Best Book Ever Podcast

Skye Pratt Epperson writes about family, history, religion, and fitness. She is working on a memoir about her childhood in Eswatini, Africa, and the varying expectations of the different faiths represented there. Skye joined me today to talk about “Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover,  that has some remarkable similarities to her own life.  I know you will agree that it is fascinating to hear someone with real insight into the school free childhood tell me why “Educated” 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

 

Guest: Skye Pratt Epperson

Website

 

Discussed in this episode:

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

United World College

Glennon Doyle memoirs – Love Warrior, Untamed, Carry On Warrior

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

This American Life

Snap Judgment

This Is Not A Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

Future Home of a Living God by Louise Erdrich

 

(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 123 Jessica Bell on “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson

 

I love noticing book covers, and paying attention to what I like and dislike about them, and it was really run to talk about them with a professional. Today I’m talking to multi-talented book-cover designer Jessica Bell about “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson. Jessica examined the cover of my copy of the book, and we talked about why it worked on me. Even better, we talked about the insides of books, and why this one, in particular, is hard to describe and even harder to forget.  It’s a book that sticks with you forever, particularly if you get the quotes inscribed on your coffee mugs!

 

Jessica Bell is a multi-award-winning author/poet, and singer-songwriter who was born in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to having published a memoir, five novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series, she has been featured in a variety of publications and radio shows such as Writer’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, The Guardian, Life Matters, and Poetica. She is also the Publisher of Vine Leaves Press, and a highly sought-after book cover designer. She currently resides in Athens, Greece, with her partner and son, and a pile of dishes that still don’t know how to wash themselves despite her consistently teaching by example.

 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: Jessica Bell

Newsletter/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Linkedin/YouTube

 

Discussed in this episode:

Can You Make the Title Bigga? By Jessica Bell

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Home by Marilynne Robinson

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Giving Birth to Motherhood by Amie McCracken & Katie Rössler, LPC

 

(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

Michelle Cox is the author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series, a mystery/romance saga set in the 1930s Chicago often described as “Downton Abbey Meets Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.” To date, the series has won over sixty international awards and has received positive reviews from Library Journal (starred), Booklist (starred), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and various media outlets, such as Popsugar, Buzzfeed, Redbook, Elle, Brit&Co., Bustle, Culturalist, Working Mother, and many others. Cox also pens the wildly popular, “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog chronically the lives of Chicago’s forgotten residents. She lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children and is hard at work on her next novel. 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: Michelle Cox

Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/BookBub/TikTok

 

We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who’d like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!

 

Previous Kids/YA Episodes:

 

2021

2020

 

And, just for fun, here’s an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.

 

Discussed in this episode:

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier

Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series by Michelle Cox:

A Girl Like You

A Ring of Truth

A Promise Given

A Veil Removed

A Child Lost

A Spying Eye

The Interview Show on PBS (filmed at The Hideout Bar Chicago)

My Cousin Rachel film adaptation

Get Out tea scene

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

 

(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

Brina Patel is a freelance content writer, copywriter, and journalist from Sacramento, California. Her writing has appeared in Business Insider, Byrdie, Well and Good, and Verywell Mind. When she isn't putting words to the page, Brina loves curling up with a thought-provoking memoir, making memories in new places across the globe, and spoiling her sassy Maltese. Today, she joined me to talk about this searing memoir of recovery from cancer, and why can be emotionally attached to people we’ve never met just by reading their words.

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

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: Brina Patel

Website/Instagram/GoodReads/TikTok/Twitter/LinkedIn

 

We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who’d like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!

 

Previous Kids/YA Episodes:

 

2021

2020

 

And, just for fun, here’s an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.

 

Discussed in this episode:

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad TED talk (Julie’s note: this is well, well worth watching)

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora

(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’s our lucky day, listener, because one of my favorite guests is back to talk about a book written by another one of my favorite guests. Kenya Goree Bell is herself a steamy romance author and fearless autism advocate who loves to talk books on her own show, the KGB Grown and Sexy book club. Today she joined me to talk about some of the lesser known romance subgenres and the authors we trust to make us care about common and uncommon tropes. And as always, we had a lot of laughs as Kenya told me why “His Revenge Baby” 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

 

Guest: Kenya Goree Bell

Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

 

We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who’d like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!

 

Previous Kids/YA Episodes:

 

2021

2020

 

And, just for fun, here’s an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.

 

Discussed in this episode:

His Revenge Baby by Theodora Taylor

Theodora Taylor on Best Book Ever Episode 046, talking about Warrior’s Woman by Johanna Lindsey

Naima Simone books

Naima Simone on Best Book Ever Episode 113

KGB’s first appearance on Best Book Ever Episode 016, when we talked about Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Ella Maven

Elizabeth Stephens

The Honey Badger Chronicles by Shelly Laurenston

Knud: Her Big Bad Wolf by Theodora Taylor

Lotus Flower Bomb by Kenya Goree Bell

Demon’s Dream: An Unexpected Love by Elle Kayson

Sharonda Isadora TikTok

Beverly Jenkins

Brenda Jackson

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

 

(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

I’ve been waiting for someone to choose this book for SO LONG!

Today, V.P. Morris, an award-winning thriller author, joined me to talk about the book everyone loves, hates, or loves to hate. I fall firmly into the love category, and I loved re-reading it to see if Gillian Flynn’s twisty masterpiece holds up to a re-read. Along the way, V.P and I discussed unreliable narrators and why shady women are so interesting.

I have to give you an official spoiler warning: VP  and I decided there is really no way to discuss this book without discussing the twists. So if you haven’t read Gone Girl, I suggest you go do it now, and then come back and listen to this episode. It’s well worth your time!

 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: VP Morris

Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

 

We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who’d like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!

 

Previous Kids/YA Episodes:

 

2021

2020

 

And, just for fun, here’s an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.

 

Discussed in this episode:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

ShadowCast by V.P. Morris

Dead Ringer by V.P. Morris

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Gone Girl Movie

Persuasion – this is the much-reviled latest version

When All The Girls Are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices by Annie Duke

 

(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

Tyler Foley is an accomplished actor, public speaker, and coach. He also has the dubious distinction of being the only guest I had to contact in advance of our recording and admit that I hated the book he chose! Tyler is extremely gracious, and we went ahead anyway, which is lucky for me, because it turned out to be one of my favorite conversations ever on this show. Whether or not you decide to read “A Fool’s Progress,” I know you’re going to enjoy hearing Tyler tell me why it’s the Best Book Ever.

 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: Tyler Foley

Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/YouTube

 

We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who’d like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!

 

Previous Kids/YA Episodes:

 

2021 Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide

2020 Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide

 

And, just for fun, here’s an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.

 

 

Discussed in this episode:

The Fool’s Progress by Edward Abbey

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Shack by William Paul Young

On the Devil’s Court by Carl Deuker

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Power to Speak Naked: How to Speak with Confidence, Communicate Effectively, and Win Your Audience by Sean Tyler Foley

Don’t Sit Under the Grits Tree with Anyone Else But Me by Lewis Grizzard

The Journey Home: Some Words in the Deense of the American West by Edward Abbey

Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside by Edward Abbey

Abbey’s Road by Edward Abbey

Mike Birbiglia

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins

Get the Hell Out of Debt by Erin Skye Kelly

Of Dreams and Angels by Jared Morrison

 

(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

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I absolutely lost my mind over the book “Darling Girl” a couple of weeks ago. It’s a modern day examination of the Peter Pan fairy tale, in which Wendy Darling’s granddaughter Holly must take on Peter Pan in order to save her daughter’s life. I think it’s such a clever take on the story, with fresh characters and a mature, nuanced look at the real heart of the story.

Today, the author of that marvelous book, Liz Michalski, is here to talk to me about the original Peter Pan and why she wrote her take on it. Along the way we discussed her love of the fantastic in every day life, the joy and grief of sending our adult children into the world, the often tragic life of author J.M. Barrie and how it influenced his strange literary world, and why “Peter Pan” 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

 

Guest: Liz Michalski

Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

 

Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!

 

Discussed in this episode:

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan by Liz Michalski

Fun with Dick and Jane

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Taproot: A Story About a Gardener and a Ghost by Keezy Young

Disney’s Peter Pan

Peter Pan (2003 Live action movie)

If you are looking for more iterations of Peter Pan, there is also a sort of prequel 2015 movie with Hugh Jackman, and of course, Hook with Robin Williams.  They all have really different vibes!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

 

(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

Thriller author J.P. Choquette writes atmospheric suspense novels with themes of nature, art, and folklore. She started writing "books" when she was old enough to hold a crayon. These were held together with staples and left some painful scratches.  When she's not working, you'll find her sipping a hot beverage, reading, or in the woods with her family.

Today J.P. joined me to talk about the modern gothic thriller, “The Stranger Diaries,” a book that hit every one of my literary sweet spots. We talked Anglophilia, gothic literature, books that are thrilling but not scary, and the joys of letter writing.

 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Guest: JP Choquette

Website/Instagram

 

Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!

 

Discussed in this episode:

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

Agatha Christie Inspector Poirot novels

Monsters in the Green Mountains books by J.P. Choquette

Every reference to Castle Rock in Stephen King books

Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Book 1 in the Ruth Galloway Series)

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths (featuring DS Harbinder Kaur from The Stranger Diaries)

The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart

(Interesting side note: when I researched Rinehart’s books, I came across The Bat, a three act-play of hers that is the original inspiration for Bob Kane’s Batman. Reading is AWESOME.)

I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark

Let the Dead Rest by J.P. Choquette

 

(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

Like nearly everyone else in the world, I am watching the funeral preparations for Queen Elizabeth II, and the transition to the new King, with great interest. I thought you might like a compilation of my favorite books about the royals, and royally-adjacent fiction that I return to again and again.

In addition to what I have already read, I am also very fascinated by all of the work that writers and activists from colonized countries are providing, and I look forward to broadening my understanding of the points of view of People of the Global Majority. I would love to hear any book recommendations you have, fiction or nonfiction.

 

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

 

Host: Julie Strauss

Website/Instagram

 

Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!

 

Discussed in this episode:

HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style by Elizabeth Holmes.

Our Rainbow Queen: A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and Her Colorful Wardrobe by Sali Hughes.

The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe by Angela Kelly.

The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown

 The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton

Elizabeth and Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters by Andrew Morton.

Prince Charles: the Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life by Sally Bedell Smith

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of the Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

The Madness of King George

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.

The Fug Girls

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

BBE episode 068 – Lauren Regenhardt on Red, White and Royal Blue

The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

 

(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