One of our guests from this past summer, Kate Wickers, introduced us to the work of British nonfiction writer Ben Aitken. His books are funny, intelligent, poignant and we’re thrilled he agreed to speak with us from his home in London. We chatted with him about his many books, particularly The Marmalade Diaries which was just published in the US in June. Ben is funny in that understated way that Americans like us find charming.

The Marmalade Diaries: The True Story of an Odd Couple follows Ben’s experience being a millennial lodger with a 80 year old widow as COVID shut everything down in 2020. But we also cover his various travel books including The Gran Tour and A Chip Shop in Poznan.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- J and C / The Cafe--plays by Ben Aitken

2- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

3- Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

4- The Gran Tour by Ben Aitken

5- The Marmalade Diaries by Ben Aitken

6- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

7- Dear Bill Bryson by Ben Aitken

8- A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken

9- The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

10- Hello Stranger by Will Buckingham

22- Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

23- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

24- Two Degrees by Alan Gratz

Movies mentioned--

The Way (2010)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

TV series mentioned --

1- The Sandman - Netflix (2022 - )

2- Game of Thrones - HBO (2011-2019)

3- The Witcher - Netflix (2019 - present)

4- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Amazon (2022 -)

Our guest this week is Natalie Martin, a voracious romance reader from Illinois who we met through Tabby Pawlitzki, host of Modern Life podcast. Natalie is the owner of Just Ask Nat! and a virtual assistant for authors and small businesses including the romance podcast Heaving Bosoms where she has also served as guest co-host.

We wanted to dig deep with a fellow book lover who reads romance almost exclusively to find out why this genre is so important to her and what authors she recommends for someone new to this category of novels. We talk about all kinds of romance tropes and themes and have a grand old time that devolves into a discussion that neither of our moms should listen to. But we don’t, as far as we know, violate any FCC regulations.

Books and Authors Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield

2- All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

3- Nancy Drew series

4- Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

5- Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas

6- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

7- A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings

8- Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan

9- Reel by Kennedy Ryan

10- Everything for You by Chloe Liese

11- Always Only You by Chloe Liese

12- Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

13- Xeni: A Marriage of Inconvenience by Rebekah Weatherspoon

14- Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn

15- Shirley Jackson: A Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

16- Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell (fiction)

17- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

18- We've Always Lived in the Castle

19- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

20- Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

21- Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score

22- Wretched Waterpark (Sinister Summer #1)by Kiersten White

23- Vampiric Vacation (Sinister Summer #2) by Kiersten White

24- Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett

TV/Movies mentioned--

1- Chopped (Hulu)

2- Bridgerton (Netflix)

Podcasts mentioned--

1- Heaving Bosoms

2- The Modern Life Podcast

This week we are joined by Shelley Sackier who has had an interesting literary journey. She is a young adult fiction writer who has recently published a book about scotch whisky called Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman’s Lifelong Discovery of Whisky. It is part Scotch history, a love letter to the country itself, and part memoir about how her love for the spirit developed especially after she completed an internship at a Scottish distillery. Over the course of 20 years, it has changed the trajectory of her life. Shelley works as a whiskey educator at Reservoir Distillery in Richmond, Virginia.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- Make it a Double: From Wretched from Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky by Shelley Sackier

2- The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny

3- The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

4- A Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way by Molly Birnbaum

5- The Babysitter: My Summers With a Serial Killer by Jennifer Jordan and Liza Rodman

6- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

In this week’s episode, we chat with Erin Flanagan, an author whose debut novel Deer Season won a 2022 Edgar Award for Best First Novel; her most recent book that published this past summer is a thriller called Blackout. Blackout revolves around a sociology professor named Maris who begins having blackouts despite the fact that she gave up drinking seven months before and then discovers other women in her community are experiencing the same thing. It’s a bit of a #metoo novel with some speculative science and some vodka thrown in. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Erin is also a creative writing professor at Wright State University in Ohio.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan

2- Blackout by Erin Flanagan

3- In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet

4- Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen Kirby

5- The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer

6- They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

7- The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1)by Nancy Springer

8- The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (Enola Holmes #2) by Nancy Springer

Movie Mentioned

1- Enola Holmes - 2020 (Netflix)

TV series mentioned:

1- Severance - 2022 (Apple +)

This week we speak with Cassie Moses, a mom from a small town in Central Kentucky. Cassie grew up in Eastern Kentucky at the Hindman Settlement School where her father was the administrator and where she met and befriended lots of Kentucky artists through the Appalachian Writers Workshop.

Cassie began a book club several years ago with her three daughters, and it has offered a way for her to read books that they’ve selected and have special one-on-one time with each of them to discuss these books while doing something special, like going out for ice cream or lunch. We also spend a few minutes speaking with her oldest child, Riley, who shares some of the great books she’s read with her mom.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

2- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

3- Diary of Anne Frank

4- Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

5- Lovely War by Julie Berry

6- House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

7- Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

8- Same Sun Here by Neela Vaswani and Silas House

9- The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

10- A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

11- The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

12- Percy Jackson series

13- Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

14- Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

15- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

16- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

17- The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

18- I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein

This week is a hybrid episode as we slowly creep back into a recording schedule after a nice long summer break. We’ve got Appalachia and Eastern Kentucky on our minds because of the recent catastrophic flooding in parts of the state so we decided that we’d rebroadcast part of an earlier episode with Kendra Winchester, founder of Read Appalachia on Instagram, who champions Appalachian writers on her feed.

But we also had the opportunity to speak this week with Bobi Conn, an Appalachian author and friend of the show who we interviewed in June of 2020 about her debut memoir "In the Shadow of the Valley", a raw and unflinching look at growing up in Eastern Kentucky and her dysfunctional family. Bobi has a new novel coming out at the end of August that incorporates more family stories she heard about her great grandpa, a moonshiner, and her great grandmother, who held the family together.

We will be back next week with the true start of Season 7 and an all new episode. Happy Reading!

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- A Woman in Time by Bobi Conn

2- In the Shadow of the Valley by Bobi Conn

3- Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

4- Embers on the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg

5- Finna by Nino Cipri

6- Defekt by Nino Cipri

7- Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan

8- Sabriel by Garth Nix

9- Books by Tamora Pierce

10- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

11- Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

12- Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

13- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

14- The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson

15- Affrilachia by Frank X. Walker

16- Southernmost by Silas House

17- Black Bone: 25 Years of Affrilachian Poets edited by Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Jeremy Paden

18- Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson

19- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

20- 3Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Cladsaddle

21- Step Into the Circle: Writers in Modern Appalachia edited by Amy Greene and Trent Thomson

In this last episode of Season 6, we feature a writer who we had the pleasure of meeting in real life at Carmichael’s Bookstore during a leg of her book tour. Courtney Maum is a celebrated author of literary fiction but her latest book is a memoir about how a return to horse riding in her late 30s helped her rediscover herself. It isn’t uncommon at all for women to lose themselves in their roles as mothers or wives or employees and forget what it is that brings them joy and passion and a sense of fun.

Courtney’s book, The Year of the Horses, follows her through personal losses and professional challenges and her ultimate decision to saddle up and not only ride again but take on a new equine endeavor–polo. Her book has been named "A Best Read for Mental Health" by The Today Show and also appears on Amazon's list of Best Books of 2022.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum

2- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jessmyn Ward

3- Navigate Your Stars by Jessmyn Ward

4- It's Great to Suck at Something: The Exceptional Benefits of Being Unexceptional by Karen Rinaldi

5- What's So Funny: A Cartoonist's Memoir by David Sipress

6- Woman Eating by Claire Kohda

7- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

Movies mentioned--

1- Interview With the Vampire (1994)

2- Bob and the Trees (2015)

3- Down With the King (2021)

We love independent bookstores and try to feature one each season, but this can be difficult. As small business owners, it is often difficult to carve time out of their weeks to speak with us. So we are always grateful when the stars align and we can make it happen.

This week’s episode features Michelle Haring, owner of Cupboard Maker Books in Enola, PA. She tells us about how she first sold rare books, then more widely used books, then new books. And the bookstore has also joined forces with a local nonprofit to “carry” (yes, we’re putting this in air quotes), adoptable cats. There are three store cats that visitors can always see–Mouse, Annika, and Zak. And what goes better with a cozy book than a cat on your lap (at least in Carrie’s estimation).

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

2- One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

3- Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words by Annika Sharma

4- Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score

5- Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

6- Riley Thorn series by Lucy Score

7- Notes on an Execution by Danya Kufafka

8- Death Motor series by Michelle Haring

Shows mentioned--

1- Stranger Things, Season 4 (2022)

2- Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

This is the time of year when lots and lots of people travel so it makes sense to have a travel memoirist on our show. Kate Wickers is a British writer who has spent 25 years or so writing about her extensive travel experiences and publishing in magazines and newspapers all over the world. When COVID hit, she decided to turn her many travels with her husband and three sons into a collection of essays about what travel has meant to their family and the lessons they’ve learned from the experiences travel has given them.

Her memoir, Shape of a Boy, offers a collection of really great stories that will make any parent who has traveled with children go down their own memory lane to remember both the highs and lows of travel when kids are involved. And we’re not the only ones who think her memoir is pretty awesome. National Geographic Traveller listed it as one of the “9 Best Travel Books for 2022.”

You can find Kate Wickers on Instagram at @wickers.kate and at her website katewickers.com

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- Shape of a Boy by Kate Wickers

2- The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb

3- Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal

4- The Marmalade Diaries: The True Story of an Odd Couple by Ben Aitken

5- The Gran Tour: Travels with My Elders by Ben Aitken

6- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

7- Da Vinci's Cat by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Once again we have our favorite local bookseller, Sam Miller, of Carmichaels Books in Louisville KY on the show to talk about summer reads. She is like our in house book seller who joins us every summer and winter to tell us what is new and notable in bookstores.

Not all of these books are the typical fluffy summer books about the beach and booze; we have her cover all genres—sci/fi, cookbooks, local authors, YA, and literary fiction. We always enjoy when Sam visits us. And this week besides us, she also got to visit with resident cat Miso who was spreading the love around in the studio while we were recording.

www.carmichaelsbookstore.com

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

1- The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb

2- Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

3- In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet

4- This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

5- Horse by Geraldine Brooks

6- Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane

7- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

8- The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

9- Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

10- How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

11- Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

12- Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

13- A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

14- A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

15- Little Brother by Sallie Bingham

16- The Silver Swan: In Search of Doris Duke by Sallie Bingham

17- Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith

18- Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offut

19- These Killing Hills by Chris Offut

20- Kentucky Straight by Chris Offut

21- These Prisoning Hills by Christopher Rowe

22- River of the Gods by Candice Millard

23- The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

24- You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

25- Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

26- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

27- Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

28- I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong

29- An Immense World by Ed Yong

30- Tree Thieves by Lyndsie Bourgon

31- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

32- Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

33- The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

34- The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

355- Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

36- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

37- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

38- Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

39- The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

40- Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

41- The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson

42- Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White

43- I Dream of Dinner So You Don’t Have To by Ali Slagle

44- Snacks for Dinner by Lukas Volger

45- Watermelon and Red Birds by Nicole Taylor

46- Passersthrough by Peter Rock

47- My Old Kentucky Home by Emily Bingham

48- How The Word is Passed by Clint Smith

49- Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams

50- Six Days in Rome by Francesca Giacco

51- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Shows mentioned—

Justified (FX and Hulu 2010-2016)