Blind Date With a Book: Recent Episodes
BlindDateBookPod
The podcast that matches guests up with their book soulmates, using exclusively dating app questions.
We're setting up Seth Rubin, a queer, trans, and nonbinary Los Angeles-based comedian and writer. Seth’s writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Onion, Reductress, McSweeney’s, and more. They currently write full-time for Jackbox Games and they were named one of Gold Comedy’s 22 Comedians to Watch in 2022. With a PhD in geology up their sleeve, Seth’s on the spot TED talk would be about volcanoes. They’re a snob about ice cream and movies, and they don’t consider themselves a romantic. A perfect Saturday for Seth includes waking up late, brunch and the Saturday crossword, and going to the movies or a bookstore. Seth has twenty tattoos, but would love to add one of a sandwich. Seth recently read and enjoyed Bunny by Mona Awad and Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. Seth, welcome!
The winning bookstore: Marble City Books
The picks
Outlineby Rachel Cusk
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Ripeby Sarah Rose Etter
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Mrs. S by K. Patrick
People Collide by Isle McElroy
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
For our first episode of Season Three, we're setting up Julio Alvarez, creator of the Let’s Go with Julio podcast and founder of Out in Tech, the largest LGBTQ+ tech networking community in the world.
After working at several Silicon Valley companies, Julio struck out on his own to become a coach and speaker. Julio recently read and enjoyed The Garden Within and The Way of Integrity, but shies away from books that are too analytical. He wants to relax. His dream Saturday is a bike ride around Central Park, scrambled eggs and salmon on toast, followed by a low-key afternoon.
His karaoke go-to is “More than Able”, and he thinks everyone should watch Titanic and used to have it in the background every night for years before bed.
The winning bookstore
The Boerne Bookshop in Boerne, Texas
Our picks
How to be an Adult in Relationshipsby David Richo
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Family Meal by Bryan Washington
The Feast of Loveby Charles Baxter
The Book of Love by Kelly Link
Congratulations, the Best Is Over! By R. Eric Thomas
Looking to cozy down with a book this winter? In this episode, we discuss the definition of a "winter read" (and if there is one), and share our picks for books to read this season.
Books Mentioned
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- St. Sebastian's Abyss by Mark Haber
- The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
- The Method by Isaac Butler
- The Women in the Library by Sullari Gentill
- The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
- The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
- Books of Anthony Horowitz (The Word is Murder and The Magpie Murders)
- The Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch
On this special bonus episode of Blind Date With a Book, we sit down with Meghan Phillips to discuss our favorite boarding school novels. Meghan is the author of the upcoming flash fiction chapbook Abstinence Only. Titles mentioned include:
- The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont
- Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
- The Lightness by Emily Temple
- Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
- Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt
- Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones
- Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Bonus picks
- At Briarwood School for Girls by Michael Knight
- Plain Bad Heroines by emily m danforth
- True Biz by Sara Novic
- The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
On this episode, we're setting up Sterling Melcher. Sterling is an multidisciplinary artist who lives in Philly. His work investigates the connections between performance, absurd philosophy, hard sciences, and the political landscape. He also manages a restaurant, so his weekends and nights are usually busy. Sterling’s favorite season is fall, for its mood lighting and perfect wardrobe options, and his dream vacation would be backpacking in Scandinavia, then skipping over to St. Petersburg before flying back to the US. He’s a self proclaimed movie snob, especially in that he believes movies should be experienced in a theater with others, and his perfect double feature is watching the slasher film Mandy, starring Nicholas Cage, leading into the 2019 film version of Cats.
The picks
Open Meby Lisa Locasio
The Seventh Mansion by Maryse Meijer
Hamnetby Maggie O’Farrell
The Architecture of Happinessby Alain de Botton
Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch
An Olive Grove in Endsby Moses McKenzie
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Today, we're setting up Nicole Brinkley, Bookseller and Manager at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY (and host of the Misshelved podcast). Nicole read and recently loved Year of the Witching and A Spindle Splintered, and she’s Oblong’s resident specialist for kids and SciFi Fantasy books. She loves autumn, and is impressed by other people’s generosity with their friends. She could give an on-the-spot TED talk about why frontline booksellers should make more money (we agree), or how Slenderman has big arms for big hugs. She’s looking to expand her reading list outside of her usual genres, and we’re more than happy to help.
The picks
Shop from the Lit.Bar
Neon Gods by Katee Robert
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales
Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
The Inheritance of Orquidea Divinaby Zoraida Cordova
White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Kill the Farm Boyby Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
This episode, we're setting up Chelsey Hill, chorus manager and New York City-based illustrator. Chelsey’s work is often inspired by eccentric New Yorkers, as well as legendary musicians and performers. Her work has been featured as part of the LinkNYC Urban Haiku program, the Women Conductor’s Series, and clients include the Met Opera Chorus, Broadway Roulette and more. She recently read and loved Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and she’s a total fan of sweater weather and awesome coats. She adores iced coffee, doesn’t believe in horoscopes, and wouldn’t consider herself a romantic. Her dream vacation would be to Scotland, and she loved Somebody Somewhere on HBO’s nice nod to Midwestern life.
The picks
Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
Pop Song by Larissa Pham
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Rachel chats with Emi Nietfeld, author of the debut memoir, ACCEPTANCE. ACCEPTANCE comes out on August 2, 2022, and follows Emi during her young adulthood, through the foster care system, mental health facilities, residence at an arts high school, temporary homelessness, and more on her way to college and beyond. Emi talks about the process of writing a memoir, plus recommendations for books she's loved recently.
Find Emi on Twitter, Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter.
The Books We Talked About:
Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld
Blueprint your Bestseller by Stuart Horwitz
Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford
NSFW by Isabel Kaplan
Post Traumatic by Chantal B Johnson
Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (audiobook)
Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress
On this week's show, we're setting up Bria Schirripa. Bria is a product manager by day and a writer and creator by night. She documents the latest happenings in New York’s charming West Village neighborhood on her page, the Bleecker Street Beat. Naturally, her dream Saturday consists of a walk in the neighborhood, in addition to drinking an overpriced latte and hoping for a Timothee Chalamet sighting.
Bria is an avid reader, and recently loved the novels The Boys Club by Erica Katz, Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews, and Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner, but generally doesn’t love fantasy novels. A self-proclaimed snob about pasta, her dream vacation would be in Florence. She thinks she would have thrived in the late ‘70s and ‘80s thanks to big hair and disco.
The guest: Bria Schirripa
The picks:
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Malibu Rising by Taylor Reid Jenkins
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
On this week's show, we're setting up John-Paul Gurnett, a multidisciplinary artist. JP is the co-founder of Queer Nite and serves as communications director for BFF Omaha, both now long-running queer institutions in Nebraska. When not building community through arts engagement, he taught English as a Second Language in a high school.
JP recently read and loved A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt and Go Home, Ricky! by Gene Kwak, but sometimes struggles with reading fiction since he often reads with a priority to learn. He absolutely believes in astrology, and is a aries sun, sag moon, and gemini rising. He can be a snob about music and art, and he recently adored Yellowjackets.
The guest: JP Gurnett
The picks:
Head over to Montana
Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole
Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service by Tajja Isen
Bath Haus by PJ Vernon
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
On this week's show, we're setting up Shalita Grant, actress and founder of the company Four Naturals Hair. Shalita is a Tony-award nominated actress whose career on the stage has included runs at The Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater, including originating the role of Cassandra in Christopher Durang's comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Grant is well known for her recurring character on NCIS: New Orleans, Search Party, the Santa Clarita Diet, and the most recent season of YOU.
She recently read and loved Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild and other short stories and Brene Brown’s Power of Vulnerability, and says that she loves fall (especially because of the cozy socks) and could spend a whole autumn season in Barcelona. Her perfect day includes a hike with her girlfriend and a cuddle with her dogs, and she’s a snob about pizza.
The guest: Shalita Grant
The picks:
In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
The Gilda Storiesby Jewelle Gomez
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Today, we're setting up Celia Aniskovich, New York City-based director and producer, well known for her co-production of How to Fix a Drug Scandal and her production of Surviving Jefferey Epstein. In 2021, she released a six-part podcast series for Wondery called the Spy Affair about Maria Butina and is working on a feature length film about disability rights. She recently read and loved How to Stop Time by Matt Haig and A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest Gaines. She considers herself a romantic, and her dream Saturday is a loungey morning with pastries and a long walk. If tattoos only lasted one year, she’d get the line “Do it for the Fat Lady” from her favorite book, Franny and Zooey, though she says she doesn’t love classics. She thinks everyone should watch One Tree Hill and she is a snob about snobby people.
The Guest: Celia Aniskovitch
The Picks
Plain Bad Heroines by emily m danforth
End of the World House by Adrienne Celt
Several People Are Typingby Calvin Kasulke
When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
Go Home, Rickyby Gene Kwak
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Today, we're setting up Molly Armstrong, a social justice analyst who focuses on child welfare issues. She has received the prestigious Kathryn A McDonald Award in Service in the NYC Family Court and was a Root-Tilden Scholar at NYU School of Law. She enjoys relaxing with a long walk, good book, and a delicious meal– but you probably won’t watch her enjoying reality TV, which she thinks is too cringey. She recently loved Michael Lewis’s The Premonition and Louise Penny’s All the Devils are Here. Her favorite season is fall, and if tattoos only lasted one year, she would get a tattoo of Our Lady of Guadalupe because of Our Lady’s strong feminine energy.
The Guest: Molly Armstrong
The Picks:
Judas by Astrid Holleeder
When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Bonus episode with the fabulous, and hilarious, Ginny Hogan (who is always on Twitter). Rachel and Ginny talk about her new book, I'm More Dateable than a Plate of Refried Beans, out May 3rd, plus discuss dating while funny, writing humor, and some book recommendations.
Books talked about on this episode include:
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Cheat Day by Liv Stratman
This episode, our guest is Aparna Shewakramani. Aparna is a lawyer from Houston, who was a cast member of the Netflix show Indian Matchmaking. Her book, “She’s Unlikeable and Other Lies that Bring Women Down” came out in Spring 2022, and she’s also the founder of the travel company, My Golden Balloon. She recently read and loved Homegoing and The Vanishing Half and has a tattoo that she got during a study abroad in Japan. Her dream vacation would include adventures, with luxury hotels at each stop. She always picks Britney songs for karaoke, and is impressed by other people who are entrepreneurs and can believe in their vision.
The guest: Aparna Shewakramani
The picks:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
50 Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
The Arcby Tory Henwood Hoen
Or order directly from our winning bookstore here
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
In this special bonus episode, Kristen talks with Adrienne Celt, a novelist and cartoonist. Celt is the author of the novels End of the World House, Invitation to a Bonfire,and The Daughters, which won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR. She has also published a collection of comics, Apocalypse How? An Existential Bestiary and publishes weekly comics at Love Among the Lampreys. We go deep on writing a book about friendship, Adrienne's writing inspirations, Silicon Valley, the importance of art, and translating Russian classics just for the heck of it. Adrienne also shares the books she's loved reading recently and answers questions from our dating app-inspired questionnaire in a lightning round.
Works Discussed
End of the World House by Adrienne Celt
The Daughters by Adrienne Celt
Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin, translated by Sophie R. Lewis
War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Severance (Apple TV+)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max)
Adrienne's Local Indie Bookstore
Antigone Books (Tucson, AZ)
Where to Find Adrienne
www.adriennecelt.com
Love Among the Lampreys
Where to Find Us
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
On this week's show, the start of season two, we're setting up Pia Wilson, a playwright and writer of the new fiction podcast, If I Go Missing, the Witches Did It.She is the recipient of dozens of awards and fellowships, including being a 2015 Sundance Fellow, receiving a 2020 Newark Creative Catalyst grant, and being playwright in residence at Marshall and Middlebury Colleges. She recently loved Circe and Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?, but is put off by books that are too violent toward women. She’s a self-proclaimed romantic, who is studying Italian and is a snob about coffee, bourbon, and hotel rooms. She loves when people can tell long funny stories and effortlessly host, like Ina Garten.
The guest: Pia Wilson
The picks:
From Scratch by Tembi Locke
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
In honor of Valentine's Day, we're serving up a range of books about love—from the romantic to the erotic thriller. We hope this holds you over until the second season of Blind Date With a Book arrives this spring. Here are the books mentioned during this episode.
- The Object of My Affection by Stephen McCauley
- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
- The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran
- Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters trilogy
- Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant
- Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
- All About Love by bell hooks
- Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
- I’m Not Hungry but I Could Eat by Christopher Gonzalez, “friend of the pod”
- This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. by Jennifer Wortman
On this week's episode, we set up a literal matchmaker with six books. Yeah, it's meta. This also happens to be the final episode of our first season. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned.
The guest: Matchmaker Maria is a business owner, matchmaker dating coach, host of Ask a Matchmaker Podcast, frazzled super mom, happy wife, mother’s caretaker, an Instagram "dating influencer.”
The picks:
The Green Shore by Natalie Bakopoulos
Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer
Space Opera by Catherynne Valente
Mergers and Acquisitions: Or, Everything I Know About Love I Learned on the Wedding Pages by Cate Doty
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
Luster by Raven Leilani
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
In this episode, we match up Jaime Green, a freelance writer and editor, with six books. Jaime wrote a romance recommendations column for The New York Times and is a series editor for Best American Science and Nature Writing. Her book about the ways we imagine life beyond Earth in science and science fiction. Look will be published by Hanover Square Press in 2023. She recently loved reading The Second Season, The Method,and Nightbitch, and her dream vacation is a beach chair and a book, with a fancy hotel waiting at the end of a sunny day. She prefers not to read classic novels, but she does love singing Avril Lavigne's "Sk8r Boi" at karaoke.
The guest: Jaime Green
The picks:
The Republic of Loveby Carol Shields
Writers & Loversby Lily King
A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
The Falconerby Dana Czapnik
Likes by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
This is How You Lose the Time Warby Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. You can sign up for our newsletter here, where we send out bonus recs for subscribers! Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
This Episode’s Featured Bookstores:
King’s English in Salt Lake City, UT
Bliss Books in Kansas City, MO
Split Rock Books in Cold Spring, NY
Where to find us:
For More Information
Looking for a chill to run up your spine? We recommend six of our favorite spooky reads, right in time for Halloween. We've ordered the picks from least to most scary. And keep your ear peeled for three bonus recommendations, too.
Books mentioned
- Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
- Night Rooms by Gina Nutt
- My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
- The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons
- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
- Reprieve by James Han Mattson
- Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
- Get in Trouble by Kelly Link
- Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
We match up Ben Stein, a communications manager for a public policy think tank in Ohio. Ben’s on the hunt for some smart nonfiction, and tells us a bit about how his MFA program changed him and what it’s like to take up the ukelele.
The guest: Ben Stein
The picks:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Calamities by Renee Gladman
Seek You by Kristen Radke
The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
Musicophilia by Oliver Sachs
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. You can sign up for our newsletter here, where we send out bonus recs for subscribers! Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
This Episode’s Featured Bookstores:
Wild Geese Bookshop in Franklin, Indiana
Fulton Street Books in Tulsa, OK
The Dundee Book Company in Omaha, NE
Where to find us:
For More Information
Lisa Stardust is a writer and astrologer in New York City. On this week’s episode, we recommend some cultish, occult, and starry reads to help break up her routine, plus you learn the rising signs of all the hosts and why that makes us a good team!
The guest: Lisa Stardust
The picks:
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Oona out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. You can sign up for our newsletter here, where we do bonus recs for subscribers! Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
This Episode’s Featured Bookstores:
Black Pearl Bookstore in Austin, TX
The Little BoHo Bookshop in Bayonne, NJ
Print Bookstore in Portland, ME
Where to find us:
For More Information
Niko Maragos is a makeup artist and writer. He's drawn to deep, difficult reads—and his taste sometimes means that reading can feel like work, for better or for worse. To meet the challenge, we try to find books that are intellectual andcompelling. On this week’s episode, we learn some shocking news about eyebrow trends, plus recommend some books for people who loved Circe or Detransition Baby.
The guest: Niko Maragos
The picks:
The Ingenious Language by Andrea Marcolongo
Green Girl by Kate Zambreno
The World Does Not Require You by Rion Amilcar Scott
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Wake Siren by Nina MacLaughlin
Strip: Poems by Jessica Abughattas
SPOILER ALERT! The winning bookstore is For Keeps, which doesn’t typically sell new books. You should check out their store, however, especially their amazing merch.
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. You can sign up for our newsletter here, where we do bonus recs for subscribers! Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
This Episode’s Featured Bookstores:
Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, IA
For Keeps in Atlanta, GA
Papercuts JP in Boston, MA
Where to find us:
For More Information
Episode 5: Show notes
A senior TV writer at Refinery29, Ariana Romero should be your your go-to person for enthusiastic show recommendations and thoughtful takes on TV's latest on and off-screen drama. She specializes in streaming TV, reality shows like The Bachelor, and Latinx-led entertainment. She loves brunch, does not love classic books, and could give an on-the-spot TED talk about how everything, yes everything, is actually a soap opera. In the show, we talk books like The Bachelor, telenovelas, and why romance novels might induce jealousy (it's a thing).
The guest: Ariana Romero
The picks:
You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria
Sea Monster by Chloe Aridjis
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
This episode’s featured bookstores:
A Room of One’s Own Bookstore in Madison, WI.
Words Bookstore in Maplewood, NJ
Ebenezer Books in Johnson, VT
Where to find us:
For More Information
Episode 4: Show notes
A humor writer and editor for McSweeney’s, Lucy Huber loves pop culture, summer weather, and the kind of reads that pair well with a beach umbrella. We talk audiobooks versus podcasts, what it’s like to edit for one of the most popular humor sites out there, and finding time to read after having a baby.
The guest: Lucy Huber
The picks:
All Adults Here by Emma Straub
Chemistry by Weike Wang
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
The Red Car by Marcy Dermansky
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
Bonus Books Mentioned:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Reid Jenkins (Audio)
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Audio)
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
This Episode’s Featured Bookstores:
The Ripped Bodice in Culver City, CA
Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, NC
Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA
Plus, you can support your local bookstore (or The Ripped Bodice) through LibroFM if you like audiobooks
Where to find us:
For More Information
Rachel was thrilled to have Isle McElroy on the podcast to chat about bagels and bookstores, plus cults and more. Their debut novel, The Atmospherians debuted in 2021. The Atmospherian is a satire which follows a cult to reform problematic men.
(Please note that this episode was recorded using a different first name for the author.)
Isle’s reading recommendations:
Kids These Days by Malcolm Harris
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
The Answers by Catherine Lacey
Darryl by Jackie Ess
All links today go to their favorite Houston, TX indie bookstore: Brazos. Check out Isle's novel, The Atmospherians, and connect with them on Twitter. You can find more about Blind Date for a Book on Twitter or Instagram as well.
This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.
The guest: Chris Gonzalez, author of the forthcoming collection I'm Not Hungry but I Could Eat
The picks:
The End by Fernanda Torres
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor
Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers
Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade
Cars on Fire by Monica Ramon Rios
We Eat Our Own by Kea Wilson
You can order all of these by contacting Two Dollar Radio HQ directly! https://twodollarradiohq.com/contact/
They also have a book subscription service for “blind date” style books! https://twodollarradiohq.com/memberships/
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.
Apologies for the editing weirdness in the first few minutes! I promise, the juice is worth the squeeze.
Rachel talks with Julia Fine about her new novel, The Upstairs House, writing about two historical literary figures, tattoos, and more.
The books recommended in this episode:
Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened By the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus
Who Tells Me True by Michael Strange
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Find Julia Fine on her website or on Twitter. Catch up with Blind Date with a Book on Twitter, Instagram, or our website. Until next time, keep reading!
This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation. This week’s show also features a discussion of Moby Dick in quarantine and what it’s like to be in tech today.
The guest: Carrie Tian
The picks:
- Elena Pick One: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802129628)
- Kristen Pick One: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9781328764522)
- Rachel Pick One: Weird but Normal by Mia Mercado (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780062942807)
- Elena Pick Two: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780358380887)
- Kristen Pick Two: The Heavens by Sandra Newman (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802147974)
- Rachel Pick Two: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780525541349)
Where to find us:
Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with.
Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet,
Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney
Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena
Carrie Tian: Twitter @carrietian, Website https://carrietian.com/
This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenney, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.
The guest: Alexa Nicolaou
The picks:
- The Mercies by Kiran Milwood Hargrave. (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316529259)
- And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9781631498688)
- Circe by Madeline Miller (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316556323)
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316229296)
- We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525565437)
- The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525534976)
Where to find us:
Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet,
Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney
Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena
This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions.