200 Year Old Spoilers

Jenn Northington Oct 26, 2017

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Amanda and Jenn discuss ’80s sci-fi, family drama, working class classics, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Libby from OverDrive and Penguin Random House Audio.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via Apple Podcasts here.
The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

Questions

1. Hello!

This year, I’ve really been interested in seasonal reading. I find this super easy during Halloween but as I prep my TBR pile for November and December, I’m coming up short.

I typically read YA and am looking for holiday reads that are inclusive of traditions and people. It seems that the options are fairly small in this regard so I’d be happy with books that just set a cozy/winter scene but also feature diverse characters.

Thank you!
–Caitlin

2. Hello again ladies! My group, Geek Girls, is doing an all 80s theme in the month of November so we are hoping to pick a scifi or fantasy book from the 80s for the book club. Any suggestions? Only stipulation, they must be available on audio. Happy Halloween!
-Jeanne

3. Hi Amanda and Jenn!

I just booked my dream trip to Stockholm and Copenhagen! I really want to read something set in these cities, but everything seems to be a crime thriller (great, but not always) or about 120 years old and written by Serious Old Men. Can you please recommend something set in one of these cities that doesn’t fall in one of those two camps? For reference, some of my favourites are Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan, and The Great Gatsby. So, if you know of any fun Scandinavian family sagas, please help me!!!

Thank you!
–Olivia

4. Hi Get Booked! I am a non-binary person and can never find books featuring characters that share that aspect of my identity. I’m not interested in reading books *about* being non-binary, but I would like to read about non-binary characters doing other stuff! I’m open to most genres — no horror or gory crime stuff please! I’m also not big on biography/memoir, though don’t seem to mind it when in graphic novel form or when it reads like fiction. I also can’t get through really dense, long books. Thank you!
–Frances

5. Hello ladies! I love the podcast and have gotten many great recs for my TBR from you all. After the garbage fire that was the 2016 election, I am feeling the need to better inform myself on some key issues. One that I am particularly interested in is immigration. I have read The Book Of Unknown Americans and Americanah, both of which were life-changing reads. I would like to read some non-fiction on this subject, especially as it relates to American immigration policies.

Thanks for all your great work.
–Heidi

6. I just discovered your podcast and really enjoyed it, it’s great getting all the recommendation, I’ve added a lot to my TBR pile. I’m looking for some books that are like the prime time soaps from the 80’s like Dallas and Dynasty, focusing on family and full of intrigue.
Thanks,
–Melissa

7. Hi,

I recently finished reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, which I loved. It made me realise how fed up I am with reading about the English gentry and aristocracy. I am also really bored with books set in London and the Home Counties. I live in a post-industrial town called Chesterfield and want to read about towns like mine and the people that lived in them. I am looking for relatively unknown classics (I have read most of the famous English classics) or historical fiction novels set in towns and cities in the North of England about ordinary, working class people. I am primarily looking for books set in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Cheers.
–Amy

Books Discussed

Bookstore giveaway! bookriot.com/bookstoregiveaway

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

SPQR by Mary Beard

Dreidels on the Brain by Joel Ben Izzy

My True Love Gave To Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

Alanna by Tamora Pierce

Dawn by Octavia Butler

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time by Liz Jensen

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz