Blind Date With a Book

In this episode, we're setting up Kristina Headrick, a yoga and meditation teacher, entrepreneur, and copywriter. As a Greek-American Virginia native, she is proud of her Southern and Greek passion for storytelling. She has written for brands like NOOM and publications like PASTE and Brooklyn Magazine. Her dream Saturday is a morning yoga class, wandering through a garden, and a romantic meal to cap it all off. She loves early summer and classic books. Her TED talk would be on the persephone myth, and even though it’s hard to perform for karaoke, her top choice is Jolene. Two books she recently loved were Scorpionfish and Cloud Cuckoo Land. Winning bookstore: Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA Books mentioned Cult Classic By Sloane Crosley  Costalegre by Courtney Maum James by Percival Everett The Life and Loves of a She Devil by Fay Weldon The Everlasting by Katy Simpson Smith Clickbait by Holly Baxter

Today, we're setting up Ellpetha Tsivicos, a Cypriot-American artist, performer, director, author, filmmaker, and singer, who says her home is on stage. Her production company, One Whale’s Tale, creates maximalist work that blends music, dance, film, food and narrative storytelling — turning plays into multidisciplinary performances. Two recent books she loved were Song of Achilles + Island of Missing Trees, and she’s down for classic or modern books. Books we recommended (and please support ⁠East Bay Booksellers⁠) The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings Eva Luna by Isabel Allende A Map of Future Ruins by Lauren Markham The Astrology House by Carinn Jade

For our first episode of Season Three, we're setting up Julio Alvarez, creator of the Let’s Go with Julio podcast and founder of Out in Tech, the largest LGBTQ+ tech networking community in the world. After working at several Silicon Valley companies, Julio struck out on his own to become a coach and speaker. Julio recently read and enjoyed The Garden Within and The Way of Integrity, but shies away from books that are too analytical. He wants to relax. His dream Saturday is a bike ride around Central Park, scrambled eggs and salmon on toast, followed by a low-key afternoon. His karaoke go-to is “More than Able”, and he thinks everyone should watch Titanic and used to have it in the background every night for years before bed. The winning bookstore The Boerne Bookshop in Boerne, Texas Our picks How to be an Adult in Relationships by David Richo Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes Family Meal by Bryan Washington The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter The Book of Love by Kelly Link Congratulations, the Best Is Over! By R. Eric Thomas

Today, we're setting up Mariah Oller! Mariah is a cell biologist turned tarot reader, artist, and educator. Her clients include celebrities, surgeons, therapists, professors, attorneys and more. Her work has been featured in Bustle, Oprah Daily, and the Today Show. Mariah is Gemini Sun / Libra Moon / Scorpio Rising, and loves to garden in the spring. She’s a self-proclaimed snob about textures and loves the show Broad City. She recently read and loved Circe and The Cloisters, and doesn’t like books with disempowered women. Bookstore Wordsworth Bookstore in Little Rock, Arkansas Books Mentioned Little, Big by John Crowley Siren Queen by Nghi Vo Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo American Mermaid by Julie Langbein The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler The Daughter of Dr. Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

On this episode, we're setting up Sterling Melcher. Sterling is an multidisciplinary artist who lives in Philly. His work investigates the connections between performance, absurd philosophy, hard sciences, and the political landscape. He also manages a restaurant, so his weekends and nights are usually busy. Sterling’s favorite season is fall, for its mood lighting and perfect wardrobe options, and his dream vacation would be backpacking in Scandinavia, then skipping over to St. Petersburg before flying back to the US. He’s a self proclaimed movie snob, especially in that he believes movies should be experienced in a theater with others, and his perfect double feature is watching the slasher film Mandy, starring Nicholas Cage, leading into the 2019 film version of Cats. The picks Open Me by Lisa Locasio The Seventh Mansion by Maryse Meijer Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Rachel chats with Emi Nietfeld, author of the debut memoir, ACCEPTANCE. ACCEPTANCE comes out on August 2, 2022, and follows Emi during her young adulthood, through the foster care system, mental health facilities, residence at an arts high school, temporary homelessness, and more on her way to college and beyond. Emi talks about the process of writing a memoir, plus recommendations for books she's loved recently. Find Emi on Twitter, Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter. The Books We Talked About: Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld Blueprint your Bestseller by Stuart Horwitz Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford  NSFW by Isabel Kaplan  Post Traumatic by Chantal B Johnson  Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen  Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (audiobook)  Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress

Bonus episode with the fabulous, and hilarious, Ginny Hogan (who is always on Twitter). Rachel and Ginny talk about her new book, I'm More Dateable than a Plate of Refried Beans, out May 3rd, plus discuss dating while funny, writing humor, and some book recommendations. Books talked about on this episode include: A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Excellent Women by Barbara Pym Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan Cheat Day by Liv Stratman

In this special bonus episode, Kristen talks with Adrienne Celt, a novelist and cartoonist. Celt is the author of the novels End of the World House, Invitation to a Bonfire, and The Daughters, which won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR. She has also published a collection of comics, Apocalypse How? An Existential Bestiary and publishes weekly comics at Love Among the Lampreys. We go deep on writing a book about friendship, Adrienne's writing inspirations, Silicon Valley, the importance of art, and translating Russian classics just for the heck of it. Adrienne also shares the books she's loved reading recently and answers questions from our dating app-inspired questionnaire in a lightning round.   Works Discussed End of the World House by Adrienne Celt The Daughters by Adrienne Celt Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin, translated by Sophie R. Lewis War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy Severance (Apple TV+) Yellowjackets (Showtime) Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max) Adrienne's Local Indie Bookstore Antigone Books (Tucson, AZ) Where to Find Adrienne www.adriennecelt.com Love Among the Lampreys Twitter Where to Find Us Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Episode 5: Show notes A senior TV writer at Refinery29, Ariana Romero should be your your go-to person for enthusiastic show recommendations and thoughtful takes on TV's latest on and off-screen drama. She specializes in streaming TV, reality shows like The Bachelor, and Latinx-led entertainment. She loves brunch, does not love classic books, and could give an on-the-spot TED talk about how everything, yes everything, is actually a soap opera. In the show, we talk books like The Bachelor, telenovelas, and why romance novels might induce jealousy (it's a thing). The guest: Ariana Romero The picks: You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria Sea Monster by Chloe Aridjis How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun This episode’s featured bookstores: A Room of One’s Own Bookstore in Madison, WI. Words Bookstore in Maplewood, NJ Ebenezer Books in Johnson, VT Where to find us: Twitter Instagram For More Information

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.  The guest: Chris Gonzalez, author of the forthcoming collection I'm Not Hungry but I Could Eat The picks: The End by Fernanda Torres Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade Cars on Fire by Monica Ramon Rios  We Eat Our Own by Kea Wilson You can order all of these by contacting Two Dollar Radio HQ directly! https://twodollarradiohq.com/contact/ They also have a book subscription service for “blind date” style books! https://twodollarradiohq.com/memberships/ Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Apologies for the editing weirdness in the first few minutes! I promise, the juice is worth the squeeze.  Rachel talks with Julia Fine about her new novel, The Upstairs House, writing about two historical literary figures, tattoos, and more.  The books recommended in this episode: Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened By the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus Who Tells Me True by Michael Strange Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Find Julia Fine on her website or on Twitter. Catch up with Blind Date with a Book on Twitter, Instagram, or our website. Until next time, keep reading!

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation. This week’s show also features a discussion of Moby Dick in quarantine and what it’s like to be in tech today. The guest: Carrie Tian The picks: Elena Pick One: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802129628) Kristen Pick One: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9781328764522) Rachel Pick One: Weird but Normal by Mia Mercado (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780062942807) Elena Pick Two: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780358380887) Kristen Pick Two: The Heavens by Sandra Newman (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802147974) Rachel Pick Two: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780525541349) Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with.  Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet, Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena Carrie Tian: Twitter @carrietian, Website https://carrietian.com/

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenney, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.  The guest: Alexa Nicolaou The picks: The Mercies by Kiran Milwood Hargrave. (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316529259) And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9781631498688) Circe by Madeline Miller (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316556323) The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316229296) We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525565437) The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525534976) Where to find us: Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet,   Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions.

We're setting up Sarah Dees, a professor of religious history and cultures who has researched and published widely on appropriation of Native American medicine and art. She also is deeply interested, personally and academically, in Dolly Parton. She is late to watching Ted Lasso but is super into its portrayal of masculinity. Her dream vaca is Scandinavia, and while she’s technically Sagittarius, her birthday is right on the edge and she identifies more with Capricorns. She recently read and loved Detransition, Baby and the Weaver and the Witch Queen. Winning bookstore: Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC Books: The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall She Come By It Natural by Sarah Smarsh Exhibit by RO Kwon The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays White Magic by Elissa Washuta Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Today, we're setting up Sarah Cady. Sarah is a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopist at a university, who also is a partial owner of a plant store. She recently read and loved The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. She’s a big fan of farmers market shopping on a Saturday morning, and ending the day with grilling and beers on the porch at home. She’s a gemini who likes Classic books and could give an on the spot ted talk about superconducting magnets or grief. She’s impressed by people who remember to send thank you notes, and loves both the Colin Firth and Matthew MacFadyen P&P. A quote from her survey is that “there is just something so comforting to me about Regency era lady problems.” Winning bookstore Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans Our picks Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd Lone Women by Victor LaValle Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean

Today, we're setting up Victoria Leandra, an award winning journalist who covers food, identity, travel and music for places like HuffPost, VICE, and more. She’s also a content creator and podcaster, well known for her El ADN podcast, listed as one of Spotify’s favorite podcasts of 2022. She considers herself romantic, but likes the random kindness kind of romance, but also is a sucker for the drama of Love is Blind. She admits that she becomes very basic in the fall (apple picking, pumpkin pie, and all of that) but has no apologies for that. She wants a tattoo of Puerto Rico, and is so impressed by stories of mothers thriving. She recently read and enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and wants to read more fiction. The winning bookstore Garcia Street Books in Santa Fe, New Mexico Book picks Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho

Today, we're setting up Gurki Basra. Gurki is a thought leader with an MBA from UT Austin and currently enrolled in Pepperdine’s psychology masters program. She has worked in the fashion and retail industry, having worked at Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, and numerous other companies as a jewelry buyer. She writes the newsletter Happily Ever Single, and was a reluctant TV reality star for Netflix’s first dating reality show, Dating Around. She recently loved and enjoyed Lori Gottleib’s Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman. She loves hiking and sleeping in on Saturdays, and is a total summer person. Her on the spot ted talk would be about how going on a reality TV show showed her how complicated humans are, and she thinks everyone should watch Insecure. Gurki, welcome! The winning bookstore Greedy Reads in Baltimore, MD Book picks Ghosts by Dolly Alderton Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones Seek You by Kristen Radtke How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky August Blue by Deborah Levy Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

We're setting up Seth Rubin, a queer, trans, and nonbinary Los Angeles-based comedian and writer. Seth’s writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Onion, Reductress, McSweeney’s, and more. They currently write full-time for Jackbox Games and they were named one of Gold Comedy’s 22 Comedians to Watch in 2022. With a PhD in geology up their sleeve, Seth’s on the spot TED talk would be about volcanoes. They’re a snob about ice cream and movies, and they don’t consider themselves a romantic. A perfect Saturday for Seth includes waking up late, brunch and the Saturday crossword, and going to the movies or a bookstore. Seth has twenty tattoos, but would love to add one of a sandwich. Seth recently read and enjoyed Bunny by Mona Awad and Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. Seth, welcome! The winning bookstore: Marble City Books The picks Outline by Rachel Cusk Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link Mrs. S by K. Patrick People Collide by Isle McElroy Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Looking to cozy down with a book this winter? In this episode, we discuss the definition of a "winter read" (and if there is one), and share our picks for books to read this season. Books Mentioned The Secret History by Donna Tartt Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin Babel by R.F. Kuang St. Sebastian's Abyss by Mark Haber The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins The Method by Isaac Butler The Women in the Library by Sullari Gentill The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin Books of Anthony Horowitz (The Word is Murder and The Magpie Murders) The Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch