Smart Ladies Being Funny About Hard Stuff

Jenn Northington Jan 12, 2017

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Amanda and Jenn discuss England-y books, battling baby-fever, horror novels, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio and Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight.

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Questions

1. Hi Get Booked,

I LOVE your podcast and I desperately need your help.

I’ve been double diagnosed with two types of cancer, one week after the other. My first surgery is the middle of January, the second is yet to be determined. I will have a lot of downtime/reading time coming up

I am really in the shits, for lack of a better term. The last two books that I read that actually put a smile on my face while reading and cried when it was over was Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

I am usually a Historical Fiction / Fantasy Portal reader (The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley and Juliet by Anne Fortier are my two all time favourites) but due to my recent circumstances I have been trying to find books that keep me upbeat and .. well .. happier?

I’m struggling and tired of crying – please give me something to get over this?

Much appreciated,
–Sonia

2. Hi ladies! After obsessing and dreaming and pining from across the pond since I was a child, I am at long last fulfilling a life-long dream to visit jolly ol’ England. Gaaaaah I’m beside myself! I’m going it alone and thus am fully free to nerd out and do every bookish thing I’ve ever wanted, from the predictable trek to Stratford-upon-Avon and the Harry Potter tour to a jaunt to Torquay to pay homage to my all time FAVE Agatha Christie. I’ll also be spending time in Cornwall and the Cotswalds because too many books to list have enamored me with their imagery of gardens and heaths and manors and castles and forests and seasides…. you get the idea.

My trip isn’t until March, but I’d like some recs of stuff to read before then as opposed to on the trip itself. My request is somewhat vague here, but I want to fully immerse myself in England, any part of England, in anticipation. Recs can feature British characters, British scenery, British authors, or all of the above!

My taste truly runs the gamut here, fair warning. I love;
– The lush descriptiveness and captivating quality of Kate Morton’s works
– The classic, page-turner, “who-dunnitness” of Agatha Christie and the Arthur Conan Doyle
– The fun and clever detective stories of Cormoran Strike via J.K. Rowling/Robert Gailbraith
– All things Harry Potter, because duh
– About a billion classics and their re-tellings

I’m not picky as to what period of time your recs take place in, I just want anything that will keep me engaged and/or give me feels for this part of the world with which I’ve been enamored with since reading The Secret Garden or watching Paddington as a small girl.

Recent pics: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeld (I think!), V.E. Schuab’s A Darker Shade of Magic, both Kate Morton’s The Lake House and The Forgotten Garden, Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye. Non-fiction wise, gotta love Bill Bryson.

I feel like this has been horribly inarticulate. I apologize, but have a feeling you’ll know the way to my bookish heart. One last thing, in case it comes up at all: I’d like to avoid books with graphic sexual violence.

Thank you!!!

–Vanessa

3. Hi Amanda and guest!

I am looking for recommendations on books about feminism, whether they be memoirs or reporting on the state of feminism in countries around the world. I have read and enjoyed Mighty be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee, I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Missoula by Jon Krakauer just to name what I’ve read in the last year. Any suggestions you have would be great!

Thanks in advance,
–Kari

4. Dear Amanda and Jenn,

You guys are so awesome and I love listening to the show every week now! Yay!

I have recently entered my late 20s and I’ve always imagined that I would have at least one child at this point in my life. However, due to where my husband and I are at in our lives right now (read: both in graduate school), it hasn’t been possible. Lately, I have just been finding myself dwelling on this and I was hoping that you guys might have some recommendations to help cure me of my baby-fever (at least for a little bit!). I tend to lean toward sci-fi/fantasy, but I am open to any and all recommendations!

Thanks, girls!

5. Dear Jenn and Amanda,
I’ve been interested in reading horror novels for some time but just haven’t gotten around to it. I love It by Stephen King, and was wondering if there were books kind of similar? I really like horror stories with either children, and teens- I’m not sure why but I find myself drawn to those kind of horror stories in particular.
Thanks guys!
P.S. I’ve of course read Shirley Jackson!
–Marla

6. I love a romance novel with a male protagonist that is not a jerk with a heart of gold/rake who changes because of love. I am looking for romantic novels with pleasant, respectful adult men. I really liked the Storied Life of A. J Fickery and The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord, both of which featured adults who respected one another had a friendship and an unfolding romance. What these two books were lacking in, as compared to the bodice rippers and their alpha men, are the steamy bits, which I do enjoy.

–Adriel

Books Discussed

Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Agorafabulous by Sara Benincasa

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock