The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

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.

S. 6 Ep. 120 - A Doctor in the House with guest Kimmery Martin

Normally, we don’t repeat the same guests multiple times on the show (because there are so many great guests to feature), but we decided to ask Kimmery Martin back on the show for this episode. Kimmery is a trained ER physician who is now a full time author and her niche is medical fiction about female doctors. She is the author of 3 books: The Queen of Hearts, The Antidote For Everything, and her newest, Doctors and Friends. When she spoke with us last time in Season 2, she hinted at the manuscript she was working on about a female doctor during a global pandemic and the horrible decision she has to make about her children. That manuscript became Doctors and Friends.

We asked Kimmery on because we’re still knee-deep in COVID, and we had to know what it was like to write a novel about a pandemic just as an actual pandemic was moving around the globe. Plus, Kimmery contracted COVID which added another interesting layer to her work as a writer.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin
2- The Antidote For Everything by Kimmery Martin
3- Doctors & Friends by Kimmery Martin
4- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
5- Melville in Love by Michael Shelden
6- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
7- Tybee by Herman Melville
8- Until the End of Time by Brian Greene
9- My Year Abroad by Chang-rae Lee
10- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrass-Tyson
11- The Mist by Ragnar Jonasson
12- The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Shows mentioned--
1- Reservation Dogs (2021 on Hulu)
2- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
3- Station Eleven (2021, HBO)

 

 

 

 

Season 6 Ep. 119 A Playground of Empathy with Guest Andrew Harris 1-19-22

This week’s episode features Andrew Harris, the producing artistic director at Stage One, a performing arts organization for children in our city. If you live in Louisville, you have either attended a Stage One production as a child or as the parent of a child, and the shows are always magical. Andrew chats with us about his career in theater, the unique attributes of children’s shows, and why children’s theater is essential to adult theater.

Stage One has a couple upcoming plays, which we discuss in this episode: Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Fly at the end of January and early February and Dragons Love Tacos in March and April. Of course, with Omicron, things could change, so be sure to contact Stage One directly for updates.

Books mentioned--
1- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
2- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
3- Jamie Whatever by Keith McGill
4- Don't Tell Me I Can't Fly by Y. York
5- Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
6- The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gordichec
8- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (audio and book form)
9- Circe by Madeline Miller
10- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
10- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
11- The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher

 

 

 

 

Season 6 Ep. 118 Love is Hell with Guest Gwenda Bond

In this episode, we talk to Gwenda Bond, a New York Times Best-selling author whose scope of work includes middle grade and young adult fiction, most with definitive fantasy elements. Her most recent book published this past fall, however, is her very first adult rom-com, a paranormal romance titled NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOT GUY, that involves the son of Satan. An anticipated sequel is due to hit bookstores in April 2022.

Gwenda has vast experience in the literary world; she has published over 10 books, has been a writer for publisher’s weekly magazine, collaborated to write a serial podcast, and been chosen by the Duffer brothers, creators of the megahit Netflix series "Stranger Things", to write a novel that explores what Eleven’s mother’s story.

The thing that unites all these pieces is simple; it’s definitely not boring. Gwenda revels in the wacky and weird and she was a ton of fun to chat with this week.

Books discussed in this episode:

1- Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond
2- The Date From Hell by Gwenda Bond
3- Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond
4- Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond
5- The Supernormal Sleuthing Service by Gwenda Bond and Christopher Rowe
6- Lois Lane series by Gwenda Bond
7- Strange Alchemy by Gwenda Bond
8- The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
9- Monkey's Paw by W W Jacobs
10- The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
11- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
12- A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
13- A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
14- Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
15- Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
16- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Podcasts mentioned--
1- Dead Air by Gwenda Bond

Shows mentioned--
1- Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

The Perks of Being a Book Lover 2021Year in Review and What’s New in 2022 1-5-22

Carrie and Amy take a look back at books they read in 2021 and choose their favorites.  Plus, past guests from 2021 share their top reads of the year.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
2- The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson
3- This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
4- Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
5- Eat a Peach by David Chang
6- Lakewood by Megan Giddings
7- Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
8- Sick Souls, Healthy Minds by John Kaag
9- Once & Future Witches by Alix Harrow
10- Stone Sky by NK Jemisin
11- Whisper Man by Alex North
12- World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
13- Pax by Sara Pennypacker
14- The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
15- Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
16- Speckled Beauty by Rick Bragg
17- As You Wish by Cary Elwes
18- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
19- Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethaway
20- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
21- Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan
22- The Round House by Louise Erdrich
23- A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
24- The Hummingbird's Gift by Sy Montgomery
25- Piranesi by Susannah Clarke
26- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms
27- The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
28- Fox and I by Catherine Raven
29- Another Appalachia: Growing Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
30- City of Brass by SA Chakraborty
31- Mordew by Alex Pheby
32- Lucia by Alex Pheby
33- The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
34- The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gordichec
35- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
36- She Wouldn't Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha
37- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
38- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
39- Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
40- The World-Ending Fire by Wendell Berry
41- The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson
42- Dune by Frank Herbert
43- Will by Will Smith
44- The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
45- The Carrying by Ada Limon

 

 

 

 

REPLAY Ep. 86 Turn The Page and Tour The World with guest Melissa Joulwan 4-21-21

COVID has been hard for those among us who like to travel, but one of our favorite ways to assuage that desire is to read books set in different locations. Sweeping meadows. Mountains that touch the sky. Exotic locales. These places can whisk us from our humdrum homes.

A Strong Sense of Place is both a podcast and a website where readers can find interesting bookish conversations with our guest this week, Melissa Joulwan, and her husband David, two expatriates living in Prague located in the Czech Republic. In this week’s episode, she tells us about how they select the places they will visit each season, why place in a book has to meet very stringent specifications, and how roller derby helped her make some big life decisions.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Podcasts mentioned--
Strong Sense of Place (strongsenseofplace.com)

Books mentioned--
1- Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
2- Forever by Judy Blume
3- The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders
4- Archy McNally series by Lawrence Sanders
5- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
6- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
7- My Antonia by Willa Cather
8- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
10- The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova
11- She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
12- The Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood
13- Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
14- Less by Andrew Sean Greer
15- A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
16- The Curse of Jacob Tracy by Holly Messinger

Movies or TV adaptations mentioned in this episode:

1- Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (Amazon)
2- A Room With a View (1985 movie)
3- Jane Eyre (1945 movie with Orson Welles)
4- Jane Eyre (2011 movie with Michael Fassbender)
5- Jane Eyre ( 2006 BBC miniseries with Toby Stephens)

 

 

 

 

REPLAY Ep. 87 A Shot of Bourbon With a Dash of Law with guest Brian Haara

**We have a rebroadcast this week.  We will resume all new episodes in Season 6 mid-January.

 

This week we are getting in the “spirit” of the first Saturday of May; a date that is sacrosanct for many Kentuckians because of the running of the Kentucky Derby. A love of horses and bourbon whiskey are high on the list of things that Kentuckians are proud of and want to export to the rest of the world. Bourbon is big business in our region and has had a surge in popularity over the last decade; around 90 percent of all bourbon is produced here in the Bluegrass State. At no other time of the year is bourbon more popular in Louisville KY than during Derby season.

Our guest this week, Brian Haara, is an attorney who developed an interest in bourbon through his work in the industry. He started by writing a bourbon history and law blog and has been featured in bourbon documentaries. His book, Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America, is a deep dive into the history of bourbon law that goes back almost to the founding of our country and highlights how bourbon cases have affected all types of commercial law, including consumer protections and trademark law. He wanted to tell the stories of how our country and bourbon grew up together. He is also a bourbon connoisseur who gives tasting notes on various bourbons on his blog and throughout the book.

He chats with us about how he fell down the literary “Poe” hole as a teen, how Victoria’s Secret benefited from bourbon law, and he gives me and Carrie some suggestions of bourbons to buy for the bourbon drinkers in our life; whether they be newbies or long time fans.

Websites mentioned--
sippncorn.blogspot.com
brianhaara.com

Books mentioned--
1- Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian Haara
2- Poe anthology (Edgar Allan Poe)
3- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4- The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkein
5- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger
6- Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow
7- The 10,000 Doors of January by Alix Harrow
8- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
9- The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
10- Basketball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Paint by Jerry L. Walls (editor)

TV shows mentioned--
The Wire ( 2002-2008)

Season 5 Ep. 117 In The Weed(s) with Memoir and History with Guest Alia Volz

Our guest this week, Alia Volz, wrote a book titled Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and The Stoning of San Francisco about her experience growing up in San Francisco in the late 1970s and 80s. Alia’s parents were the owners of Sticky Fingers Brownies which made pot brownies that were known all over the city. While these brownies were the source of relaxation and fun for many people, when HIV and AIDS hit San Francisco, Sticky Fingers became a lifeline for many gay men who were devastated by the disease because the pot brownies helped them with pain and appetite.

The book covers a lot of territory, not the least of which is Alia’s parents’ backgrounds and what it was like for her to grow up in San Francisco in a family that couldn’t really talk about what it did because of the illegal nature of their business. Her book was a 2020 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. It’s a fascinating read which shows the social history leading to the legalization and wider use of cannabis for medical use in the US through the lens of her own family's story.

Books Discussed in this Episode:
1- Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco by Alia Volz
2- Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews
3- The Stand by Stephen King
4- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5- Dune by Frank Herbert
6- Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong by Paul Offitt
7- In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet
8- Daughters of Smoke and Fire by Ava Homa
9- The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe #0.3)by P. Djeli Clark
10- The Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1)by P. Djeli Clark
11 - A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe #0.1) by P. Djeli Clark
12- The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djeli Clark
13- Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe