Novel Gazing Podcast

Novel Gazing is a biweekly podcast dedicated to news, recommendations, and general goings-on from the world of literary fiction.

Literary Comics

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are some great literary comics? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by THE LIGHTEST OBJECT IN THE UNIVERSE by Kimi Eisele, now in paperback from Algonquin Books; Dark August by Harper Publishing; and Hey YA, Book Riot’s own podcast about all things young adult lit. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: Kelly Sue DeConnick on how the comic industry fosters sexual harassment and how to change the system. Black Writers’ Guild calls for sweeping change in UK publishing  Understanding Comics : The Invisible Art & Making Comics by Scott McCloud  How Pictures Work by Molly Bang  Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy : A Retelling of Little Women by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado, illustrated by Dani The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds Freedom Hospital : A Syrian Story by Hamid Sulaiman, trans Francesca Barrie Bingo Love by Tee Franklin Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi Bites of Terror by Cuddles and Rage   Here by Richard McGuire One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg Graphic novels for people who like literary fiction Bunny by Mona Awad Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi The Year Of The Runaways by Sanjeev Sahota YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

06-30
52:49

Literature in Translation, Part II

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are some newly translated books? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by The Secret Women from Amistad Books, TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations, Book Riot’s personalized reading recommendation service, which now has gifting!, and the Books and Boba podcast. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: Book workers are striking today in a day of solidarity against racist violence and discrimination. A list of online Black owned bookstores to support. The LAMBDA awards are out! Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante which was the winner of the Trans category. Metonymy Press Fracture by Andrés Neuman, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia Magnetized by Carlos Busqued translated by Samuel Rutter The Cage by Alberts Bels https://bookriot.com/2019/10/21/latvian-embassy-little-free-library/ Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera Hadriana in All My Dreams by Renee Depestre, translated by Kaima L. Glover Celestial Bodies by Joka Alharthi, translated by Marilyn Booth Pillars of Salt by Fadia Faqir [edit: this book was not translated from its original Arabic into English, but rather published simultaneously in Arabic and English] Woman at Point Zero by Nawal el Saadawi 50 Must Read Books by women in translation The Garden of Monsters by  Lorenza Pieri, translated by Liesl Schillinger Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

06-16
48:57

Interview with Screenwriter Sarah Gubbins about SHIRLEY

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What was it like to adapt Shirley Jackson to film? And, what are you reading now? This episode contains a really special interview with Sarah Gubbins, screenwriter of the new release film adaptation, Shirley.  This episode is sponsored by On LightHouses, The Yield, and Shelf Addiction. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: #FrightGirlSummer We Are All Fluxus Artists Now: Natilee Harren on Making the Most of Mundane Tasks “The First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining” by Jessica Salfia Trailer of Shirley, adapted from Shirley: A Novel by Sarah Scarf Merrell Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett Gender Trouble by Judith Butler Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

06-02
41:03

Doorstoppers

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are some of the best and worst doorstopper books? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by Lit Stitch: 25 Cross-Stitch Patterns for Book Lovers, made by Book Riot and Abrams, TBR, Book Riot’s subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes, and The Reading Women podcast. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: The books that could flourish in this pandemic era from the BBC Where next for VIRTUAL LITERATURE?  “Black Box” by Jennifer Egan Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy Les Miserables by Victor Hugo On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Moby Dick by Herman Melville Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi Must Read Big Books Long Books That Feel Short A Little Life by Hanya Yanigihara Pachinko by Min Jin Lee Black Leopard, Red Wolf Marlon James. Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson Night And Day by Virginia Woolf “In the Orchard” by Virginia Woolf YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

05-19
47:49

Crossover Hits

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are some of the best crossover hits? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of The Paris Hours by Alex George, Libro.FM, and The Reading Women podcast. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “Majority of authors ‘hear’ their characters speak, finds study” by Alison Flood The Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 Longlist The Comedy Women in Print Twitter page Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide: A graphic guide to lesbian and queer history 1950-2020 by Kate Charlesworth To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet Margot & Me by Juno Dawson The Read Harder Challenge 2020 Reading Log The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Holes by Louis Sachar Guenevere by Rosalind Miles Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice Eva Ibbotson A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg Geek Love by Katherine Dunn Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin The Madeline Treasury by Ludwig Bemmelmans YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

05-05
59:53

What is the Truth? (Literary Nonfiction)

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are the best books of literary nonfiction? What IS literary nonfiction? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of The Paris Hours by Alex George and The Reading Women podcast. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: The 2020 International Booker Prize Shortlist is Mostly Women Again An interview by Juliet Jacques with McKenzie Wark on her new book Reverse Cowgirl Reverse Cowgirl by McKenzie Wark Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives by Julia Watson and Sidonie Smith Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir by Lauren Slater Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson Let Me Clear My Throat by Elena Passarello On Immunity: An Inocuation by Eula Biss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Fun Home: A Family Tragicoic by Alison Bechdel. My Journey to Lhasa  by Alexandra David-Neel Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson Annnnd The Sappho Bot of Twitter! YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04-21
58:57

Literary Fiction that Changed Our Lives

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What are the books of literary fiction that changed your life? And, what are you reading now? This episode is sponsored by Shelf Addiction podcast, Catapult, and The Malevolent Volume by Justin Phillip Reed, published by Coffee House Press. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: "Book sales surge as self-isolating readers stock up on ‘bucket list’ novels"  in The Guardian What our contagion fables are REALLY about in The New Yorker, by Jill Lepore The Color Purple by Alice Walker "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker Beloved and Paradise by Toni Morrison Roots by Alex Haley Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer In Cold Blood by Truman Capote A Void (La Disparation) by Georges Perec The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne She Came to Stay (L'Invitee) by Simone de Beauvoir Ducks Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo "The Mermaid in the Tree" by Timothy Schaffert, in My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer Wow, No Thank You and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby "Inventory" in Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier Unflattening by Nick Sousanis YOU CAN FIND YOUR HOSTS HERE: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer, and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04-07
01:07:13

Literary Fiction Vs. Genre Fiction

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? What's the difference between literary fiction and genre fiction? Is one "better" than the other? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by The Winemaker's Wife, Libro FM, and TBR: Tailored Book Recommedations. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: "What It’s Like to Try to Promote a Book in the Middle of a Pandemic" by Amy Klein "The Case for Reading Fiction" by Christine Seifert Tillerman series by Cynthia Voigt Cormac McCarthy You can find your hosts here: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03-24
41:48

How do you find the books that you read?

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? Where do you find the books that you read? How do you decide what to read next? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by Libro FM, Book Riot Insiders, the digital hangout spot for the Book Riot community, and TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “On the Paradoxes of Toni Morrison’s Catholicism” by Nick Ripatrazone “The Hottest New Literary Genre is Doomer Lit” by Kate Knibbs The Road by Cormac McCarthy Women’s Prize Shortlist just announced Tailored Book Recommendations from Book Riot Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Carmen Maria Machado’s list of recommendations Tender by Sofia Samatar The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron Private Eye Magazine Kirkus Reviews Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg You can find your hosts here: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03-10
51:14

Film Adaptations and Autumn de Wilde on EMMA

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, what’s going on in the literary world right now? How does Director Autumn de Wilde feel about her new film adaptation of Emma? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by Get Booked: Handsell, Libro FM, and Book Marks, A customizable journal to record your reading life! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “New Literary Prize Will Award Over $100,000 to a Female Novelist” by Concepción de León “The Barbellion Prize: A New Award for Disabled Writers” by Margaret Kingsbury Emma by Jane Austen Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones Animal Farm by Odyr “How the CIA brought Animal Farm to the screen” by Martin Chilton You can find your hosts here: Louise @ www.didyoueverstoptothink.com and @chaletfan on Twitter. Mary Kay @ www.marykaymcbrayer.com, Twitter at @mkmcbrayer and Instagram at @marykaymcbrayer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

02-25
55:09

How to Read Literary Fiction that Doesn't Want You to Read It

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, how to read books that are very difficult to get through. What’s going on in the literary world right now? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by The Stationery Shop; b, Book, and Me; and Book Marks. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “Hillary without Bill: Curtis Sittenfeld rewrites Clinton’s personal history” by Alison Flood “What the Great Russian Writers Didn’t Get About the Criminal Mind” by Varlam Shalamov Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Roots by Alex Haley Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Beowulf by Gareth Hinds The Cooper’s Wife is Missing: The Trials of Bridget Cleary by Joan Hoff & Marian Yeates Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo To get even more book news and recommendations, sign up for our New Books newsletter! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

02-11
46:51

Translated / To Be Translated Literary Fiction

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, what titles should be translated? What are some of our favorite literary fiction in translation? What’s going on in the literary world right now? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders and Libro.fm. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “A new Missouri bill proposes jailing librarians who provide children “age-inappropriate” books” by Corinne Segal “Lee Child: Thriller writer joins Booker judging panel“ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo The Testaments by Margaret Atwood La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Purple Hibiscus Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Håret til mamma by Gro Dahle, illustrated by Svein Nyhus “Why We Love Untranslatable Words” by David Shariatmadari Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa Aladdin: A New Translation edited by Paul Lemos Horta , translated by Yasmine Seale Magnetized: Conversations with a Serial Killer by Carlos Busqued, translated by Samuel Rutter Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Christine Donougher To get even more book news and recommendations, sign up for our New Books newsletter! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

01-28
43:06

Is Harry Potter Literary Fiction?

Mary Kay and Louise talk about important literary things like, is Harry Potter literary fiction? What’s going on in the literary world right now? And, what are you reading? This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders and Libro.fm. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. BOOKS AND TEXTS DISCUSSED: “Without Women The Novel Would Die” by Johanna Thomas-Corr. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte “It’s Time to Fall Back in Love With Zora Neale Hurston” by Jennifer Baker Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston Of Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston (featuring the short story/forward “Searching for Zora” by Alice Walker) The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel Mallory Ortberg JK Rowling Makes Transphobic Statement on Twitter Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling “You Can’t Be Serious about Harry Potter!” Peter Darling by Austin Chant An American Marriage by Tayari Jones Little: A Novel by Edward Carey To get even more book news and recommendations, sign up for our New Books newsletter! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

01-14
41:48

Defining Art In Two Minutes

In this introduction to Novel Gazing, hosts Mary Kay and Louise discuss how to define literary fiction and offer up some bookish confessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12-12
11:00

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