The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

This week we chat with Brittany Thurman, a native of Kentucky, who has recently published her first children’s picture book titled Fly illustrated by Anna Cunha. She worked as a children's specialist at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh which is where the idea to write her own book occurred, and she even took inspiration from one of the children who would come to her storytimes. Fly is the story of a young girl who wants to enter a double dutch jump rope competition but doesn’t know how to double dutch. She asks her friends for tips and while they don't know how either, they each give her a piece of knowledge that helps her be more confident in her dreams. In this episode, she tells about the creation of this book as well as other books that she has in the pipeline, including one about the first public library built for and staffed by African Americans in the United States, which is the Western branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system. Brittany is a very busy new author. You can find Brittany on instagram at @britjanee and at her website at www.brittanythurman.com. Follow us on Facebook at The Perks of Being a Book Lover or on Instagram at @perksofbeingabookoverpod to see what we're up to. For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Books Mentioned in this Episode: 1- Fly by Brittany Thurman and Illustrated by Anna Cunha 2- Fearless: Boulevard of Dreams by Mandy Gonzalez with Brittany Thurman 3- Forever and Always by Brittany Thurman 4- Addie Walker--American Girl series 5- Goosebumps series by R.L.Stine 6- Replica series by Marilyn Kaye 7- Mary Kate & Ashley series 8- A Surgeon in the Village: An American Doctor Teaches Brain Surgery in Africa by Tony Bartelme 9- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 10- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi 11- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 12- Stunt Boy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds 13- A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow 14- Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

We are excited to open up Season 5 with suspense writer David Bell. He is the USA Today bestselling author of 11 books and his most recent offering hit the bookshelves yesterday. His newest Kill All Your Darlings is the interconnection of all kinds of hot topics; showing the dark side of academia and what happens when plagiarism makes you the prime suspect of a murder. Plus add some professor ickiness that would make the #Metoo movement cringe and you have a page turner that book websites like SheReads and Frolic call a most anticipated summer reads for 2021. David is a professor of English at Western Kentucky University and heads up their MFA creative writing program. Books mentioned in this episode: 1- Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell 2- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein 3- King Arthur & His Knights by Mabel Louise Robinson 4- I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara 5- Somebody I Used to Know by David Bell 6- OCDaniel by Wesley King, narrated by Ramon de Ocampo 7- Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly, narrated by Ramon de Ocampo 8- Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar 9- Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin 10- Cemetery Girl by David Bell Movies mentioned-- Together, Together directed by Nikole Beckwith Tenet, directed by Christopher Nolan TV shows mentioned I'll Be Gone in the Dark  - Limited series on HBO

This week Carrie and I traveled to record at the Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion, which is a Victorian era mansion built in 1871, with 12-foot ceilings, hand-carved wood balusters, and intricately designed colorful wallpapers. It has been preserved and enveloped by the campus of Spalding University and is the location of their School of Creative and Professional Writing and home base for today’s guest, debut novelist Katy Yocom. Katy’s novel, Three Ways to Disappear, was published in 2019 and has won numerous awards including The Siskiyou Prize for Environmental Fiction. It has also been selected as a Barnes and Noble Indie Book Favorite. Katy has vivid memories of as a child reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott out loud with her mother. It was a short leap to her writing her own book about the intricacies of animal conservation and family bonds. Katy tells us how her obsession with a set of newborn tiger cubs at the Louisville Zoo 14 years ago started her on the path to write her book, how a suggestion from an astute editor changed the trajectory of her novel, and why she believes much of the riskier and cutting edge literature is being published by small independent presses and how important it is to support them. Books Discussed in this Episode 1- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia 2- Severance by Ling Ma 3- The Road by Cormac McCarthy 4- Kindred by Octavia Butler

Our guests today are members of a group they comicly refer to as a “literary gang”, a book club called The Monstrous Regiment, a name based on a book by author Terry Pratchett that features a feminist manifesto. Hannah Zimmerman and Amelia Reesor started the group 3 ½ years ago with a focus on female-centric books, although as you will soon realize, every rule is meant to be broken in this high energy crowd of both male and female 20 and 30 somethings. Hannah and Amelia talk to us about the difference between being a group that is female-centric versus feminist, why having male members adds interesting insights to their book discussions, and how they were surprised that the group has gone from a typical book club to a supportive social network.   Books Mentioned in this Episode: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins Coraline by Neil Gaiman The Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett Beloved by Toni Morrison My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite The Power by Naomi Alderman The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert Medallion Status by John Hodgman The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Winter's Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.

There is a saying, “If you want a happy ending, read a cookbook”. Our guest, Laura Lucchese, is in a book club that always ends well because her group reads and then produces a group meal from cookbooks. James Beard, the great culinary expert said, food is our common ground, a universal experience. In our mind, to bring books and food together is a match made in heaven. Laura tells us how many cookbooks have a narrative story just like a traditional book, why cooking from a cuisine outside your own encourages discussion, and how modern cookbooks offer a different philosophy to entertaining that diverges from the older well-known cookbook authors like Martha Stewart. Books Mentioned in this Episode. Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman Dining In by Alison Roman Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman Indianish by Priya Krishna Bottom of the Pot by Naz Deravian Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee Everyday is Saturday by Sarah Copeland How They Choked by Georgia Bragg Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi Do You Mind If I Cancel by Gary Janetti Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Bad Blood by John Carreyrou A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood Sourdough by Robin Sloan You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.        

Our guest today is what Mr. Rogers would call a “helper”. I first saw William Sutton on Louisville MetroTV, where he was interviewed about his work with children and it was obvious that he was something special. William works in the children’s department of the Portland branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system. Portland is one of the largest neighborhoods in Louisville and one that has a long and rich history. In the late 1800s it had the first trolley line from downtown and was the welcoming home to many waves of immigrants including Irish and German. In recent years this neighborhood has hit hard times; it has one of the lowest income levels in the city, but it is experiencing a rebirth with numerous art galleries, stores, and restaurants coming to the area. Nowhere is the small community spirit more evident though than in its neighborhood library. William Sutton is a favorite face there and you will see why. His joy in his work is infectious. He talks to us about why being a black male in a female heavy field is important for children to see, how comic books built the basis for his literary life, and why black superheroes can be an inspiration for teens to find the strength in themselves.   Books Mentioned in this Episode: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis Storm by Eric Jerome Dickey The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.

As this is our last episode for the season and we are in the middle of the holidays, we wanted to give you a feel good show. Today we are talking Little Free Libraries. Have you seen the cute little boxes of all colors and sizes on posts where you just open the door and you can take a book? Is there one in your neighborhood? The Little Free Library national movement is 10 years old this year and we wanted to celebrate this anniversary by exploring the movement in our community with our 2 guests this week. Mary Sullivan is a master builder with Metro United Way who spearheaded the Little Free LIbrary movement in underserved neighborhoods of Louisville which now includes 42 little libraries. Joan Dubay is a retired teacher who implemented a Little Free Library at her church and continues to maintain it by adding upwards of 50 books a week to the library. Mary and Joan talk to us about how they first found out about Little Free Libraries, why Little libraries were chosen as a way to help local children be school successful, and how this movement is a revolving door of good feels. They wowed us with the surprising number of books being shared. Mary wants our listeners to know that if you have books you would like to donate they can be delivered to Metro United Way, 334 E. Broadway in Louisville between the hours of 8:45-4:30 Monday-Friday. If you need other times call 502.583-2821 and leave a message for Mary Sullivan. Books Mentioned in this Episode: Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Holloway Scott The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.

Our guest this week, Kara Evans, is a transplant to Louisville by way of New Jersey and Atlanta and was looking for a fun way to meet new people. She is a healthcare consultant specializing in technology but her hobbies have always included reading and movies. So she decided to create a book and movie club called Books Going to the Big Screen which can be found on the platform Meetup.com, a site with a plethora of different kinds of groups you can join in any geographical area. Kara tells us the benefits and the frustrations of having Hollywood pick the book selections, why she needs crazy good research skills to keep up with the ongoing movie schedule, how their discussions in this club feel completely different than a regular bookclub when you are comparing and contrasting two different mediums, and how reading has always been her escape. Books Mentioned in this Episode: I'm Down by Mishna Wolff Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt The Lady From the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.

