This week we chat with a Lexington, Kentucky bookstagrammer, Shawntaye, who is such a devoted reader that she makes books part of virtually everything she does, from socializing to volunteering. Amy met Shawntaye in real life before COVID and the Perks has been following her bookish adventures ever since.

Shawntaye talks to us about a panel discussion she lead in which she recommended books that uplift Black women, as well as what she has learned from being a board member of her local library and how the reading events she attends enrich her life. She also shares her very strong (and funny) feelings about why she does not set numerical reading goals each year.

Books Discussed in this Episode:

1- Finna by Nino Cipri

2- What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World by Henry Clark

3- What We Found in the Corn Maze and How It Saved a Dragon by Henry Clark

4- Heidi by Johanna Spyri

5- Forever by Judy Blume

6- Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

7- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

8- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

9- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

10- The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

11- Power: The Rise of Black Women in America by Charity C. Elder

12 - My Beautiful Black Hair by St. Clair Detrick-Jules

13- My Hair is Like the Sun by St. Clair Detrick-Jules

14- Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

15- The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

16- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

17- Enter the Body by Joy McCullough

18- Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

19- Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen

20- The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

As podcast people ourselves, we are always interested in checking out other unique book-related podcasts. You can find a podcast to fit any interest no matter how obscure; there is something for everyone out in the pod universe.

Our guest this week is Amy Drown, the founder, producer, and host of Gibson Girl Review, a podcast that focuses on novels from the Gilded Age and Progressive era, circa 1870-1920. Edith Wharton and Henry James are authors from this time you may have had to read in high school, but for the most part, novels from these time periods have mostly been forgotten among the general reading public. Amy likes to give them a fresh reading. She has found that many of the problems we deal with in 2024 are very similar to the ones people dealt with some 130+ years ago.

Amy is a historian herself with a vast collection of old books she inherited from her family. In the end, she just wanted to read them instead of have them languishing on a shelf, and The Gibson Girl Review podcast was born.

Books Discussed in This Episode:

1- The Passionate Epicure by Marcel Rouff

2- The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

3- My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

4- A Room With A View by E.M. Forster

5- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

6- Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

7- Jan of the Windmill by Juliana Horatia Ewing

8- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

9 - Heidi by Johanna Spyri

10- Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

11- Poor Dear Theodora by Florence Irwin

12- The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope

13- Her First Appearance by Richard Harding Davis

14- Five Star Book Recommendation from Nelwina @toallreaders - The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan

15- The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage edited by M. Elizabeth Weiser and others

16- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

17- Winterfrost by Michelle Houts

Movies and Shows mentioned—

1- The Taste of Things (2023)

2- A Room With a View (1985)

3- The Gilded Age (HBOMax, 2022- present)

4- Downton Abbey (Peacock, 2010- 2015)

This week we are talking time bending books, series, and movies including time travel, time loop, and time slip. Here is a link for more info on this subgenera.

www.abookgeek.com/exploring-the-pa…hrough-the-ages/

Books mentioned--

1- Number The Stars by Lois Lowry

2- Intrigue in Istanbul by Ericka Ruth Neubauer

3- The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

4- Time Machine by HG Wells

5- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

6- The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier

7- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

8- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffenegger

9- Midnight Library by Matt Haig

10- Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

11- Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen

12- Time and Again by Jack Finney

13- 11/22/63 by Stephen King

14- Da Vinci's Cat by Catherine Gilbert Murdoch

15- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

16-Kindred by Octavia Butler

17- Neverworld Wake by Marissa Pessl

18- Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

19- A Boy And His Dog At The End of The World by C.A. Fletcher - 5 star read recommended by Heather Crotwell @readingwithavengeance

20- Orchard by Larry Watson

21- Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

22- Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspired the World by Jean Duffy

Other stuff mentioned--

1- Radiolab episode about Einstein's brain - radiolab.org/podcast/g-relative-genius

2- Disney's Frozen (Broadway Across America)

3- Number the Stars (Stage One theater production)

4- Dark (Netflix, 2017-2020) German

5- Bodies (Netflix, 2023) British

6- BeForeigners (Amazon Prime, 2019- ) Norwegian

7- Interstellar (2014)

8- Tenet (2020)

9-Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

10- Back to the Future (1985)

11- Sliding Doors (1998)

12- Time Bandits (1981)

13- Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

14- Donnie Darko (2001)

15- Kindred (Hulu, 2022)

16- Altering Picture Books link - popular.info/p/pressed-by-moms-for-liberty-florida

** This was not a source I was familiar with even though it was being quoted by Pen America so I consulted www.Mediabiasfactcheck.com. This was their summary of this source. "Overall, we rate Popular Information Left Biased based on story selection and editorial content that routinely favors liberal causes. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record."

This week we talk to the father-daughter team of Marty Ohlhaut and Grace Ly. They have written a travel memoir called Tent for Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West.

This book is based on the true story of their family camping trip to the Canadian Rockies which went horribly wrong in the 1990s. Marty, his wife Jolene, and their 5 children flew from Charlotte NC to the Pacific Northwest and then drove a van to several spots in the majestic Canadian mountains. They camped in their family tent, lovingly referred to as Big Blue. While there, so many things went awry but most importantly, Jolene was severely injured and had to be taken to a hospital where she spent many days. The Ohlhaut family was in disarray but Good Samaritans named the Walshes came to the rescue.

This family is genetically predisposed to adventure. You will hear Marty talk about some wild things he has seen and done, and even though Grace doesn’t doesn’t mention it, she also is an adventure seeker. She dog sleds in Finland and rock climbs in Colorado. Carrie and I are so boring in comparison.

Books Discussed in this Episode:

1- Tent for Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West by Marty Ohlhaut and Grace Ly

2- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

3- Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

4- Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

5- The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule

6- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

7- In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton

8- Slow Horses by Mick Herron

9- Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas by Mick Herron

10- The Future by Naomi Alderman - 5 star read recommended by Shelley Anderson @shelleyanderson4127

11- Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Shows mentioned--

1- Slow Horses (Apple +)

Links mentioned--

www.poets.org to sign up for the Poem-a-day email

This week we talk to Huda Fahmy, a graphic novelist whose 4th book Huda F Cares? was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. Her book focuses on a teenage Muslim girl named Huda who takes a road trip in the family’s station wagon from Michigan to Florida to visit Disneyworld with her parents and many sisters. There she grapples with wanting to fit in with her peers but also wanting to stay true to her family and her Muslim religion with issues like wearing her hijab and praying in public.

The character Huda in her book is based on the author’s experience growing up in an Egyptian family that immigrated to the US. Huda talks about her love of comics and how she picked up English in part by reading Garfield comic books. Huda began writing graphic novels at the age of 30 when two of her sisters encouraged her to turn her essays of Muslim American life into illustrated stories.

Books mentioned in This Episode:

1- Huda F Cares? by Huda Fahmy

2- Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy

3- Yes, I'm Hot in This by Huda Fahmy

4- Huda F Wants To Know by Huda Fahmy

5- That Can be Arranged by Huda Fahmy

6- Murder by Degrees by Rita Mukerji

7- Hide by Tracy Clark

8- Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe

9- Erasure by Percival Everett

10- Mexikid by Pedro Martin

11- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

12- Brave by Svetlana Chmakova

13- It Won't Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib

14- Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali

15- All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

16- A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

17- As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

18- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Juno Diaz

19- Hidden Systems by Dan Nott

20- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

21- Checkmate by Ali Hazelwood

22- Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

23- The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

24- The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Shows/Films mentioned--

1- Poor Things (2023)

2- American Fiction (2023)

3- The Old Man and the Pool (Netflix 2023)

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Paddling North by Audrey Sutherland (Rec by Ritu Mukerji)

2- Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (Rec by Anna Pitoniak)

3- The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Rec by Anna Pitoniak)

4- Working by Robert Caro (Rec by Rachel M. Harper)

5- The Seven Moons by Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Rec by Mel Joulwan of Strong Sense of Place Podcast)

6- A Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel (Rec by David Humphries of Strong Sense of Place Podcast)

7- The Gilded Page by Mary Wellesley (Rec by Kristine Eckart of Gilmore Book Club)

8- Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs (Rec by Kristine Eckart of Gilmore Book Club)

9- Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Rec by Kika Hatzapoulou)

10- All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby (Rec by Katrina Kittle)

11- Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Rec by Katrina Kittle)

12- Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the 20th Century by Dana Stephens (Rec by Mick Sullivan of The Past and The Curious Podcast)

13- River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit (Rec by Mick Sullivan of The Past and the Curious Podcast)

14- If We Were Villains by ML Rio (Rec by Katrina Monroe)

15- The Wanderers by Meg Howrey (Rec by Lydia Welker of the Appalachian Prison Book Project)

16- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Rec by Kelsey Madges, middle school librarian)

Carrie's Favorite Books of the Year

1- The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

2- Atomic Family by Ciera Horton McElroy

3- Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan

4- Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith

5- We All Wants Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Amy's Favorite Books of the Year

1- Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

2- Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

3- Martin Marten by Brian Doyle

4- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue

5- The Keeper by Kelcey Ervick

6- Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Other Recommendations:

1- American Murderer by Gail Jarrow

2- Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and 500 Miles Across Spain by Andrew McCarthy

3- These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

4- Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

5- Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

6- The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

7- Blacktop Wasteland by SA Cosby

8- Wool by Hugh Howey (and the TV adaptation on Apple + called Silo)

Escambia County Dictionary Ban -

www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio…ban/72202686007/

This week we chat with Kelcey Ervick whose graphic memoir The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives I (Amy) discovered after our friend and former guest, Bethany, told us about what a great book it was.

Kelcey is the author of four books but The Keeper is her first foray into a full graphic experience. She weaves her own personal story of being a high school and Division I college soccer player with the history and effect Title IX has had on women in all areas of their lives, not just in sports. If you loved the feminist bent of the movie Barbie, this book will give you similar vibes.

The Keeper has been recommended by the NYT Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, and was the winner of the state literary prize of Ohio, the Ohioana Book Award, which has been awarded to other notable authors including Celeste NG, Ross Gay, and John Scalzi. Even if you aren’t a sports fan (and I am not), you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Remember, that in Season 10, Amy has a new project which is to give listeners book recommendations. If you’re looking for a book set in Romania, or a book about rabbits, or a book about changelings, or anything in between, send us a message and we’ll recommend a similar read you can add to your nightstand.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women's Lives by Kelcey Ervick

2- The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

3- The Bitter Life of Bozena Nemcova: A Biographical Collage by Kelcey Ervick

4- The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature edited by Kelcey Ervick and Tom Hart

5- Good Talk by Mira Jacob

6- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

7- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

8- Pretending is Lying by Dominique Goblet

9- The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

10- Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

11- Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

12- Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler

13- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

14- America Redux by Ariel Aberg-Riger

15- Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen

16- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue

5 Star Book Recommendation by a Fellow Book Lover Barbara K. - @msbarbarasbookshelf - Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Podcasts mentioned--

The To Read List Podcast (Jul 2020 episode)

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

2- The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

3- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

4- Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopolou

5- Krazyland by Mar Romasco-Moore

6- Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

7- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

8- Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain by Andrew McCarthy

9- The Weight We Carry by Christina Consolino

10- The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann

11- House of Gold by CT Rwizi

12- The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

13- Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

14- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

15- Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

16- Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind who changed the Bible and Why by Bart Ehrman

17- The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

18- The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu

19- Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy

20- I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnambalam

Five Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Carol @pirotandpinot

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

Movies and TV series Discussed

1- Creature (2023/Netflix)

2- The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015-2017)

3- Mary Shelley (2015)

4- The Family Stone (2005)

5- Knock at the Cabin (2023)√

This week we chat with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, from Carmichael’s Bookstore. Each November we let her do the heavy lifting and share books that have come out and might be good choices for your holiday shopping.

If you would like to check out Carmichael’s Bookstore Holiday Book Gift Guide, you can find it online at www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

2- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

3- Foster by Claire Keegan

4- So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

5- Let us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

6- Fraud by Zadie Smith

7- Armor of Light by Ken Follett

8- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

9- Julia by Sandra Newman

10- 1984 by George Orwell

11- Reformatory by Tananarive Due

12- Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

13- A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

14- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

15- West Heart Kill by Dann Mcdorman

16- The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

17- The Appeal by Janice Hallett

18- The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

19- Stalking Shakespeare by Lee Durkee

20- They Flew by Carlos Eire

21- Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

22- Wild Girls by Tiya Miles

23- The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

24- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl

25- Watership Down (graphic novel) by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin

26- Watership Down by Richard Adams

27- Energy Follows Thought by Willie Nelson

28- World Within a Song by Jeff Tweedy

29- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

30- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

31- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

32- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

33- Legend & Lattes by Travis Baldree

34- World Central Kitchen Cookbook by Jose Andres

35- Every Cook, Every Kitchen by Feed Louisville

36- Oldest Louisville by Kevin Gibson

37- Always Moving Forward by David Jones and Bob Hill

38- Back Page by Byron Crawford

39- Fathers by Richard Taylor

40- From the Heads of the Hollers by Shelby Lee Adams

41- Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

42- Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys by DMS Fick

43- Rabbit Heart by Kristine S. Ervin

44- My Dark Places by James Ellroy

45- Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore

46- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

47- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

48- The Man who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued his Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford

49- Mr. Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Casey @Caseys_reads

12 Months To Live by James Patterson and Mike Lupica

Movie and Series Mentioned:

- CODA (2021) - Apple +

- Bodies (2023) - Netflix

Our guest this week, Ritu Mukerji, is a busy, full-time physician and a mother of 3, but she managed to find time to write her first novel, a recently published historical fiction mystery titled Murder by Degrees about a female physician in late 19th century Philadelphia. She was inspired by her love of the mystery genre as well as her experience living in Philadelphia while getting her medical degree where she would often visit places where female doctors had paved the way for other women to follow.

We chat with Ritu about why physicians can make good detectives, and she shares some of her favorite mystery series and the recipe for her favorite Thanksgiving side dish that’s been prepared in her family for over 30 years.

You can find Ritu on socials at @ritumukerji and at her website: www.ritumukerji.com

To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

2- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

3- Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

4- Maisie Dobbs series by Jaqueline Winspear

5- Inspector Rutledge series by Charles Todd

6- Books by PD James, Ruth Rendell, and Barbara Vine

7- Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell

8- Truman by David McCullough

9- Grant by Ron Chernow

10- Lincoln by David Herbert Donald

11- The Dry by Jane Harper

12- Mother of Strangers by Suad Amiry

13- The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

14- The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

15- George: A Magpie Memoir by Frieda Hughes

16- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

5 Star Read Recpmmended by Fellow Book Lover Amy @readthisandsteep - Mercury by Amy Jo Burns

Ritu Mukerji's family recipe

Cranberry Salsa

(adapted from Oakland Tribune, Nov 1990)

-2 cups cranberries

-4 tsp grated orange peel

-2 large oranges, peeled to remove white membrane, then coarsely chopped

-1/4 cup minced onion

-1/4 cup olive oil

-1 tbsp minced cilantro

-1 tbsp minced ginger

-1 small hot green chile (jalapeno or serrano)--stemmed, seeded and minced

-salt to taste

Whirl cranberries in a blender until chopped, then empty in a bowl. Add orange peel, chopped orange (drained), onion, oil, cilantro, ginger and chile. Mix well and blend sauce; add salt to taste. Serve, or cover and chill, as long as overnight.