Deep Thoughts With Ron Swanson

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Amanda and Jenn discuss witchy reads, nonfiction, WWII novels, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked! This episode is sponsored by TryAudiobooks.com and Comic Bento. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via iTunes here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here.   Questions 1. My sister recently got interested in Archery, and we've been talking about starting to take classes. I want buy her a book for christmas, fiction/fantasy with a strong female character that is an archer (but not Hunger Games :p). The animated movie Brave is what got her interested in the sport. She's 24, and an avid reader :) Thank you! :D --Sami   2. This year for Christmas I'm compiling lists of books for friends and family as a personalized gift for them. The recommendations have come pretty easily for everyone. I have a friend though whose list is missing something I think. I have books that are okay but I feel like there's a perfect one that's eluded me. She's recently gotten into modern witchcraft (we bonded over a love of Charmed), what she calls "real adult fiction", and has a steampunk/goth visual aesthetic. Other books I'm recommending for her are Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Books she's recommended to me are Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Thanks for your help! Sincerely, --Danielle   3. I'd like to get my brother a few books for Christmas this year. He's a journalist and reads mostly nonfiction but is open to fiction. His favorite nonfiction author is Erik Larson, and his favorite fiction author is Michael Crichton. Recent favorites of his include Evicted by Matthew Desmond, Ghettoside by Jill Leovy, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, and The Run of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin. Thanks for the help! --Anna   4. Hi Amanda and Jenn! I'm looking for holiday gift recs for my husband. He's interested in philosophy, art and aesthetics and has enjoyed the writings of people like Annie Dillard, Alain Badiou, Theodor Adorno and Roland Barthes, to name a few. He's more interested in thoughtful, meditative writing, like Dillard, than in fiction or narrative. He has a LOT of books that he's collected over the years, so while I'm open to any ideas you have, something published more recently that he may not have heard of yet might give me a better chance at surprising him. Thank you for your suggestions! :) --Bevin   5. Hey Get Booked, I'm hoping this isn't too late. Like a lot of people the holidays are a rough time for me. Every year when things get overwhelming and/or hard my refuge is books. Unfortunately my DNF pile is getting out of control. Recent political events mean that I’m more anxious about the family interactions that are coming up (again I'm not the only one) and I can't seem to find anything to read. I've been looking for a world to get lost in. I'm thinking Fantasy or Steampunk preferably a series though it doesn't have to be. I've tried some of the big names and so far the DNF list includes. Game of Thrones, The Mistborn Trilogy (I think I just put this one down for too long and now don't want to go back.) Lord of The Rings, and The Farseer Trilogy. Some things in this vein that I've loved Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, The Night Circus, The Kingkiller Chronicles, Neil Gaiman books, and Angelmaker (which I'm re- listening to now). A more recent favorite is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I've reached a point where I'm nervous to pick up a book because It might not help. Really I'm open to anything engaging and escapist you can give me. Thanks so much, --Samantha   6. This is a Christmas request. I'm looking for a book for my dad, preferably historical fiction that takes place during the WWII era. He loved ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE and is currently loving THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY. Anything like these would be great. Thank you! Y'all are the best! --Bianca   Books Discussed The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers MTV's Teen Wolf Fire by Kristin Cashore The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan American Gods by Neil Gaiman A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery Contact by Carl Sagan Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson Old Man’s War Series by John Scalzi The Givenness of Things by Marilynne Robinson The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi Terry Tempest Williams (Finding Beauty in a Broken World, The Hour of Land) What Are People For by Wendell Berry The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce (Alanna: The First Adventure) Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone) Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan (The Magician's Guild) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard Lambrusco by Ellen Cooney The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford