Get Out Of This Galaxy

Jenn Northington Nov 24, 2017

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Amanda and Jenn discuss book group picks, medieval fiction, sci-fi short stories, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Libby and the Book Riot Bookstore Giveaway.

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The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

Questions

1. Hi- going on a road trip with my 22 year old daughter from North Carolina back home to Texas in late November. Looking for an audiobook recommendation to listen to on the drive- something possibly set in the south with a mystery or supernatural bent. We like smart characters and a plot that is twisty.
–Jen

2. Hi ladies!
I am a librarian at a small library outside Philadelphia with a HUGE book-club-in-a-bag collection (it comes with books, audiobooks, discussion materials–the whole works). I’ve just recently taken over the collection and I realized that it is tragically white. I’m doing what I can to remedy that, but I was hoping for some suggestions for diverse, newer, fairly accessible book-club lit (or non-fiction!) for the collection. We’ve got The Underground Railroad, The Mothers, Little Fires Everywhere, Behold the Dreamers, and Between the World and Me, to name a few.
Thanks so much!
–Katherine

3. Hi Amanda and Jenn!!

I listen to Get Booked religiously, and you guys have steered me into so many things I’ve absolutely loved. I just finished the Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and it’s left me craving more books with meaningful, adult-child relationships where at least one party is choosing to be in the others’ life (adoption, mentor-ship, and similar.) What I specifically loved about A.J. and Maya was how genuinely they liked each other as people. I’d love to read more in that vein, if you have any recommendations?

Thanks!
–Lauren

4. Hello! First I want you to know that I love the show. My TBR list is huge now and My husband keeps side eyeing me as I bring new books home. I’m currently reading Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and it has made me realize how much I love books about the Middle Ages or Medieval times. I’ve also read the Inquisitor’s Tale and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. What other recommendations do you have that take place in that time or are similar to those books?
Thanks so much!!
–Olivia

5. I suffer from a chronic pain condition and would like to find books that have conditions similar to mine (or other disabilities). Memoir or fiction would be great. I’ve read both of Jenny Lawson’s books and cried when I found out that she had arthritis because I do not get to read about people with similar experiences much. (No Me Before You please!)
–Emily

6. Hi Get Booked Ladies!
I have always loved Science Fiction and in the last few months have really gotten into short story collections. I have recently read “Stories of Your Life” by Ted Chiang (this is probably going to be my favorite book of the year), “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler, and “Three Moments of an Explosion” by China Mieville. I have also loved in the past “The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury.

I currently have “Beyond the Rift” by Peter Watts and “Miracle” by Connie Willis on my upcoming TBR.

I am looking for some more interesting and well written sci-fi short story collections! I enjoy hard sci-fi and first contact stories. Dark, weird, speculative, and bizarre are also great descriptors for me.
Just FYI…I don’t really like fantasy (I never understood why sci-fi and fantasy are clumped together).

Thank you so much and love your show!
–Andrea 🙂

7. Hi! I teach high school English, and often listen to the podcast on my way to work, which makes for a lovely commute (but also makes it impossible to write down all of the books I want to read).
I work with several young people who are hunters, and want to read about hunting/survival/outdoorsy stuff. We have Paulsen’s Hatchet and sequels and Si-cology 101 (Duck Dynasty), which have been popular among this group, and one student is reading Where the Red Fern Grows. Another of these readers started American Sniper but never finished it, and they’ve all read The Hunger Games. I’m ordering some Jon Krakauer, but I’m looking for more recommendations that might strike a chord with this group of readers – fiction or nonfiction, especially things that are a little more grownup (YA is awesome – more of that, please, but I worry they’re not challenged by some of the middle grades texts we have available).
Thanks, and I promise to stop the car to listen to your reply (or, even better, listen with students) 🙂
–Jennifer

Books Discussed

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

Shelter by Jung Yun

The Wangs vs The World by Jade Chang

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Frederik Backman, translated by Henning Koch (recommended by Elizabeth)

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig

A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

The Escape by Mary Balogh