What’s The Word For Cute-Sad?

Jenn Northington Jun 20, 2019

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Amanda and Jenn discuss Norwegian authors, multigenerational family novels, thrillers, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

This episode is sponsored by The Guest Book by Sarah Blake and Audible.

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Eat Up by Ruby Tandoh (rec’d by Caroline)

Questions

1. Hey Get Booked! Thank you for the invaluable service you provide. I’m traveling to Norway for a few weeks this summer and I’d like to read a novel set in Norway and by a Norwegian author. Ideally it would have a strong sense of place. I’m trying not to read books by cis men, so if you could avoid them, that would be great! I like most genres, but I’m not interested in children’s or middle grade books. YA might be okay if it isn’t about teen romance. Books I’ve read and loved recently include the Broken Earth Trilogy, Trail of Lightning, Normal People, Mr. Splitfoot, Everything Under, Unmarriageable, and Made for Love.
-Caroline

2. Hi Amanda and Jenn,

I am very afraid of flying and have a work trip coming up (11h flight). I need a book that will keep me hooked for hours but won’t build up my anxiety.

I do have a few restrictions: I recently went through a traumatic event and anything including/mentioning shootings or terrorism will trigger my anxiety. So please nothing including these topics. Of course, I would also like to avoid anything involving a plane crash 😀
I usually reach for thrillers when traveling but I’m open to any genre. Some of my favorite books I read in the last couple years are: This is How it Always is by Laurie Frankel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Circe by Madeleine Miller, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and of course, all of Gillian Flynn’s books.

Thanks!
-Gabi

3. I recently made the transition from reading majority YA to majority adult fiction and am still figuring out my reading tastes, however, just this week I started reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and it’s ticking a lot of boxes. I’m really enjoying how the novel explores the journey of one family through various decades, countries and historical events. I was hoping you’d be able to recommend more books which also follow characters across many years as they live through turbulent historical and political times. Bonus points for non-American settings and lgbt themes if possible (and please, less incest).

(Extra info: The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne is already on my TBR, and I’ve listened to most of your previous episodes so if you’ve mentioned a book a few times, I’m probably already aware of it. Love the podcast by the way!)
-Grace

4. Hi Amanda and Jen!

I’m going on a vacation with the boyfriend this month and am looking for some beach reads. I’ve recently loved authors like Jasmine Guillory where I can breeze through the book and that still include strong female leads. BUT I’m wondering if there are books that will soothe my big relationship fear of being in a committed relationship when an intriguing new person swoops in to steal either me or my partner, having been the true soulmate all along. Are there any books when a character meets someone new but decides to stay with their significant other and is happier for it? Do those exist? I absolutely adore your podcast for inspiring me to seek books my heart needs instead of just passively receiving whatever I find in stores!

Wishing you all the best,

-Hannah-Grace

5. Hello! I love this pod!! I’m reading War for the Oaks based on a rec from Jenn for another request, and am enjoying it immensely. I wish I’d had it early last year when I sunk into a comfortable mode of fey in the “modern” day, with Stiefvater’s Ballad, Dean’s Tam Lin, and Wynne Jones’s Fire and Hemlock. Do you have any recs for books with this sort of theme, and tone? Not so much a fan of Terri Windling, Holly Black and Charles de Lint. Love love Robin McKinley and Helen Oyeyemi. Please something without explicit sexual or violent content. Thank you!!

-no name

6. My 10 year old son, 13 year old daughter and I listen to audiobooks every day on the drive to and from school, but it’s become increasingly difficult to find books that all of us like. His genre is mischievous boys making trouble. Hers is middle grade or YA fantasy. Mine is literary fiction. I need well-written and well-narrated; he wants funny and exciting but not scary; she’s the most flexible. Past successes are Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, The Terrible Two series, The Mysterious Benedict Society series, the Greenglass House series, Better Nate Than Ever series, True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, The Wednesday Wars, Imaginarium Geographica series, and obviously Harry Potter. Weirdly, neither of them liked Narnia, His Dark Materials, or Artemis Fowl. Daily drives without a good book are not fun around here! Help, please!!
-Julie

7. I’m a Christian and I’m also an immigrant-loving feminist. Since the 2016 election I’ve found myself increasingly distanced from the Evangelical community because I just can’t stomach their continued support of evil men and hateful policies. Sometimes I think I’m ready to give up on the Church, but I’m not ready to give up on God. I guess I just feel alone and since I always take comfort in reading, I’m looking for books by or about someone who loves Jesus and also hangs out with gays and Muslims and shows up to all the Women’s Marches. I’ve recently read everything by Rachel Held Evans, and I’m heartbroken over her death. Please tell me there’s someone else like her out there somewhere. Thank you so much!

-Autumn

Books Discussed

The Faster I Walk the Smaller I Am by Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold, Kerri A. Pierce (Translator)

The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdattar #1) by Sigrid Undset, translated by Tiina Nunnally

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (tw: incest and suicide)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Post: Multigenerational Family Novels

No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

Waiting in the Wings by Tara Frejas

The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe