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Not Gonna Tell You How To Feel About Caesar

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Amanda and Jenn discuss poetry, dinosaur books for grown-ups, Roman historical fiction, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by our Blind Date with a Book giveaway, Quantum by international bestselling author Patricia Cornwell, and Change is the only Constant by Ben Orlin, in Hardcover from Black Dog and Leventhal.

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Like A Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy, by Angela Garbes (rec’d by Cameron)

And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready, by Meaghan O’Connell (rec’d by Cameron)

Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Years and Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son by Anne Lamott (rec’d by Cameron)

Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives by Annie Murphy Paul (rec’d by Sarah)

Security by Gina Wohlsdorf (rec’d by Ashely)

Questions

1. Dinosaurs! I’ve recently realized (thanks to having a little one in the house) that the world of dinosaurs has passed me by since my school days. They have feathers‽ There are dinosaurs bigger and meaner than T-rex‽ Brontosaurus exists again‽ Please help fill my knowledge gap with a fun read to catch me up on at least some small part of what I’ve missed in the dinosaur world in the last…*cough*…few years!

-Kayla

2. Hello, my younger sister and I are going on our Birthright trips to Israel this winter, and I’m looking for some great books to read during all the traveling. I would love if I could find a book set in Israel, past or present that I haven’t read yet. When I’m traveling I generally prefer fantasy, science fiction, or mystery, but I will read anything anybody from Book Riot recommends. I really haven’t read any books set in Israel, or inspired by it, so I think anything you suggest will be new to me. Side note, y’all and the entire Book Riot family are awesome!!

-Liza

3. I find myself in the odd position of loving fantasy books about necromancy while also having a phobia of ghosts. I LOVE the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix, and I recently had the opportunity to read an ARC of Twice Dead by Caitlin Seal. They both are perfect examples of the necromantic fantasy that works for me. Do you know of other books that deal with this subject without tropes that will give me horrible nightmares (poltergeists, haunted houses, etc)? Thank you!

-Phasmophic

4. I’m looking for recommendations of poetry or otherwise that is similar to anything by Amanda Lovelace or Rupi Kaur. I’ve already inhaled the newest release by Amanda Lovelace and wouldn’t mind something a little more lighthearted to contrast the heavy topics both authors write about.

Thank you!
-Elin

5. Hi Ladies! I’m wondering if you can suggest some fun action/thriller type audiobooks by people of color – something in the vein of Dan Brown, with some puzzles and some action, but generally just a fun ride. I like to listen to audio books while I work, and these types of books make the day speed by.

Thanks!
-Jaimie

6. Hi! I am currently reading Mary Beard’s SPQR and loving it! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for historical fiction set in ancient Rome or Greece. I’ve read a good amount of fantasy set in those eras, but would love recommendations for something a little more historical and a little less fantasy. Thank you so much!

-Nikita

7. Hello! I’m a big fan of the podcast (and of Book Riot), and I was hoping you could help me out. I don’t read a lot of romance, but I recently read Hot Head by Damon Suede (because I heard about it from you, I think!), and I really liked it. I’m looking for something similar, so I can stop rereading it: LGBTQ (no preference), pining, friends-to-lovers, etc. I would prefer something WITHOUT a ton of homophobia and WITH a happy ending. I’m open to any sub-genre. Sex is fine, but I’m looking for something with a good story, too. Thanks in advance!

-Michelle

Books Discussed

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusatte

The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling

To the End of the Land by David Grossman, transl by Jessica Cohen

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Bone Witch series by Rin Chupeco

Wild Embers by Nikita Gill

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

Warcross by Marie Lu

The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson

The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston