The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

S. 7 Ep. 147- Poetry On The Fly with Guest Sean Petrie of Typewriter Rodeo 9-14-22

We love finding book lovers who are doing innovative things with words. This week we are talking about making poetry fun and accessible to the person on the street, literally. Our guest is Sean Petrie, a poet in Austin, Texas who, along with his fellow poets in the group Typewriter Rodeo makes poetry become a sensory experience. Sean and his colleagues Jodi, David, and Kari Anne click their vintage typerwriter keys and create poems on the spot for guests who attend all kinds of events in the Austin area and around the country.

Typewriter Rodeo has published their own book of poetry from their nine years of poetry meeting real people with Andrews McMeel Press. And Sean is also the author of books for young readers called The Jett Ryder series and has penned several books of poetry.

You can follow Typewriter Rodeo on social media @typewriterrodeo or their website at www.typewriterrodeo.com.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Find us on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on Facebook at Perks of Being a BookLover

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Typewriter Rodeo: Real People, Real Stories, Custom Poems by Jodi Egerton, David Fruchter, Kari Anne Holt, and Sean Petrie
2- Pet Poems (also not just pets) by Sean Petrie
3- How to Read the Constitution (and Why) by Kim Wehle
4- Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
5- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
6- The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
7- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
8- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Movies mentioned
1- Moneyball (2011)
2- The Big Short (2015)
3- Schitt's Creek - HULU (2015-2020)

S. 7 Ep. 146 A May-December Friendship with Guest Ben Aitken - 9/7/22

One of our guests from this past summer, Kate Wickers, introduced us to the work of British nonfiction writer Ben Aitken. His books are funny, intelligent, poignant and we’re thrilled he agreed to speak with us from his home in London. We chatted with him about his many books, particularly The Marmalade Diaries which was just published in the US in June. Ben is funny in that understated way that Americans like us find charming.

The Marmalade Diaries: The True Story of an Odd Couple follows Ben’s experience being a millennial lodger with a 80 year old widow as COVID shut everything down in 2020. But we also cover his various travel books including The Gran Tour and A Chip Shop in Poznan.

You can follow Ben Aitken on Instagram and Twitter at @benaitken85.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Find us on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod
Facebook - Perks of Being a BookLover

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- J and C / The Cafe--plays by Ben Aitken
2- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
3- Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
4- The Gran Tour by Ben Aitken
5- The Marmalade Diaries by Ben Aitken
6- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
7- Dear Bill Bryson by Ben Aitken
8- A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken
9- The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
10- Hello Stranger by Will Buckingham
22- Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
23- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
24- Two Degrees by Alan Gratz

Movies mentioned--
1- The Way (2010)
2- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

TV series mentioned --
1- The Sandman - Netflix (2022 - )
2- Game of Thrones - HBO (2011-2019)
3- The Witcher - Netflix (2019 - present)
4- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Amazon (2022 -)

S. 7 Ep. 145 - Romantic Reader Gateways with Guest Natalie Martin 8-31-22

Our guest this week is Natalie Martin, a voracious romance reader from Illinois who we met through Tabby Pawlitzki, host of Modern Life podcast. Natalie is the owner of Just Ask Nat! and a virtual assistant for authors and small businesses including the romance podcast Heaving Bosoms where she has also served as guest co-host.

We wanted to dig deep with a fellow book lover who reads romance almost exclusively to find out why this genre is so important to her and what authors she recommends for someone new to this category of novels. We talk about all kinds of romance tropes and themes and have a grand old time that devolves into a discussion that neither of our moms should listen to. But we don’t, as far as we know, violate any FCC regulations.

Reminder to listeners that Give for Good Louisville is coming up on September 15, and Forward Radio is part of that. There are some cool donor challenges this year that you can learn about at GiveforGoodLouisville.org.

You can follow Natalie on Instagram @justasknat or at her business website www.justasknat.com

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 and Authors Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield
2- All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
3- Nancy Drew series
4- Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
5- Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas
6- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
7- A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings
8- Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
9- Reel by Kennedy Ryan
10- Everything for You by Chloe Liese
11- Always Only You by Chloe Liese
12- Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas
13- Xeni: A Marriage of Inconvenience by Rebekah Weatherspoon
14- Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn
15- Shirley Jackson: A Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
16- Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell (fiction)
17- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
18- We've Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
19- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
20- Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
21- Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
22- Wretched Waterpark (Sinister Summer #1)by Kiersten White
23- Vampiric Vacation (Sinister Summer #2) by Kiersten White
24- Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett

TV/Movies mentioned--
1- Chopped (Hulu)
2- Bridgerton (Netflix)

Podcasts mentioned--
1- Heaving Bosoms
2- The Modern Life Podcast

S. 7 E. 144 - Getting Into The Spirits with Guest Shelley Sackier 8-24-22

This week we are joined by Shelley Sackier who has had an interesting literary journey. She is a young adult fiction writer who has recently published a book about scotch whisky called Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman’s Lifelong Discovery of Whisky. It is part Scotch history, a love letter to the country itself, and part memoir about how her love for the spirit developed especially after she completed an internship at a Scottish distillery. Over the course of 20 years, it has changed the trajectory of her life. Shelley works as a whiskey educator at Reservoir Distillery in Richmond, Virginia.

You can follow Shelley Sackier on Instagram @shelleysackier or at her website www.shelleysackier.com

For shownotes for any episode go to our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a BookLover

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- Make it a Double: From Wretched from Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky by Shelley Sackier
2- The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny
3- The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
4- A Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way by Molly Birnbaum
5- The Babysitter: My Summers With a Serial Killer by Jennifer Jordan and Liza Rodman
6- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

S. 7 Ep. 143 - Mind Games with Guest Erin Flanagan 8-17-22

In this week’s episode, we chat with Erin Flanagan, an author whose debut novel Deer Season won a 2022 Edgar Award for Best First Novel; her most recent book that published this past summer is a thriller called Blackout. Blackout revolves around a sociology professor named Maris who begins having blackouts despite the fact that she gave up drinking seven months before and then discovers other women in her community are experiencing the same thing. It’s a bit of a #metoo novel with some speculative science and some vodka thrown in. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Erin is also a creative writing professor at Wright State University in Ohio.

You can follow Erin Flanagan on Instagram @erinlflanagan or at her website; www.erinflanagan.net

For shownotes for any episode at our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Follow us on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a BookLover

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan
2- Blackout by Erin Flanagan
3- In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet
4- Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen Kirby
5- The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer
6- They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
7- The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1) by Nancy Springer
8- The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (Enola Holmes #2) by Nancy Springer

Movie Mentioned
1- Enola Holmes - 2020 (Netflix)

TV series mentioned:
1- Severance - 2022 (Apple +)

S. 7 Ep. 142 - One-On-One Reading Rendevous with Guest Cassie Moses 8-10-22

This week we speak with Cassie Moses, a mom from a small town in Central Kentucky. Cassie grew up in Eastern Kentucky at the Hindman Settlement School where her father was the administrator and where she met and befriended lots of Kentucky artists through the Appalachian Writers Workshop.

Cassie began a book club several years ago with her three daughters, and it has offered a way for her to read books that they’ve selected and have special one-on-one time with each of them to discuss these books while doing something special, like going out for ice cream or lunch. We also spend a few minutes speaking with her oldest child, Riley, who shares some of the great books she’s read with her mom.

You can follow Cassie on Instagram @kybooklady.

For shownotes for any episode at our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a BookLover

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
2- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
3- Diary of Anne Frank
4- Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
5- Lovely War by Julie Berry
6- House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
7- Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
8- Same Sun Here by Neela Vaswani and Silas House
9- The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
10- A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
11- The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
12- Percy Jackson series
13- Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
14- Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
15- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
16- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
17- The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson
18- I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein

S. 7 Ep. 141 Appalachia is Overflowing with guests Bobi Conn and Kendra Winchester

This week is a hybrid episode as we slowly creep back into a recording schedule after a nice long summer break. We’ve got Appalachia and Eastern Kentucky on our minds because of the recent catastrophic flooding in parts of the state so we decided that we’d rebroadcast part of an earlier episode with Kendra Winchester, founder of Read Appalachia on Instagram, who champions Appalachian writers on her feed.

But we also had the opportunity to speak this week with Bobi Conn, an Appalachian author and friend of the show who we interviewed in June of 2020 about her debut memoir In the Shadow of the Valley, a raw and unflinching look at growing up in Eastern Kentucky and her dysfunctional family. Bobi has a new novel coming out at the end of August call A Woman In Time that incorporates more family stories she heard about her great grandpa, a moonshiner, and her great grandmother, who held the family together.

Did you know that helping flood victims can be as easy as buying a book? This Saturday, August 6, Carmichaels Bookstore in Louisville KY will donate all profits from book sales from all 3 stores and their website to Eastern Kentucky flood relief funds organized by Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and the Hindman Settlement School. Their website is www.carmichaelsbookstore.com.

We will be back next week with the true start of Season 7 and an all new episode. Happy Reading!

You can find Bobi Conn on Instagram https://instagram.com/bobiconn/ and her website www.bobiconn.com.

You can find Kendra Winchester @readappalachia and @Kdwinchester

You can find shownotes for any episode at our website www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a BookLover

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- A Woman in Time by Bobi Conn
2- In the Shadow of the Valley by Bobi Conn
3- Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
4- Embers on the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg
5- Finna by Nino Cipri
6- Defekt by Nino Cipri
7- Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
8- Sabriel by Garth Nix
9- Books by Tamora Pierce
10- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
11- Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
12- Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
13- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
14- The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson
15- Affrilachia by Frank X. Walker
16- Southernmost by Silas House
17- Black Bone: 25 Years of Affrilachian Poets edited by Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Jeremy Paden
18- Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson
19- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
20- Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Cladsaddle
21- Step Into the Circle: Writers in Modern Appalachia edited by Amy Greene and Trent Thomson

REPLAY S. 5 Ep. 102- The Building Books of Empathy with Guest Melissa Hart 7-27-22

We are taking the month of July off to recharge but will be back with all new episodes in August. But until then, we have some great replay episodes.

This week, we revisit our episode with Melissa Hart, author of Better With Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens. This book is a wonderful resource that offers book suggestions in various categories, including adoption/foster care, poverty/homelessness, mental health, and physical disabilities. With some schools and libraries censoring what students can find in their stacks, parents may find this book particularly helpful if they want to allow their children to read widely.

Melissa Hart also has a new book coming out in November of this year titled Daisy Woodworth Changes the World about a 13-year-old girl who tries to help her older brother, who has Down Syndrome and adores Special Olympics and men’s fashion, become a YouTube celebrity.

This week’s episode is a nod to back-to-school season when teachers can get books into the hands of kids after a summer of free days, endless video games, and probably too many popsicles. We are joined by Melissa Hart from Eugene Oregon. She is the author of 2 memoirs, a middle grade book, and most recently a great resource for teachers, librarians, and parents called Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens.

When Melissa’s tween daughter was in elementary school, she dealt with anxiety and depression, and Melissa found a way to help her through reading targeted books together, a practice called bibliotherapy which some studies suggest is effective in the treatment of some forms of depression. But the list of books in Better With Books can also help a young person develop empathy and be more accepting of others who have different experiences from their own such as individuals with physical disabilities, mental health struggles, body image issues, and students from different religious backgrounds.

You can find find Melissa on instagram @wildmelissahart or at her website at www.melissahart.com.

Books mentioned--

1- Better with Books: 500 Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens by Melissa Hart
2- Pinballs by Betsy Ayers
3- What Goes Up Must Come Down by Johanna Hurwitz
4- Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
5- Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
6- The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
7- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
8- Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
9- Ten Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac
10- If I Ever Get Out of Here (audiobook) by Eric Gansworth
11- Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
12- Avenging the Owl by Melissa Hart
13- Wild Within: How Rescuing Owls Inspired a Family by Melissa Hart
14- Dune by Frank Herbert
15- Dune Messiah (Book 2) by Frank Herbert
16- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
17- The Overstory by Richard Powers
18- There, There by Tommy Orange
19- Harry's Trees by John Cohen
20- Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
21- Pax by Sara Pennypacker
22- The One and Only Bob / The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
23- Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
24- Watership Down by Richard Adams

Movies mentioned--
1- Dune (October 2021), directed by Denis Villeneuve

 

 

 

REPLAY S. 2 Ep. 35- Revision and Riding the Tiger with Guest Katy Yocom 2-20-20

This week Carrie and I traveled to record at the Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion, which is a Victorian era mansion built in 1871, with 12-foot ceilings, hand-carved wood balusters, and intricately designed colorful wallpapers. It has been preserved and enveloped by the campus of Spalding University and is the location of their School of Creative and Professional Writing and home base for today’s guest, debut novelist Katy Yocom.

Katy’s novel, Three Ways to Disappear, was published in 2019 and has won numerous awards including The Siskiyou Prize for Environmental Fiction. It has also been selected as a Barnes and Noble Indie Book Favorite.

Katy has vivid memories of as a child reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot out loud with her mother. It was a short leap to her writing her own book about the intricacies of animal conservation and family bonds.

Katy tells us how her obsession with a set of newborn tiger cubs at the Louisville Zoo 14 years ago started her on the path to write her book, how a suggestion from an astute editor changed the trajectory of her novel, and why she believes much of the riskier and cutting edge literature is being published by small independent presses and how important it is to support them.

Books Discussed in this Episode
1- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom
2- All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
3- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
4- Severance by Ling Ma
5- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
6- Kindred by Octavia Butler

You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com

REPLAY S. 6 Ep. 127 Writing Racism to Right Racism’s Wrongs with Angela Jackson-Brown

This week’s guest, Angela Jackson-Brown, is an award-winning novelist, poet, and playwright. She is also a professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana who completed her MFA at Spalding University in Louisville where she is also a member of the creative writing graduate faculty.

Her most recent novel, When Stars Rain Down, was published in 2021 and is a historical fiction story set in 1930s Georgia, and has been nominated for several awards. Angela also has a new novel coming out in July called The Light Always Breaks set in post WW 2 Washington DC that features political and romantic intrigue between a high powered interacial couple. These are stand alone novels but what is cool is that these books’ characters are in the same fictional universe so readers get a chance to reconnect with characters they may have met before.

Angela talks to us about how she uses fiction to write about experiences in her life she wished she’d had, why she started writing plays, and the first book she read as a child that made a big impression on her (and this will surprise you).

You can find Angela on Instagram at @angelajacksonbrownauthor and at her author website angelajacksonbrown.com

Follow us on Facebook at The Perks of Being a Book Lover
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookoverpod
Website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- When Stars Rain Down by Angela Jackson-Brown
2- The Light Always Breaks by Angela Jackson-Brown
3- The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
4- Drinking From a Bitter Cup by Angela Jackson-Brown
5- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6- Roots by Alex Haley
7- The Color Purple by Alice Walter
8- The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
9- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
10- The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
11- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
12- We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
13- Girl at War by Sara Nović
14- True Biz by Sara Nović

Movies mentioned
1- Child's Play (1988)
2- The Conjuring (2013)