Best Book Ever Podcast

My mom is the reason I'm a reader and today she joined me to talk books. She surprised me by choosing a cookbook (she and I are both fiction junkies) but The Pat Conroy Cookbook made for a great chat. We also talked about how we both cut our teeth on trashy novels and the joys of re-reading favorite books. She even spilled some tea about her book club!

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Betsy Dunn

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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 Pat Conroy Cookbook by Pat Conroy

The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope (this is just one in a whole series of Bobbsey Twins adventures)

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

The Great Santini by Pat Conroy

The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son by Pat Conroy

Carlsbad Aquafarm

Beaufort, South Carolina really does look like a lovely town

Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten

Ina Garten's Beef Bourguingnon

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King

The Water is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy

The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

(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!)

Y'all already know how much I love Canadians, and today you get to hear from one of my favorite ones.⁠ ⁠ I've previously interviewed Erin Walker before on Episode 101: Cookbook-Palooza with the women of the Three Kitchens Podcast. Their mission is to inspire fellow home cooks to try something new and have fun in the kitchen. They take a deep dive into a recipe, giving ideas and tips for making it, and they also talk to interesting guests from the food world.⁠ ⁠ Today I get a solo show with Erin, who is a mother, knitter, lover of the great outdoors and (of course) an avid reader. We talked about the book "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing and let me tell you: this is a jaw-dropping story. Erin is the type of human who likes to do treacherous, outdoorsy things, and I am the type of human who only goes outside to acquire more books. But we agree that this book, and the story of this particular adventurer, is an incredible read.⁠

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Erin Walker

Instagram/Facebook/Website

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:

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 049, when Ysaura Vanegas talked to me about The Alchemist)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 024, when Jaimie Morimoto talked to me about Pride and Prejudice)

The Promise by Damon Galgut

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 089, when Stephen Pelton talked to me about Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf,and we veered into a discussion about Damon Galgut's books.)

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

Endurance: My Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly

More Than You'll Ever Know by Kate Gutierrez

Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 143, when Katy Leep Arditti talks to me about The House in the Cerulean Sea)

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 089, when Tori Snow talked to me about Hidden Valley Road)

Tastes Like War: A Memoir by Grace M. Cho

(Check out Best Book Ever Episode 110, when Jasmine Vyas talked to me about Tastes Like War).

I was not able to do the Bosom Caresser Speakeasy Episode with the Three Kitchens Gals, but they did it, and it is wonderful. Check it out HERE!

(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!)

It's just Julie this week, with an update about my absence and conversation about how my girlfriends have pulled me through this horrible season of life. Spoiler alert: they fed me tacos and wine and led me to the books that are helping me see things differently. As friends do!

Host: Julie Strauss

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 Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

This also exists as a stage play adaptation, performed on audiobook by Vanessa Redgrave

Jaymi Couch, The OC Book Girl Instagram

Jaymi's newsletter, Let's Read Nonfiction

If you are a So Cal resident, don't miss Jaymi's amazing So Cal Reads Newsletter, where she links to author and reader events all over Southern California

Geometry of Grief: Reflections on Mathematics, Loss, and Life by Michael Frame

When Your Heart Says Go: My Year of Traveling Beyond Loss and Loneliness by Judy Reeves

This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew by Daniel Wallace

Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets by Kyo Maclear

The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Bozoma Saint John

What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love by Laurel Braitman

So Sorry for Your Loss: How I Learned to Live with Grief, and Other Grave Concerns by Dina Gachman

One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care by Chenxing Han

Everything All at Once: A Memoir by Stephanie Catudal

How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton

(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 beloved Katy Leep Arditti is back this week, with yet another book that ripped my beating heart straight out of my chest, and left me weeping on the bedroom floor in the wee hours of the night. In a good way. We also chatted about perfume and anxiety and book bans, and how this book needs to go to people who experience all three.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Katy Leep-Arditti

Katy's Bookstagram/Katy's Perfume IG Account /Perfume TikTok Account

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:

Katy's last appearance on Best Book Ever Podcast

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Skylar Salt Air perfume

Fog perfume by Henry Rose

Noir Exquis by L'Artisan Perfumaire

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

(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!)

I liked today's book.

And then I felt very weird that I liked it.

Olivia Day, my guest who brought this confusing, twisty book into my life, is the co-host of the Thrillers by the Book Club pod. She is a long-time lover of thrillers, crime, and mystery stories, and a graduate of International Thriller Writer's Online Thriller School. Despite the grim thesis of the book we are discussing, Olivia and I had a lot of laughs as we discussed this book. And we drew a pretty effective through-line between the books that represent women's ultimate fantasies, whether they are sexual or, you know, murderous.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Olivia Day

Instagram/Twitter

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:

Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast

Chelsea Hofman on the Best Book Ever Podcast: Episode 137 and Episode 108

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

Temper by Layne Fargo

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

Best Book Ever Episode 013 Asha Sabella on The Last Mrs. Parrish

Heartsick: A Thriller by Chelsea Cain

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

(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!)

Lisa Marie Cabrelli is my dear friend and one of my favorite people on the planet to talk books with, because her insights always knock me out. She came back to the show today to talk about "In the Woods," the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French. Lisa Marie got me hooked on this series several years ago, and I love hearing her brilliant insights about why crime fiction reflects national identity. Tana French writes literary, thought-provoking genre fiction that is deeply immersive and, as I found out, gets even better on re-reads.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Lisa Marie Cabrelli

Website/Instagram/Twitter

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:

In the Woods by Tana French (Book 1 of the Dublin Murder Squad)

Elizabeth George

Listen to author Aime Austin talk to me about What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George in Episode 047

Ian Rankin

The Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny

Tana French's Intimate Crime Fiction, by Laura Miller, the New Yorker, September 26, 2016

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

Ann Patchett's bookstore, Parnassus Books

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Severance by Ling Ma

Listen to Lisa Marie's previous appearance on this podcast, when she talked about Severance on Episode 050

Read "The Descent" by Lisa Marie Cabrelli on Yonder

(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: Dawn Raffel

Website/Instagram/Twitter

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 Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

How to Read War and Peace by Dawn Raffel Oprah Magazine, July 2006 (this article really makes me want to give it a shot…)

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Boundless as the Sky by Dawn Raffel

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney by Dawn Raffel

Grendel by John Gardner

Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

(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!)

Some of you may remember back in episode 107 when I had Maci Nelson on the show. Maci is an avowed bookworm – iand also the host of one of my favorite shows, the Landscape Nerd podcast, a fantastic resource for anyone who is interested in the outdoor world. You might think this is a niche interest of mine, since I'm a known garden geek, but what's great about the Landscape Nerd is how Maci looks at all aspects of our outdoor spaces – not only which plants grow there, but how we use spaces, how we look at them, evne how they sound. I promise you, even if you are not particularly interested in gardening, you will learn something wonderful when you hear Maci talk to people who care about your landscape.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Guest: Maci Nelson

Website/Instagram/Podcast

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:

Maci's appearance on the Best Book Ever podcast, when we discussed "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones

American Society of Botanical Artists

The Art of Botanical Illustration, via Daily Art Magazine

What is Botanical Illustration? via My Modern Met

The Science of Art: Why Botanical Illustration Matters, via National Tropical Botanical Garden

How Art Shapes Our Understanding of Plants and Reveals Wonders Photographs Can Miss, via National Geographic.co.uk

Botanical Illustration is Becoming Endangered, But the Job is Essential, via the Washington Post (no paywall)

Ode to Black Botanical Illustrators

Decolonizing Botanical Illustration, via Draw Botanical

Nirupa Rao: Discovering the Magical World of Botanical Illustration, via National Geographic Society

An Nirupa Rao TED Talk: An Illustrated Kingdom of Real, Fantastical Plants

'Plant Blindness' is a Real Thing: Why It's a Real Problem, Too, via The Conversation

Draw Botanical.com

(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!)

Emma Dayton Petersen lives in NYC, and is working towards getting her Masters Degree in Speech Pathology. While studying, she works full time as a Client Success Manager for a life and career coaching company for creatives. She became interested in the field of speech and linguistics during her time as a theater student at CSU, Fullerton. Emma's dream is to use performance and theater as a tool to help people with communicative disorders. Her love of language is what initially drew her to the short story, "Story of Your Life," and we had a fascinating discussion about what language is, how we communicate, and if we'd want to know the future.

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Emma Dayton Petersen

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:

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (this is a book of short stories; the one we discussed today, 'Story of Your Life', is the story that the movie 'Arrival' is based on.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Arrival movie – this movie is also one of my all-time favorites!

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

The Best Short Stories 2022, The O. Henry Prize Winners, Edited by Valeria Luiselli

The Strand Bookstore

Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption edited by Daniel Jones

Modern Love podcast

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

(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 we welcome back my friend Chelsea Hofman of the Thrillers by the Book Club and Podcast. I think of all of my guest, Chelsea is probably the one whose tastes are the most polar opposite of mine. Thats why it's always such a blast talking to her. Today we discussed a book about murderous dolls that I shockingly did not hate!

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

Chelsea Hofman

Instagram/Podcast

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:

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Thrillers by the Book Club

Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast

So, You're Interested in Free Books episode of Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Corduroy by Don Freeman

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

The Taking Tree: A Selfish Parody by Shrill Travesty

Super Scary Haunted Homeschool with Grady Hendrix

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing

What Remains by Wendy Walker

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

(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!)