The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

Season5 Episode 116 Real Life Virginia Book Women with Guests Lisa Signorelli and Kristen Thrower

Social media can be awful but it can also be a great way to discover wonderful things happening around the globe that give me hope. Our guests this week are an example of that. When I saw a Facebook post about a pair of teachers in Virginia that had been inspired by a book to launch a bookmobile service in their town, I wanted to know more.

The novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson which is about women who served as pack librarians in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and brought reading materials to remote areas during the Depression is the one that Lisa Signorelli and Kristin Thrower looked to to guide them in their mission. They were concerned that their students in Chesterfield public schools on the outskirts of Richmond who didn’t have easy access to WIFI while school was virtual last year were being forgotten.

Lisa and Kristin decided to start delivering books to the students. The endeavour that began out of the back of their cars has now progressed to a full book mobile that gives away free books to students and their families.

In this episode, Lisa and Kristin talk about how they met through a mentor teacher friend named Ms. Clark, how their collaboration resulted in the book mobile, and what it adds to their teaching experience.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
2- Books by Louis L'Amour
3- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4- Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
5- Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
6- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle
7- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
8- The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi
9- The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
10- Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
11- Cackle by Rachel Harrison
12- Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
13- A History Lover's Guide to Richmond by Kristin Thrower

Media mentioned--
1- Jason Reynolds on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2- Mysteries at the Museum

 

 

 

 

Season 5 Ep. 115 Page-Turning Artistry with Guest Valerie Saverie

Every guest we’ve had on our show thus far has been someone who interacts with books as Amy and I do--with our eyes and ears. But Valerie Saverie interacts with books in a unique way--she is a book sculptor who uses books as both her inspiration and her canvas.

Based in Colorado, Valerie is the owner and a founding member of Valkarie Gallery & Studio as well as an artist whose work is shown and sold in New York, Oregon, California, and Pennsylvania. In this episode, she talks to us about how books inspire her and what her process is for turning an already magical work into something that goes even further into creativity and the imagination.

To see all of Valerie’s art you can check her out on instagram @valeriesaverie or at her website www.valeriesaverie.com. On her site, she is offering Perks listeners a 20% discount on anything they purchase from her store for 30 days. Use the code PBBL22.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
2- Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
3- Dreams by Olive Schreiner
4- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5- The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by MT Anderson and Eugene Yelchin (Gildart Jackson narrates)
6- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
7- Gobbledy by Lis-Anna Langston

Movies mentioned--
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

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Season 5 Ep. 114 Bringing Book People Together with Guest Anna Ford

I love a good bookclub. Carrie and I have been in one together for 15 years. I am the designated book club organizer, and even though bookclubs have been one of the great passions of my adult life, keeping them organized can be an annoying process; finding a date that meets everyone’s needs, making sure everyone knows about the meetings and the books, choosing books. The administrative bookkeeping tasks are not things most people are anxious to do. But there is a relatively new website and free app called Bookclubz (that is Bookclub with a z) that can help streamline the process.

Our guest this week, Anna Ford is the CEO and founder of Bookclubz which started out as a simple computer program she used to help keep her own large bookclub organized. Over time, what was a rudimentary program has been featured in Forbes magazine and has blossomed into a business that helps tens of thousands of book clubs all over the world.

Go to their website at www.bookclubz.com

Books discussed in this episode:
1- The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols
2- Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy by Tom Nichols
3- The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
4- The Secret Lives of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
5- The Speckled Beauty by Rick Bragg
6- Just Kids by Patti Smith
7- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
8- The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power
9- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
10- The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
11- Books by Elena Ferrante

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Season 5 Ep 113 Around the World in an Anxious Mind with Guest Jeremy Hance 11-17-21

Our guest this week, Jeremy Hance, writes about 3 topics in his most recent book that we are always drawn to; mental health, travel, and animals. Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-trotting Hypochondriac is a memoir that uses humor to help readers understand what life is like for someone who has a mental health issue like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In Jeremy’s case, his anxiety is always worse when he travels. While traveling to all corners of the globe is one of the best parts of his life as an environmental writer and is necessary for the work he does, travel is also fraught with rumination and fear.

