The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

S. 6 Ep. 129 Masala In a Mason Jar with Guest Neema Avashia 4-6-22

We’ve talked about many books on this podcast with an Appalachian setting. And in the Trump and post-Trump era, talking heads have been trying to understand Appalachia. After the publishing of Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, a book about Appalachia that many people love to hate, a whole slew of books by diverse Appalachian writers came out that showed other versions of this complicated region of the country. Neema Avashia’s new book of essays, Another Appalachia: Growing Up Indian and Queer in a Mountain Place really demonstrates those contradictions and strong sense of place.

Neema is a middle school teacher who lives in Boston, but she grew up in a small West Virginia town that was built up around the chemical industry that used the state’s coal to power its plants. Her parents migrated from India and Neema had what she felt was a magical childhood. But as much as she loved her hometown and home state, as she became an adult she had to to come to terms with what home means when you are Indian-American, Hindu, vegetarian, and queer growing up in a place that is overwhelming white, meat and potatoes, and Christian. Her essays ask interesting questions about what it means to love a place that doesn’t always love you back.

You can find Neema on instagram at @avashia and at her author website www.neemaavashia.com.

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Books Discussed in this Episode:
1- Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
2- The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
3- Drowned Town by Jayne Moore Waldrop
4- Death in the Air: The Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson
5- Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Articles mentioned--
What Does the Image of the Cat Signify in Japanese Literature? by Dee Das
bookriot.com/cats-in-japanese-fiction/

S. 6 Ep. 128 Messy.Mothers, Daughters, and Mentors with Guest Maggie Smith 3-30-22

Our guest this week is author and podcaster, Maggie Smith. Maggie’s second act in her professional life is as a novelist. She spent over 25 years running a business but when it began to feel boring and she needed to use her creativity, she attended a writer’s workshop where the instructor asked everyone to write down something they could never write about; Maggie wrote about mother daughter relationships. This idea transformed itself into a novel about where mothers/ daughters/ and mentors intersect titled Truth and Other Lies.

One of the thematic ideas of the book is how important heroes are—they inspire us and make us feel a sense of empowerment. But sometimes we move into hero worship, where we fail to see that our heroes sometimes have big glaring unbelievably unethical behaviors that we could see if we opened our eyes. Of course, the blindness that keeps us from seeing the truth about our heroes is similar to the blindness that keeps us from seeing our mothers, or parents in general, in a favorable light. The novel covers a lot of ground in a fast-paced story.

You can find Maggie on instagram at @maggiesmithwrites and at her author website www.maggiesmithwriter.com. Her podcast Hear Us Roar for the Women’s Fiction Writing Association can be found on your podcast player of choie.

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Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Truth and Other Lies by Maggie Smith
2- The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
3- The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo (audiobook)
4- Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr
5- Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson (audiobook and text)
6- The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
7- The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

Podcasts Mentioned--
1- Hear Us Roar, hosted by Maggie Smith
2- Books Are My People, hosted by Jennifer Caloyeras

Movies mentioned--
1- Chinatown (1974)

REPLAY S. 5 Ep. 108 Sex, Drugs, And True Crime Vibes with Guest David Dominé 10-21-21

This week’s episode is for true crime enthusiasts. Every city has had murders that make the news, and Louisville is no different. Our guest this week, David Domine', adopted Louisville as his hometown and has a following here as an author, tour guide, and storyteller in the city. He has written a new book called A DARK ROOM IN GLITTER BALL CITY about a sensational murder that was discovered after a domestic disturbance in Old Louisville in 2010. The story includes drugs, drag queens, and maybe even the CIA.

His book is true crime, but it also veers into memoir and history. And it introduces readers to quirky characters whose eccentricities are why we have a saying here to “Keep Louisville Weird.”

His book is getting some attention. Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review and Amazon named it as one of the top true crime reads of the season.

You can find David Domine’ on instagram, @bluegrasspeasant, on FB David Domine’, The Bluegrass Peasant and at his website www.daviddomine.com. You can find information about David’s historical tours of Old Louisville at www.louisvillehistorictours.com

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City by David Dominé
2- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
3- When Stars Rain Down by Angela Jackson Browne
4- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6- Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
7- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
8- The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
9- You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

Shows Mentioned:
1- Unsolved Mysteries (2020) Netflix
2- Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

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S. 6 Ep. 127 Writing Racism to Right Wrongs with Guest Angela Jackson-Brown 3-16-22

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

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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)

S.6 Ep.126 Love Stories For Every Brain with Guest Mazey Eddings 3-9-22

Our guest this week, Mazey Eddings, started out as a massive romance reader. In fact during her most stressful times of life, she would read upwards of a book a day, drawn to that guaranteed happy ending that all romance novels require. But, as someone who has an anxiety disorder, ADHD, and is on the autism spectrum, she felt like she didn’t see the issues that she deals with on a day to day basis portrayed in the books she was reading. So in the middle of dental school she started writing scenes that later became her debut novel.

