My dear friend Mark Lefebvre is back this week to teach me all about Canadian Literature, eh?

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram 

Guest: Mark Lefebvre

Website/Instagram

Editor: Emily Zumchak

Website/Email

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Discussed in this episode:

Bob and Doug McKenzie

The Handmaids Tale and Others by Margaret Atwood

Louise Penny

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

World of Wonders by Robertson Davies

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison

Farley Mowat

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice

A Matter of Will by Rod Carley

Kinmount by Rod Carley

Lives of Girls and Women and Others by Alice Munroe

Steven Leacock

The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot

The Embroidered Book by Kate Hartfield

The Hollow Boys by Douglas Smith

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee

Changing Vision by Julie E. Czerneda

Flash Forward Robert J Sawyer

Flashforward TV series

Rollback by Robert J Sawyer

Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault by James Alan Gardner

Eden’s Eyes by Sean Costello

Death Drives a Semi by Edo Van Belkom

The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart

Samantha M. Bailey

Giles Blunt

Michael Connolly

Linwood Barclay

Into The Fire by Rick Mofina

Hollow Place by Rick Mofina

Requiem by Rick Mofina

Canadian Werewolf Series

The Line Painter by Claire Cameron

The Bear by Claire Cameron

The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Color of Heaven by Julianne McClain

Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphries

Someday I’ll Find You by C.C. Humphries

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill

Scott Overton

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

This week's guest is one of my favorite readers, writers and humans on the planet: Mark Lefebvre. Mark has been pushing Terry Fallis' books on me practically since we met, and I'm so glad I finally took his advice. We had a great time discussing political satire, reading slumps, and the differences between American and Canadian humor sensibilities.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram 

Guest: Mark Lefebvre

Website/Instagram

Editor: Emily Zumchak

Website/Email

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

BBE Episode 009 Mark Lefebvre on Earth Abides

BBE Episode 058 Mark Lefebvre on Traveling Music by Neil Peart (this is one of those very rare occasions when Mark and I disagreed about a book, and let me tell you, my friends: saying something negative about Neil Peart in front of Mark Lefebvre was the riskiest thing I have ever done in my life. I am so brave.) 

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

BBE Episode 010 Casey Starnes on Catcher in the Rye

Titles Bookstore at McMaster University

High Spirits by Robertson Davies

John Irving

Steven Leacock

McClelland and Stewart

Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw

My Fair Lady (1964)

Best Laid Plans TV Show

Dennis Hamill

Operation Angus by Terry Fallis

No Relation by Terry Fallis

Up and Down by Terry Fallis

Poles Apart by Terry Follis

The Candidate (1972)

Three Cheers For Me by Donald Jack

The Long Way Back by Nicole Bart

Number One is Walking by Steve Martin

Harry Bliss

The Canadian Mounted by Mark Leslie

Edo Van Belkom

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

This week I'm so delighted for you to meet Kate Reynolds, also known as The Lavender Librarian. Kate is a passionate advocate of inclusive storytimes for children, and she has some innovative ideas for how to share reading time with kids. 

I was initially hesitant when Kate suggested we read a children's book for this episode - afraid that we wouldn't have enough to talk about to fill the half hour. But I was so, so wrong. Talking to librarians is always a wonderful experience, but talking to this particular one about this particular book was extra-specially magic. 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram 

Guest: Kate Reynolds

Instagram/Facebook/Youtube

Storytime Solidarity - Website/Patreon/Facebook Group

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

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Discussed in this episode:

A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond

Roald Dahl

The Babysitters Club

Beverly Cleary

Mr. Rogers

Sharon, Lois and Bram

Sandwiches by Fred Penner

Je suis une Pizza by Charlotte Diamond

123 Andres

Jim Gill

Little Miss Anne

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Mouse by Art Spiegelman

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Tiffany Hammond’s Instagram

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today I am joined by Lisa Petersen, my dear friend since college. We agreed to spend the summer revisiting our favorite childhood classics by Judy Blume, and now we’re back to discuss our feelings about the books as children vs. as adults. Along the way, we talked about banned books and parenting, and how our love for Judy Blume has carried us through the years.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram 

Guest: Lisa Petersen

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

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Discussed in this episode:

Judy Blume

The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

The Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang 

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume

Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Blubber by Judy Blume

Deenie by Judy Blume

Forever by Judy Blume

It’s Not the End of the World by Judy Blume

Judy Blume Forever - 2023 film

Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret - 2023 film

Terry Gross Interview

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

You’ve Got Mail - 1998 film

Also, for fun: 87 Books Featured in “You’ve Got Mail”

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Yolanda Skeete, an avid reader and co-host of Thrillers by the Book Club SoCal, is back on the show with our book club pal Vanessa Vicente. Yolanda and Vanessa are both bookstagrammers living in Southern California who love to review thrillers, nonfiction, romance, and other genres. As mothers ourselves, we have a lot to say about the 2022 Science Fiction novel “The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan. In this episode, we talk about our experiences, hardships, and joys as mothers, and the discussion ranges from KidLit to Black Mirror to Michelle Obama to questions like “Why aren’t moms allowed to be sexy??”

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram 

Guest: Yolanda Skeete

Instagram 

Guest: Vanessa Vicente

Instagram

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2022

Maribel’s Year and Others by Michelle Sterling

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds

Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds

The Couch Potato by Jory John

The Bad Seed by Jory John

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Harambe

Black Mirror TV Show

The Sitting Month

The Drowning Woman by Robin Harding

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen

The Wife Between Us by Sarah Pekkanen

Judy Blume

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Movie

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Drowning by T.J. Newman

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

The Best Book Ever Podcast is taking the rest of the summer off to rest, recuperate, and, best of all, to read indiscrimitately. 

We'll be back on September 4, 2023, so make sure you have subscribed to the podcast on whatever podcatcher you use.

I'll still send out regular emails with all sorts of bookish news, so make sure you're subscribed to my weekly newsletter HERE.

If you have not yet experienced the joy of the "Court of Thorns and Roses" fandom, we are going to fix that today.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest Panel:

Victoria Snow

Instagram

Fareya

Instagram/TikTok/Goodreads

Nicole Burton

Instagram/Goodreads

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAR) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and ruin (ACOWAR) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOFAS) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

ACOTAR Wiki

Emma Petersen mentioned the ACOTAR books as “bird porn” when she appeared on the podcast to talk about Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang on Episode 138

A Court of Tattoos and Rosé podcast

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi

House of Earth and Blood: Book one of the Crescent City Series by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

@Kaykaysbookshelf (an awesome bookstagram account – scroll her saved stories for Sarah J. Mass mini-guides [spoiler free], maps, glossaries, etc. Her account is well worth a visit if you are a fan.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Daughter of the Moon Goddess: A Fantasy Romance Novel by Sue Lynn Tan

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes (a Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins

Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today I've got my first "three-peat" guest, Marion Hill. Just like in our two previous conversations, Marion introduced me to a book that I wouldn't have picked up on my own, that I sort of dreaded reading, and that I wound up loving and thinking about nonstop after I finished!

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Marion Hill

Website/Instagram

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

The Book of Strange new Things by Michel Faber

The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Eva Luna: A Novel by Isabel Allende

Marion’s previous picks on the podcast

Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint, which we talked about on Episode 008

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which we talked about on Episode 083

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Gilead by Marilyn Robinson

Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

The Sportswriter: Bascombe Trilogy 1 by Richard Ford

Independence Day: Bascombe Trilogy 2 by Richard Ford

The Lay of the Land: Bascombe Trilogy 3 by Richard Ford

Let Me Be Frank with You: A Frank Bascombe Book by Richard Ford

Be Mine: A Frank Bascombe Novel by Richard Ford

The Kammbia Series by Marion Hill

Marion’s 25 by Marion Hill

Marion’s 25 Volume II by Marion Hill

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Ambika Devi

Website/YouTube/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Fun With Dick and Jane

Lilith by Ambika Devi

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Cupid is a Bastard by Ambika Devi

Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe

Danielle Garrett

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Artemis by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

My guest this week is my beautiful daughter Ella. Ella just finished a semester at the University of Leicester, where she studied the novels of Jane Austen, and we have been talking nonstop about the books versus the movie adaptations, as well as feminism in Jane Austens books, and whether or not Harry Styles can smolder. It's a journey.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Ella Strauss

Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!

Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.

Support the podcast for just $5/month and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.

Become a Founder for $100 and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.

Discussed in this episode:

1st Annual Kids/YA Episode when Ella told me about Kate Atkinson

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Emma by Jane Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Clueless Movie

Bride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility Movie

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

Here comes the smolder – from “Tangled”

Derek Zoolander’s “Blue Steel”

Here is the Mr. Darcy hand flex scene that all the kids are weirdly obsessed with

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

Eve Ensler

Colleen Hoover

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Bunny: A Novel by Mona Awad

(Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)