Jeremy is an environmental journalist who is currently a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-Trotting Hypochondriac by Jeremy Hance
2- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
3- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
4- My Antonia by Willa Cather
5- The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
6- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
7- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein
8- A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermer
9- Sorry, I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan

Websites mentioned
news.Mongabay.com

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Season 5 Ep. 112 Early Bird Holiday Book Buys with Bookseller Sam Miller 11-10-21

In this week’s episode, we talk to our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller from Carmichael’s Books, about the holiday gift giving season. You’ve probably heard the warning to “shop early’ this holiday season because of shortages. So we are giving you the gift of new book ideas for all the booklovers in your life.

We love inviting Sam on the show twice a year to tell us all about books to look forward to for summer reading and holiday gift buying. She gives us suggestions in all the categories.

1- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
2- The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
3- The Every by Dave Eggers
4- The Circle by Dave Eggers
5- Palmares by Gail Jones
6- Tell the Bees That I'm Gone (Outlander 9) by Diana Gabaldon
7- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
8- Dune by Frank Herbert
9- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
10- Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
11- All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
12- Mordew by Alex Pheby
13- A Fortnight in September by JC Sherriff
14- Jim the Boy by Tony Earley
15- The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
16- First Christmas: A Story of New Beginnings by Stephen Mitchell
17- Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer
18- It's Beginning to Look a Lot like F*ck This by Andrew Shaffer
19- Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
20- It's Beginning to Look Like Zombies: The Book of Zombie Christmas Carols by Michael Spradlin
21- Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
22- Silverview by John Le Carre
23- The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries by Otto Penzler
24- Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Jay Cooper and Maureen Johnson
25- Smile by Sarah Ruhl
26- The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg
27- The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
28- Renegades: Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama
29- The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones
30- The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
31- Best Wishes, Warmest Regards by Dan Levy and Eugene Levy
32- Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
33- Cooking at Home by David Chang and Priya Krishna
34- Black Food by Bryant Terry
35- Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
36- All the Marvels by Douglas Wolk
37- The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo
38- A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City by David Domine
39- The Strange Case of Isaac Crawley by James Markert
40- Doctors and Friends by Kimmery Martin
41- Theft by Finding Diaries by David Sedaris
42- The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
43- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
45- Circe by Madeline Miller
46- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
47- Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
48- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
49- Eligible: A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld
50- Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson
51- Shirley: A Novel by Susan Scarf Merrell
52- The Letters of Shirley Jackson edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman
53- The Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
54- Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith

Shows mentioned
1- Foundation series (2021)
2- Shirley (2020)

Podcasts mentioned
1- Renegades

Ep. 111 Existential Book People Problems with guest Bailey from ‘The To Read List Podcast‘ 11-3-21

This week we had a great time talking about book people problems with our guest Bailey, host of the To Read List Podcast. She doesn’t work alone on the podcast: her co-hosts include her brother Andrew, her friend Toby, and her husband Dillon who is the sound recordist. Through this podcast, they attempt to get through all the books on their shelves. Every other week they each read a book from their collections that is randomly selected. And at the end of the episode they have to decide if their books stay on their shelves or whether a new home needs to be found; like a free little library.

So this episode is filled with discussion of problems that are particular to book lovers like how many books is too many, can you have too many e-books downloaded on your Kindle, should we keep all the books we read, is 'dnfing' ok? You get the picture. We talk all about of book neuroses on this episode. It’s like a book group therapy session.

You can find the To Read List Podcast:
thetoreadlistpodcast.libsyn.com
and on Instagram @thetoreadlistpodcast

Books mentioned--
1- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
2- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
3- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
4- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susannah Clarke
5- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
6- White Teeth by Zadie Smith
7- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
8- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
9- Sadie by Courtney Summers
10- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
11- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
12- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
13- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
14- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
15- The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
16- Dracula by Bram Stoker

17- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
18- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
19- Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
20- The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket
21- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

21- The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah One Jewett

Movies mentioned-
Inception (2010)

Social Media mentioned--
The To Read List podcast
Karen Puzzles (Youtube)

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Season 5 Ep. 110 A Skull And His Bones with Guests Jeremy and Hermione Tankard 10-27-21

Our guests this week are members of the same family. Jeremy and Hermione Tankard are a father-daughter duo behind the graphic novel series Yorick and Bones. Yorick, as any Shakespeare lover knows, is the skull that Hamlet speaks to in the play of the same name. In this graphic novel, Yorick is unearthed by a friendly dog, and they begin a series of adventures. In the second book, Yorick and Bones meet up with some familiar faces from Shakespeare’s plays.

Jeremy and Hermione have a fun story behind their books. Hermione was in high school when her dad recruited her to join him on this journey to tell the story of Yorick and his little dog because Hermione has long been a Shakespeare fan and has an uncanny ability to translate anything into iambic pentameter. They combined forces to create a fun series that helps gently introduce kids and adults to Shakespeare characters.

You can find out more about Jeremy Tankard’s books including the ones who created with Hermione at his website, jeremytankard.com and on instagram, @Jeremytankboy.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- Rainbow Magic series
2- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
3- Yorick and Bones series
4- Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson
5- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
6- 10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac
7- All the Bad Apples by Moira Fowley-Doyle
8- The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey
9- Dead Dead Demons DeDeDe Destruction by Inio Asano
10- Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald

Movies mentioned
1- Melancholia (2011)

Game mentioned:
1- Telestrations

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Season 5 Ep. 109 Horror is Like A Jar of Salsa with Guest Johann Trotter 10-20-21

We are halfway through spooky October and maybe you are looking for a good scary book to read. Our guest today, Johann Trotter, can give you some tips. Johann lives in Northern Ireland and works as a scientific researcher. But her hobby gone wild is horror in all its forms. She is a self-professed horror junkie. She is a bit obsessed with Stephen King, but on her instagram page @jobis89, you can find a wide variety of non-Stephen King horror book suggestions and reviews to make any spooky reader happy.

She is currently doing a 2 year project to read a horror book set in each of the 50 US States. We do a deep dive into the horror genre this week.

You can find Johann Trotter on instagram, @Jobis89.

Books mentioned--
1- Turn of the Screw by Henry James
2- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
3- His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler
4- "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
5- "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe
6- Roald Dahl books
7- Goosebumps series
8- Babysitters Club series
9- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein
10- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
11- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
12- Whisper Man by Alex North
13- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
14- Dracula by Bram Stoker
15- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
16- Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell
17- The Elementals by Michael McDowell
18- The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Story by Kate Summerscale
19- Ghost Story by Peter Straub
20- A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Johann's Top Horror Writers
1- Stephen King
2- H. P. Lovecraft
3- Clive Barker
4- Ania Ahlborn
5- David Sodergren
6- Kealan Patrick Burke

Websites/ phone app mentioned--
The Storygraph

Podcasts mentioned--
1- Ghost Stories from the London Dungeon
2- Poe Theater on the Air

TV/Movies mentioned--
1- Only Murders in the Building
2- A Nightmare on Elm Street
3- Scream
4- Trick or Treat
5- Halloween
6- Sleepy Hollow
7- Hocus Pocus

Music mentioned--
1- The Evil Eye and the Hideous Heart, composed by Alan Lee Silva

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Season 5 Episode 108 Sex, Drugs, and True Crime Vibes with Guest David Domine‘ 10-13-21

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 louisvillehistorictours.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City by David Domine
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 in this episode:

1- Unsolved Mysteries (2020) Netlfix

2- Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

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Season 5 Ep. 107 Following A Literary Appalachian Trail with Guest Kendra Winchester

We have a fondness for Appalachia and have had several guests on the Perks who hail from that area, including Alix Harrow, Ashley Blooms, and Annette Sanuooke Clapsaddle. But Appalachia is much larger than just the small slice that Amy and I often think of. Appalachia is really a huge area that encompasses a vast and diverse array of people.

Today we talk to Kendra Winchester, the co-founder and executive director of the 'Reading Women' podcast and a Book Riot contributing editor. But she is also the person behind the Read Appalachia Instagram account. She tells us what makes Appalachian literature special and why it’s so important to her.

You can find Kendra Winchester on various instagram pages including at @readappalachia, @thebookcorgiand @thereadingwomen.

Books Mentioned in this episode:
1- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
2- Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
3- Sabriel by Garth Nix
4- Books by Tamora Pierce
5- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
6- Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
7- Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
8- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
9- The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson
10- Affrilachia by Frank X. Walker
11- Southernmost by Silas House
12- Black Bone: 25 Years of Affrilachian Poets edited by Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Jeremy Paden
13- Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson
14- Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
15- What You're Getting Wrong about Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte
16- Step Into the Circle: Writers in Modern Appalachia edited by Amy Greene and Trent Thomson
17- Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
18- Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
19- Carework: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
20- Disability/Visability: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong
21- The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein
22- The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith by Sarah Krasnostein

Podcasts mentioned--
1- Reading Women

Instagram mentioned--
1- @readappalachia
2- @thebookcorgi

TV Shows Mentioned:
1- Explained (Netlfix)

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