Why Am I Crying About A Fish

Amanda and Jenn discuss cathartic reads, wintery settings, historical fiction for kids, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by The History of Literature – A Podcast, The Switch by Beth O’Leary, and Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale, with Fierce Reads.

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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (rec’d by Christina)
 
The Bear by Claire Cameron (rec’d by Eugenia)

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara and The Flavia DeLuce series by Alan Bradley (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie) (rec’d by Sherry)
 
Finding God in the Waves: How I lost my faith and found it again in science by Mike McHargue (rec’d by Treva)

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson (rec’d by Stacey)

Questions

1. I’ve been going through a lot recently with corona and quarantine and everything, and just really need to stop thinking about my own life for a second. Unfortunately, most things I read or watch remind me of myself and my relationships. The only thing that’s been helping is watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and playing Papa’s Bakeria non-stop, lol. I just really need something fun and cute and escapist that I can binge-read and not think about the world.

Love,
-Maria

2. It is hot hot HOT and I am craving some winter fairy tale magic. (To be fair, I am almost always in the mood for this sort of thing, but it is Very Hot.) I was the Children’s Book Buyer at an indie bookstore until recently, meaning I am quite well-versed in the Middle Grade and YA options, so I’m searching for a recommendation from the adult side of things. While I loved the quiet magical realism of The Snow Child, I’m looking for something more along the lines of The Bear and the Nightingale or Spinning Silver. Thank you thank you!

-Hana

3. Hello Get Booked team! Your podcast is one of my absolute favorites – I am an avid listener. Do you have any recommendations for comics, short stories, chapter books, etc. featuring Superman and/or Spiderman for reluctant beginner readers? If possible, I would like to avoid those “easy reader” / “I can read” books. I’d love books that explore these superheroes’ origin stories in a kid-friendly way, in addition to fighting bad guys. The reader I have in mind is 6 years old and will try to read above their level if really interested (but is currently struggling). I told this reader a bit about Superman’s origin story myself like a bedtime story and they were hooked. I’d really like to foster a love for books and reading this way, if possible.

-Sel

4. I’m a bookseller in quarantine trying to keep my guilty pleasures book club active and engaged as we have not been able to meet in person since March (we are a notorious loud, slightly tipsy, and chatty group). We read YA, more on the Sarah J Maas end of the scale, and this year we’ve tried to highlight different heritage months in our picks (Black History, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander, Pride Month, etc). I’m running into trouble finding us something for November, when we’d like to read an Indigenous / First Nations pick. All the ones I have found skew younger or are contemporary, but I’d really like to give them a few Fantasy options. Some picks they’ve loved in the past include THE BONE WITCH and SADIE. We have some members with mental health and PTSD triggers, so please give any content warnings you deem relevant. We try to pick two months in advance so if you can get back to me by September that would be great but if not I’d still love some recs I can pass on to them.

Thanks so much!

-Faith

5. I have been experiencing a lot of loss over the past few months.  That paired with all the pandemic madness and some personal relationship issues I feel like I need a good pick me up book. I’m looking for something that will help me know it is ok to feel what I feel.  Maybe something with a lot of feels that I can cry with.  Fiction or non-fiction is ok.  Just a good emotional book that will help me release some feelings and feel  better after reading.

-Noelle

6. The All Souls Trilogy is one of my all-time favorites, but I haven’t been able to find anything similar that’s not YA! Fantasy, magic, romance, and a little bit sexy.

-Aislinn

7. I am looking for historical fiction for my daughter.  She is starting school virtually this year and had a hard time with virtual school in the spring.  I am looking to supplement her social studies content with some books that can bring that subject to life for her.  This year her curriculum includes history and culture from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe and Australia.  She is 11 and going into 6th grade.  Last year she studied WW1 and WW2, and read a few books on those subjects (Diary of Ann Frank, My Friend the Enemy), so we do not need anything involving that time period in Europe.

She loves mysteries, horror, and pretty much every graphic novel I’ve given her to read.  Bonus points if my advanced 3rd grader can also read these recs.

A few of her favorites are the Nancy Drew series, Bloom by Kenneth Oppel, everything by Raina Telgemeier, El Deafo by Cece Bell, and the Greek Myth graphic novel series by George O’Connor.

Thank you so much!  
-Jessica

Books Discussed

The Novice by Taran Matharu

Discworld: The Wyrd Sisters (Witches #1) or The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching #1) by Terry Pratchett 

A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos, transl by Hildegarde Serle

“Cold Wind” by Nicola Griffith

Spider-Man: Far From Home by Preeti Chhibber, illustrated by Stéphane Kardos

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

Teen Titans Go!: Party! Party! by Sholly Fisch and Lea Hernandez Seidman

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (tw: racism, police violence)

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (tw: rape/sexual assault, genocide of indigenous populations, medical experimentation)

The Yield by Tara June Winch (tw child sexual abuse, racism, genocide)

All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Kingston Cycle by CL Polk (TW: PTSD, violence to women and children)

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín, illustrated by Lee White, translated by EM Connor