Less Stabby For Sure

Amanda Nelson Mar 24, 2016

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

Amanda and Jenn recommend fairy tales for grown-ups, examinations of marriage (with rage-filled lady protagonists), and more on this week’s Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Live and the Start Here Giveaway.

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. Hey guys!

My mum moved interstate last year and I miss her, I really wish she hadn’t gone. Every time I read things about healing mother daughter relationships it helps, so I was wondering if I could have some recommendations on books?

I really like The Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater, everything written by Neil Gaiman or Zadie Smith, the flying Dutchman series by Brian Jacques and Un Lun Dun by China Mieville.

Thanks for your help!
Bridget

2. I love this podcast and look forward to listening to it every week! I am taking part in a readathon in April and the theme is Chick Lit. I’ve got some books already on my list but I was wondering if you know of any graphic novels that also fall into the Chick Lit category? I don’t know if that’s even a thing but I thought I’d ask.
Thanks!

3. I’m a gay man who is struggling to find compelling literary fiction with gay male characters. I’m more than a bit of a snob when it comes to literature, and generally prefer to read classics or very well written modern fiction and literature. To find gay romance however I’ve generally had to look outside of that. Mostly I find a lot of romance books with gay men, and in all honesty I’ve never liked the romance genre very much. I’ve also read some badly written mystery and urban fantasy to find gay characters as well. Some books I have liked are The Song of Achilles, and Mary Renault’s works, especially Last of the Wine. I also read A Little Life, and though it destroyed me I thoroughly reveled in the pain, and beautiful novel.

4. This dreaded slump had occurred, this time caused by Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. I read it after Liberty gushed about it on All the Books.

I loved this book (so many stars, so many wheelhouses) even though it is most decidedly fantasy and I have never fancied myself a big fantasy reader beyond the “usual” (LOTR, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones).

But this book reminded me of my childhood readings in a wonderfully nostalgic way. It was fantasy, yes, but more like a fairytale adventure for adults than high fantasy. Oh, and the protag was a kickass woman…a rarity in my limited fantasy experience.

I NEED MORE.

Any suggestions for grownups that grew up reading the likes of Ella Enchanted, Bridge to Terebithia, Beauty (Robin McKinley), etc.? Uprooted fit this oddball description so perfectly and now everything I pick up pales in comparison.

Thanks so much!

Ashley Schumacher

5. Hi Amanda and Jenn,

I’m looking for a recommendation for my dad. I usually get him a book for every holiday. I tend to get him WWII non-fiction or “interesting facts” history books.

This past Christmas I went out on a limb and decided to buy him the novel The Paris Architect and he loved it. I’m looking for similar books that I can gift for upcoming holidays. All the Light We Cannot See is already on my list and a WWII theme is not a must.

Thanks a lot!
Chelsie

6. Hi Amanda!

I’m looking for more great fiction that closely examines marriage and also, if possible, has the element of a complicated, angry female protagonist. I loved that exploration in Gone Girl and I’ve also read and loved Fates and Furies and Department of Speculation. I’d love to hear about more that you would recommend. Thanks!
Kara

Books Discussed!

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? By Maria Semple

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Boy Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Gemma Bovary by Posy Simmonds

Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel by Anya Ulinich

Jem and the Holograms Vol. 1: Showtime

Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust, translated by Kim Thompson

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Think of England by KJ Charles