Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.

So back during Season 10 we flew to Los Angeles, California for the LA Times Festival of Books, which was held on the campus of USC. We were able to meet our bookish friend, Jennifer Caloyeras from the Books Are My People podcast; hear cool authors and audiobook narrators speak; and visit some awesome places in LA.

Amy is usually the one who reads around the places she is visiting, although she is apparently rubbing off on me because I’m finding myself doing it too. We decided to make an episode centered around Los Angeles/Hollywood reads.

Books Discussed in This Episode:

1- Everything I Learned, I Learned In a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin

2- The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen

3- The Library Book by Susan Orlean

4- A 5 Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Lauren Becker @laurenashleybecker- Elephant and Castle by Hannah Ledford

5- Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins series) by Walter Mosley

6- The Monstrous Misses Mai by Van Hoang

7- Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

8- Daytime Drama by Sarahlyn Bruck

9- Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem

10- California Dreamin: The True Story of the Mamas and Papas by Michelle Phillips

12- Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

13- Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

14- The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia

15- Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle

16- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

17- Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

18- Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

19- Wildfire by Hannah Grace

Movies mentioned--

Feast of Death (documentary about James Ellroy) - 2001

Articles mentioned--

100 Best Books of the 21st Century - www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/…21st-century.html

Episodes mentioned--

1- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com/episodes/…m-vidrine

2- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com/episodes/…akespeare

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.

You can find Mai Corland on IG @maicorland as well as at her website at meredithireland.wordpress.com

This episode begins Season 11 for us–we’ve got over 200 episodes under our belts and are back to bring you more.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that fantasy is big right now, and we discovered a fun fantasy that feels like an Ocean’s 11 type romp with multiple characters trying to take down a king. The book is titled Five Broken Blades and it is written by Mai Corland. We were delighted to speak with her a couple weeks back, especially since she is now an international bestselling author. And in fact, while recording this episode you will hear Mai receiving some good news. While some people might let this success go to their heads, Mai is down-to-earth and gets entirely too much pleasure poking fun at her new status.

We chat about the fantasy series she can’t stop recommending, why writing middle grade and YA novels was such good prep for pacing in her new romantic fantasy, and how riding the subway opened up her world as a teen.

Books Discussed In This Episode:

1- Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

2- Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland

3- You Are Here: Connected Flights edited by Ellen Oh

4- Emma and the Love Spell by Meredith Ireland

5- The Jasmine Project by Meredith Ireland

6- Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

7- Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

8- The Jane City trilogy by Fonda Lee

9- The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

10- 5 Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Marné Deranger @readerbythewater - Sandwich by Catherine Newman

11- Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives by Melissa Bruntlett and Chris Bruntlett

12- Such Charming Liars by Karen McManus

13- One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

14- The Cousins by Karen McManus

15- Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

***We are on summer hiatus but will be back with an all new episode next week! Happy Reading!

This week we are talking all about journeys. Whether they be physical or mental, we whisk you away in a good book. Choose from 10 book recommendations from Carrie and Amy for when you're ready to be on the move.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.

Books Mentioned in this Episode

1- How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas Foster

2- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

3- Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

4- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

5- The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor by Aubrey Hartman

6- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester (The Surgeon of Crowthorne)

7- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

8- Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Lauren Artress

9- Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

10- Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

11- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

12- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

13- What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Most Mysterious Portrait by Eden Collinsworth

14- News of the World by Paulette Jilles

15- Enemy Women by Paulette Jilles

16- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

17- The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas

18- A Pearl in a Storm: How I Found my Heart in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean by Tori Murden McClure

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

20- Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker

21- Cosmic Cats and Fantastic Furballs by Mary Turzillo

22- Your Cat and Other Space Aliens by Mary Turzillo

23- Mars is No Place for Children by Mary Turzillo

5 Star Book Recommendation by a Book Lover 1- Empire Of A Vampire by Jay Christoff recommended by Tiffany K., Omaha, NE. Instagram @chaiteaandbooksareallineed

Shows/Movies watched—

1- American Born Chinese (Disney+, 2023)

2- Annihilation (Netflix, 2018)

3- The Professor and the Madman (2019)

Labirynth Locator www.labyrinthlocator.com

Bookish News

Article about Henrietta Lacks apnews.com/article/henrietta-l…efa34c9b79a544f0729

We are on summer hiatus until July 10, 2024. Until then, please check out this episode about humor and books that made us laugh. It originally aired April 2023.

