Best Book Ever Podcast

A quick episode this week with updates about how you can support the podcast and links to what Julie has been reading on her own time recently.

 

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Host: Julie Strauss

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Discussed in this episode:

 

Episode 118 Tyler Foley on “The Fool’s Progress” by Edward Abbey, still one of my favorite episodes even though I hated the book

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Episode 125 3rd Annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Jaymi Couch – Let’s Read Nonfiction

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

Today I’m joined by Kim Sherwood, an author and creative writing lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Kim’s newest release, "A Wild and True Relation," has the tremendous distinction of a gushing review by Dame Hilary Mantel herself, who said that Sherwood’s book is “a rarity – a novel as remarkable for the vigour of the storytelling as for its literary ambition. Kim Sherwood is a writer of capacity, potency and sophistication.” In addition to that, this April Kim is releasing the first book in a new James Bond trilogy, called "Double Or Nothing," commissioned the Ian Fleming estate. Kim and I had a wonderful talk about these different genres, and what brings these iconic characters to life, and why "Wolf Hall" is the Best Book Ever.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Kim Sherwood

Website/Twitter/Instagram

 

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (book 2 in the Wolf Hall trilogy)

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (book 3 in the Wolf Hall trilogy)

A Wild and True Relation by Kim Sherwood

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Double or Nothing: A Double O Novel by Kim Sherwood

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

(This one also exists in graphic novel form!)

George Baker

Spare by Prince Harry

Waverly by Walter Scott

Testament by Kim Sherwood

Greenway House – the Home of Agatha Christie

V.I. Warshawski Novels by Sara Paretsky (There are, to date, 21 novels in this series.)

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

Aleenah Ansari (she/her) is equal parts storyteller, creative problem solver, and journalist at heart who's rooted in the stories of people behind products, companies, and initiatives. She writes about travel, entrepreneurship, mental health and wellness, and representation in media for Insider, The Seattle Times, Byrdie, and more. You can usually find her searching for murals in Seattle and beyond, reading a book, and planning her next trip to New York.

Aleenah joined me today for a particularly canded discussion about BIPOC representation in our reading life, and the way books and therapy are crucial to our mental health

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

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Aleenah Ansari

Website/Twitter/Instagram/Linked In

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Aleenah’s article about the best indie bookstores across the United States

Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers by Bob Eckstein

Word on the Water – The London Bookbarge

More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – And Keep – Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

Dear Therapists podcast with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

“Twenty Years at Hull House” is the acclaimed memoir of social reformer Jane Adams. It contains unflinching descriptions of poverty and degradation of the Industrial Revolution, and the steps she took to establish housing, food, clean water, and education for the poor of Chicago.

Joining me today is Rebecca Sive, author of three books on women’s politics and power. She’s also a motivational speaker for women’s audiences; a former professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and the recipient of numerous awards for her public leadership and service. Rebecca and I talked about how to find rest as a feminist voter, the way every public service is bound up in all aspects of society, and how the messages from Jane Adams’ work, written over one hundred years ago, are still so relevant today.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Rebecca Sive

Website

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams

Every Day is Election Day: A Woman’s Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House by Rebecca Sive

Vote Her In: Your Guide to Electing our First Woman President by Rebecca Sive

Make Herstory Your Story: Your Guided Journal to Justice Every Day for Every Woman by Rebecca Sive

Paul Wellstone

Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm

Rebecca’s article about Twenty Years at Hull House in Windy City Times

Division Street: America by Studs Terkel

Rebel Bayou by Samuel and Sarah Hyde

The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How it Changed America by Nicholas Lemann

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

We are going a little off script for today’s episode. I’m not sure either one of us would call “Spare” the Best Book Ever, though I’m sure it has plenty of people who would. But it is definitely the book of the week, and a book that I think will come to be seen as a watershed moment in the history of the royals.

Suswati Basu is a multilingual journalist, mental health books show podcast host, and award-winning activist, and one of my favorite guests of the show. I was eager to get her take on this book that has been in the news basically nonstop for the last week, and talk beyond the headlines. Besides settling the score with his family, there are a lot of really big issues in this book, and I was eager to get her take on them. We also talked about the biggest issue for all of us readers – is it actually any good? 

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Suswati Basu

Website/Instagram/Podcast/YouTube/Facebook/Twitter

 

Listen to Suswati talk to me about “The Stranger” by Albert Camus

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Spare by Prince Harry

Suswati’s Review of Spare in National World

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (co-written by J.R. Moehringer)

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

This week I’m joined by the fabulous Katy Leep Arditti, consumer of all things Thriller and Fantasy, business owner, massage therapist, and one of my favorite book club friends. Friends, Katy introduced me to a book so totally out of my wheelhouse, I actually contemplated not reading it, and just having her on to tell me about it. But I’m so glad I avoided that temptation, because Ordinary Monsters turned out to be easily one of my favorite reads of 2022. It was a delightful talk about the importance of smart heroines, rollicking adventures through foggy London, and surviving tremendous personal grief.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Katy Leep Arditti

Instagram

 

Discussed in this episode:

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Thrillers by the Book Club

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

The Bechdel Test

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

BBE Episode 119 – V.P. Morris on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Ben Onwukwe (audiobook narrator)

Small Town Big Magic by Hazel Beck

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

To kick off the new year with a very special edition of Best Book Ever, my daughter Erin is taking over the hosting duties this week, interviewing me. She asked me all the things I normally like to ask my weekly guests – favorite books, goals for 2023, Mr. Darcy, and everything in between.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Erin Strauss

Instagram

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

Howard’s End by E.M. Forster

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Bo Burnham

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Verity by Colleen Hoover

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

Time for an end of year wrap up with my Podcast Twin, Malavika Praseed. Malavika is putting her marvelous podcast on hiatus for the time being while she pursues a Master’s Degree in Fiction Writing. She is one of my very favorite readers, and I always love catching up with her and finding out what books she loved over the past year, and how she thinks her reading life will change now that she’s not running her podcast. As always, it was a great chat, with lots of laughs about serious and not-so-serious books.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Malavika Praseed

Instagram/Chicago Review of Books

 

 

Malavika on Best Book Ever Podcast:

 

Episode 029 Malavika Praseed on “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers

Episode 079 Malavika’s 2021 End of Year Wrap Up

 

And I went on her podcast once to talk about, you guessed it, My Favorite Book

Your Favorite Book Podcast: Howard’s End with Julie Strauss

 

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

National Book Award Long List

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A Death in the Family by James Agee

Ethan From by Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

William Faulkner

Jhumpa Lahiri

Jeff Pearlman

Carson McCullers

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Best Book Ever Episode 089 Stephen Pelton on Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Howard’s End by E.M. Forester

The Hours movie

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Why is Santa Claus Erotica Suddenly So Popular?

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

The Pultizer Prize Winners for Fiction, by year

Fuckbois of Literature podcast

Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man: A Girl Friday Mystery by Emily J. Edwards

Chicago Review of Books

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

Episode 126 Memoir-Palooza with Denise Massar

 

 

Today, I’m so happy to welcome back the very first guest of the show, an amazing writer and reader, and, not to brag, but my best friend and soul sister, Denise Massar. Denise is a memoir junkie, and it occurred to me that mid-December is a perfect time to host a Memoir-Palooza, since so many of us like to give them as gifts over the holiday season, and I thought it would be interesting to hear which ones she liked best over the last year. A lot of the ones we talk about today deal with grief and loss, which also makes a lot of sense to address right now, as the holidays can be rough for a lot of people. Denise is my all-time most trusted memoir resource, and I know you’re going to love hearing her tell me why she thinks Memoirs are the Best Books Ever.

 

Denise Massar is an author, a mom via birth and adoption, and an adoptee. She writes about parenting, caregiving, racism, and anything else she can’t stop thinking about. As a reader, she’s most interested in stories about women’s day-to-day lives—in the 80s when grade-school classmates were reading Judy Blume, Denise was into Erma Bombeck.

Her essays have been published in RAISE Magazine, TODAY Parenting, An Injustice!, MUTHA Magazine, and Jane Friedman’s blog.

Denise’s memoir, SEARCH HISTORY: A Memoir of Loss, Obsession, and Meeting My Mom at 40, is currently on submission. She is represented by Jacquie Flynn at Joelle Delbourgo Associates.

 

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Denise Massar

Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

 

 

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Denise Massar on Best Book Ever Episode 002

Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

What Comes Next and How to Like it by Abigail Thomas

Episode 097 – Lizbeth Meredith on “What Comes Next and How to Like It” by Abigail Thomas

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom

How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney

Catastrophe

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

Spare by Prince Harry

J.R. Moehringer

 

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com

It’s time for my favorite episode of the year – our Annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. I asked a group of young people, ages 8-19, to tell me about their favorite book. As always, their answers were as smart, funny, interesting, and diverse as the kids themselves. I love talking to young people about books, and even if you don’t have any young people to buy for this year, I know you’re going to love hearing these interesting people tell me about their favorite books.

 

A note: as always, the interviews go in age order, and the older kids talk about books with some very mature themes.

 

Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Discussed in this episode:

 

Hope, Age 8

Mysteries in Our National Park: Cliff-Hanger: A Mystery in Mesa Verde National Park by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson

(This is part of a 12-book series all set in national parks across the United States.)

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

(Both Hope and her twin sister Mackenzie talked to me about multiple Magic Tree House books in last year’s episode)

 

Henry, Age 8

Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar

Holes by Louis Sachar

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar

 

Supernatural Bear, Age 10

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

 

Dante, Age 10

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan movie

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate

Odder by Katherine Applegate

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series on Disney+)

 

Dorian, Age 10

Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs

Spy School Secret Service by Stuart Gibbs

Spy School Revolution by Stuart Gibbs

The Fun Jungle Collection by Stuart Gibbs

 

Kate, Age 12

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

The Storyteller’s Death: A Novel by Ann Dávila Cardinal

 

Jack, Age 14

Maus by Art Spiegelman

 

Joey, Age 15

The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabreil Bá

The Umbrella Academy on Netflix

Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

Paper Girls Series on Amazon Prime

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Terminator Genisys movie

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

 

Erin, Age 19

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Thrillers by the Book Club Pod

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

 

 

(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 is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestbookeverpodcast.substack.com