Please Don’t Eat That Lizard

Jenn Northington Apr 29, 2021

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Amanda and Jenn discuss mythology retellings, shifter romance, books about Greece and Hawaii, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

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This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith (rec’d by Brooke)

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency by Bea Koch (rec’d by Sophie)

The Switch by Beth O’Leary and The City We Became by NK Jemisin (rec’d by Cari)

Questions

1. Travel request: books about/set in Hawaii! Going to Maui, Big Island, and Oahu.

Have already put the True to Me series on hold, and have tried Freckled (not going to Kauai and its not that good anyway…). I have also already read The Unhoneymooners (loved). Also have another memoir on hold already called West of Then.

Not looking for a dense read but nonfiction okay.

I’m a BIG middle grade novel reader because I teach fourth grade, so please, all ages welcome. YA okay also.

Thank you for recommending 2AM at the Cat’s Pajamas a While Back. LOVED IT. WELL DONE YOU!!!! You are my favorite in the podcastiverse.

-Laura

2. Hello! I love your podcast, and because of you guys my TBR now stretches into the hundreds. So… thanks, I guess? Anyway, I recently read the book Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, and I LOVED IT. I normally don’t get into epic fantasy, but it occurs to me that the reason for that is because so many novels in that genre are full of dudes. All dudes, all the time, with maybe a token female character here and there. Dudes galore. So my question is: can you recommend any epic fantasy novels, like Red Sister, where the characters are primarily women? I’d prefer adult fiction, although YA is fine as long as it doesn’t center on eye-rolling-ly cheesy/over-dramatic teen romance. Thank you!

-Sara

3. I just finished The Witch’s Heart and really liked it! I would love a read-alike. I have already read both Madeline Miller books and loved them as well. Anything you can recommend would be great!

-Jessica

4. Hi guys! I’m looking for shifter romance recommendations. Specifically, a romance where the hero pursues the heroine with humor and gusto while she is not that interested. Usually this kind of plot doesn’t last very long so a longer ‘chase’ if you will. I enjoy a male MC that’s funny and confident but also sweet to our female MC (I don’t mind if he’s ‘alphary’). Bonus points if it’s extra smutty 😁 thanks!

Note for helping pick: I’ve read and enjoyed authors Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs, Shelly Laurenston and Suzanne Wright.

-Shontelle

5. I’ve been bouncing between genres as 2021 opens up and stumbled across a pretty specific ask.

So it started as I was reading a mystery novel set in England, 1919 (This Side of Murder) which opens with a woman heading to a house party at which shenanigans ensue, etc. etc.

There are countless books with this setup (this one was fine) but what I found interesting was the way the characters talked about War War I. Not to put too fine a point on it, but seeing a group of characters ambivalently linked by an event of mass trauma, death, and political upheaval negotiate the echoing space left behind struck a particular chord.

I wanted to ask for a novel that explores this emotional space. Bonus points for a “getting on with things,” “new normal” vibe. It doesn’t have to be a cozy, though a moderately light tone would be nice.

This is a sideways way of asking for a Downtown Abbey read-alike, I guess, but late season Downtown where there are widows who knew their husbands for all of a week and debutantes with no one to dance with at balls that aren’t done like they used to be. (Or your favorite of this type, since there are so many.)

Am aware of: Brideshead Revisited, The Forsyte Saga, Howard’s End, After the Armistice Ball, Death at Wentwater Court, Maisie Dobbs series, Lord Peter Wimsey series, Her Royal Spyness, Agatha Christie, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Remains of the Day

-Kelly

6. My mom, aunt, and cousins had been planning a big trip to Greece that they had to cancel due to continuing pandemic concerns. I was hoping for a recommendation for a fun romp of a book set in Greece as inspiration while they try to put together a new travel plan for further in the future. Fiction or non-fiction are good and a female empowerment element would be a plus!

-Tory

7. Hi, I’m looking for a book that resembles You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce. I enjoyed the mythological aspects and the blurring between reality and fiction. I don’t mind if the story does not have a plot, but I would like a book with strong prose and characters. I would also like to avoid YA, and I have read the popular authors who dabble in things like this (i.e. Neil Gaiman, Isabelle Allende, Alice Thompson and Jessie Burton.), so I would really appreciate it if you could give me something that is off the beaten track. Thank you very much for taking the time to look into my request. I hope you guys have a wonderful day.

-Sharayu