Big Leslie Knope Energy
Amanda and Jenn discuss indie horror books, feeling connected, cinnamon roll characters, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.
This episode is sponsored by The Chronicles of Now podcast from Pushkin Industries, Flatiron Books, publisher of His & Hers by Alice Feeney, and Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle, now available from Algonquin Books.
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Feedback
Douglas Preston’s Monster of Florence (rec’d by Kim)
Dawn by Octavia Butler (book 1 in her Xenogenesis series) and The Caphenon: Book 1 in The Chronicles of Alsea series by Fletcher DeLancey (rec’d by Wynnde)
Instant Mom by Nia Vardalos (rec’d by Charleen)
Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean (rec’d by Kristi)
JY Yang’s Tensorate Series (First book is The Black Tides of Heaven) (rec’d by Amber)
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer (rec’d by Lee)
In the Shadow of Statues by Mitch Landrieu (rec’d by Laura)
Questions
1. I’m needing recommendations for my husband. He’s a lover of John Sandford novels, anything by Bernard Cornwell, greek mythology, and anything WWII. He loves research so all the details but he does appreciate a good plot. I’d love him to read something not written by a cis white male, giving him other perspectives and views!
-Amy
2. Hello, book friends!
I would dearly love a book where the protagonist is a taboo hybrid, ie their parents are from two different species and they face stigma from one or both sides, or from society at large. I would also prefer something recent-ish — old scifi/fantasy has its place, but I want something with more modern attitudes and a diverse cast.
Don’t read this paragraph out loud because it’s technically spoilers: [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]
-Anne
3. My book request is not time sensitive and truthfully I need another TBR like I need a hole in the head but alas, here I am seeking one to jump to the top of the list.
At my job I am forever scrutinizing fine details and analyzing mistakes in math, coding, etc in front of a computer. Often times I feel like I get so lost in minute matters that don’t impact anyone else in the world beyond my employer. I am seeking a book that will give me perspective into some bigger picture – some kind of overarching, grand scale, all-important subject that will make me feel both small and a part of a larger than (my) life community. When I try to think as broadly as possible about subjects to fit this description, outer space, nature and the ecosystem, dinosaurs or formations of civilization and humanity come to mind as possibilities. I’m sure there are a million books on such subjects HOWEVER I’m not one for scientific or historical technical reading. The trick will be to find something easy to follow that reads like (or is) a fiction and doesn’t make my eyes glaze over. I didn’t make it through Neil Degrasse’s audiobook. I hope you can help find something to satisfy my request and as always, feel free to think outside the box 🙂
Thanks for being the best part about Thursdays!
-A Drop in the Ocean
4. Hello, I am a tri-racial female( I am part Japanese, German, and Filipino) and was hoping you could guide me to some good books with a protagonist or author with some experience in that regard ( specifically what it is like not being enough of either one of those things to quite fit in with any of those crowds) Please find something deeply poignant but humorous if possible. I’d love to read from someone who can have a humorous point of view, but can still be deeply moving. I’m not very good at handling reads with an angry chip on the shoulder type person at the moment, but I still would like something with deep felt meaning or insight. I would enjoy something positive or hopeful at the moment. I like to read widely in every genre. I have enjoyed works from authors like Jhumpa Lahiri, Amy Bloom, Marilyn Robinson, and Terry Tempest Williams. Thank you !
-Melissa
5. I have started on the Read Harder 2020 challenge, and I’m trying to find a horror book by an indie press that I might enjoy. I don’t tend to like horror books or movies, so this one so far is a struggle. I do have two horror comic/graphic novels I didn’t mind, though. Those were Locke and Key by Joe Hill and Morning Glories by Nick Spencer. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
-Beth
Hello! I need help finding a Horror Book published by an Indie Press for the read harder challenge. I enjoy books that I call “creepy”. Think Shirley Jackson, Neil Gaiman (Coraline kept me awake all night in a good way). Other similar books I’ve enjoyed are The Changeling by Victor LaValle, The Merry Spinster (especially the Velveteen Rabbit retelling) and The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (I think that last one is still horror). Can you help me find an indie press book that has the same creepy vibes? As you might be able to tell, scary retellings of fairy tales or other classics are a plus
-Deborah
6. Hi Friends! Because it feels like every time I turn on the news or scroll through my newsfeed on my phone I’m reminded how terrible people can be to each other. Also, I’m a teacher and this year I’m crafting a 6 week class on racism in American and then taking my students to a week long trip down south to visit places where those injustices took place— so I’m good with heavy and heartbreaking reads for now. My 2020 fiction goal is to read books with only intensely likable protagonists — no shady characters or no unreliable narrators, please— just I just want to spend 2020 meeting characters who are just really good, who have really kind hearts, and are endearing to others. If they live in a quirky little town or have a rag-tag group of found family— all the better. Right now I’m reading Murder in the G Major (because of your recommendation) and I’m loving it so I’d really appreciate suggestions that are part of a series. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
-Osheta
7. What are we reading to soothe our heartbreak & siphoned souls after Gideon the Ninth?
-Everyone who Finished Gideon the Ninth
Books Discussed
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
The Overstory by Richard Powers (tw: suicide, self harm)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Somewhere in the Middle by Deborah Francisco Douglas
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (tw: racism, harm to children)
Elegy For the Undead by Matthew Vesely (October 13 2020) from Lanternfish Press (Seanan McGuire’s thread)
The Bromance Book Club series by Lyssa Kay Adams
Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker
Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden (tw: body horror)
The Tensorate Series by JY Neon Yang (tw: harm to children)
