Dog Puns And Goofy Assassins

Jenn Northington Jul 27, 2017

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Amanda and Jenn discuss Alaska reads, classics, LGBTQ+ YA, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Genius: The Game by Leopoldo Gout and The Secret Agent Training Manual by Elizabeth Singer Hunt.

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Questions

1. Hi! I’ll be visiting a few cities in Alaska this summer, and I was wondering if you could recommend some books set in (relatively) modern day Alaska. Most books set in Alaska I’ve seen focus on either the Gold Rush, the Yukon (where no really lives…?), being stranded in the wilderness and having to survive, or some combination thereof. I’m more interested in the everyday lives of people in Alaska. Do these kinds of books set in Alaska even exist? Please let me know! I’m open to fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry.
–Jess

2. Hello,
I am the public librarian in a small (fairly conservative) town. We have a limited YA collection that has been slowly been building over the years. There is a real lack of diversity in the collection, especially concerning LBGT books. I am looking for books that cover this area but aren’t overly explicit or fantasy as much of the YA collection is fantasy. Thank you!
–Maggie

3. I just discovered your podcast and am loving catching up on all the back episodes, so thanks!

I am a fiction revert book lover. After reading Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl under the covers with a flashlight, I gave up reading in high school and college when a bad English teacher killed it for me (besides Harry Potter and cliffs notes). Only in the last few years have I really begun to fall in love with reading fiction. And more than anything, I’m really digging reading all the classics I missed. I know that I missed so many good books in all those years, and it’s hard to navigate which to go for. I would like to pick ones that would be five star material. Some of my favorites have been To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Anne of Green Gables, Rebecca, A Wrinkle in Time, and Count of Monte Cristo. I’m looking for classics, although contemporary classics would be great too. Thanks so much!!
–Ally

4. Hi ladies

first off, just wanted to say how comforting and glad i am to have discovered your podcast recently. Hearing about such a wide array of books, comics and audiobooks has really made me feel like my reading world has been such a narrow one but also has made me really excited to expand my reading experiences

Okay, i have noticed that i have started reading less and less as i grow up and over the past couple of years, i would be lucky if i could even read 2 books a years. I really want to get back into one of my first love in storytelling but am kind of at a lost to where to start.

im looking for any kind of book that will just have me absolutely engrossed and fall back into love with reading. i usually read YA of young character centred books but am totally open to anything new.
the last couple of books i read that reminded me how much i love reading were:
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow rowell
Trouble is a friend of mine by Stephanie tromly
The Outsiders by S.E Hinton
and Viral series by Kathy Reichs

–Dami

5. Hi Jenn and Amanda!

I love reading about people bonding with their dogs. However, I find that 99% of the time, if the dog plays a key role in the book then something terrible will happen to it. Can you help me find a happy book about dogs that will not wrench my heart out and bring me to tears?

I read What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren and enjoyed her style of non-fiction. I would prefer a fiction recommendation at the moment, but I am open to any recommendations!

Thank you!
–Marie

6. I’m based in the UK and love the access that your show gives me to a wider range of books. I am in a book club and when it’s my turn to choose I like to challenge the group (the others often usually pick contemporary literary fiction which is great but it’s great to try something different). I fancy reading a graphic novel as I’ve not read one before but am scared off by the fantasy and comic book characters. Can you suggest 3 options that may be more of my thing? Thanks
–Janine

7. Hi Jenn and Amanda! I am a retired first-grade teacher and for the last year or so have been channeling my love for reading aloud into reading to my father-in-law, who lives in a care center near my home. I am wondering if you have any suggestions for things he might enjoy. He is in his early 80s. He had a stroke a few years ago, resulting in some limitations with short-term memory, so short stories and/or plots that are not too hard to follow between reading sessions work best. (I usually go a couple times each week.) He LOVES westerns, cowboy stories, old movies, and generally adventurous/action-packed plot lines. We have read quite a few Louis L’Amour books and short stories. I am looking for things that are generally upbeat, and not too risque. Thank you so much!
–Kathy

8. Hi!

Money has been short lately but I finally have enough to invest in some really great books! Do you have any suggestions on what books and authors are worth my hard earned money? I will read anything, preferably fiction and if it’s longer than 600 pages I will be very happy. Would also enjoy something that’s not western culture. Thank you!
–Hanna

Books Discussed

Dot Journaling by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Baby It’s Cold Outside by Addison Fox

If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name by Heather Lende

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

The Woman In White

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Stay by Allie Larkin