The Bookstore: Recent Episodes
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It's like a book club, but we actually read the book. Join hosts Becca and Corinne as they recreate their days working and hanging out at their local independent book store.
Today we talk about The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara. Next month we will be reading The Dry by Jane Harper.
Content warning: suicide, violence
Further reading:
https://thegatheringcollective.substack.com/p/toni-cade-bambara-knew-what-she-was
https://thefeministwire.com/2014/11/weight-in-being-well/
https://futuristicallyancient.com/2015/01/02/the-my-stery-manual-for-the-move-forward-based-on-the-salt-eaters/
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Hello, we are checking in to be culturally relevant and bring you research we did about Tyra Banks, Modelland, and Smize Cream 5-6 years ago. The majority of this episode was recorded for our Patreon in September 2021.
Modelland Song
DJ Splitz
DJ Splitz Logo
Today we're talking about Juan Rulfo's novel Pedro Páramo. Originally published in 1955, we both read different English translations, which had an effect on how each of us understood the book. Content warning: brief mentions of murder, rape, and incest.
Our next book discussion will be The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Website | Patreon
Years ago, I can't remember when, we read Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, by far her most famous work. We returned to Dunn to read Toad, which was published posthumously.
Content Warnings: Self-harm and suicide, child loss, 1960s views of fat bodies
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Today we are talking about The Wall by Austrian author Marlen Haushofer, published in the 1960s. In addition to the book, we also discuss how quickly we'd die in a similar situation due to our complete lack of survivalist skills.
Content warning: animal death
Our next book discussion will be Toad by Katherine Dunn. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
I, Becca, have been going through a big life transition, and that is why this episode is so incredibly late. I will be okay though! It also kind of fits because Olga Tokarczuk's House of Day, House of Night, is all about transition and liminal spaces.
Content warning: we mention breasts and vaginas (more like vaginal art).
Minnesota mutual aid
Immigration law funds
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Due to this being a weird year (Corinne had a baby!) instead of our usual wrap-up of the year's books, we decided to take a look at our historical Year in Reviews and talk about the books we remember, and the ones we don't.
We swear a bit and mention some adult topics briefly, so use caution when listening.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Content warning straight off the top for this one! Both for the actual content, in which Becca recommends a terrible tv show and for the book, which is described as being erotic, and then also a big warning for us being disorganized and confused. We are getting our groove back, please be patient. If you're still listening to us, we love you, and we are in love with you.
Next episode will be our Year in Review.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We're back! We're a bit all over the place in this episode, but mostly it's me (Becca) recommending a few horror/scary books I've read. Most likely, we will be popping in once a month to update everyone until life settles down a little more. Thanks for listening!
(Quick correction: I mention the movie The Devils by Ken Russell, and what I guessed what the outline of the plot. Since recording, I have watched the movie and I was wrong. Great movie though!)
Books mentioned: Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft, Come Closer by Sara Gran, The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley, and Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlmann.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2025, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We are now officially on hiatus! Corinne is on maternity leave, although that's not why this episode is late, I just forgot about uploading it.
Our second book for June is Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Today we discuss Nicole Dennis-Benn's novel Patsy, which won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.
Content warning: brief mentions of miscarriage, sexual and physical assaults, abusive relationships
Our next book discussion will be Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
For the month of May, our prompt is to read a dystopia or post-apocalyptic work of fiction. Corinne's pick is I Who Have Never Known Menby Jacqueline Harpman. We have both read this book already and jumped at the chance to reread and discuss this book, that we describe as being "about what it is to be human."
Content warning: captivity, death, disease, euthanasia, brief mentions of sexual awakening, torture, and suicide
Our next book discussion will be Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our first book for May's prompt to read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel is Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Set in a Toronto that has been abandoned by the government and anyone with means, Ti-Jeanne has to learn how to survive and how to protect the ones she loves.
Content warning: mentions of violence, suicide, drug addiction
Our next book discussion will be I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Today's book discussion is on Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović, translated from Croatian by Ena Selimović. We get slightly off-topic talking about the top news stories from the 90s and reminiscing about playing with Barbies.
Content warning: war (mentions of bombing and snipers), swearing
Our next book discussion will be Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Becca's pick for April's prompt to read a book based on its cover or title is Nonfiction: A Novel by Julie Myerson, because the contradiction between the title and genre was too compelling to pass up.
Content warning: drug addiction
Our next book discussion will be Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
The March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, and Corinne's pick is Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary, and published by Catapult.
Content warning: brief mentions of violence, including sexual violence
Our next book discussion will be Nonfiction by Julie Myerson. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Becca's pick for March's prompt to read a book published by an indie press is Earthlings by Sayaka Murati, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic.
Content warnings: sexual assault, death, murder, violence, cannibalism
Our next book discussion will be Witches by Brenda Lozano. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
February's prompt is to read a book with a non-human narrator or from a non-human perspective. Corinne's pick, that we'll be discussing today, is Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, which is about a house/plot of land.
Content warning: swearing, Nazism, repressive regimes, book has sexual and physical violence
March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, our first book is Becca’s pick, Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic. Corinne’s pick is Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary and published by Catapult.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2025, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Romantic Goat sex on today's episode. We read The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan.
Next time we will read Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
Content Warnings: Violence, sexual violence
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Last episode for January is Pastoralia by George Saunders, this is a book of short stories that all have the trademark Saunders satirical edge.
Content warning: swearing, brief mentions of death and a sick child
Our next book discussion will be The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
New year, same us. We discuss (more like complain about, to be honest) Maggie O'Farrell's novel After You'd Gone. January's prompt is to read a book published in the year 2000.
Our next book discussion will be Pastoralia by George Saunders. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We are back and we have a recap of our reading in 2024, along with the challenge prompts for 2025, since I don't know how we chose books before we starting following these prompts. The challenge prompts start around 37:04.
Prompts from past years.
Our books for January are After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell and Pastoralia by George Saunders.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2025, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Unfortunately, we are not releasing an episode today because we’re going on hiatus. We are fine in terms of physical health and have not experienced personal family tragedy, we just need to take a break right now. I am sorry to be springing this on everyone without advance notice, it’s just something we have to do right now. Thank you to all of you who subscribe, who have ever listened to any of our episodes, gave us a good review, and absolutely all of our lovely patrons. We will absolutely be back, the world needs our book opinions!
This feed will be the best way to keep up with our timeline to return, I will give another update in December as to what our plans are. Talk to you all soon, thanks for sticking around!
We were in Chicago during the week we should have been recording and editing this episode, so apologies for the lateness!
Today we talk about The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk.
Next time we'll be talking about our first choice for November's prompt to read a book about a lost city or civilization, and that is Hav by Jan Morris. The second November book is Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz. Find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
Content Warning for episode: misogyny, abuse, assault, general swearing and vulgar language
Books mentioned: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
The quote Becca couldn't think of is by Marilyn Frye
The TikToker Corinne mentioned
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Google Doc for Helene Recovery Resources
LESBIAN. VAMPIRES.
We read The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez for October's prompt to read a book in one of the following genres: monster/vampire/gothic.
Content warning: We briefly talk about violence and murder. The book also contains scenes of the main character experiencing racism.
Our next book is The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
This book has everything, except for an idea of how novels are formulated. Our next read will be The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez.
For September's prompt to read a book by a celebrity, Corinne has chosen The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker and Dick Lochte. Al Roker is a tv personality and the resident weatherman of NBC's Today show. Content warnings: swearing,...
For September's prompt to read a book by a celebrity, Corinne has chosen The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker and Dick Lochte. Al Roker is a tv personality and the resident weatherman of NBC's Today show.
Content warnings: swearing, discussion of different types of murder, offensive accents (in the book, we do not quote the book), sexism
Our next book discussion will be Swan by Naomi Campbell. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our last book for August's prompt to read a book that won a translation award is Every Fire You Tend by Sema Kaygusuz. Very poetic and beautifully written, it might have been too spiritual for us to fully engage with.
Content warning: mentions of ethnic cleansing and genocide, rape, sexual assault
Our next book discussion will be The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our first book for August's prompt to read a book that won a translation prize is Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed. Corinne picked this one, and we both loved it. It's a beautifully illustrated graphic novel split into 3 stories, all revolving around 3 First Class Wishes. What are first class wishes? Listen and learn about the incredibly imaginative world Mohamed created!
Our next book discussion will be Every Fire You Tend, by Sema Kaygusuz. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Coming in late with our discussion of Nobel Laureat Kenzaburō Ōe's The Silent Cry. This book is difficult in basically every way a book can be, so be warned.
Content warnings: suicide, sexual assault, violence.
August's Challenge prompt is to read a book that won an award for translation. Our first read will be the graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed (also published as Your Wish is My Command in other English speaking countries). Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Look! You just got another free Patreon Episode of Corinne spoiling the ever living life out of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover.
Next week we will have our discussion of Kenzaburo Oe's The Silent Cry. Then August's prompt is to read a book that won a translation award and our first selection for that will be Deena Mohamed's Shubeik Lubeik (otherwise known as Your Wish is My Command in other English editions).
Content warnings: domestic violence, sex, we spoil the entire book and make fun of Colleen Hoover's writing
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Corinne's pick for July's prompt to read a book published 20 years before you were born is The Stud by Jackie Collins. It's a wild ride with lots of rich and rich-adjacent people exhibiting poor impulse control! Contains: sex, swearing,...
Let this be a sign that if the only Nabokov book you've read is Lolita, you should remedy that. Despair is Corinne's pick for June's prompt to read a book about twins or doppelgangers. Content warning: mention of suicide, murder, Dostoevsky...
Let this be a sign that if the only Nabokov book you've read is Lolita, you should remedy that. Despair is Corinne's pick for June's prompt to read a book about twins or doppelgangers.
Content warning: mention of suicide, murder, Dostoevsky
Our next book discussion will be The Stud by Jackie Collins. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Today we discuss Wise Children by Angela Carter, a book about twins, fulfilling June's prompt to read a book with twins or doppelgangers. It's Angela Carter, so everything is in excess, not just one set of twins, but multiple, plus all the twins share the same birthday. There's a confusing family tree, there's a housefire, there's an attempted Hollywood career, and there's bizarre behavior from the characters right down to the last page.
Content Warning: incest, death, grooming
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
You ready for a messy book? This week we read The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin.
Next time we will be reading Wise Children by Angela Carter.
Content warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence, fertility issues.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We're back! Becca's still suffering from a sinus infection, but we're pressing on anyway. The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams is Corinne's pick for May's prompt to read a book recommended by your favorite author. Joy Williams (in general) is recommended by many authors, among them Catherine Lacey and Sigrid Nunez.
Content warning: suicidal ideations, mention of genitalia, violent death, animal death
Our next book discussion will be The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Due to some unforseen circumstances this week we are bringing you an episode from our Patreon about Colleen Hoover's massively popular novel It Ends With Us in leiu of our regularly scheduled book discussion. We will hopefully be back with that next...
Perhaps our most referential episode, ever. The book: The art it was created to accompany: Books (many are also Movies/TV shows) Mentioned: by Phillip K. Dick (movie is titled Bladerunner) by William Gibson by James S.A. Corey by Arthur C....
April's prompt is to read a book of ecofiction, and Becca's pick is Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup.
Content warning: miscarriage, death in childbirth, sexual topics
Our next book will be The Employees by Olga Ravn, as chosen by our Patreon Patrons. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
It's a book by a translator that's a book by a translator that's translated by a translator about translators translating a book and we loved it. There are also some major time spoilers, but we give good warnings this time.
The Extinction of Ireana Rey by Jennifer Croft
Next time we are reading Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read it along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Correction: in the epsiode we say that the book was published in Barbados, but Condé is actually from the island of Guadeloupe - a French department in the Carribbean.
Now THIS is the type of historical fiction that we love. Corinne's pick for March's prompt to read a book with a name in the title is I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé. This novel is a fictionalized account of Tituba, an enslaved woman from Barbados who became the first person accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.
Content warning: sexual assault, suicide, violence
Our next book discussion will be The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Today we discuss Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. This is one of the first books of Chicano/a Literature, with Rudolfo Anaya considered one of the founders of the literary movement. It's a coming-of-age story that weaves Catholicism with traditional and indigenous beliefs, and the duality of identity that Antonio, the main character, experiences.
Content warning: violence, bodily fluids
Sources: Introduction to Chicano Literature, Chicano Literature
Next time we'll be reading Corinne's choice: I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
We have also chosen our books for April's prompt (Environmental Fiction) Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup and The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft.
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If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
This week we read and discussed My Garden (Book): by Jamaica Kincaid. It's memoir, it's essays, it's history, it's botany, it's maybe not what you'd normally choose to read if you're a fan of our typical fare, but it has a lot of great ideas to think and talk about. You should still read Jamaica Kincaid even if this one isn't for you. Becca recommends the novel Lucy or another work of nonfiction about her home, Antigua, called A Small Place.
March's prompt for the Bookstore Challenge 2024 is to read a book with a name in the title. Becca's pick, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, will be first. Followed by Corinne's choice: I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde.
And then Becca is way ahead of us and has already chosen her read for April's prompt (Envirionmental Fiction) Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup.
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If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
For our first read of the February Bookstore Challenge Prompt (read a memoir written by a writer) Corinne chose Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood. It's a memoir about being a poet and having your dad literally be a Catholic priest. And we're of divided opinions for once.
Next time we will read My Garden (Book): by Jamaica Kincaid. This is out of print, but can be found at the library or used. Or if you're patient, a new edition will be available from Picador in July 2024.
In March we will be reading I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya.
Content Warnings: Sexual assault, religious trauma, infertility.
Books mentioned:
David Sedaris (general) No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
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If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our second book for January's prompt to read a book set in a place where you're from is Jim Harrison's True North. True North is set mostly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and follows David Burkett, descendant of lumber barons as he struggles with his family's tarnished legacy.... hahaha jk it's really just a guy talking about his dick constantly. We do not recommend.
Content warning: rape, sexual assault, violence, violence against women, violence against children, adult topics, sex, body anatomy, swearing
Our next book discussion will be Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood, and following that will be My Garden (Book): by Jamaica Kincaid. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our first book of the year! Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan is set in the fictional town of Modesta, Michigan, thus fulfilling January's prompt to read a book set in the place where you're from (we're both from Michigan). A new teacher has come to town and she begins to help a group of teenage girls stand up for themselves against sexism... but will they take it too far?
Content warning: domestic violence, sexual assault, pregnancy, fatphobia, offensive language
Our next book discussion will be True North by Jim Harrison. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Happy New Year!
Out with the old (reviewing last years reading) and in with the new (walking through the 2024 Bookstore Challenge prompts).
Books we will be reading in January:
Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan (look for one published before the 2010s to avoid any contemporizing editions).
True North by Jim Harrison
This is a great resource for finding out what books authors read.
You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2024.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Last book of the year! It's Becca's pick for December's prompt to read a book by an author who shares the first initial of your surname is Y/N by Esther Yi. We follow a young woman as she descends further into an obsession with a member of a boy band, leading her to even move to another country in order to find him.
Content warning: sex, body parts, death
Technical note: Corinne was traveling for the holidays when we recorded this, so her audio has some background noise, apologies for that!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023. The Bookstore Challenge 2024 will be out soon!
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
First book for December's prompt to read a book by an author who shares your surname or first initial of your surname is Ice by Anna Kavan. This is a sci-fi or slipstream novel about a man searching for a girl in a world that is slowly being consumed by ice.
Content warning: sexual assault, violence
Books mentioned: Wide Sargasso Sea-Jean Rhys, A Song of Ice and Fire-George RR Martin, Fight Club-Chuck Palahniuk, Deep Water-Patricia Highsmith, In a Lonely Place-Dorothy B. Hughes, Empire of the Senseless-Kathy Acker
Our next reads are Y/N by Esther Yi for December, and Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan for January.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023. The Bookstore Challenge 2024 will be out soon!
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Action Items - US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Action Items - Jewish Voices for Peace
November's prompt is to read a book about death and Becca’s pick is The Yield by Tara June Winch. The novel has three different narratives, one being about August, an Aboriginal Australian woman returning to her hometown after her grandfather, Poppy, dies. The second narrative is Poppy writing a dictionary of his Aboriginal language’s words, combined with brief stories from his life. And the final narrator is Reverend Greenleaf, a white minister who runs a mission for Aboriginal people in the distant past.
Content warning: violence, racism, sexual assault, colonization, destruction of culture
Our next book discussions will be Ice by Anna Kavan and Y/N by Esther Yi. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Action Items - US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Action Items - Jewish Voices for Peace
November's prompt is to read a book about death and Corinne's pick is Jose Saramago's Death With Interruptions. This book is about an unnamed country where suddenly one New Year's, death stops happening. It reads like a textbook at times, going over logistical issues and government responses, with a sprinkling of regular people's reactions to no one dying. And then, in the third act, death enters the picture.
Content warning: death
Our next book discussion will be The Yield by Tara June Winch. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. And to finish off the year, in December we'll be reading Ice by Anna Kavan and Y/N by Esther Yi.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Action Items - US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Action Items - Jewish Voices for Peace
This week was an extra week for October (yes, technically it's November, apologies, I've had some personal stuff going on), so we had our Patreon Patrons pick the book and they chose Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed. The novel is one of the six major novels of The Hainish Cycle. Though The Dispossessed is the sixth published book in the cycle, chronologically, the story takes place before the other novels.
Our main character, Shevek, is an Odonian physicist working on a theory - both mathematical and philosophical. When the government of A-Io offers Shevek an award and he is being prevented from publishing his work by a jealous superior on Anarres, he agrees to travel to Urras and continue working on his theory.
The Last Archive podcast: The Word For Man Is Ishi
Content warning: Adult language for body parts, sex
Our next book discussion will be Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Action Items - US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Action Items - Jewish Voices for Peace
Free Ebooks - Haymarket Books
Open Letter from ArabLit
Recommended titles: Minor Detail by Adania Shibli and Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women edited by Jo Glanville*
*These are NOT affiliate links, The Bookstore will NOT receive commission from Bookshop from any purchases made while visiting these links. This is simply the most convenient non-Amazon related listing to link to. Please also use your local library for resources.
This week we read Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney, a sci-fi about a polyglot poet and a rag-tag crew of star-shipmen who are tasked with translating an unknown language to fight an unknown enemy known as Invaders.
Content Warnings: brief discussion of how the book handles suicide.
Spoiler Warning: We do spoil the ending, but there is warning in the episode.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our first book for October's prompt to read a book set in an alternate dimension or different planet is Present Tense Machine by Gunnhild Øyehaug. This is a dreamlike, speculative novel about a woman who is pulled into an alternate universe.
Content warnings: None that we can think of.
Our next reads will be Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Just a teeny tiny mini episode about Becca's experience at the Detroit Bookfest this past summer.
Our next reads will be Present Tense Machine by Gunnhild Øyehaug and Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We read Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. This short story collection was first published in 1972 and features 15 stories, and the incredible voices of folks in New York City and sometimes in the rural south.
Content Warnings (for the book, less so for the episode): sexual assault, child abuse, murder
Our next reads will be Present Tense Machine by Gunnhild Øyehaug and Babel-17 buy Samuel R. Delaney. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Our first book for September's prompt to Read a Book with an Animal in the Title is The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li. We loved reading about this obsessive, codependent relationships between two girls in post-war France.
Content warnings: mentions of violence and sexual assault (not graphically described)
Our next book discussion will be on Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. Get it from your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
For our last book in August, Corinne picked Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo.
Content Warning: racism, abuse, alcoholism
Our next book discussion will be The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
For our last book in August, Corinne picked Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo.
Content Warning: racism, abuse, alcoholism
Our next book discussion will be The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine follows several generations of a family in the Colorado area. Fair warning, we have some criticisms about this book's writing, so if you loved it, you may want to skip this episode.
Content advisory: violence, sexual assault, racism
Our next book discussion will be on Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Or: A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, five languages, And Three Major Religions, not counting the minor sects. Told by the DEAD, supplemented by the AUTHOR, drawing from a range of BOOKS, and aided by IMAGINATION, the which being the greatest natural GIFT of any person. That the WISE might have it for a record, that my compatriots REFLECT, laypersons gain some UNDERSTANDING, And Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment
Content warning: antisemitism, violence, frank talk about sex
Our next book discussion will be on Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
July's prompt for The Bookstore Challenge 2023 is to Read a Book Over 500 Pages, and/or a Graphic Novel. Our pick for the 500 pager is coming up later this month, but in the meantime, we have a graphic novel, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. Is it this generation's The Jungle?! We think so!
Content advisory: sexual assault, sexual harassment, workplace safety, capitalism
Our next book discussion will be The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
This week we read Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block (both can also be found in the anthologized book Dangerous Angels). These books were massively popular with off-beat teens in the 90s and have a huge following. Will they still manage to charm jaded 30-somethings in the 2020s?
Content warnings for the books: some dark themes including sexual assault and addiction. Also some really egregious cultural appropriation and outright stereotyping/tokenizing.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Becca's DNF book pick for June's prompt is The Namesakeby Jhumpa Lahiri. The novel is Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning story collection, The Interpreter of Maladies.
Our next book is actually two books, Weetzie Batand Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block. Find it at your local bookstore or library (it's on Hoopla!) and read along with us.
Content warnings: near-death experience, (possible) sexual assault
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Becca's DNF book pick for June's prompt is The Namesakeby Jhumpa Lahiri.The novel is Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning story collection, The Interpreter of Maladies.
Our next book is actually two books, Weetzie Batand Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block. Find it at your local bookstore or library (it's on Hoopla!) and read along with us.
Content warnings: near-death experience, (possible) sexual assault
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
*Website | Patreon*
As chosen by our Patrons (plus Corinne), our extra book for May is Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov. Gospodinov is Bulgarian, thus fulfilling the prompt to read a book by an author from a country you've never been to, as neither of us have been to Bulgaria. And as a bonus, Time Shelter was announced as the winner of the International Booker Prize recently!
Content warnings: mentions of suicide, euthanasia, Alzheimer's, war, none of which we go into great detail about
Our next book discussion is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Corinne's pick for The Bookstore Challenge 2023 prompt to "read a book by an author from a country you've never been to" is An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie. Kpomassie writes about his childhood in Togo and his fulfilled ambition to move to Greenland and experience life there.
Content warnings: animal death, addiction
Mentioned in the episode is a Tiktoker who lives in Svalbard, @sejsejlija
Our next book discussion, as chosen by our Patreon Patrons, will be Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Becca’s pick for May’s prompt to read a book by an author from a country you’ve never been to is The Fawn by Magda Szabó (the country is Hungary). We are already fans of hers from reading her later novel Abigail, and we're thrilled to read another classic Szabó exploration of a complicated and flawed woman.
Content warnings: Deaths, both animal and human
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
We’ve got mixed feelings for this debut about a young immigrant woman trying to find love and community in the Midwest. This week we read All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews.
Content Warnings: sexual violence
In May we will be reading books from or about a part of the world we’ve never been to. Becca’s pick, The Fawn by Magda Szabó, is up first. Followed by An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
Content Warnings: violence, self-harm, so much blood, sexual violence, we also swear
If you really enjoyed this book, we’re sorry, you may want to skip this one.
A Darker Shade of Magic is a contemporary fantasy novel that’s short on background info, long on every trope, and not a series we will be continuing.
Our next book discussion will be All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
April's challenge prompt is to read a book recommended to you by a bookseller or librarian. Ideally, you'd ask a bookseller or librarian for one, but also we know there's a lot of reasons you may not want to do that and that's ok! There are other options, like reading something a favorite bookstagrammer or booktok account has recommended, or picking a book off of a recommendation display at the store or library. Or you can take one of our highly specific (to our own tastes) recommendations that we offer to you in this episode.
Books Recommended:
Fight Night by Miriam Toewes Quartet and After Leaving Mr. McKenzie by Jean Rhys Evil Flowers by Gunnhild Øyehaug Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei (this is also on Hoopla) The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard The Mount by Carol Emshwiller (this is also on Hoopla) Collision Course: The Classic Story of the Collision of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm by Alvin Moscow
Our next book discussions will be A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab and All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
So Lucky by Nicola Griffith is an amalgamation of genres, part autofiction, part disability activist story, part metaphysical, and part crime thriller. Mara Tagareilli is a martial arts master and heads up a successful and important AIDS non-profit in Atlanta. She and her wife of many years have just split and after she collapses while getting a jug of milk from the refrigerator, she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Judith Heumann's website
Content warnings (for the book and the episode): violence against women, murder
Next time we'll be reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.
Website | Patreon
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon is a 2017 science fiction novel about the class and race structure on a generation ship making its way through the universe toward the promised land. It features a well drawn main character and a lot of confusing world mechanics, so hang on, because we have some questions.
Content Warnings (for the novel and the episode): physical violence, sexual assault, self-harm, suicide
Next time we'll be reading So Lucky by Nicole Griffith, find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Website | Patreon
This week we read the classic noir novel, In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. We love it for subverting typical noir tropes and tackling American machismo at the same time.
March's promopt for the 2023 Bookstore Challenge is to read a book by an author with a disability or about disability. Becca's pick, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, is up first. And then we will be reading So Lucky by Nicola Griffith. You can find both at your local bookstore or library (at least one of them is available on Hoopla) and read along with us.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph, The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Website | Patreon
For February's prompt to Read a Western or Pulp Fiction/Noir, Becca's pick is True Grit by Charles Portis. The novel was a bestseller immediately upon publishing in 1968, and has been adapted twice into movies. We loved this entertaining, funny, action-packed story that is essentially just about a girl bent on revenge.
Next time we'll be reading Corinne's pick, a noir/pulp fiction novel titled In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph, The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Website | Patreon
For January's prompt, to read a book published in a year ending in 3, Becca had us read The Charioteer by Mary Renault. It was published in 1953 and known for being one of the first popularly published novels about positive homosexual romance. Despite some language differences between two Americans in 2023 and a British woman in 1953, we really loved this story.
For February's prompt of reading a western or pulp novel, we will first be reading True Grit by Charles Portis (western) and then either Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon (pulp) or In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes (noir). The first two are available on Hoopla, but you can find any at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
In this episode we also mentioned: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Hello, this is our first episode of the year! January's prompt for The Bookstore Challenge 2023 is to read a book from a year ending in 3. Corinne's pick is Maud Marthaby Gwendolyn Brooks, published in 1953. It's out of print in the US but you can still buy in the UK, and you should! Bernardine Evaristo says it's wonderful and do you need a better endorsement than that?
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph, The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Next time we will be discussing The Charioteer by Mary Renault. You can find it at your local bookstore or library (it's on Hoopla) and read along with us.
Website | Patreon
Hello, this is our last episode of the year. We made it! This Year in Review is much like the ones from past years, we go over what we did, what we accomplished, any surprising trends we noticed, and have some fun with picking superlatives.
If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2023, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph, The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Next time we will be discussing Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. This book is out of print, but hopefully you can find it at your local library or used bookstore!
Website | Patreon
It’s the Bookstore’s third annual reading challenge! For the last two years it has proven to be a fun way to read in a way that is vaguely thematic for the podcast, as well as a very helpful tool for two painfully indecisive people who need to choose what to read.
Keep in mind, also, that we not only accept your accommodations and creative interpretations of these prompts, but we encourage them. Make these babies work for you. This may be called a challenge, but it’s not a competition and there are no rules. Read April’s prompt in December. Read a book by an author with the same first name as you, not last initial. Read a book that is an animal, I don’t mind! Go wild!
If you want to read along with the prompt, you can find Instagram graphics for your story or grid in this Google Drive folder. You can also join us on The StoryGraph, The Bookstore Challenge 2023.
Next time we will be discussing Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. This book is out of print, but hopefully you can find it at your local library or used bookstore!
Website | Patreon
Our last pick for December's prompt to Read a Book Published in 2022 is Becca's choice, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. It's also our last book for 2022! While we are not romance fans, as you will be able to tell in this episode, we still enjoyed discussing the wild journey this book took us on. Explicit content and spoiler warnings all-around!
We'll be releasing an episode going over all of The Bookstore Challenge 2023 prompts soon!
Next time we will be discussing Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Website | Patreon
Here is our first 2022 published book for The Bookstore Challenge! You might remember, we interviewed the author of The Old Place,Bobby Finger, back in September, so check out that episode if you haven't!
Next time we will be discussing You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi, as the last book for December's prompt to Read a Book Published in 2022. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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Apologies for the late release! I would blame it on the holiday but that would be a lie.
We discussed Corinne's pick for Nonfiction November, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Powerby Anna Merlan. Most of the episode we spend talking about the depressing reality of how dangerous conspiracies have been allowed to flourish in the US, but we do get a little lighter near the end. The conspiracy chart by Abbie Richards we mentioned: https://conspiracychart.com/.
Next time we will be discussing The Old Place by Bobby Finger, the first book for December's prompt to Read a Book Published in 2022. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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First up for Nonfiction November is Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith. It's part memoir, part musical history of the often invisible, always culturally significant Black women who made pop music what it is.
Corinne has COVID and also a bit of trouble with her audio up top, so yeah, It's her, hi, she's the problem, it's her.
Next time we will be discussing Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power by Anna Merlan. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Links:
The Spotify Playlist (coming soon)
Danyel Smith on It's Been a Minute
October's prompt for The Bookstore Challenge 2022 is to read a book that's a retelling of a folktale or fairytale. Our second book is Becca's pick, Love in Color by Bolu Babalola.
Next book discussion episode will be on Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
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October's prompt for The Bookstore Challenge 2022 is to read a book that's a retelling of a folktale or fairytale. Our first book is Corinne's pick, Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić.
Next book discussion episode will be on Love in Colorby Bolu Babalola. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstorepod' at checkout.
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For our second and final book of September we read the paranormal YA novel, Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger. Would you notice if your best friend of 16 years had elf ears? Let's talk about it.
October's book prompt is to read a retelling of a Folk or Fairy Tale. Corinne's pick is up first and it is Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic. And Becca's will be Love in Colorby Bolu Babalola. You can find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Episode 130.5
Today we have a very special Between the Books episode! We are thrilled to be interviewing Bobby Finger, the author of The Old Place, which is Corinne’s pick for December’s prompt to read a book published in 2022. Yes, we will also be discussing the novel in depth in December, but for now, to encourage you to buy it, we have a little chat with Bobby about this heartbreaking and heartwarming debut.
Next book is Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Episode 130
September's prompt for The Bookstore Challenge 2022 is "Read a YA or Banned Book." Our first book for the prompt is Corinne's, The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline.
Next book is Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Episode 129
Our second book for Women in Translation Month is Négar Djavadi's Disoriental. It’s a novel about an Iranian family’s history, relationships, and tragedies in both Iran and France.
Next book is The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Episode 128.
Our first book for Women in Translation Month is Adania Shibli's Minor Detail. This book contains heavy subject matter including violence and sexual assault, so please be aware of that before listening.
Next book is Disoriental by Négar Djavadi. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Our second book for July's prompt "Read a Book Under 200 Pages" is the first book translated from Catalan that we've read for the podcast. Death in Spring by Merce Rodoreda trippy, nightmarish, but ultimately an interesting read.
Next book is Minor Detail by Adania Shibli. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Our first book for July's prompt "Read a Book Under 200 Pages" is also the third James Baldwin book we've read for the podcast. Giovanni's Room is charmingly Parisian but also heartbreaking.
Next book is Death in Spring by Merce Rodoreda. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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Apologies for the audio on this one!
We read (Becca reread) Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood for the June prompt of Reread a Book You Haven't Read in Years. Content warning for discussion of suicide, rape, and sexual assault.
Next book is Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!
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First up for June's prompt "Reread a Book You Loved" is Corinne's pick, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Published in 1940, this novel is about several characters in a small southern American town.
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Last book for May's prompt of Award Winning Book is Patreon's pick of Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Next book is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, as picked by our Patreon.
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Our next award-winner is Celestial Bodiesby Jokha Alharthi, winner of the International Booker Prize.
Check out photos of Oman in NYT.
Next book is Song of Solomonby Toni Morrison, as picked by our Patreon.
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We read Pulitzer Prize-winning novel So Big by Edna Ferber. Beautiful cabbages! Midwest farmers! Rich Chicagoans!
Next book is Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi.
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Our last book for April's prompt "read a book by an author who shares your zodiac sign or birthday" is Corinne's fellow Capricorn, Patricia Highsmith's novel Deep Water.
Next book is So Big by Edna Ferber.
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First book for our April prompt (read a book by an author who shares your birthday month or zodiac sign) is Becca's pick of Outline, by fellow Aquarian Rachel Cusk.
Next episode will be on DeepWater by Patricia Highsmith.
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Corinne's pick for our March prompt (a book published by an indie press) is Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante.
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For our first pick for the March prompt, A Book Published By an Indie Press, Becca chose Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge. Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstorepod' at checkout.
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For our last February prompt book, Corinne picked Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You. We discuss how maybe this book isn't for us, and also confess we don't know much about Ireland!
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We're back! We discuss The Mothers by Brit Bennett, Becca's pick for February's prompt: A book people keep telling you to read. Next book discussion will be Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstorepod' at checkout.
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We talk a bit about our picks for January's prompt, Book Adapted into a Movie or TV Show, and then Becca regales Corinne with a tale of an art auction, a sci-fi novel, and cryptocurrency. Lots of laughter!
We'll be back in February with The Mothers by Brit Bennett.
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We really enjoyed having a prompt every month to help choose our books, and we loved seeing our listeners using this challenge to pick books as well, so we're doing it again in 2022!
These are the prompts we will be following to choose our podcast reads for the year. There is just one prompt per month, making this an approachable and adaptable to work with other challenges you may be attempting in 2022!
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Title says it all, really. We talk about our favorite and not-so-favorite books we read this year, and our plans for 2022. We won't be releasing a book episode in January, but we will be releasing a new Bookstore Podcast Challenge for the year! Watch for that episode to drop later this week and we'll post it on social media as well.
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Our final book for December's theme of "Book Published Before 1950," we read A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, released in 1905. We both loved the 1995 movie as kids and it was interesting to compare.
Next week we will be announcing our plans for 2022!
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For December's theme, A Book Published Before 1950, Becca picked My Great, Wide, Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison, first released in 1936. It's the travel journal of a young Black woman who journeyed to 22 different countries.
Next week we will be discussing A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
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Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstorepod' at checkout.
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We've got a chatty one for you this week. Becca received a tweet that prompted her to lightly investigate the origins of the Science Fiction Genre. We talk about where it started, where it's gone, is it different from Fantasy, and is the sky a place or just the top.
Next week we will be discussing My Great, Wide, Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison. You might be able to get a copy from a local library, otherwise you should be able to find PDFs online to read if you'd like to read along with us!
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Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstorepod' at checkout.
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Our final book for Non-Fiction November is The Undocumented Americansby Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. Our theme for December is Books Published Before 1950.
Our next read will be My Great, Wide, Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison, first published in 1936.
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Our first read for Non-Fiction November is a memoir called Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford. The story of her childhood and teen years, the memoir does cover some sensitive topics related to child abuse and sexual assault. Please listen and read with caution.
Our next read will be The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavencencio.
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Today we dive into the subject of pseudonyms. Corinne has a recent news item and Becca plays a game.
Next time we will be in Non-Fiction November reading Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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We return to the well of socially anxious nightmares this week when we read The Lottery and Other Stories by the queen of such fiction, Shirley Jackson for our final episode of Genre: Spooky October.
Next time we will be in Non-Fiction November reading Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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Becca is gone which means she can't stop me from releasing this former Patreon exclusive episode where we cast a Little Women movie starring The Muppets.
Next week we will be discussing The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson.
Becca's pick for the October theme of Genre: Horror, Thriller, Suspense, is The Hunger by Alma Katsu. The novel is a reimagining of the tragedy of the Donner Party as they journeyed to California. This episode asks the question, Can you know ever know too much about the Donner Party?
Next time we will be reading The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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This episode is rated R: Restricted, Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. Or alternately, YA-4? We discuss a recent YA Twitter incident.
Next time we will be reading The Hunger by Alma Katsu. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Detransition, Babyis a debut novel by Torrey Peters that also happens to be absolutely perfect for discussion and buddy reading. We really loved this unconventional story of three women on a journey to become (or not become) mothers. We will be anxiously waiting for it to be optioned as a limited series on a premium cable network.
Next time we will be reading The Hunger by Alma Katsu. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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On this episode we preach to the choir and discuss why book banning is a bad thing.
Next time we will be discussing Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.
Sources for this episode:
Penn Live - Ban on books by or about minorities sparks protests, national news in York County
York Daily Record - Book ban by Central York school board of racial justice materials spurs student protests
Fresh Air - Uncovering Who Is Driving The Fight Against Critical Race Theory In Schools
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For our first read for the September Bookstore Challenge we read Sigrid Nunez's debut auto-fiction novel, A Feather on the Breath of God. It reflects on the author/narrator's parents, both immigrants, her upbringing in New York, and a later love affair with a Russian immigrant in her 20's.
Next time we will be discussing Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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For our final Women in Translation Month installment we read Thora Hjorliefsdottir's Magma. It is a challenging read about a young woman in an abusive relationship. We relate, we don't want to relate. We commiserate.
Next time we will be discussing A Feather on the Breath of God by Sirgrid Nunez.
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Way back in 2017, the first year of The Bookstore Podcast's existence, we read Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins. When the documentary about her life popped up on Becca's Netflix Recommended, we figured we'd watch and discuss. We have a lot of laughs talking about Collins' fascinating life and work.
Barbara Cartland song
Next time we will be discussing Magma by Thora Hjorliefsdottir. It can be found at your local bookstore or through Hoopla if your local library uses that service.
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It's Women in Translation Month and our first pick for this prompt is the recently released somewhat autobiographical/historical novel about the Pinochet regime in Chile, The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez. Long time listeners will be pleased to note that Corinne has transcended using the word "basically" as a filler to using exclusively "essentially."
Next time we will be discussing Magma by Thora Hjorliefsdottir. It can be found at your local bookstore or through Hoopla if you're local library uses that service.
Other books/authors mentioned:
Human Matter: A Fiction by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
The Work of Eduardo Gleano
We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel
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For Women in Translation Month, which is our prompt for August and also celebration in the wider book world, we talk a little bit about previous episodes where we recommend works in translation, as well as some literary translation prizes. Our main topic is a translation game Corinne made, so fair warning, there is lots of laughing in this episode because we have lots of fun.
Next time we will be discussing The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez.
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We read and discuss 2020 Booker International Winner The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, translated from the Dutch by Michele Hutchison. Content warning: language, discussion of difficult topics.
Next time we will be discussing The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez.
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We loved Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Deadso much that Corinne decided to read Primeval and Other Timesby Olga Tokarczuk. Our July Challenge Prompt was to read another book by an author you have loved before.
Next time we will be discussing The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld for our first August read: a book written by a woman that has been translated. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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We talk generally about our July prompt, read a backlist title by an author you've loved before.
Next time we will be talking about Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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This week we read and discuss Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo. It's Becca's pick for our July prompt: to read a book by an author you have loved before.
Next time we will be talking about Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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We talk about book settings.
Next month the prompt is to read a book by an author you have loved before and Becca's choice is Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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This week for our Beach Read June prompt we read Beach Read by Emily Henry. Which is fitting! Coincidentally the book take place in a fictional Lake Michigan town that happens to exist exactly on top of the town that Corinne's partner is from - so we've got thoughts about how it represents Michigan aside from general banter about romance tropes and feel good reading.
Next month the prompt is to read a book by an author you have loved before and Becca's choice is Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Content warning for sexual assault on this episode. We read Diadem From the Stars by Jo Clayton as Becca's pick for June's prompt, Genre: Romance, Fantasy, or Beach Read. It's a pulpy 70s space fantasy that left us confused and maybe even a little irate.
Next time we will be discussing Beach Read by Emily Henry. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library.
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We discuss a publishing scandal that at this point feels very cliché.
Next time we will be discussing Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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This week we read Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe. It's a book full of politics and yet we choose to focus (at least a little) on the sex writing.
Next time we will be discussing Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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Our May prompt was to read a book published the year you were born, so we chat about big book news that happened in our respective birth years, as well as some pop culture tidbits. Let us know what exciting things happened the year you were born!
Next time we will be discussing Becca's May prompt pick, Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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Content warnings abound because we read Katherine Dunn's 1989 novel about an abusive carnival family turned cult carnival turned ??? Geek Love.
Next time we will be discussing Becca's May prompt pick (read a book published the year you were born) Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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We read National Book Award winner Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Do we understand how screenplays work? Not really! But we do think this is a very interesting concept.
Next week we will be discussing Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
We revisit our dear old friend, Norman Mailer. But before that, we find out the truth about the storied literary feud between Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.
Next time we will be reading Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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Discussion and review of The Enlightenment of the Greengage Treeby Shokoofeh Azar for the April challenge prompt: a book that won or was shortlisted for a literary award in 2020.
Next time we will be reading Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details here.
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We're starting April off with a Between the Books episode featuring recommendations based on our April Prompt, read a book that won an award in 2020. We talk about all the books we've read in previous episodes that won or were on shortlists, and we add a few more of our personal recommendations.
Next time we will be reading The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar for the April prompt, a book that won or was shortlisted for an award in 2020. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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This week we read the our final book for the March prompt (read a book you already own). Because it is a 3 book episode month, we turned to Patreon to pick between our respective choices. Becca's pick won and so we read A Question of Power by Bessie Head. The book itself is a little hard to get a hold of, though it seems plenty of fairly priced used options exist. Either way, we hope you'll join us for our discussion of this auto-fiction novel about a South African ex-pat living in Botswana in the 1970s while struggling with mental illness.
Next time we will be reading The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar for the April prompt, a book that won or was shortlisted for an award in 2020. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Our March prompt for our 21 Month Challenge is to read a book you already own. We're here to talk about how great libraries are, why we buy books, why we don't always buy books, how we store books, you know, that kind of thing.
Our next book discussion will be A Question of Power by Bessie Head, you may have to search some less common avenues to find that one.
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First - apologies for Corinne's sub par audio this week, but there were some issues on her end. It'll be back to normal next week.
In this episode we discuss The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi and question our Western viewpoints on gender.
Our next book discussion will be A Question of Power by Bessie Head, you may have to search some less common avenues to find that one.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Inspired by this Reddit thread, we talk about the different things that are distracting or take us out of the book. Not necessarily pet peeves, but also maybe a little bit. This brings us to the conclusion that writing is hard!
Next time we will be discussing The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi.
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Review and discussion of The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor for our first pick for the March book prompt: Read a book you already own.
Next time we will be discussing The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi.
____
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To close out the February prompt for our Bookstore Podcast 12 Month Challenge, we each have some recommendations for indie publishers and books published by those indie publishers. We will list all the books mentioned on our website.
Next time we will be reading our first March Prompt book (something we already own): The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Our second book published by an independent publisher for the February prompt is Frontier by Can Xue. We don't actually know how to explain it or talk about it, but we try!
Next time we will be reading our first March Prompt book (something we already own): The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Our February reading prompt is to read books published by an Independent Publisher. Because we've received so many questions from people interested in how to find more independent presses, we have decided to rerelease an episode we did a couple of years back introducing you the wonderful world of Indies.
Next week we will be reading and discussing Frontier by Can Xue, published by Open Letter at the University of Rochester. You can find it at your library or local bookstore and read along with us.
Original Description:
After a bit of a mis-speak, we realized that we've read more books published by independent publishers and presses than we thought. So we're here to highlight the great work by publishers you suggested and publishers that we think are putting out great work. There's so many to talk about that we couldn't fit it all in!
A list of titles and publishers discussed in this episode can be found on the episode post on our website.
Our first pick for February's prompt is Temporary by Hilary Leichter, published by Coffee House Press. It gets us talking about the mundanity of office life and the strangeness of life under capitalism.
Next week we are reading Frontier by Can Xue. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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Alternate title: TRUST NO ONE!
A list of sources for this episode can be found here.
Next week we will be discussing Temporary by Hilary Leichter.
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Our January prompt for The Bookstore's 12 Month Challenge is "a book you think you really should have read by now." Becca's pick for that prompt is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
February is indie publisher month, if you have a favorite indie pub book, we'd love to hear about it! Our first book for February is Temporary by Hilary Leichter. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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This week we have a bit of news, Corinne explores a new GoodReads (and Amazon) book tracking contender called The StoryGraph, and we consider some interpretations for the January challenge prompt: a book you feel you should have read by now.
Becca is beckyramone and Corinne is corinnekeener on The StoryGraph. Add us and we will follow back!
Next week we will be discussing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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If you are a die-hard Jane Austen fan, you may want to skip this one. We read Corinne's pick for our January prompt, "A book you think you really should have read by now." P&P is embedded in our cultural consciousness and it was time for us to see what the fuss is all about. Note: Even though Austen is G-rated, this episode contains swearing.
Next up is Becca's pick, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
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We look back on our reading in 2020, pick some favorites, and make plans (lol, sure) for 2021.
Next week we will be reading and discussing Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
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This week we read Samanta Schweblin's Little Eyes, a very Black Mirror-type story featuring, you guessed it, some little eyes. We have a conversation about if a kentuki is more like a drone or a phone app, and talk about why exactly someone would want to have a stranger staring at them all the time.
We are off next week, returning December 29th with our Year in Review episode!
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We've been at it for a little over three years and at the suggestion of a Patreon Patron, we have decided to finally do a comprehensive GET TO KNOW US episode. In this episode you will learn such incredible life details as:
- What is our favorite sandwich meat
- Joey Ramone or Joey Fatone
- How good is Corinne's Pee Wee Herman impersonation
- Does Becca know the name of her favorite Star War
A list of titles and other recommendations can be found on the blog post for this episode.
You can follow Becca and Corinne on GoodReads.
Next time we will be reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin. Get it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
___
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This week we wanted something very chill, and so we picked the cozy mystery queen, Agatha Christie. Other than the main question of the book, which is who did the murdering, we also wonder if people are really climbing in and out of windows, and why is blancmange so popular?
Next time we're reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin.
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During Pandemic Times ™, it isn't every day you get to meet new friends. This week we talk with Marci and Ako from The Colored Pages Book Club Podcast about what their podcast is about, how it came to be, and what books they love and have been recommending.
Make sure you subscribe to The Colored Pages Book Club Podcast.
Here's the books Marci and Ako recommended on this episode.
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This week we read How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang. We love the Western setting, the lyrical, atmospheric descriptions of the landscape. We have some complicated feelings about the plot and character development.
Next time we're reading The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie.
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We're putting our gift guide out a little early this year to give you time to order from your favorite indie bookstore! We have a list of Black-owned bookstores on our website. The books we recommended on this episode can be found here.
Next week we'll be discussing How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
Website | Patreon
If you're receiving this on the day it is released, that means it's Election Day in the US and I hope if you're eligible to vote, you've either done so or are on your way to the polls. Take care of yourself today and all days!
This week we discuss Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, why it's better than classics by old white guys and how it manages to make us swoon over a guy who gets stabbed while gambling despite ourselves.
Next time we will be discussing How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
Website | Patreon
For our Halloween Between the Books episode, we read Roald Dahl's The Witches and watched the 1990 Anjelica Huston vehicle. We digress to talk about what scared us as kids and Dahl's problematic legacy.
Next week we're reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
Website
Patreon
This week we read and discussed The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. It's a horror/slasher, a good change of pace, and a little confusing, but that's probably because we are both a little unaccustomed to audiobooks.
Next time we will be reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Pick it up at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with code 'bookstore' at checkout.
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As the title suggests, today we bring to you a few graphic novel recommendations. Becca recommends Monstress, Kaptara,and The Old Guard. Corinne recommends Dancing After TEN, Cosmoknights,and Pretending is Lying.We also mention a few other graphic novels and comics that got us into the genre, and talk about why we like graphic novels. As always, find all the books mentioned in the episode on our website.
Our recommendations can be purchased here.
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
Next week we'll be discussing The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.
Use code "bookstore" at libro.fm to get two months for the price of one.
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Let me warn you up top that we cry in this episode. We read Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey, a memoir about the murder of the author's mother by her step-father. Content warnings for some mild language and discussions of domestic violence.
Next time we will be discussing The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
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We relive our childhoods by reading the first book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin, Kristy's Great Idea. Other mentions include the Netflix series, obsession with clubs as kids, and figuring out which babysitter we would be.
The Bookstore Podcast website
Next week we'll be discussing Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey!
Hello Daaahhhlings. This week we read the splendiferously kaleidoscopic Modelland by Tyra Banks. It's out of print, so if you couldn't get your pretty little hands on a copy, we've got an exhaustive 2 hour breakdown of exactly, or precisely (?) what we think we might have read. It really cannot be missed so get your Smizes ready.
Next time we will be reading Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey. You canfind this one at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Use code "bookstore" to get two months for the price of one at libro.fm.
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We talk about one of our favorite subjects, literary scandals, specifically the ones involving Jonah Lehrer and Cristiane Serruya.
Sources: Jonah Lehrer, Cristiane Serruya 1, Cristiane Serruya 2, Cristiane Serruya 3
Books mentioned: So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Next week we're discussing Modellandby Tyra Banks! It's out of print so look for it at your local library.
Find Voter Information Here
This week we read Luster by Raven Leilani. Like Ottessa Moshfegh's writing it really captures the mood of a generation. We discuss older men, being bad at parties, and getting caught on very unimportant details.
Next time we will be reading Modelland by Tyra Banks and you might be able to find it at your library or used, because it's out of print. But there is this video.
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Today on the podcast we discuss fact-checking or the lack thereof, and recommend some longform journalism. We will have a list of recommended articles on our website The Bookstore Podcast.
Next week we will be reading Raven Leilani's debut novel Luster!
Chosen by our Patreon Patrons, we read Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth this week. It is part heist, part animal rights political satire (??). Anyway, here's our thoughts. Please don't be mad at us.
Next time we will be reading Luster by Raven Leilani. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Get two months for the price of one at Libro.fm with the code "bookstore" at checkout.
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Hey CATS-heads - this week we are releasing a Patreon exclusive episode because we ran out of ideas. Hope you're ready for 53 minutes of us talking about CATS, Old Possum's Book of them, stage productions, insane CGI monstrosities, which CATS is horniest, Becca's better theory about Deuteronomy. All of it.
We will be back next week with our discussion of Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth. You can get it from a local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Take a quiz.
An article by Jia Tolentino.
We're a bit late this week, but we have reigned victorious over midterms and work functions and an election to bring you a discussion of Namwali Serpell's magically realistic, somewhat science fictional, family history of Zambia, The Old Drift.
Next time we will be discussing Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth. And after that, Luster by Raven Leilani.
Mentioned in this episode:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Zambian "Afronaut" Who Wanted to Join the Space Race by Namwali Serpell for the New Yorker
Libro.fm Use code "bookstore" at checkout for two months for the price of one.
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Website
Today we have some fun discussing an article about how libraries are the real enemy. And we also talk about the shadowy world of bestseller lists.
Overdue: Throwing the book at libraries
Author loses spot in Top 10 after buying 400 copies of his own book
Next week we're reading The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell.
We read Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor. The book is filled with difficult topics, so this episode will not be for everyone. Despite the discomfort some of the themes may cause it is also a very beautifully and interestingly composed book.
Next time we will be discussing The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Patreon
Get two audiobooks for the price of one at Libro.fm with the checkout code "Bookstore"
This episode we take some time to share a few books we're looking forward to reading in the remainder of 2020, as well as a couple news items we found interesting.
Next week will be a discussion of Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor.
The Bookstore Podcast
This week we discuss Kazuo Ishiguro's 2015 literary fantasy novel The Buried Giantand are pleasantly surprised to say that we do, in fact, actually like some fantasy novels.
Also mentioned in this episode:
The Cell (2001 Film with Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn)
Ishiguro's novels The Remains of the Dayand Never Let Me Go
Episode 8.5 of The Bookstore Podcast.
Next time we will be reading and discussing Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
Patreon
Libro.fm - use code "bookstore" at checkout for two months for the price of one.
This week we delve into some Book Twitter news; explaining the supply chain, revealing our ignorance of how the British government works, and encountering yet other stubborn man unwilling to rethink his preconceived notions.
National Book Critics Circle
The Booker Prize
Next week we'll be discussing The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
This week we read and discussed Heavy by Kiese Laymon and we think you should, too.
Our next book will be The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Find it at your library or local bookstore or from Libro.fm with code BOOKSTORE for the audio and read along with us.
Way back in 2019, Becca and her partner Zac visited Zac's friend Tom, who is the adult services librarian of a library in Michigan. We were onsite at the library, so there are some audio issues, sorry! This episode is quite different from our normal Between the Books episodes, but we thought we'd mix it up a bit.
Next book discussion will be Heavy by Kiese Laymon.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich came up 2nd in our Instagram poll of what we should read next. This book made us furious at the legal system and made us laugh at the teenage antics Joe and his friends get into. It's a crime thriller, but also a coming-of-age story.
Next time we'll be discussing Kiese Laymon's memoir Heavy.
Support Black Lives Matter
We took a week off to do some learning, reflecting, and work and now we're back to talk. First and foremost: Black Lives Matter. Less important, but also of interest: some fan fiction is set to make important copyright law precedent.
Black Owned Bookstores
defund12.org for resources on contacting your local government about defunding the police.
Here is a list of Black Trans and LGBTQ+ organizations you should support:
The Okra Project
Freedom Fund
House of GG
Trans Justice Funding Project
Our Instagram followers picked it and we read it! To no one's surprise, we loved this debut novel that follows a family through multiple generations and two continents.
Next book is The Round House by Louise Erdrich, which came in second in our poll.
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
This week we look to fiction for reading about isolation. It's on everyone's mind, so now it'll be in your TBR.
Next episode we will be reading and discussing Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Shop books mentioned in this episode.
The Bookstore Podcast Website
Listeners of The Bookstore can get a 3 month subscription to Libro.fm for the price of 1 by using code "BOOKSTORE" at checkout.
Way, way back in Episode 2, we read Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower. We're returning to the Butlerverse with Dawn,and we had a bit of a different reaction to her work this time.
Next time we'll be reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi as picked by our Instagram followers!
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
Need a quarantine craft to MacGyver? Need help feeling motivated to read books you already own? Well, we've got you covered.
We will be discussing Dawn from Lillith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler for our next episode. Find it and read along with us.
Notes:
DIY Bookspinner
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
This week we read celebrated Hungarian author Magda Szabo's novel Abigail. Abigail is Szabo's most popular work in Hungary, but was only recently published in English for the first time by NYRB. And let me tell you, we are thrilled that it was finally translated.
Next book we're reading is Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, the first part of her Lilith's Brood trilogy.
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
The world feels weird and some of us (Corinne) can only focus for very short, very concentrated periods of time. So this week we're talking about short books, novellas and otherwise.
Our next discussion will be Abigail by Magda Szabo.
To Purchase Books Mentioned in This Episode
Episode Notes
Patreon
Thank you to Brilliant Books Monthly for sending us Nella Larsen's Passing! We liked it so much we decided to do an entire episode about it.
Next book we'll be reading is Abigail by Magda Szabo. Order online from your local indie bookstore or from Bookshop.org!
We tried to think of comforting books to read during quarantine and failed. What is comfort? We've never heard of it.
Next time we will be discussing Passing by Nella Larsen. You can get it and read along with us.
Website
Patreon
Bookshop Affiliate Link
Books mentioned in this episode:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe
Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life by Alison Weir
King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
We didn't set out to talk about politics and the pandemic, but it's nearly impossible not to since Jenny Offill's Weather could not be more relevant to the current situation.
Up next is Passing by Nella Larsen.
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
There will be explicit content in this episode because we both read stories by famous gay erotica writer Chuck Tingle. Warning: There is lots of laughter! This is Version 2, with even more laughter and any mentions of the cosmic void have been edited out, in case that's what you need right now.
Next week we're reading Weather by Jenny Offill.
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
There will be explicit content on this episode because we both read stories by famous gay erotica writer Chuck Tingle. Warning: You will hear lots of laughter! This is Version 1 of the episode, we get a little personal about our fears during this time, so if you want solely uplifting silliness, listen to Version 2.
We're reading Weather by Jenny Offill next week!
https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/
This week we read and discuss The Collection by Nina Leger which is about a lady who commits her sexual partners penises to memory. It's explicit. I literally cannot imagine any of you listen to this with children, but just in case you normally do, don't this time. There's also a quiz about the Bad Sex in Fiction Award at the end of the episode, plus a Mad Lib. So, what I'm saying is. This one is fun.
Our next book discussion is going to be Weather by Jenny Offill. We mean this always, but this time we really mean it when we say get it from a local independent bookseller. They need you now more than ever.
www.thebookstorepodcast.com
www.patreon.com/thebookstore
This was previously uploaded with the wrong episode file. Still finding ways to make mistakes, folks.
This week we cover some recent book news.
Next week we will be discussing The Collection by Nina Leger.
Sources:
Clive Cussler Obituary
Booker International Longlist
Women's Prize Longlist
Maddaddam Ballet Announcement
Catherine Pugh Sentenced to 3 Years Prison
This week we read and discuss Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson.
Our next book discussion is going to be The Collection by Nina Leger. It's for episode 69 so it's about sex things.
You ever stop to think about a subject you think you understand and then start questioning everything you thought you knew? This week we get to the bottom of what even is the truth. Just kidding. But we try?
www.thebookstorepodcast.com
www.patreon.com/thebookstore
Books Mentioned:Abigail by Magda Szabo
Garden by the Sea by Merce Rodoreda
The Tattoist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois
The Girls by Emma Cline
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
This week we read Alexander Chee's How to Write an Autobiographical Novel.
The Bookstore Podcast
Reading Schedule: 3/3 - Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, 3/17 - The Collection by Nina Leger, 3/31 - Passing by Nella Larson, 4/14 - Weatherby Jenny Offill
We're busy so we've pulled one of our Patreon Exclusive episodes out to show you what you might be missing.
www.patreon.com/thebookstore
Welcome to our very first Patreon Exclusive Episode. This week we breakdown the recent YA Book Twitter meltdown that precipitated after a vanity tweet by author Sarah Dessen.
If you're seeing this, you should have access to a Patreon Exclusive RSS feed. In order to find our feed and how to use it: see this guide.
Show NotesThe Aberdeen News Article Slate Article with Comments from Nelson Jezebel 'The Strawman of the Teenage Girl' Link to some of the Reddit threads that will help you find screenshots of tweets.
First some news and a correction (and a phone call!), then we review and discuss False Bingo, a book of short stories by Jac Jemc.
Next book is How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee.
Other books mentioned: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
That song: 88 Lines About 44 Women by The Nails - And on listening, yeah, a little problematic.
Patreon | Website
We discuss how we feel about movie adaptations of books, and Becca quizzes Corinne on some Oscar winners.
But before that, we recommend some articles of interest regarding American Dirt:
Myriam Gurba
David Bowles
David Schmidt
Parul Sehgal
We discuss and review Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and... well, we can't like them all.
Next time we will be reading False Bingo: Storiesby Jac Jemc. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.
www.thebookstorepodcast.com
We attempt a timeline of the events that have been shaking up Romancelandia, and rhapsodize about the genius of Greta Gerwig and her version of Little Women.
Sources:
https://www.pajiba.com/miscellaneous/a-timeline-and-explanation-of-the-romance-writers-of-america-controversy.php
(and lots of time spent refreshing Twitter!)
Next book discussion will be Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow!
Catch us drinking framboise and pousse-cafes and calling each other "toothsome dishes." Just kidding, we did none of those while discussing Judith Krantz's debut novel Scruples, but the novel does make those sound fun. There's some silliness and some wildly offensiveness on display here, and we try to discuss as much as we can. Explicit warning here, as you might have guessed!
Our next book discussion will be Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Here we are with reflections on our year in reading and talking about books. Auld Lang Syne and all that, too.
Next time we will be reading Scruples by Judith Krantz. You can find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us.