Book Brew: Recent Episodes
Melany M
For many, books are part of one's everyday lives. They are crammed with a myriad of knowledge and experienced differently by each individual. From a young age, I've been fascinated by the ease with which books can mentally transport me to another place and teach me about the world in the flip of a page. This passion led me to found Book Brew back in 2020. I invite you to explore my site to discover different books and topics which may interest you!
This week, Kai and I will be discussing The Martian where we'll be exploring the theme, sub-themes, and characters in the novel. Tune in to learn more about this incredible sci-fi novel!
This week's book contains a plethora of unique and quirky characters who manage to fully encompass how life in a psychiatric ward may be like. We will explore universal themes, settings, themes, and a psychological analysis of the main character as well as provide a literary criticism.
‘All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!' (chapter 10)
Yellow, sickening eyes. Grotesquely green, stitched up face. Mad scientist. Monster. The stereotypical depiction of Frankenstein has become popular in films, news articles, and stories that attempt to portray the immorality of a monster while simultaneously instilling fear on the audience. However, the hyperbolic view of Frankenstein has not only downgraded the original story, but it has also created misconceptions regarding it’s true purpose and message. Unlike the interpretations of our contemporary society, the monster in Frankenstein is meant to demonstrate how avaricious desires can lead to tragedy and chaos.
“Do I want to live? . . . [W]ould you like to live with your soul in the grave?”
-Emily Brönte, Wuthering Heights (1847)
Tune in to this week's book review on Wuthering Heights by Emily Brönte where we will look into how love corrupted two souls and led to vengeance and abhorrence. Themes, characters, settings, and literary elements will be discussed as well as the overall structure and purpose of the novel.
Courage. Love. Despair. Self-empowerment. These are just a few of the themes embedded in Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, Jane Eyre. In this weeks book review, we will be analyzing Jane Eyre with regards to the theme, characters, plot, and the author. An extensive book review will be provided, and as always, I will give suggestions to books similar to Jane Eyre.If you enjoyed reading the book, the movie is also available online!
In this week's book review, we'll look into Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich. I'll explore the effectiveness of some authorial choices, whether or not it can be applied to universal themes, and analyze the main character, Evan Hansen. Tune in if you want to know more about this incredible read!
In this weeks podcast, we will delve deep into James Garbarino's "Listening to Killers" book, which explores the psychologist's lessons learned while interviewing killers for 20 years. The book mentions topics which may be deemed controversial to some, such as how the author managed to empathize with killers. However, it also goes beyond that, as Garbarino investigates the risk factors which may lead an individual to become a killer.
In this section of the book, James Garbarino investigates the different risk factors that may potentially influence an individual's behavior in the future. I will talk about the idea of nature vs. nurture, specifically how genetics plays a role in human behavior, as well as how coping mechanisms allow an individual to gain resilience in most cases.