Inappropriate Dead Baddies

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Amanda and Jenn recommend series by POC, light-hearted books for book club, Southeast Asian Lit, and more on this week’s Get Booked! This episode is sponsored by TryAudiobooks.com and The A-Z of You and Me by James Hannah. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via iTunes here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here. Need a book recommendation? Fill out the form at the bottom of the post, or email getbooked@bookriot.com and we’ll help! Questions 1. My daughter is off to NYU in the fall. Do you have any recommendations for New Yorky books for someone off on her own, and very far away from home, for the first time? Thank you! And, I love your podcast ? Naomi Eden   2. Hello Amanda, I teach 7th/8th grade English Language Arts, and this request actually comes from a few of my students. Every week, we have independent reading time where we all read our own books, myself included. Recently, I've been reading Life After Life and the cover caught my students' eyes. I explained the premise of the book, and they expressed an interest in reading a book with a similar plot for YA. They aren't into historical fiction, though; mainly they liked the idea of the character being born over and over again and having a type of deja vu that she doesn't necessarily understand (I'm just about that far in the book). They said they like John Green and books that take place now, but are kind of over the whole "kids are mean to me at school" theme. I'm thinking of bringing in Every Day by David Levithan tomorrow, and maybe To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han for the juicy story, but I'm wondering if there are other books you can think of that they might enjoy before the end of the school year? This is my first year teaching middle school ELA, so I'm still trying to learn what's out there. Thanks so much! Amy   3. My friend and I run a virtual book club and members vote on one of three options.  May is our first month and we went for thriller/suspense/page-turners.  We have to narrow down our options for June meeting by May 18th.  We are thinking something lighter.  Where'd You Go, Bernadette is on our short list.  Anything else similar that is on the funny side, but also offers good talking points? Love you guys!! Jessica Paige   4. Hey girls! I love the podcast and have taken more than a few of your recommendations for myself. I am looking for a recommendation for a book to give my boyfriend for his birthday. His tastes have somewhat eluded me for eight years and I want to get something cool this year! His fiction favourites include Kurt Vonnegut, HP Lovecraft, classic science fiction and Japanese graphic novels like Sunny by Taiyo Mastumoto and Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo. He's a freelance illustrator and is completely in love with documentaries which are treatises for the value of work. (ex. Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Three Stars, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness etc.) Thank you for your help. Have a great week and thank you for your wonderful podcast! Liz McCord   5. I am planning to try to complete the Read Harder Challenge for 2016. I am putting together my list of books and getting stuck on a few. I would LOVE to get some suggestions for reading a book written by an author from Southeast Asia, and for reading the first book in a series by a person of color. I typically read literary fiction and mystery/thrillers. I'm not a fan of romance or graphic novels. Any help would be appreciated. I actually think you could probably devote a few shows to all of the categories of the Read Harder Challenge. Plenty of areas in need of recommendations. Thank you so much, Jessica Santoro   6. Hi Amanda! One book that I was surprised to enjoy this year was THE ROYAL WE -- after initial skepticism I gobbled it up and was so thrilled by how fun and juicy it was, especially with the fun twists that came along near the end. Reading it felt like gossiping with an old friend. What would you recommend that is along these lines? (Also, does THE ROYAL WE classify as Romance? I wasn't sure, but feel like maybe it is halfway there.) Thanks!! Priya   Books Mentioned Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel Jose Older Re Jane by Patricia Park Literary Brooklyn by Evan Hughes Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood (rec’d by Sharanya) The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma Ask the Passengers by A.S. King Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris Bellwether by Connie Willis Lamb by Christopher Moore The Vegetarian by Han Kang The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka Big Machine by Victor LaValle In the Country by Mia Alvar The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin The Gun Dealer’s Daughter by Gina Apostol Black Water Rising by Attica Locke Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie American Housewife by Helen Ellis Single Carefree Mellow by Katherine Heiny