Author Kelsey Ronan joins us to discuss her debut novel Chevy in the Hole, a series of interconnected vignettes spanning generations of two families living in Flint throughout WWII, the Civil Rights Movement, and the recent Water Crisis. At the heart of Ronan's book is a love story, and most importantly, a story of resilience. Kelsey grew up in Flint, Michigan. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in several notable literary reviews. She's the former writer in residence of the Hub City Writers Project, and currently teaches for Inside Out Literary Arts. https://us.macmillan.com/author/kelseyronan 

Host Rodi Brown welcomes Librarians Sarah Bowman and Kricket Hoekstra to the podcast to discuss #classicliterature, and it inevitably becomes a bit of a takedown of #ernesthemingway, although gents like #johnsteinbeck and #fscottfitzgerald are also..., well, let's say scrutinized through a modern lens... We discuss what we love about the classics, what we can't stand about the classics, and so much more! 

Lisabeth Posthuma was a teacher, photographer, and (most importantly) video rental clerk before becoming a writer. ~ And a video store is the central setting of her amazing novel, which we discuss: "Joel's new job at the video store is just what the therapist ordered. But what happens if the first true friend he's made in years finds out about What Was Wrong With Him?..."  https://www.lisabethposthuma.com/ 

Paula Regossy is a detective novel by literary artist Lynn Crawford. The inspiration for the novel began with a painting by artist Peter Williams, which Crawford first saw on view at the gallery Paul Kotula Projects in Ferndale, Michigan, nearly a decade ago. Crawford is a fiction writer, art critic, a founding board member of MOCAD, and a 2010 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow. https://threefoldpress.org/imaginarydinnerparty https://www.lynncrawford.net/  

Well, this was quite an epic episode! Who doesn't love a good villain? Tune in for our nearly comprehensive dissertation featuring library staffers Rodi and Mary Grahame. From Darth Maul to the Phantom of the Opera, Maleficent to Iago, and many many...(ahem, MANY) more! Why do we sometimes root for the villain? Why do we sometimes....love the villain?!? 

The modern librarians' take on Wikipedia and how it relates to/concerns information literacy.  This is a free/open-access multilingual online encyclopedia, written and maintained by a community of volunteers through a model of open collaboration, and it's been around for 20 years, now! So let's talk about it! 

Acclaimed author Brit Bennett joins us to talk about The Vanishing Half (out on paperback), as well as what draws her to the themes explored in both of her books (including The Mothers). We also talk about the impact that her writing continues to have on readers, modern literature, and the public discourse; what it was like releasing two novels during two comparatively tumultuous times in history, her love of libraries, and her fond memories of Ann Arbor! 

Jeff, Rodi and Mary Grahame talk about what's been happening to our impulses to curate 'home libraries...' To buy or not to buy? Should we check out ALL of our books from the library? What about a library test-drive? And what about #booktok? We cover it all. 

Supriya Kelkar is an author, illustrator, and screenwriter who grew up in the Midwest, where she learned Hindi as a child by watching three Hindi movies a week. We're chatting about several of her books this week, including That Thing About Bollywood, Strong as Fire Fierce as Flame, and American as Paneer Pie--the latter of which is featured among our six selections for our 2022 Battle of The Books (for Ferndale 5th graders). https://supriyakelkar.com/