Our guest today is a history buff who has taken his interest in the past to a whole new level. Mick Sullivan is a history educator at the Frazier History Museum and is in charge of their youth and family programs. But he is also the creator of the children’s history podcast, The Past and the Curious, which Common Sense Media lists as one of the best podcasts for kids. His quirky combo of humor and music keeps both kids and adults interested and sneaks in a little history in the process. His podcast includes a bit of an earworm song about local coffee shop Heine Bros Coffee So even if history isn’t your jam, check it out just for that tune. The success of his podcast has led to the publishing of his first children’s book, The Meat Shower, which is a fun telling of the historical event of meat (yes I just said meat) literally raining down on a Kentucky farm in the 1800s. In fact what is even more curious, there is still no explanation of this unusual event today. Mick tells us how his podcast grew out of the stories he tells kids at the Frazier’s children’s programs, how his background in musical performance has served him well when creating the variety of music for his podcast, what huge role vultures play in his new book, and all about his vision to have a series of books featuring quirky history for every reading level.   The Meatshower by Mick Sullivan Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz Life of Pi by Yann Martel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.

Hey Book Lovers,   Carrie and I are on fall hiatus this week so we don't have a new episode for you.  But what we do have is your chance to check out a new-to-you book podcast, Books with Betsy, hosted by Betsy Tomsak. This past summer we were guests to the show where we talked about all things in our book lives, maybe even tidbits we have never shared on our own show.  It's a fun conversation and we hope you will listen in and give Books With Betsy a follow. We will be  back with an all new episode on October 29 when we chat with horror/ thriller writer J.H. Markert about his new release, Spider to the Fly, and give you book recommendations for notable non-fiction we've read recently.   We hope you enjoy this episode of Books With Betsy. Happy Reading!  

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 Rediscovered Books at rdbooks.org/ or on IG at @rdbooks   The American Library Association’s Banned Books Week is October 5-11, so we’re sharing an interview with one of the co-owners of Rediscovered Books in Boise, Idaho, a store that has pioneered a program in their city to push back against book banning in their state. Rebecca Leber-Gottberg talks to us about the history of the bookstore, her role there, and books that folks in Boise have been buying, but she also explains the bookstore’s Read Freely Project, which is their effort to get banned and threatened books dispersed throughout the community.    And in our book rec section, we’re jumping into spooky season with books related to ghosts, but if you don’t like horror, don’t worry: a lot of these “ghostly” books aren’t horror, and some of them may only seem to be about ghosts. We’ve got a historical fiction about the Sri Lankan civil war, a detective story in which ghosts are witnesses, a nonfiction book about unexplained phenomena which may or may not involve ghosts, a funny novella, a supernatural suspense, and a ghostly gothic novel set in Mexico.   Books Discussed in this Episode: 1- A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway 2- The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve House, Four Patients' Lives by Theresa Brown 3- American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard 4- The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu 5- The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer  6- Trans History: A Graphic Novel by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett  7- Lone Women by Victor LaValle  8- Wild Tongues Can't be Tamed: 15 Voices from the LatinX Diaspora edited by Saraciea J. Fennell  9- Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray  10- Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson 11- House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune  12- On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder  13- The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf 14- Firekeeper's Daughter by Angleine Boulley  15- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley  16- Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley  17- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins  18- Culpability by Bruce Holsinger  19- Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levitan  20- A Five Star Read Recommended by Claire @bookishly_claire - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 21- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka  22- The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde 23- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch  24- Ghost Tamer by Meredith R. Lyons  25- The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story by Kate Summerscale  26- The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas 27- This is Going to Hurt by Adam McKay   Media Mentioned: 1- The Pitt (Max 2025) 2- ER ( 1994- 2009) 3- This is Going to Hurt (2022, Amazon Prime) 4- The Craft Lit Podcast - https://craftlit.com/  

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 Sam Sussman at www.samevansussman.org or on IG at @sam_sussman.   Our guest is debut novelist Sam Sussman whose book Boy From the North Country comes out this week. Sam originally wrote a short memoir piece for Harper’s Magazine that referred to the possibility that he might be Bob Dylan’s son but really the essay focused on his relationship with his mom, who had had a love affair with the musician. Eventually, Sam decided to explode the moment, or the series of moments of his life and with his mother, to get a better handle on who he was and how much that was about who his mom was and how she had raised him, not whether his father was Dylan.  The book is receiving high marks in early reviews, and Sam has been making the rounds in newspapers and magazines, including a profile by the New York Times. Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, The Library Journal, and the American Library Association have all given Boy From the North Country starred reviews.    And for our book rec section of the show, we’re thinking about books that center on male relationships.  We realize that our guests and listeners are primarily female, but we thought we would equal the playing field a little by talking about books that deal with father-son relationships, male friendships or brotherly love.  We have a multigenerational story about the men in a Mexican-American family, a group of friends in a small town of the American Midwest, a pair of quirky Irish friends, a memoir about two very different guys at Harvard, two Greek heroes and their deep relationship, and boys from different cultures who develop a bond in unlikely circumstances.    Books Mentioned in this Episode:   1- Boy From the North Country by Sam Sussman 2- The Celebrants by Steven Rowley 3- The Guncle by Steven Rowley 4- In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust  5- Anima Rising by Christopher Moore  6- The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer  7- The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer 8-  A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Megan Burnett - The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish  9- We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship by Will Schwalbe  10- The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza  11- Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Bulter  12- A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler  13- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller  14- Circe by Madeline Miller  15- Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh  16- Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession   Media Mentioned -  1- The Silent Type: On Possibly Being Bob Dylan's Son- https://harpers.org/archive/2021/05/the-silent-type-on-possibly-being-bob-dylans-son/ 2- School Cell Phone Ban Increases Library Visits - https://www.wave3.com/2025/09/02/school-cell-phone-ban-creates-surge-jcps-library-visits/ 3- Reading for Pleasure Declines - https://abcnews.go.com/Health/americans-spend-time-reading-fun-time-screens-study/story?id=124807367 4- The Four Seasons (Netflix 2025) 5- The Four Seasons (1981) 6- How the Passionate Male Friendship Died --https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/05/men-friendship-history/682815/    

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 Lindy Ryan at her website lindyryanwrites.com or on IG @lindyryanwrites.   For our guest this week, Lindy Ryan @lindyryanwrites, it's spooky season all year round. She grew up on a diet of #Goosebumps books and never got over her love of the dark and twisty. Now she writes her own horror stories and her BLESS YOUR HEART series will give you some thrills and chills with the Evans women. Four generations of them--great-grandmother Ducey all the way down to angsty teen Luna run a funeral home in their small Texas town. And they also have a little side project: protecting the town from the undead. Both BLESS YOUR HEART and ANOTHER FINE MESS, the second novel in the series, follow the Evans women who, with snark and heart, protect those they love from the proverbial "bloodbath." And for our book recommendation section of the show, we’re thinking about carnivals, fairs, and festivals. Kentucky recently held its state fair, and with that in mind, we think you should make yourself a corndog or deep fry a Twinkie and get ready to add some books to your TBR lists. We’ve got a graphic novel for kids, a thriller from the 1940s, a mystery, historical fiction, a National Book Award finalist, and a memoir.     Books Mentioned in this Episode: 1- Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan  2- Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan 3- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 4- Howl edited by Lindy Ryan  5- The Darkest Night edited by Lindy Ryan  6- But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo 7- Play Nice by Rachel Harrison  8- Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison 9- Cackle by Rachel Harrison  10- Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky  11- Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck  12- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover @arizonabookstagrammer - Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz 13- All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson  14- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn 15- Lewis Sinclair and the Gentleman Cowboys by DMS Fick  16- The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler  17- Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham  18- The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts by Tessa Fontaine   Media Mentioned: 1- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Youtube) 2- Nosferatu (1922, Youtube) 3- Metropolis (1927, Youtube) 4- Nosferatu (2024) 5- The Thursday Murder Club (2025, Netflix) 6- Santa Clarita Diet (2017-2019, Netflix) 7- Chernobyl (2019, Max) 8- Nightmare Alley (2021) 9- Shelby County KY Library books taken -  https://www.wlky.com/article/unreturned-library-book-dispute-shelby-county-reformation-church/65875001 10- Travels with Charley Fact Checking -  https://www.steinbecknow.com/2020/08/01/travels-with-charley-painting-snapshot/        

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 Sarah Landenwich on her website SarahLandenwich.com or on IG @sarahlandenwich   Our guest this week, novelist Sarah Landenwich, has turned her own experience as a talented pianist who lost her passion into a compelling, many-layered book about music, competition, history, and legacy. THE FIRE CONCERTO is about a woman named Clara who left a career as a classical pianist following a devastating fire that left her hands painfully scarred. She also left behind a tortured relationship with her former piano teacher. But when that instructor dies and leaves Clara a 19th century metronome, it sends her down a path of mystery about who the metronome belonged to and how that connects to Clara. In our book recommendation segment of the show, we complete that old chestnut of a back to school assignment: the "What Did You Do This Summer?" essay. But we do it in the form of books. Carrie gives us some German authors she read while preparing for her family trip to Germany in June. And Amy highlights some books based on her Amsterdam and Wisconsin vacation spots, while also recommending a book by an author she saw at the Columbus Book Festival.   Books Mentioned in this Episode 1- A Home for Friendless Women by Kelly E. Hill  2- The Fire Concerto by Sarah Landenwich  3- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi  4- Possession by AS Byatt  5- Plainsong (trilogy) by Kent Haruf 6- Old Souls at Night by Kent Haruf 7- The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich 8- How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self Care Epidemic One Dubious Cure at a Time by Amy LaRocca  9- Say Everything by Ione Skye  10- The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett 11- A Five Star Read recommended by fellow Book Lover Cathleen @wovenfromwords - Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray  12- Sleepless by Romy Hausmann 13- What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon  14- The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel  15- A Death in Door County (Monster Hunter series) by Annelise Ryan  16- Death in the Dark Woods (Monster Hunter series) by Annelise Ryan 17- Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home by Nora Krug 18- The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb   Media Mentioned:   1- Speed Museum Glass Art exhibit - https://www.speedmuseum.org/the-adele-and-leonard-leight-glass-art-award-victoria-ahmadizadeh-melendez/ 2- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) 3- The Naked Gun (2025)

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 Keisha Mennefee at honeymagnolia.co and honeyblossompress.com   We have had great luck finding excellent books from small independent publishers, and so we periodically invite one on the show to tell us a little about how they operate. Our guest this week is Keisha Mennefee, a literary strategist who has worked with high profile Black artists like Jada Pinkett Smith and Kennedy Ryan.  She recently started her own publishing house called Honey Blossom Press. The mission of this press is to amplify underrepresented voices and powerful narratives that might otherwise go unheard. Some of their new titles include When Forty Blooms by Jacinta Howard and The Divorcetante by Mia Hentzelman.    And since it is August, and we’re in the dog days of summer, our book rec section is focused on dogs. Amy especially loves a book where a dog features as a significant character who not only has personality but moves the plot along and helps create the theme. We’ve got some children’s lit, teen lit, Japanese narrative, literary fiction, memoir, and apocalyptic fiction.    Books Mentioned In This Episode: 1- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 2- Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton  3- The Survivors by Jane Harper  4- Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton 5- Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon series #1) by Nevada Barr 6- When Forty Blooms by Jacinta Howard  7- This Side of Beautiful by Tiye  8- The Divorcetante by Mia Hentzelman 9- Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Triumph by Sheila Johnson 10- The House on the Strand by Daphne duMaurier  11- Alive and Beating by Rebecca Wolf  12- The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angline Boulley  13- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley  14-  A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Katelyn @bookclubwithkatelyn - Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley  15- Gather by Kenneth Cadow  16- Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment  17- The Body in Question by Jill Ciment  18- Because of Winn Dixie by Kate diCamillo 19- Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg 20- The Boy and The Dog by Seishu Hase 21- A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. by C.A. Fletcher 22- Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion 23- Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman 24- Martha Speaks series by Susan Meddaugh   Media Mentioned 1- Cat Video Fest - https://www.catvideofest.com 2- The Survivors (Netflix, 2025) 3- Untamed (Netflix, 2025) 4- Because of Winn Dixie (Disney, 2005) 5- 5 Flights Up (2014) 6- Martha Speaks (Prime Video, 2008)      

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 Suzy Krause at her website suzykrause.com/ and on IG at @suzykrause   Usually, Christmas in July sales feature new cars or mattresses, but we are giving you a Christmas in July book episode. Our guest this week is Suzy Krause, a Canadian novelist whose book I Think We’ve Been Here Before is set in the few weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday in a small town in Saskatchewan.  This book is cozy but not in a way you would expect because something terrible is about to happen.  A cosmic event is going to end the world, and residents have several weeks to prepare.  But this apocalyptic story is hopeful and uplifting and makes you feel good.  How can you combine the end of the world with Christmas and make it comforting?  That’s what we asked Suzy because she has written a book that is nothing like I’ve ever read.  It’s like a little unexpected gift under the tree.    For our book rec section of this episode, we are talking about diaries. And no, we’re not going to be reading from our diaries because that would be a snoozefest. We’ve selected both nonfiction and fictional diaries that allow us to get a sneak peek into a historic event or a situation that we don’t know much about.    Books Mentioned In this Episode:   1- I Think We've Been Here Before by Suzy Krause 2- We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver  3- A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold  4- The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin 5- Space Crone by Ursula K. Le Guin  6- The Millicent Quibb Schook of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon 7- The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney 8- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Lizzy Roth - Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher 9- The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani 10- These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy Turner  11- This is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay  12- The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lilly Koppel  13- Here Comes the Fun: A Year of Making Merry by Ben Aitken  14- The Lost Diaries of Édouard Manet by Maureen Gibbon    Media Mentioned: 1- Adolescence (Netflix 2025) 2- We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) 3- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Prime, 2012) 4- Ben Aitken Podcast episode - https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s-7-ep-146-a-may-december-friendship-with-guest-ben-aitken-9722/

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 Colleen Gleason/Colleen Cambridge at her website www.colleengleason.com or on IG @colleengleason   Typically Amy has not been a cozy mystery reader, but this week’s guest, Colleen Gleason who also writes as Colleen Cambridge, may have single-handedly converted her.  She is the author of over 57 books in numerous series but her “American in Paris” series has been a delightful escape over the last year. It is a cozy mystery set in postwar 1950s Paris with a dynamic mystery-solving duo featuring none other than Julia Child. Book 3 in the series titled A Fashionably French Murder was published in April.  So we were thrilled when Colleen agreed to chat with us about this series as well as several of her other books.   Colleen’s style of writing often includes a pairing.  She has a mystery series that involves Agatha Christie and her housekeeper, another series featuring Abraham Lincoln and his aide, and even a steampunk paranormal YA series involving an imaginary crime-fighting pairing of Bram Stoker’s younger sister and Sherlock Holme’s niece. As we know from doing this podcast, having a partner-in-crime makes things much more fun.    In our book rec section of the episode, we are all about gardens. We are not reviewing gardening books, however. Rather, we’re talking about books in which gardens, gardeners, flowers and shrubs are part of the story in some format. We’ve got thrillers, middle grade, fantasy, contemporary family drama, murder mysteries, and Appalachian gothic.    Books Mentioned in this Episode:   1- A Fashionably French Murder (American in Paris series) by Colleen Cambridge   2- Food People by Adam M. Roberts   3- The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Ok Assistant by Liza Tully   4- Dept Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen   5- A Murder Most French (American in Paris series) by Colleen Cambridge   6- In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge   7- Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City by Jacques Yonnet   8- The Seven Rings (The Lost Bride Trilogy #3) by Nora Roberts   9- The Rosie Result (Don Tillman #3) by Graerme Simsion   10-The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion   11-The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion   12- Forged by Danielle Teller   13- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Betsy Tomszak @bookswithbetsy - Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda   14- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett   15- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister   16- June in the Garden by Eleanor Wilde   17- A Botanist’s Guide to Parties & Poisons by Kate Khavari   18- The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst   19- Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton   20- The Summer of June by Jamie Sumner    Media mentioned--   1- Hacks (Max, 2021 - present)   2- Dept Q (Netflix, 2025)   3- Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)   4- The New Look (Apple Plus - 2024)  

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.   This week we have Sam Miller, manager at Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, with us to chat about books readers might want to consider for their summer reading. It is always fun to hear what is new and notable from Sam.    This is our last episode of the season.  We will be back in July after our summer hiatus with all new episodes. Happy Reading!   Books Mentioned in this Episode:   1- The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebowitz   2- Northern Spy by Flynn Berry   3- Big Girl Small Town by Michelle Gallen   4- Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen   5- Cat's People by Tanya Guerrero   6- The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani   7- Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani   8- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid   9- Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter   10- So Far Gone by Jess Walter   11- A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle   12- A Lesser Light by Peter Geye   13- Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippmann   14- El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott   15- Big Bad Wool by Leonie Swann   16- Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann   17- First Gentleman by Bill Clinton and James Patterson   18- King of Ashes by SA Cosby   19- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab   20- Katabasis by RF Kuang   21- Country Under Heaven by Frederic Durbin   22- A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna   23- Isabella Nag and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire   24- The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar   25- Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs   26- Plato and the Tyrant by James Romm   27- Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor   28- Is A River Alive? by Robert McFarlane   29- Mark Twain by Ron Chernow   30- Charlottesville by Deborah Baker   31- Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser   32- Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser   33- Fulfillment by Lee Cole   34- If You Love It, Let it Kill You by Hannah Pittard   35- The Fire Concerto by Sarah Landenwich   36- Black Cohosh by Eagle Valiant Brosi   37- Big Swiss by Jen Beagin   38- I Am the Arrow: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath in Six Poems by Sarah Ruden   39- Red Comet by Heather Clark   40- Bad Badger : A Love Story by Maryrose Wood   Media mentioned--   1- Derry Girls (Netflix, 2018-2022)   2- Christoph Waltz on Jimmy Fallon --https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0jr-HQeT74   3- Floyd Collins Broadway show--https://floydcollinsbroadway.com  

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 Nickolas Butler at https://nickolasbutler.com/ or on IG @wiscobutler   Amy discovered Nickolas Butler earlier this year when she attended the author event for his newest novel A Forty Year Kiss at Carmichael’s Bookstore. Nick has six novels and a collection of short stories under his belt, but A Forty Year Kiss may be his first love story.  His mind was set to wondering after he overheard a passionate conversation in his favorite local bar between two older people, a conversation that made him blush just a little. He began playing with the idea of what this couple’s back story was. Nick’s book asks readers to consider the difference between first love and love between mature adults, how life’s baggage affects personal relationships, and whether people can really change.    Nick also talks to us about his rural Wisconsin roots, why he read Babysitter Club books in his childhood, and the debate on whether he should wear a cape.     For our book recommendation section of this episode, we decided to find some of our favorite books we’ve read as a result of being in a book club together for two decades. For the most part, our book club chooses novels, but there is one memoir in the lot, as well as contemporary fiction, historical fiction, sci-fi, and a classic.    Books Discussed in this Episode:   1- A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler   2- Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler   3- A Paris Year by Janice MacLeod   4- Godspeed by Nickolas Butler    5- Love, Hope & Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O'Hagan   6- The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos edited by M. Elizabeth Weiser   7- Marlena by Julie Buntin   8- A Lesser Light by Peter Geye   9- Down & Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain by Charles Leerhsen   10- Floreana by Midge Raymond   11- Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler   12- Super Zelda: The Graphic Life of Zelda Fitzgerald by Tiziana Lo Porto   13- A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Cindy B. - Strange Pictures by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion   14- The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman   15- The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey   16- Molokai by Alan Brennert   17- Burial Rites by Hannah Kent   18- Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexa Fuller   19- This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel   20- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith   Media mentioned—   1- http://www.astoriedstyle.com/a-look-into-the-past-an-untouched-1942-paris-apartment/   2- Ancient mounds in OH - www.hopeweklearthworks.org       ReplyForward      

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 Holly Gramazio at her website https://www.hollygramazio.net/ or on IG at holly_gramazio   When we first heard the premise of Holly Gramazio’s novel The Husbands, we were intrigued. A woman’s husband goes up to the attic to retrieve something and down comes…a different husband. Wouldn’t we all sometimes like to exchange the husband we have for a better, newer, or just different model? Holly turned this idea into a novel that is both funny and thoughtfully considered. It may not, in fact, be such a great thing to have an endless supply of potential husbands so easy to exchange.  Her book has been optioned by Apple Plus for a limited series and I just saw that Juno Temple, the actress who played Keeley in the Ted Lasso series, is slated to play the starring role.   And because it is April, and April is National Poetry Month, we’re discussing books related to poets. Not everyone loves poetry, but these books aren’t actually poetry–so you can still partake of poetry month. They are historical fiction, memoirs, essays, and children’s books written by or inspired by poets.    Books Mentioned in This Episode:   1- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio   2- Lakewood by Megan Giddings   3- I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys by Miranda Seymour   4- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys     5- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte     6- The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay     7- Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovett     8- Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin     9-  A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover  Chelsea @2_girls_bookin_it - The Endless Fall by Emmerson Hoyt     10- The Swan's Nest by Laura Mcneal     11- You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith     12- Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethaway     13- Emily's House by Amy Belding Brown     14- Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome     15- Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil     16- World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil     17- The Poet's Dog by Patricia McLachlan     Media mentioned-- 1- Severance (Apple+, 2022 - Present)   2- Reduced Shakespeare Company--https://www.reducedshakespeare.com   3- Saint X (Hulu, 2023)