Mazey’s first book A BRUSH WITH LOVE hit bookstores at the beginning of March and features two dental students as they fall in love and deal with very adult struggles like extreme anxiety and familial guilt. Mazey also has 4 additional books in the pipeline over the next 3 years that feature other neurodivergent characters.

We talk about why romance is the perfect genre to explore happy endings for underrepresented groups, the amount of misogyny still found in historically male dominated fields, and about the trend of women in STEM within the romance genre that appears to be here to stay.

You can find Mazey Eddings on instagram at @mazeyeddings and at her author website, mazeyeddings.com

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Instagram at @perksofbeingabookoverpod
For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Books, Series, and Movies Mentioned in this Episode:

Books mentioned

1- A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings
2- The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
3- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
4- The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco
5- A Room With A View by E.M. Forester
5- Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
6- The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
7- Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
8- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9- Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings
10- Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
11- A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett
12- The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
13- Yearbook by Seth Rogen (audiobook)

TV series mentioned:
1- Medici - (2016 - 2019) Netflix

Movies mentioned
1- The Lost Daughter (2021) Netflix
2- Nightmare Alley (2021) HBO Max

 

 

 

 

S. 6 Ep. 125 Around The World Reading: Croatia with Guest Ivana B. Murk 3-2-22

For me some of the most satisfying episodes we do are when we talk to book lovers from other countries. What is it like to be a book lover from far-reaching places around the world? In the past we have talked to readers and writers from Ireland, Somalia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. This week, we are headed to Croatia to speak with Ivana Murk who gives us a window into her life as a child growing up, learning to read both the Cyrillic alphabet which Slavic languages are based on and the Latin alphabet. She learned English in school starting in 3rd grade and now she now reads books in both Croatian and English. We talk with her about Croatian authors who you might want to find translations for if possible, why the skill of a book translator is so important, and what authors you have probably heard of who are particularly popular in her country.

We feel it would be helpful to give you just a brief little summary of Croatian history in the last 50 years that is most relevant to this episode. Croatia was a part of the former Yugoslavia, which also included Serbia, Bosnia, Hercegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. In 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. This did not happen peacefully. This was followed by the Bosnia War from 1992-1995 which pitted Croatians, Bosnians, and Serbians against each other and has been called the bloodiest event in Europe since World War II. Geographically, Croatia is very close to Italy to the West by way of the Adriatric Sea, Austria and Hungary to the north, and Bosnia to the West.

You can find Ivana on instagram at @books.with.tutus_and_sons and at her blogsite books.with.tutusandsons.com

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- Instagram at @perksofbeingabookloverpod
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Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Girl at War by Sara Nović
2- Chasing a Croatian Girl by Cody McClain Brown
3- The Famous Five by Enid Blyton
4- The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
5- Grimm's Fairy Tales
6- Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić
7- Various poetry by Dobriša Cesarić
8- Various poetry by Vesna Parun
9- Gordana by Marija Jurić (pen name: Zagorka) and other series
10- Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
11- Various works by Elif Shafak
12- Beartown by Fredrik Backman
13- Anxious People Fredrik Backman
14- Various works by Colleen Hoover
15- Dark Mother Earth by Kristian Novak
16- The Gypsy, But The Most Beautiful by Kristian Novak
17- Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
18- This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
19- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
20- A Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon
21- Shantaram by Gregory Davis Roberts
22- Odin's Child by Siri Pettersen
23- Love Stories by Trent Dalton
24- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
25- Every Bone a Prayer by Ashley Blooms
26- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms

S. 6 Ep. 124 Double Dutch Debut with guest Brittany Thurman 2-23-22

This week we chat with Brittany Thurman, a native of Kentucky, who has recently published her first children’s picture book titled Fly illustrated by Anna Cunha. She worked as a children's specialist at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh which is where the idea to write her own book occurred, and she even took inspiration from one of the children who would come to her storytimes. Fly is the story of a young girl who wants to enter a double dutch jump rope competition but doesn’t know how to double dutch. She asks her friends for tips and while they don't know how either, they each give her a piece of knowledge that helps her be more confident in her dreams.

In this episode, she tells about the creation of this book as well as other books that she has in the pipeline, including one about the first public library built for and staffed by African Americans in the United States, which is the Western branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system. Brittany is a very busy new author.

You can find Brittany on instagram at @britjanee and at her website at www.brittanythurman.com.

Follow us on Facebook at The Perks of Being a Book Lover or on Instagram at @perksofbeingabookoverpod to see what we're up to. For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Fly by Brittany Thurman and Illustrated by Anna Cunha
2- Fearless: Boulevard of Dreams by Mandy Gonzalez with Brittany Thurman
3- Forever and Always by Brittany Thurman
4- Addie Walker--American Girl series
5- Goosebumps series by R.L.Stine
6- Replica series by Marilyn Kaye
7- Mary Kate & Ashley series
8- A Surgeon in the Village: An American Doctor Teaches Brain Surgery in Africa by Tony Bartelme
9- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
10- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
11- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
12- Stunt Boy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds
13- A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow
14- Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

S. 6 Ep. 123 The Moth - Let Your Stories Fly with Guest Ashlee Clark 2-16-22

This week our guest is Ashlee Clark who is the VP of Digital at Louisville Public Media and who also serves as one of the hosts of the Moth in Louisville KY, an opportunity for anyone in the community to listen to and tell stories. The Moth is a national storytelling organization with headquarters in New York City but there are regional Moth events all over the world.

Whether you’ve seen a local storyslam or listened to the Moth Radio Hour, you know that the stories are sometimes hilarious and sometimes poignant, but they always remind us of how important storytelling is in our lives. We had a great time chatting with Ashlee and are excited to share our conversation.

You can find The Moth and Moth events all over the world at their website at www.themoth.org. The Moth podcast can be found on your favorite podcast platform.

Follow us on Facebook at The perks of Being a Book Lover or on Instagram at @perksofbeingabookloverpod to see what we're up to. For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Books mentioned in this episode:
1- Berenstain Bears series by Jan and Stan Berenstain
2- Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer
3- Baby-Sitters Club series
4- Sweet Valley High series
5- Goosebumps series by RL Stine
6- American Girl series
7- Animorphs series by KA Applegate
8- The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
9- Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps
10- Bad Hair: A Love Story (manuscript) by Ashlee Clark
11- My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories From The Sisterhood by St. Clair Detrick-Jules
12 - The One-in-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood
13- A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bachman
14- How the Penguin Saved Veronica by Hazel Pryor
15- Louisville Diners by Ashlee Clark

Shows mentioned--
1- Golden Girls (Hulu)

 

 

 

 

S 6 Ep. 122 Pop The Cork On ”Her”story with guest Rebecca Rosenberg 2-9-22

Part of what drew us to this week’s author, Rebecca Rosenberg, was the cool cover of her historical fiction novel, Champagne Widows. But as we read the book, we realized it was a pretty fascinating story of a young widow, Madame Clicquot, who essentially revolutionized champagne production in France during the Napoleonic years.

Rebecaa has written two other historical fiction novels but Champagne Widows is the first in a series about the trailblazing women of wine in France in the 19th century. As a champagne historian, Rebecca decided these stories needed to be told. She gave us a lot of the background on champagne and Madame Clicquot when we spoke to her. And reading Rebecca’s book right around New Year’s gave Amy all the excuse she needed to splurge on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and share it with me to toast in 2022.

Book mentioned in this episode:

1- Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg
2- The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage
3- The Last Duel by Eric Jager
4- Witcher series by Andrezj Sapkowski
5- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
6- Nancy Drew series
7- One Thousand and One Nights
8- Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
9- Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
10- Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
11- Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg
12- The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg
13- Champagne Widows: Madame Pommery by Rebecca Rosenberg (coming in 2023)
14- Mordew by Alex Pheby
15- The Huntress by Kate Quinn
16- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
17- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
18- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
19- Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Shows/movies mentioned--
1- After Party (Apple+)
2- The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
3- The Last Duel (Hulu)
4- Witcher (Netflix)

You can find Rebecca Rosenberg at her website www.rebecca-rosenberg.com.

Follow us on Facebook at The perks of Being a Book Lover or on Instagram at @perksofbeingabookoverpod to see what we're up to.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

S. 6 Ep. 121 Books Are My People with guest Jennifer Caloyeras 2-2-22

It’s always a lot of fun to connect with bookish podcasters, to learn why they started their shows and what they get from it. This week’s guest, Jennifer Caloyeras, is the host of Books Are My People. On her show, she has a bookish news segment and also recommends 5 books, most of them brand new releases, to listeners each week; Every other week she interviews a bookish guest.

Jennifer lives in CA and teaches writing at the UCLA Extension’s Writer’s program. She is also a published author of several Young adult novels, and will soon publish her first adult novel.

She talks to us about why she enjoys books about unlikable characters, how she reads 8-10 books a week, and a fun musical secret about herself that concerns Ted Lasso.

Books mentioned--

1- Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
2- Tales of The City by Armistead Maupin
3- Why Fish Don't Exist by LuLu Miller
4- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
5- Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
6- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
7- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
8- Once More We Saw Stars by Jason Green
9- When We Were Vikings by David MacDonald
10- The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
11- Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
12- The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
13- The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
14- You by Caroline Kepnes
15- Strays by Jennifer Caloyeras
16- Unruly Creatures by Jennifer Caloyeras
17- The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
18- A Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
19- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
20- Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever
21- Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Movies and TV series mentioned--
1- Home Alone (1990)
2- Ted Lasso (Hulu)

You can find Jennifer Caloyeras at her website www.jennifercaloyeras.com and on Instagram @jennifercaloyeras. Her podcast, Books Are My People can be found on your favorite podcast platform.