli
4- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Katherine @katshomeig - Beautiful Prey by Lora Darc
5- The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrick Svenson
6- Silver in the Wood/Drowned Country by Emily Tesh
7- The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Millicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara
8- Grendel by John Gardner
9- Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith
10- Dear Mothman by Robin Gow
11- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
12- Mothman's Merry Cryptid Christmas by Andrew Shaffer
13- The Frandidate (Franny K Stein series) by Jim Benton
14- The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
15- Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
16- The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
17- It Came From the Trees by Ally Russell
18- The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Media mentioned---
1- What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu, 2019- present)
2- The Thing (1982)
3- The Fly (1986)
4- Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix, 2017-2019)
5- The Mummy (1999)
6- Harry & the Hendersons (1987)
7- The Shape of Water (2017)
8- The Goonies (1985)
9- Kaos (Netflix, 2024)
10- The Mothman Prophecies (1992)
11- Illustration of an Anthropophagi - themonstrumologistoverview.weebly.com/confli…t.html
Wednesday Oct 16, 2024
S11:Ep239 - Chicano Frankenstein with Guest Daniel Olivas - 10/16/24
Wednesday Oct 16, 2024
Wednesday Oct 16, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find Daniel at his website www.danielolivas.com
This week we speak with Daniel Olivas, a lawyer with the California Department of Justice, who is also a novelist, poet, and playwright. His novel, Chicano Frankenstein, which published in March of this year, was an obvious book pick for Carrie because she loves Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The novel has been optioned by Universal Television, so fingers crossed on that.
Olivas’ reimagining of Shelley’s 1818 novel has an unnamed man as the narrator. He is a paralegal who has been reanimated from the corpse of a Mexican-American man, one of many such reanimated people (derogatively called “stitchers”) who are part of an effort to deal with the US’ labor crisis, but he struggles with his identity. How can a person have an identity if all knowledge of their family, their interests, their feelings, their thoughts have been stripped away? In addition to the idea of selfhood, the novel also explores the cruelty of politicians who pander to fear and racism, harming the people of their communities that one would expect them to protect.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel Olivas
2- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
3- The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
4- Artificial Life After Frankenstein by Eileen M. Hunt
5- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover The Biblioholic @thebiblioholic_ - Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Page
6- Leech by Hiron Ennes
7- Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Brook Tsai
8- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
9- Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland
Movies mentioned in this episode:
1- Frankenstien (1931)
2- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
S11: Ep238 - Dead to Me: A Book Rec Episode - 10/9/24
Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
2- Horribly Haunted in Hillbilly Hollow by Blythe Baker
3- Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig
4- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Lan Nguyen-Colgate - A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin
5- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
6- "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin (Short Story)
7- The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
8- House of Cotton by Monica Brashears
9- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
10- Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs and Other Questions About Dead Bodies by Caitlin Doughty
11- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
12- The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
13- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
14- Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
15- The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff
16- The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
17- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
18- The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
19- Heavenly Bodies by Amani Erriu
20- Fallen Stars by Amani Erriu
Media mentioned--
1- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Netflix, 2024)
2- The Lovely Bones (Max, 2009)
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
S11:Ep237 - A Bit Much with Guest Lyndsay Rush - 10/2/24
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find Lyndsay at her website www.lyndsayrush.com/ and on IG at @maryoliversdrunkcousin
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- A Bit Much by Lyndsay Rush
2- Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan
3- A Five Start Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Meg Longley @ohlongley - Meet Me at the Museum by Ann Youngson
4- Weyward by Emilia Hart
5- I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott
6- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
7- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
8- Pets in the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Vet by Dr. Amy Attas
9- The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Media mentioned—
1- The Wild Robot (2024)
2- Saltburn (Prime Video, 2023)
3- Wuthering Heights: Hollywood's worst case casting decisions -
www.bbc.com/culture/article/202…t-casting-decisions
4- A Room With a View (1985)
5- Downton Abbey (2010-2015)
Wednesday Sep 25, 2024
S11:Ep236 - Eco-Thrillers with Guests Midge Raymond and John Yunker - 9/25/24
Wednesday Sep 25, 2024
Wednesday Sep 25, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
You can find info about Midge and John at their website midgeandjohn.com/ or at ashlandcreekpress.com/. They are on IG @midge_and_john and @ashlandcreekpress.
Ashland Creek Press, an eco-fiction publisher, first came on our radar in the pre-COVID era when we interviewed Katy Yocom, author of Three Ways to Disappear, a novel set partly in India that focuses on animal conservation and a relationship between two sisters. But one of our other former guests, Jennifer Caloyeras, host of the Books Are My People podcast, also had a book published by Ashland Creek: her 2015 novel Strays. We’re always interested in small presses, so we were excited to talk to Midge Raymond and John Yunker about their work running one.
But Midge and John are also writers who have collaborated on a recently published novel titled Devils Island, which is set in Tasmania amongst the endangered and much-maligned Tasmanian devil. While this is a conservation-leaning novel, it is also a suspense story about a naturalist tour that goes very wrong, involving a disappearance and a death.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom
2- Strays by Jennifer Caloyeras
3- Devils Island by Midge Raymond and John Yunker
4- My Last Continent by Midge Raymond
5- The Tourist Trail by John Yunker
6- A Five Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Susan Cook @bookbookbagawk - Another Country by James Baldwin
7- The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
8- The Spare Room by Helen Garner
9- We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
10- Pines by Blake Crouch
11- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Media mentioned—
1- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
2- True Detective—Night Country (Max)
3- The Bear (Hulu)
4- Eco-lit books —ecolitbooks.com/
5- Maria Island Walk - www.mariaislandwalk.com/
6- What do Tasmanian devils sound like? - www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW27vpK4ALQ
Wednesday Sep 18, 2024
S11:Ep235 - Oh Appalachia!: A Book Rec Episode - 9/18/24
Wednesday Sep 18, 2024
Wednesday Sep 18, 2024
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.
To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.
JD Vance first made news when he published his book Hillbilly Elegy in 2016, but he has since become a senator in Ohio and a vice presidential candidate. When his memoir came out, there were many people who had strong negative feelings about his book, namely other people from Appalachia who felt that he misrepresented them and their struggles.
When JD Vance was selected as Donald Trump’s VP, we thought it might be a good time to look at some other Appalachia-related books that perhaps provide a fuller picture of the region, which spans 206,000 square miles, 423 counties, and six states. A region this large cannot be summed up by one person in one book.
So our goal this week is to give you some diverse Appalachian voices to add to your TBR for a broader view of this region.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
1- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
2- Storyteller by Dave Grohl
3- Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Clare Dederer
4- Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began by Leah Hazard
5- Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham
6- The Sirens of Soleil City by Sarah C. Johns
7- A Five Star Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Nikki Lee @nikkileethrillseeker - The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee
8- "A Ribbon for Baldy" by Jesse Stuart (short story)
9- The Beatinest Boy by Jesse Stuart
10- Andy Finds a Way by Jesse Stuart
11- Many-Storied House: Poems by George Ella Lyon
12 - Gay Poems for Red States by Willie Carver Jr.
ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s9-e…-9623/
13- "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon (poem)
14- Prodigals: A Sister's Memoir of Appalachia and Loss by Sarah Beth Childers
15- Township by Jamie Lyn Smith
16- Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson
17- Affrilachia by Frank X Walker
18- "Burying Albatross" by Frank X. Walker (poem)-
poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/ars…a/frank-x-walker
19- "Neoteric Kama no Sutra" by Frank X. Walker (poem)-
poets.org/poem/neoteric-kama-no-sutra
20- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms
ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/ep-6…30-20/
21- Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
22- Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White
23- Clay's Quilt by Silas House
24- The Coal Tattoo by Silas House
25- Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
26- Fair & Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
27 - Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains by Cassie Chambers
ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/ep-3…25-20/
28- Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s-6-…-6-22/
29- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Media mentioned--
1- The To Read List Podcast
2- Slow Horses (Apple +)
3- The Bear (Hulu)
4- Ripley (Netflix)
5- True Detective: Night Country (HBO MAX, 2024)
6- Steve! (documentary) (Apple +, 2024)
7- Kaos (Netflix, 2024)
8- The Princess Bride (1987)
9- The Tourist (Netflix)
10- The Good Girl's Guide to Murder - (Netflix, 2024)
News articles
1- Dave Grohl Announcement -
www.usatoday.com/story/life/healt…ock/75176681007/
2- Neil Gaiman controversy -
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/…xual-misconduct