Perks of Being a Book Lover, hosted by Amy Smalley and Carrie Vittitoe, is a show about books, people who read, and how reading, at its very best, is a social experience. Whether it be a book club, a poetry slam, or the production of a play; words are meant to be shared. 
Listen to us each week on Forward Radio WFMP-LP Louisville at 106.5fm or online at http://forwardradio.org. The program airs on Wednesdays at 6pm and repeats Thursdays at 6am and noon.
Keep up with us and share your reading lives on Facebook, Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod or visit our blog at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com

The Perks of Being a Book Lover

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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This week we’re going “boldly where no man has gone before.” Yes–that’s right into space. 

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- The Most Precious of Cargoes by Jean-Claude Grumberg

2- The Paris Affair by Maureen Marshall

3- A Five Start Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Stephanie Affinito @affinitolit - The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood

4- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

5- Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey

6- The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe) by Mary Robinette Kowal

7- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

8- Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

9- Orbital by Samantha Harvey

10- The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm

11- A Rovers Story by Jasmine Warga

12- Old Man’s War by John Scalzi 

13- Bright Objects by Ruby Todd

14- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

15- A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey From the Street to the Stars by Hakeem Oluseyi and Joshua Horwitz


Media mentioned--

1- Constellation (Apple+, 2024)

2- Zone of Interest (HBOMax, 2023)

3- Cat Video Fest--http://www.catvideofest.com

4- For All Mankind (Apple+, 2019)

5- The Expanse (Prime Video, 2015)

6- Spaceman of Bohemia (Netflix, 2024)

7- Literature as an Olympic Sport - https://lithub.com/did-you-know-that-poetry-used-to-be-an-actual-olympic-sport/

Perks S11:Ep229 | Spacey Reads: A Book Rec Episode | 8-7-24

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You can find the Bookery Cincy at https://www.bookerycincy.com/ or on IG @bookerycincy. 
To find info about the Bookstore Crawl visit FB at Cincy Bookstore Crawl.

This week we chat with Sierra Hollabaugh, one of the co-owners and founders of Bookery Cincy, an independent bookstore located in Cincinnati, OH. When Amy went to Cincinnati recently, she met Sierra so we thought it would be nice if everyone got to know a little more about the bookstore as well as a cool October event, the Cincy Bookstore Crawl, which includes 16 small bookstores in the area. Cincinnati is a great place for a weekend visit, and the bookstore crawl just makes it an even more appealing location. 

We talk about the resurgence of the independent brick and mortar bookstore, what it’s like running a small business when you have young kids, and what visitors can expect if they come to Cincy for the Bookstore Crawl which is the weekend of Oct 4-6. 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Orbital by Samantha Harvey

2- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

3- Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

4- Sociopath by Patric Gagne

5- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 

6- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

7- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

8- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

9- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

10- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

11- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

12- Trust by Hernan Diaz

13- In the Distance by Hernan Diaz

14- The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt

15- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Elias Eells @eliaseells - The West Passage by Jared Pechaček

16- Cocktails and Consoles by Elias Eells

17- All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby

18- Blacktop Wasteland by SA Cosby

19- Sandwich by Catherine Newman

20- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

21- Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family by Catherine Newman

22- A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney

Media mentioned--
1- American Psycho (2000, Netflix)

2- Catastrophe (2015-2019, Prime Video)

3- Art is Not a Luxury with Ethan Hawke - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeCuqtFKLHI

4- Utah Book Ban -Utah recently banned 13 books by 7 authors from all public schools in the state. https://apnews.com/article/utah-school-book-ban-d7345be6a89cfa6cd2cb5ddd25fca700

Perks S11:Ep230 | Bookstore Crawl with Guest Sierra Hollabaugh | 8-14-24

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It's that time of year where kids and teachers are back at school or almost back at school so we thought we would offer recommendations for books related to education—novels or memoirs set in schools or colleges; books with teachers, deans, students, or staff as characters; literature in which education or learning plays an important if not essential role.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera 

2- Shanghailanders by Juli Min

3- A Five-Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Dawn Nacker @dawndevoursbooks - How To Read a Book by Monica Wood

4- Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson

5- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

6- The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Matthieu

7- Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by RF Kuang

7- New Kid by Jerry Craft

8- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

9- The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

10- The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe

11- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

12- True Biz by Sara Nović

13- Girl at War by Sara Nović

14- All Summer in a Day (short story) by Ray Bradbury

15- Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

16- The Rom-commers by Katherine Center

Bookish events—

1- Poe: A Dream Within a Dream
https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/belleoflouisville/items/431538/calendar/2024/10/?full-items=yes&back=https://www.belleoflouisville.org/%23&flow=1089772&g4=yes

2- Untimely Ripp’d 
https://kyshakespeare.com/season/untimely/

3- Cincy Bookstore Crawl
https://cincybookstorecrawl.my.canva.site/

4- Books by the Banks
https://booksbythebanks.org/

5- Cynthiana KY Skeletons
https://wkdq.com/small-kentucky-city-halloween/

6- Rail Explorers
https://www.railexplorers.net/

7- Fenrir Viking Festival
https://www.kyrenfaire.com/viking-fest

8- New Kid by Jerry Craft Book Banning
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/28/1144458555/banned-books-author-jerry-craft-new-kid

Media mentioned—

1- The Whale Rider — 2002
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298228/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

2- Happiness for Beginners (Netflix, 2023)

Perks S11:Ep231 | Back To School: A Book Rec Episode | 8-21-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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You can find Britton online at her website https://www.booksbybritton.com/ 
IG @booksbybritton
On Etsy - Books By Britton

This week we chat with Britton Perelman, a unique artist and craftsperson who creates miniature bookshelves. We saw her at the Columbus OH Book Festival in 2023, which was the first festival she attended selling her amazing creations, and we were delighted when she agreed to be a guest.

We chat with her about how she sort of fell into designing and crafting miniature bookshelves during COVID and how the business has been booming, which leaves Britton, who has a BA in journalism and an MFA in screenwriting, with little time to compose written work. Britton has had to get all hands on deck, including her mom and sister, which means Books by Britton is a female-owned, family business.

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

2- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

3- Tiny Treasures: Amazing Miniatures You Can Make by Nancy Holyoke

4- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

5- The Guest List by Lucy Foley

6- Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

7- Truly, Devious series by Maureen Johnson

8- A Five-Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Steve Elliot @stevereadthatbook - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

9- Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy

10- The Measure by Nikki Erlick

11- A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

12- The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye

13- One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus


Shows mentioned--

The Decameron (Netflix, 2024)

Links:

1- Pandora Productions - Little Shop of Horrors - https://www.pandoraprods.org/

2- Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest-- https://www.bulwer-lytton.com

3- Louisville Book Festival - https://www.louisvillebookfestival.com/

Perks S11:Ep232 | Itty Bitty Books  with Guest Britton Perelman | 8-28-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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For a lot of people, Labor Day, which this year fell on September 2, marks the end of summer, although astronomical summer doesn’t end until September 22 (and meteorological fall actually begins on September 1). And according to Carrie, summer ends on the first day of school, which was Aug 8 here in Louisville KY. And what was a common assignment when you returned back to schook?  That's right.  Write about what you did this summer. So this episode is a recap of what the two of us did this summer told in the form of books!

Books mentioned--

1- Bad Monkey by Carl Hiassen

2- Hoot by Carl Hiassen

3- Flush by Carl Hiassen

4- Border Crossings: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway by Emma Fick

5- Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

6- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Amanda Pavlov @pavlovsbooks - A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch

7- The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert

8- Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

9- Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais

10- Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

11- Death’s Door: True Tales of Tragedy, Mystery, and Bravery from the Great Lakes’ Most Dangerous Waters by Barbara M. Joosse

12- The Elephants of Thula Thula by Francois Malby-Anthony

13- A Death in Door County (Monster Hunter Mystery) by Annelise Ryan

14- The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

15- I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

16- The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax

17- Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, audiobook narrated by Brendan Fraser

18- Death Stalks Door County (Dave Cubiak #1) by Patricia Skalka

Media mentioned--

1- Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father (Netflix, 2017) 

2- Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with my Father (2024)

3- The Tourist (Netflix, 2022)

4- Bad Monkey (Apple+, 2024)

5- Strong Sense of Place Podcast - https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/

6-Lawsuit Against Florida Book Bans - https://people.com/publishers-authors-students-and-teachers-file-lawsuit-against-florida-book-bans-8704020

Perks S11:Ep233 | What We Did This Summer: A Book Rec Episode | 9-4-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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You can find Kelly Hill on IG @kellyehill_author .

This week we chat with Kelly Hill who published her debut novel, A Home for Friendless Women, this year in March. It is the story of three Victorian-era women who experience a home for “fallen” women in very different ways. 

What makes this novel especially unique is that Kelly got the idea for it from her time interning at The Filson Historical Society while she was completing her dissertation at the University of Louisville. She came across historic documents about a home for pregnant women here in Louisville and fictionalized them to create a powerful story. While the story is about a tough time for women over a century ago.

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- A Home for Friendless Women by Kelly Hill

2- The Age of Grievance by Frank Bruni

3- The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

4- A Five Star Read Recommended by fellow Book Lover Tracey Myers-Quesada @cubadianmom3 - Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch by Erin French

5- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

6- When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s by Jon Ganz

7- Washington’s Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben by Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings

Media:

1- The Lost Kitchen (Hulu, Amazon,  2021- present)

2- The Wild Robot (2024)

Perks S11:Ep234 | A Home For Friendless Women with guest Kelly Hill |  9-11-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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JD Vance first made news when he published his book Hillbilly Elegy in 2016, but he has since become a senator in Ohio and a vice presidential candidate. When his memoir came out, there were many people who had strong negative feelings about his book, namely other people from Appalachia who felt that he misrepresented them and their struggles. 

When JD Vance was selected as Donald Trump’s VP, we thought it might be a good time to look at some other Appalachia-related books that perhaps provide a fuller picture of the region, which spans 206,000 square miles, 423 counties, and six states. A region this large cannot be summed up by one person in one book. 

So our goal this week is to give you some diverse Appalachian voices to add to your TBR for a broader view of this region.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

2- Storyteller by Dave Grohl

3- Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Clare Dederer

4- Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began by Leah Hazard

5- Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham

6- The Sirens of Soleil City by Sarah C. Johns

7- A Five Star Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Nikki Lee @nikkileethrillseeker -  The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee

8- "A Ribbon for Baldy" by Jesse Stuart (short story)

9- The Beatinest Boy by Jesse Stuart

10- Andy Finds a Way by Jesse Stuart

11-Many-Storied House: Poems by George Ella Lyon

12 - Gay Poems for Red States by Willie Carver Jr. 
https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s9-ep-187-bluegrass-moon-and-neckbones-with-guest-willie-carver-jr-9623/

13- "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon (poem)

14- Prodigals: A Sister's Memoir of Appalachia and Loss by Sarah Beth Childers

15- Township by Jamie Lyn Smith

16- Water street by Crystal Wilkinson

17- Affrilachia by Frank X Walker

18- "Burying Albatross" by Frank X. Walker (poem)-
https://poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/ars-poetica/frank-x-walker

19- "Neoteric Kama no Sutra" by Frank X. Walker (poem)- 
https://poets.org/poem/neoteric-kama-no-sutra

20- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms
https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/ep-62-mystical-in-the-mountains-with-ashley-blooms-9-30-20/

21- Smothermoss by Alisa Alering

22- Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White

23- Clay's Quilt by Silas House

24- The Coal Tattoo by Silas House

25- Parchment of Leaves by Silas House

26- Fair & Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

27 - Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains by Cassie Chambers
https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/ep-39-mountain-mamas-and-the-meaningful-memoir-with-cassie-chambers-3-25-20/

28- Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s-6-ep-129-masala-in-a-mason-jar-with-guest-neema-avashia-4-6-22/

29- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson



Media mentioned--

1- The To Read List Podcast 

2- Slow Horses (Apple +)

3- The Bear (Hulu)

4- Ripley (Netflix)

5- True Detective: Night Country (HBO MAX, 2024)

6- Steve! (documentary) (Apple +, 2024)

7- Kaos (Netflix, 2024)

8- The Princess Bride (1987)

9- The Tourist (Netflix)

10- The Good Girl's Guide to Murder - (Netflix, 2024)

News articles

1- Dave Grohl Announcement -
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2024/09/11/dave-grohl-baby-shock/75176681007/

2- Neil Gaiman controversy -
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/13/neil-gaiman-screen-adaptations-halted-after-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct

Perks S11:Ep235 | Oh Appalachia! : A Book Rec Episode | 9-18-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
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You can find info about Midge and John at their website https://midgeandjohn.com/ or at https://ashlandcreekpress.com/. They are on IG @midge_and_john and @ashlandcreekpress.

Ashland Creek Press, an eco-fiction publisher, first came on our radar in the pre-COVID era when we interviewed Katy Yocom, author of Three Ways to Disappear, a novel set partly in India that focuses on animal conservation and a relationship between two sisters. But one of our other former guests, Jennifer Caloyeras, host of the Books Are My People podcast, also had a book published by Ashland Creek: her 2015 novel Strays. We’re always interested in small presses, so we were excited to talk to Midge Raymond and John Yunker about their work running one.

But Midge and John are also writers who have collaborated on a recently published novel titled Devils Island, which is set in Tasmania amongst the endangered and much-maligned Tasmanian devil. While this is a conservation-leaning novel, it is also a suspense story about a naturalist tour that goes very wrong, involving a disappearance and a death. 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom

2- Strays by Jennifer Caloyeras

3- Devils Island by Midge Raymond and John Yunker

4- My Last Continent by Midge Raymond

5- The Tourist Trail by John Yunker

6- A Five Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Susan Cook @bookbookbagawk - Another Country by James Baldwin

7- The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

8- The Spare Room by Helen Garner

9- We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

10- Pines by Blake Crouch

11- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Media mentioned—

1- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

2- True Detective—Night Country (Max)

3- The Bear (Hulu)

4- Eco-lit books —https://ecolitbooks.com/

5- Maria Island Walk - https://www.mariaislandwalk.com/

6- What do Tasmanian devils sound like? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW27vpK4ALQ

Perks S11:Ep236 | Eco-Thriller with Guests Midge Raymond and John Yunker | 9-25-24

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You can find Lyndsay at her website https://www.lyndsayrush.com/ and on IG at @maryoliversdrunkcousin

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- A Bit Much by Lyndsay Rush

2- Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan

3- A Five Start Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Meg Longley @ohlongley - Meet Me at the Museum by Ann Youngson

4- Weyward by Emilia Hart 

5- I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott

6- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

7- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

8- Pets in the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Vet by Dr. Amy Attas

Media mentioned—

1- The Wild Robot (2024)

2- Saltburn (Prime Video, 2023)

3- Wuthering Heights: Hollywood's worst case casting decisions - 
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240925-wuthering-heights-hollywoods-worst-casting-decisions

4- A Room With a View (1985)

5- Downton Abbey (2010)

Perks S11:Ep237 | A Bit Much with Guest Lyndsay Rush | 10-2-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
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To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

2- Horribly Haunted in Hillbilly Hollow by Blythe Baker

3- Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

4- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Lan Nguyen-Colgate - A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin

5- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

6- "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin (Short Story)

7- The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

8- House of Cotton by Monica Brashears 

9- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

10- Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs and Other Questions About Dead Bodies by Caitlin Doughty

11- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

12- The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

13- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 

14- Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

15- The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff

16- The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

17- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

18- The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

19- Heavenly Bodies by Amani Erriu

20- Fallen Stars by Amani Erriu



Media mentioned--

1- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Netflix, 2024)

2- The Lovely Bones (Max, 2009)

Perks S11:Ep238 | Dead to Me - A Book Rec Episode | 10-9-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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You can find Daniel at his website www.danielolivas.com

This week we speak with Daniel Olivas, a lawyer with the California Department of Justice, who is also a novelist, poet, and playwright. His novel, Chicano Frankenstein, which published in March of this year, was an obvious book pick for Carrie because she loves Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The novel has been optioned by Universal Television, so fingers crossed on that.

Olivas’ reimagining of Shelley’s 1818 novel has an unnamed man as the narrator. He is a paralegal who has been reanimated from the corpse of a Mexican-American man, one of many such reanimated people (derogatively called “stitchers”) who are part of an effort to deal with the US’ labor crisis, but he struggles with his identity. How can a person have an identity if all knowledge of their family, their interests, their feelings, their thoughts have been stripped away? In addition to the idea of selfhood, the novel also explores the cruelty of politicians who pander to fear and racism, harming the people of their communities that one would expect them to protect. 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel Olivas

2- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

3- The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

4- Artificial Life After Frankenstein by Eileen M. Hunt

5- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover The Biblioholic @thebiblioholic_ - Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Page

6- Leech by Hiron Ennes

7- Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Brook Tsai

8- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

9- Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland

Movies mentioned in this episode:

1- Frankenstien (1931)

2- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Perks S11:Ep 239 | Chicano Frankenstein with Guest Daniel Olivas | 10-16-24

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
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This week we’re bringing you a Creature Feature in which we suggest books that have creatures of some kind in them. Those may be mythological creatures, cryptids, or beings from your favorite horror film.  Some are scary, some are mysterious, some don’t seem that different from humans. All of them make for good October reads.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

2- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

3- Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli

4- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Katherine @katshomeig - Beautiful Prey by Lora Darc

5- The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrick Svenson

6- Silver in the Wood/Drowned Country by Emily Tesh 

7- The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Millicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara

8- Grendel by John Gardner 

9- Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith

10- Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

11- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

12- Mothman's Merry Cryptid Christmas by Andrew Shaffer

13- The Frandidate  (Franny K Stein series) by Jim Benton

14- The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

15- Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw 

16- The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

17- It Came From the Trees by Ally Russell 

18- The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker



Media mentioned---

1- What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu, 2019- present)

2- The Thing (1982)

3- The Fly (1986)

4- Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix, 2017-2019)

5- The Mummy (1999)

6- Harry & the Hendersons (1987)

7- The Shape of Water (2017)

8- The Goonies (1985)

9- Kaos (Netflix, 2024)

10- The Mothman Prophecies (1992)

11- Illustration of an Anthropophagi - https://themonstrumologistoverview.weebly.com/conflict.html

Perks S11:Ep240 | Creature Feature: A Book Rec Episode|  10-23-24

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You can find Alisa Alering at www.alering.com or on Insta @alisa.alering.

This week we wrap up what has been a month of seasonally spooky books with guest Alisa Alering, the author of Smothermoss, a book that is set in 1980s Pennsylvania Appalachia. It is the story of two sisters who witness a murder on the Appalachian Trail. It is a book that Amy discovered while attending the Columbus Book Festival this past summer. If you like magical realism or gothic fiction, you will definitely want to check this novel out since there is a sentient mountain. Nature truly is a character in the story. 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Smothermoss by Alisa Alering

2- Ritual by David Pinner

3- Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

4- Watership Down by Richard Adams

5- Every Bone a Prayer by Ashley Blooms

6- Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms

7- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Dina @ddemaiosmith - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

8- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

9- Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

10- Assembly by Natasha Brown

11- White Teeth by Zadie Smith

12- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

13- My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix (Remixed Classics) by Kalynn Bayron

Media mentioned—
1- What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu 2019)

2- What We Do in the Shadows movie (2014)

3- Wellington Paranormal (Max 2018)

4- Psycho (Netflix 1960)

5- The Wicker Man (Tubi 1973)



Perks S11:Ep241 | Smothermoss with Guest Alisa Alering | 10-30-24

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This week our topic is philosophical. No, we’re not discussing those dull philosophy textbooks, but rather novels or nonfiction that ask big questions, such as “Who am I?” and “What is happiness?” and “Do we have free will?”. We will give you 10 books that will get you thinking with your big brains.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Carrie by Stephen King

2- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

3- Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan

4- Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle

5- A Book Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Larissa @laralucretia - The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

6- Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street  by Herman Melville

7- Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

8- Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with Kids by Scott Hershovitz

9- Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti

10- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 

11- How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Any Moral Question by Michael Schur

12- The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak

13- If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura

14- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

15- If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity by Justin Gregg

16- Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman 

Media mentioned—

1- Trap (2024, Max)

2- Carrie (2013, Tubi)

3- Carrie (1976)

4- Penny Dreadful (2014-2016 Pluto)

5- The Little Prince (2015, Pluto)

Perks S11:Ep242  | Ask Big Questions: A Book Rec Episode | 11-6-24

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You can find Alice Kaltman at  www.alicekaltman.com or on IG @alicekaltman

This week we chat with Alice Kaltman about her latest book, Alice’s Big Book of Mistakes. She has written books of linked short stories, novels for various ages, and more, but she decided to try her hand at a graphic memoir all about silly and not-so-silly mistakes she has made throughout the course of her life. Her book aims to make both young and old embrace their missteps in life as building blocks for a life well lived. 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Alice’s Big Book of Mistakes by Alice Kaltman

2- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

3- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

4-- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

5- The Keeper by Kelsey Ervick

6- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

7- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

8- Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

9- Middlemarch by George Eliot

10- Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

11- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

12- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Emily Craddick - Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans

13- Winterset Hollow by Jonathan  Edward Durham

14- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

15- Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman

16- Sociopath by Patric Gagne

Media mentioned—

Small Things Like These (2024)

Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)

Salem’s Lot (Max, 2024)

Will & Harper (Netflix, 2024)

Perks S11:Ep243 | Alice's Big Book Of Mistakes with Guest Alice Kaltman | 11-13-24

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November is Native American Heritage month so in this episode, we’re sharing some books written by Native American authors. There are so many great texts to choose from if you’re interested in broadening your reading. We bring your memoirs, poetry, Pulitzer Prize winners, and more. When we do these thematic episodes, we enjoy hearing from listeners who have their own recommendations within that theme so be sure to shoot us a message or comment on any of our socials. 

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

2- Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

3- Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist by Jasmin Graham

4- A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Streets to the Stars by Hakeem Oluseyi

5- A Book Recommended by Fellow Booklover Vero Garcia @booksandcoffeemx - All This and More by Peng Shepherd

6- Th Blessing Way and all books in the Leaphorn & Chee series by Tony Hillerman

7- Bad Indians: A Memoir by Deborah Miranda

8- Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

9- House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

10-Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan

11- An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo

12- Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez 
13- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

14- The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage edited by M. Elizabeth Weiser, Timothy RW Jordan, and Richard D. Shiels

15- Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers 

16- The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich (Birchbark House series #2)

17- The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

18- Shutter by Ramona Emerson

19- Exposure by Ramona Emerson

20- Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

21- The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

22- There, There by Tommy Orange

23- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

24- The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland



Media mentioned--

1- Reservation Dogs (Hulu, 2021-2023)

2- Dark Winds (AMC and Neflix, 2022 - present)

Perks S11:Ep244 | Native American Heritage Month: A Book Rec Episode | 11-20-24

If you would like to check out Carmichael’s Bookstore Holiday Book Gift Guide, you can find it online at www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/

Website- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
FaceBook - Perks of Being a BookLover.
To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

The delightful Sam Miller, store manager at Carmichael’s Book Store, comes to save the day. She has, as usual, tons of great new reads that are already on shelves and would make perfect gifts this holiday for the book lovers in your life. 


Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

2- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

3- Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell

4- Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery

5- The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya

6- This is Happiness by Niall Williams

7- Time of the Child by Niall Williams

8- Jim the Boy by Tony Early

9- The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

10- The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff

11- The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed America, 1963-1973 by Clara Bingham

12- Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel

13- The Elements of Madame Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science by Dava Sobel

14- The Universe in Verse by Maria Popov

15- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

16- The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

17- Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Revived Pop Music by Rob Sheffield

18- The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

19- We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

20- Karla's Choice by Nick Harkaway

21- William by Mason Coile

23- Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison

24- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

25- House of Frank by Kay Synclaire

26- Pride and Prejudice in Space by Alexis Lampley

27- Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

28- From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough

29- Cher: The Memoir (Part One) by Cher

30- The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

31- Hot Mess by Jeff Kinney

32- The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon

33-Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories by Ann Byrn

34- Kentucky Ya'll: A Celebration of the People and Culture of the Bluegrass by Blair Thomas Hess and Cameron Ludwick
  
35- The Stackpole Legend by Wendell Berry

36- In Praise of Mystery by Ada Limon, illustrated by Peter Sis

37- Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid 

38- A Five Star Read recommended by fellow Book Lover Perin @mjreadsmagic - Sir Callie and the Dragon's Roost by Esme Symes-Smith

39- Gather by Kenneth Cadow

40- The Horse by Willy Vlautin

41- Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon

42- How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

43- The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

Media mentioned--

1- A Real Pain (2024)

2- Wicked Little Letters (Netflix, 2023)

3- The Lost Daughter (Netflix, 2021)

4- The Return (2024)



Perks S11:Ep245 | 2024 Holiday Book Buying Guide with Bookseller Sam Miller | 11-27-24

This is a REPLAY episode from our Holiday gift buying guide from 2023. We will be back next week with a REMIX episode with  former guest Tracy Clark who has a new mystery you won't want to miss.

This week we chat with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, from Carmichael’s Bookstore. Each November we let her do the heavy lifting and share books that have come out and might be good choices for your holiday shopping.

If you would like to check out Carmichael’s Bookstore Holiday Book Gift Guide, you can find it online at www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/

Website- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.
Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod
FaceBook - Perks of Being a BookLover.
To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

2- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

3- Foster by Claire Keegan

4- So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

5- Let us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

6- Fraud by Zadie Smith

7- Armor of Light by Ken Follett

8- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

9- Julia by Sandra Newman

10- 1984 by George Orwell

11- Reformatory by Tananarive Due

12- Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

13- A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

14- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

15- West Heart Kill by Dann Mcdorman

16- The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

17- The Appeal by Janice Hallett

18- The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

19- Stalking Shakespeare by Lee Durkee

20- They Flew by Carlos Eire

21- Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

22- Wild Girls by Tiya Miles

23- The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

24- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl

25- Watership Down (graphic novel) by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin

26- Watership Down by Richard Adams

27- Energy Follows Thought by Willie Nelson

28- World Within a Song by Jeff Tweedy

29- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

30- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

31- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

32- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

33- Legend & Lattes by Travis Baldree

34- World Central Kitchen Cookbook by Jose Andres

35- Every Cook, Every Kitchen by Feed Louisville

36- Oldest Louisville by Kevin Gibson

37- Always Moving Forward by David Jones and Bob Hill

38- Back Page by Byron Crawford

39- Fathers by Richard Taylor

40- From the Heads of the Hollers by Shelby Lee Adams

41- Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

42- Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys by DMS Fick

43- Rabbit Heart by Kristine S. Ervin

44- My Dark Places by James Ellroy

45- Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore

46- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

47- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

48- The Man who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued his Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford

49- Mr. Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Casey @Caseys_reads
12 Months To Live by James Patterson and Mike Lupica

Movie and Series Mentioned:

- CODA (2021) - Apple +
- Bodies (2023) - Netflix

REPLAY Perks S9:E198 | 2023 Holiday Book Buying Guide with Bookseller Sam Miller | 11/29/23

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To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.

You can find Sharon Short at her website, www.sharonshort.com and on Instagram at @sharongshortauthor.

This week we have a Remix episode and catch up with Sharon Short, who we initially interviewed about her historical mystery novels which she wrote under the pen name Jess Montgomery. She has a new stand alone mystery suspense out titled Trouble Island that was inspired by a very interesting family story.  You will first hear our most recent chat with her just a few weeks ago and then we will replay our original conversation with her back in the Spring of 2022 talking about her Kinship series.

Just a note that next week we will have another REMIX episode, this time with award winning mystery writer Tracy Clark whose most recent in the Detective Harriet Foster  series came out Dec 3 titled Echo.  The Washington Post has just named it one of their top mysteries of 2024. 

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- Trouble Island by Jess Montgomery

2- The Widows by Jess Montgomery (Kinship series)

3- The Echoes by Jess Montgomery (Kinship series)

4- Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen Kirby 

5- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan

6- How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith


Perks REMIX S11:Ep246 | Trouble Island with Guest Sharon Short | 12-11-24

You can find Tracy Clark on social media on Instagram @tpclark2000, on FB at Tracy Clark and on her website tracyclarkbooks.com/

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover

This week we have a Remix episode and catch up with Tracy Clark, who we interviewed in Season 8 (episode 161) about her first Harriet Foster novel titled Hide. Her most recent title, number 3 in the series, is called Echo, and it came out Dec 3. We chat with her about this book, as well as the Harriet Foster book she is currently writing. We caught her on a writing day in which Harriet Foster was not cooperating. Then you will hear some of our conversation with Tracy back in 2023 when Harriet Foster first arrived on the scene.  

Books Mentioned In This Episode

1- Hide by Tracy Clark

2- Echo by Tracy Clark

3- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

4- Her Name is Knight series by Yasmin Angoe

5- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

6-The Ninja's Oath (Lily Wong series) by Tori Eldridge

7- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

8- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

9- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

10- American Fever by Dur e Aziz Almna

Authors mentioned:

1- Sarah Paretsky

2- Sue Grafton

3- Agatha Christie

4- Valerie Wilson Wesley

5- Barbara Neely


Perks REMIX S11:Ep247 | Echo with guest Tracy Clark | 12-18-24

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