Did you know it is National Humor Month? Neither did we but now we do and so do you. Which means this week we are talking about books that make us laugh.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.

Books We Mentioned:

1- The Peripheral by William Gibson

2- Foundation by Isaac Asimnov

3- Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

4- The Martian by Andy Weir

5- The Alaskan Laundry by Brendan Jones

6- Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

7- The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

8- The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

9- Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

10- Yearbook by Seth Rogen

11- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

12- The Guncle by Steven Rowley

13- Why Don't You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It? A Mother's Suggestions by Patricia Marx; illustrated by Roz Chast

14- Calypso by David Sedaris

15- A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson

16- Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel by Suzanne Roberts

17- Dirtbag, Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald

18- She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

19- Sacred Geometry by Robert Lawlor

20- Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis

21- What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry

22- Hestia Strikes A Match by Christine Grillo

23- My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimers by Sandeep Jauhar

24- Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson

TV Series mentioned:

1- The Peripheral (Amazon Prime 2023)

2- Foundation (Apple+ 2021)

Bookish News

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/…olastic.html

****We are still on hiatus but will be back with all new episodes in a few weeks. Until then, enjoy our Summer Reading episode from last year with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, from Carmichaels Books. Her suggestions may not be hot off the press but still make for great reads. Happy Reading!

At the start of summer, we like to chat with Sam Miller, bookseller and manager at Carmichael’s Bookstore here in Louisville (We actually like to chat with Sam anytime, but she has especially useful information about new books twice a year.) Sam does the heavy lifting this week by telling us what is coming out and might be good for your TBR list.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

2- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

3- Be Mine by Richard Ford

4- The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

5- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

6- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

7- Color of Water by James McBride

8- Deacon King Kong by James McBride

9- The Tusk that Did the Damage by Tania James

10- Loot by Tania James

11- Happy Place by Emily Henry

12- I Didn’t Do It by Jamie Lynn Hendricks

13- Only One Left by Riley Sager

14- Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

15- Independence Square by Martin Cruz Smith

16- Small Mercies by Dennis LeHane

17- Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway

18- Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong

19- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

20 The Other Renaissance by Paul Strathern

21- Ice by Amy Brady

22- The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II by David Chrisinger

23- Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer

24- A Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

25- Pageboy by Elliot Page

26- Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams

27- Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong

28- King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

29- Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

30- Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman

31- Franklin Smoke by Aaron Franklin

32- Love is a Pink Cake by Claire Ptak

33- Back to the Dirt by Frank Bill

34- Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

35- If You Write Me a Letter, Send it Here by Louisville Story Program

36- Gay Poems for Red States by Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.

37- Tar Hollow Trans by Stacy Jane Grover

38- The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

39- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

40- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

41- Weather Together by Jessie Sima

42- The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

43- Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane

44- Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

45- Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott

46- Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

47- Prom Mom by Laura Lippman

48- The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman

We are on hiatus for the month of June. This replay episode originally aired June 2023.

This week we celebrate all the special days of June! Want a book rec for Pride month? We have one. What about Juneteenth or Father's Day? We have you covered. And did you know it's National Audiobook Month? It's new to us as well but we love audiobooks so we give you some recommendations for that too. And we throw in one wildcard category - one of those random National Days or Months that always makes you wonder why there needs to be a month for that:)

This is the last episode for Season 8. We are taking a month off for summer family travel and some rest and relaxation. We will be back the late July/ early August with all new episodes. Until then, we will air some of our favorite past episodes in case you missed them the first time around.

Happy Reading!

For show notes for any episode or to contact us, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

2- The Road by Cormac McCarthy

3- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

4- Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo

5- Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo

6- The Scent of a Garden by Namrata Patel

7- The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel

8- The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule

9- Fun Home: A Famliy Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

10- Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

11- And Then the Grey Heaven by RE Katz

12- Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

13- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

14- Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

15- The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

16- The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

17- The Chosen by Chaim Potok

18- Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

19- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

20- The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

21- Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham

22- The Good One by Polly Stewart

23- On Earth as it is on Television by Emily Jane

Shows/movies mentioned--

1- No Country For Old Men ( 2007)

2- My Octopus Teacher (Netflix, 2020)

Articles Mentioned:

1- Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian writer who was voice of African women, dies at 81

2- The convoluted world of best-seller lists, explained

We are on hiatus for the month of June. This is a replay episode from 2023.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover.

This week are celebrating AAPI Heritage Month (Asian American Pacific Islander) and we give you a list of 10 (plus maybe a few more) of our favorite books to add to your TBR written by authors with family heritage from this part of the world. We give you books in a variety of genres; literary fiction, historical fiction, memoir, food writing, graphic novels, horror, poetry, and middle grade.

So join us this week as we explore the big wide world of Asia and the Pacific Islands heritage in literature. Plus, we talk about the most recent Jane Austen film adaptation we've watched, a new environmentally friendly product we've tried, and why sometimes it might be nice to be a disembodied head.

Books mentioned-- 1- Persuasion by Jane Austen

2- Emma by Jane Austen

3- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

4- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

6- The Girls of Fall by Jessica Minyard

7- You Should Have Known by Rebecca Keller

8- An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helen Tursten

9- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

10- Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia

11- The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel

12- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

13- The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

14- The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

15- Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine by Edward Lee

16- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

17- The Fervor by Alma Katsu

18- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

19- Two Brown Dots by Danni Quintos

20- World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

21- A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

22- The Milk Lady of Bangalore by Shoba Narayan

23- Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson

24- Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

25- Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

26- The Cheating Cell: How Evolution Helps Us Understand and Treat Cancer by Athena Aktipis

27- A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

28- The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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

Movies mentioned--

1- Persuasion (Netflix 2022)

2- Ted Lasso - Season 3 (Apple TV 2023)

3- Jury Duty (Amazon 2023)

4- Enchanted (2007)

5- The Terror (Hulu 2018)

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the contact button.

We will be on a much needed hiatus for the entire month of June and a smidge into July. You will get replays of some of our book recommendation episodes from last year, but toward the end of June, we may have a remix episode where we catch up with a former guest.

This last episode of Season 10 is about a very important topic. Although May is almost over, it isn’t too late to recognize books for Mental Health Awareness month. Carrie and I both know and appreciate that mental health is part of total health. Your brain is a really big, extremely powerful, exceedingly important part of your body. If it ain’t happy, no other part of you is happy either. It’s no different than your kidneys or heart not performing their best. This week we give you some book recommendations, both fiction and nonfiction, that highlight mental health or bring some exposure to mental health issues.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler

2- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

3- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

4- And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps - A 5 star read recommended by fellow book lover Cassie Sanders @allroadsleadtoausten

5- Starfish by Lisa Fipps

6- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

7- The Professor and the Madman: a Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

8- The Sleeping Beauties by Suzanne O' Sullivan

9- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

10- Wesley Yorstad Goes Outside by Stephanie Hunter

11- All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

12- Homer and Langley by EL Doctorow

13- The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

14- The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

15- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

16- Sylvia Plath: A Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin

17- Anne Sexton: A Biography by Diane Wood Middlebrook

18- The Act of Disappearing by Nathan Gower

19- The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum

20- Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-Trotting Hypochondriac by Jeremy Hance

21- The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

22- Jingo by Terry Pratchett

23- Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

24- Mort by Terry Pratchett

25- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Shows/podcasts mentioned—

1- Barry (HBO, 2018 - 2023)

2- Reservation Dogs (Hulu, 2021 - 2023)

3- Good Omens (Amazon Prime, 2019 - present)

4- Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch - podcast