Pirates Make Everything Better

Jenn Northington Jan 25, 2018

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Amanda and Jenn discuss Haitian authors, Canadian nonfiction, book club options, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by Libby and Eternal Life by Dara Horn.

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The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

Questions

1. Hi ladies,
I love the podcast and all your recommendations.
I have an upcoming trip to India for work and I need some recommendations on what to take with me. I will be traveling with a group of MAWGs (middle aged white guys) coworkers who are a bit oblivious, bro-y, and can be exhausting when being around for long period of times. The idea of long-term travel with these people is a bit overwhelming and stressing me out. Do you have any book-ish escapes with strong female characters that can make this trip a little less daunting? Brownie points if they involve India in some form.
I’m drawing a blank on ideas and everyone I ask recommends books that I know will make me angry and ranty (not the tone I’m going for on this trip). I’d appreciate any ideas you two have.
Many thanks!
–Brenna

2. Hi Ladies,
Can you recommend books by Haitian authors or authors from other “s***hole” countries? For some reason I have an urge to read books by Haitian or African authors. I’ve already read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which I LOVED.
–Paul

3. Hello!
My friend doesn’t read very much but she wants to read more. The last book she read and loved was The Time Traveler’s Wife. Can you recommend other adventure-romance style books that are similar to that? I’ve suggested The Night Circus and My Name is Memory, so far.
I’m a new listener to Get Booked, after becoming hooked on All the Books and The Book Riot Podcast. Thanks for all the great book talks!
Thank you, thank you!
–Lindsey

4. Hi Amanda and Jenn!

I apologize if this is a repeated topic, but I searched the Book Riot site and didn’t see anything that was what I was looking for.

I live and work in NY, but the company I work for recently acquired some business in Canada. I’ll soon be the staff manager of some employees living and working in Canada, which is exciting! I’m looking forward to learning about the employment laws, HR policies, etc of another country… but I realized that I know very, very little about Canada. I don’t know any Canadian history, hardly any current (or recent events), and my cultural knowledge is limited to how great Trudeau seems.

Can you help? I’m looking for readable, engaging non-fiction that focuses on Canada’s history, current events, or culture. It’d be fine if it focused on a specific event or topic, at this point any knowledge will be a plus! Also willing to try out fiction reqs if you have them.

Thank you!
Sarah

5. Hello from Ireland!

I was hoping you could recommend me books written by Native Americans. They can be fiction or non-fiction as long as the author is actually Native American (especially after Wind River left me with a bad taste in my mouth).

I am looking for atmospheric books with well drawn characters. Open to all genres but wouldn’t want anything that is very violent or disturbing.

Thanks,
Sophie

6. Hi Jenn/Amanda,

Recently my little sister and I both moved back to live with our parents. It’s been a rough couple of years. Anyway, my Mom has been wanting to do a book club for a while now and so I suggested that maybe the three of us could do our own book club.

Now, the problem is to find a book we can all agree on….
My Mom loves an interesting mystery. Doesn’t have to be a murder. She enjoys historical very much as well. So historical mysteries are probably best.

My sister is more of a picky reader. She likes more romance. She also gets bored really easy. It has to grab her from the first chapter or she’ll toss it aside and never pick it back up.

I’m a bit more open with books. I enjoy everything. Except maybe gore and zombies. I do like a creepy aspect to a mystery. I do love creepy or spooky mysteries. The book I’m thinking of is sort of like The Diviners by Libba Bray? Or Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

If you can come up with some recs for us it would be great! I’m at a loss as to what will work!

Thank you!!!!
–Maeg

7. Good morning ladies!

I love your podcast and I am an avid listener every week! Thank you for all the book recommendations!

I am usually pretty good at recommending books for other people. My family usually comes to me asking what to read next. Just recently my aunt approached me to ask what books would be suitable for my 11 year old cousin. Usually this wouldn’t phase me as I can come up with at least 10 off the top of my head that would be suitable for any other child, however, my cousin doesn’t like any sad plot points, death or major illness so she refuses to read things like Charlotte’s Web and other classics like that. I’ve come up with a short list but am having trouble coming up with anything that I know for sure will interest her. She is very sensitive about things that might be scary or sad so I am basically looking for something like a grown up Magic Tree House. Ideally I would need this in the next couple days, if you can swing it but no pressure! I’m happy to get your recommendations whenever you have a moment to answer as I think I might have a few in the meantime to tide her over.

Thank you so much for being a bright spot in my week and keep the recommendations coming!

Happy reading!
–Rebecca

Books Discussed

Year One by Nora Roberts (The Stand or The Strain)

Make Trouble by Cecile Richards

Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit

Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

Hadriana In All My Dreams by René Depestre, translated by Kaiama L. Glover

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (rec’d by Angel Cruz)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell