Convince Me to Read This

Librarian Natalie McCall gets rowdy and busts her way into the sleepy one-horse town that is our host's chill, laid-back podcast. She, you see, hosts 8 Books Remix, another fine Mill Valley Library product, so she's all march march march, accomplishments whereas our host is all, shlub shlub shlub, potato chips. There's no convincing whatsoever in this episode ... yet. However, shade is mercilessly thrown upon such undeserving targets as Julie of the Wolves and beware all y'all Masters of Fine Arts out there, because attendees at those insufferable MFA parties our hosts imagine happen somewhere are put 👏 on 👏 blast!

Our host flees the scene of his many crimes to talk with Simone Yingst, librarian for the County (paging Glen Campbell) - of Sonoma, that is. The book? Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Our host is dismayed to learn that this novel is not, in fact, a retelling of the film Sister Act with an all-crustacean cast but instead a multi-timelined murder mystery set in the American South. Or is that South America? ::checks notes:: No, it's the American South.

It's Convince Me to RE-Read this as our gallant host (or is he more of a Goofus?) is joined by Mary Osborn, who is a Terry Pratchett superfan. And I mean super. If you think you know a thing or two about the turtle and the elephants and the dwarves and the trolls and the Patrician and what have you, prepare to be schooled. But it's not just a trivia contest: Mary's here because of a deep connection to and profound respect for a body of work that straddles fantasy, satire, and deep probing of what it means to be human ... even if you're a vampire, dwarf, or little blue Scottish barbarian.

Librarian Ali Birnbach takes pity on our host and introduces him to a fascinating exploration of journalistic and literary truth, The Lifespan of a Fact by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal. What is Truth? Seems like something we can tackle in a brisk half-hour. Join us, won't you?