Episodes
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Ep. 43 A Trifecta of Books, Bluegrass, and the Backstretch with D.C. Alexander 4-29-20
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
But now that you’ve had your Kentucky Derby primer from Carrie and I, we can all still celebrate this event quarantine-style, with a book and maybe a glass of bourbon. Our guest today, D.C. Alexander, is doing his part to help. D.C. is originally from Seattle but has eagerly adopted Louisville as his hometown. He is a former federal agent turned author who has written several mystery novels with the setting of his most recent being right here in Kentucky.
Blood in the Bluegrass takes place the week before the Kentucky Derby and begins with the murder of an up and coming horse jockey. But as mysteries often do, things get complicated with horse breeders, bourbon distilleries, corruption, and old money.
D.C. talks to us about why he thinks Louisvlle is a great locale for a novel, what book he read in his 20s that turned him from a book-loathing kid to a full-fledged bibliophile, and how long trips in his car in rural Colorado started him on the path to writing.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
Secret Louisville by Kevin Gibson
Chasing the Monkey King by D.C. Alexander
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Dune by Frank Herbert
Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Laura Prior-Palmer
A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Ep. 42 - Books That Bring Back Childhood Bliss with Diane Neu 4-22-20
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Are you nostalgic about a book you read as a kid? What book from your childhood remains vivid in your mind? Our guest today, Diane Neu, hosts a podcast that explores that very question. The podcast titled Shaped by Stories features one avid reader each episode who talks about the book from their childhood or early adolescence that made the biggest impact on them and why. Diane had been a podcast fan for many years; in fact she’s been a podcast listener since almost the beginning of podcasts 12 years ago. But some changes in her own life convinced her there was no time like the present to start her own.
Diane talks to us about her very favorite spot to read when she was a child in small town Idaho, why she loves Jane Austen like no other, why reading children’s books as an adult is an important exercise, and how producing a podcast helped her find her special brand of “people” when she needed it most.
Books mentioned in this episode:
1- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
2- Betsy In Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace
3- I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
4- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
5- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
6- No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
7- Neverworld Wake by Marrisha Pessl
8- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
9- The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
10- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
11- Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
12- Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
13- Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani
14- Emma by Jane Austen
15- Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
16- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Ep. 41 Quarantine Hacks for The Library Stack with Patty Clark 4-15-20
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
With many libraries across the country having to stay closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, patrons may have more time to discover all the resources libraries have to offer that aren’t between the four walls of a library building. While many of us may be nostalgic about those card catalogues and the check-out card pocket glued inside the back of books, libraries have become focused on information in all forms and the best ways to get it to all of us at home.
Our guest today, Patty Clark, is a digital services librarian with the Oldham County library system. Oldham County is a more rural and suburban county on the far outskirts of Louisville Kentucky. The Oldham County library system is a member of the Kentucky Library Consortium, as are most of the library systems within the state except for large independent library systems in Louisville and Lexington. Members of the consortium pool their resources to offer their patrons as many technical services as possible. And while Patty is most familiar with her own library, many of the services we talk about today are ones that can be found in libraries throughout the country . If you aren’t sure if your library offers these services, just ask.
We had originally recorded with Patty in February, but the pandemic changed things immensely , and we wanted to ensure listeners had current info so we appreciate her being game to do it again.
Patty tells us about some of the special features ebooks from your library offer that you may not know about, why you should always put yourself on the waiting list for a highly sought after books even if that list seems ridiculously long, and about some services libraries offer that may just spark a new hobby which is fun for when your under quarantine.
Books mentioned in this episode:
1- A White Wind Blew by James Markert
2- Hawaii and other books by James Michener
3- The War That Saved My Life byKimberly Brubaker Bradley
4- The Wonder by Emma Donohue
5- The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
6- The Need by Helen Phillips
Podcasts mentioned:
1- Desert Island Discs (BBC)
2- Endless Thread
3- Laughter Permitted
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
Ep. 40 Life and Literary Loss with The Long Before the End Bookclub 4-8-20
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
When we recorded with our guests for today’s episode over a month and a half ago, we had no idea how timely our discussion would be. Our topic today is mortality. The vast majority of people probably don’t like talking or thinking about that topic, but with Covid-19 confronting us every day, it's a subject that is certainly taking up space in our heads. But what we discovered during our discussion is that thinking about death also makes you think about the joys of life and humanity; and that’s something we can all use more of.
Justin Magnuson and Rebecca Sturgeon are co-moderators of a book club called The Long Before the End Book Club that started as part of The Before I Die Festival in Louisville Kentucky. They are an organization that along with other groups like Bevival and the Trager Institute at the University of Louisville promote discussions about the end of life through a variety of means including the arts. While it may seem bleak, the Long Before the End book club gives members a chance to be honest in a safe space in which everyone is in a shared boat of limited life.
Justin and Rebecca talk to us about how every book we read is a little bit about death, how their book discussions help members get through hard conversations with loved ones, and how it has been a gift to form a community by connecting with people they wouldn’t ordinarily meet.
Under normal circumstances, their book club meets once a month at a local coffee shop.
The COVID-19 pandemic has recently made it necessary for the book club to use distance technology for their book discussion. Toward the end of this episode, Carrie checks back in with Justin to find out how their bookclub is adjusting and thoughts on how the pandemic is affecting the way we live and the way we die.
Book Discussed:
1- The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
2- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
3- Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
4- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
5- Spaceman of Bohemia by Jasoslav Kalfar
6- She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
7- The Vegetarian by Han Kang
8- The Plaque by Albert Camus
9- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
10- How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
11- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
12- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
13- Near the Exit by Lori Erickson
14- The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
15- LovingKindness by Sharon Salzburg
16- The Eyre Affair and the Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde
17- The Undying by Anne Boyer
18- The Last Massai Warriors by Jackson Ntirkana, Wilson Meikuya, and Susan McClelland
19- Short Stories by Kelly Barnhill
20- The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
21- The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
REBROADCAST - Knocking on Fantasy's Door with Alix Harrow 4-1-20
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Alix Harrow is a Hugo award-winning writer of historical fantasy fiction who also happens to be a fellow Kentuckian. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, has been called by Kirkus Reviews a ‘A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word,’ and NPR books says it is one that should go on your Favorites Shelf. It has been on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers List. It was recently nominated for the Nebula Award. She is a rising star in the burgeoning female revolution taking place in the science fiction and fantasy genres.
We interviewed Alix at the library of her alma mater, Berea College, in Berea, KY. She talked with us about the sub-genre of portal fantasies and her love-hate relationship with them
as a child, what influence becoming a mother had on writing the book, why she loves Chicago-style footnotes, and details about her second novel she is furiously trying to finish.
Books discussed in this episode:
1- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
2- The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles by Margaret St. Clair (short story)
3- Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir
4- The City We Became by N. K. Jemesin
5- The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry
6- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.