Authors in a Trench Coat

Amanda Nelson Sep 6, 2018

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Amanda and Sharifah discuss Sri Lankan fiction, books about Asian-American young women, Greek myth retellings, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by The Ghost Road by Charis Cotter, The Good Neighbor: The Life of and work of Fred Rogers written by Maxwell King and narrated by LeVar Burton, and the Read Harder Journal.

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The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

Feedback

None this week!

Questions

1. SO so so so loving the podcast, and hoping you can assist me with a book rec for my hubby, Steve. I’d love to have a response by September 3rd, but I completely understand if that’s not possible (email is great! or even a link if you’ve talked about something related already).

I’m a writer, as well as an avid reader, and Steve was recently a beta reader for me on my first YA sci fi novel. His feedback was invaluable, and he helped me untangle some very tangled parts of the narrative – in short, he’s super awesome 🙂

I’m gifting each of my beta readers with a book, specific to their tastes, as a thank you gift. I have struggled with finding the right book for Steve in the past. He currently reads mostly business books/nonfiction, but he has said many times that he would love to pick up some fiction that really speaks to him, and I’d love to help him with that.

On his tastes:

– He leans toward science fiction/fantasy (possibly YA) with strong writing and lots of heart; humor is always good too

– He’s definitely turned off by anything too violent or dark (I gave him Ender’s Game, and he found it too depressing; I think he’d like Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, but he had trouble getting into it)

– He loves the Harry Potter books (the heart, the adventure, the world-building, everything

– He’s a fan of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel superheroes

– Disney World in Orlando is his favorite vacation spot (random, but possibly relevant?)

Thanks for any assistance! I’m sending lots of happy reading vibes to you both!

Smiles,

Amy Leigh

2. I am heading to Sri Lanka in October for a fortnight and would love some recommendations to read during my trip. I would be most interested in contemporary fiction – no crime, thriller, horror or books containing mental and physical abuse if possible. Thanks very much – I look forward to hearing your recommendations!

-Lee

3. Hey y’all! Love listening to your podcast and getting a dose of different recs each time. I am currently on the hunt for more novels about Asian-American women that probe what it feels like to be a young 20-something first-generation American with parents who immigrated not so long ago. I just finished and loved Emergency Contact as well as When Dimple Met Rishi, so I’m looking for more books in that vein. Open to YA as well as more “adult” novels (like Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake). Thanks!

-Tara

4. My book club recently read Circe and I was initially pretty skeptical of reading mythology, thanks to being forced to read The Iliad in high school But! To my surprise, I LOVED it! Before I even finished Circe, I had gone out and gotten Song of Achilles and devoured that as well. Now I’m craving more mythology and stories about the Greek gods. Any recommendations on what to read next? I’ve also enjoyed the mythological element in Lumberjanes so comics are okay too!

-Jesica

5. I think that you already had a previous question that went along those lines, but mine is influenced by Sense8, which I’ve just binge-watched again recently, so I have *needs* right now.

What I’m looking for basically is a culturally diverse group of characters who are from different walks of life but become a family (and potentially fight against evil).

I don’t really care about how they come together and why, I just want some good character-driven stories that leave me all warm on the inside.

I’m open to any kind of Fantasy or Sci-Fi, if you find literary or historical fiction, it totally works too!

I can’t really name all the similar books I’ve read but I feel like you’d probably recommend the Six of Crows duology so, just in case: been there, done that and absolutely loved it 😉

I’m really curious to see what you come up with. Thanks in advance, you guys rock!

-Marina

6. My wife and I are starting the process to get pregnant (yay!!). I would love some book about a lesbian couple raising kids. I will also take gay, transgender, bi, etc. Please nothing where the child or spouse dies. I love fiction but I know there aren’t many books out there on this topic, so any type of book is fine. Can’t wait to hear your recommendations (fingers crossed that some actually exist).
thanks!
Jessica

7. Hello! Thank you for this lovely podcast! I always look forward to the new episodes! I’m currently in a major reading slump and I don’t know how to cure it. I feel like reading romance novels will be what I need; however, I have no idea what to read! Recently, I have enjoyed The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn and The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Also, I’m not into anything with trigger warnings if that helps. Thank you for your help in advance!

Sincerely,
Kirsten

Books Discussed

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu

Re Jane by Patricia Park

Trust No Aunty by Maria Qamar

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

The Expanse series by James SA Corey

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey