Booklovers: A podcast for readers

This episode, we discuss readalikes for the television series Stranger Things. Stranger Things has a bit of a horror-mystery feel with lots of 1980s nostalgia thrown into the mix. A group of kids tries to figure out what happened to their friend who’s gone missing under very mysterious circumstances. Andrea, Mary and I share our favorite offbeat books and audiobooks.

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Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero. The summer of 1977. The Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in Oregon’s Zoinx River Valley) solved their final mystery and unmasked the elusive Sleepy Lake monster–another low-life fortune hunter trying to get his dirty hands on the legendary riches hidden in Deboën Mansion. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids. 1990. The former detectives have grown up and apart, each haunted by disturbing memories of their final night in the old haunted house. There are too many strange, half-remembered encounters and events that cannot be dismissed or explained away by a guy in a mask…The time has come to get the team back together, face their fears, and find out what actually happened all those years ago at Sleepy Lake. It’s their only chance to end the nightmares and, perhaps, save the world.

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The Girl with all the Gifts by MR Carey. A little girl who is detained by the military, restrained in a wheelchair, and goes to school while heavily guarded doesn’t truly understand why she is special until it is up to her to save the world.

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* Boy on the Bridge by MR Carey. Standalone novel set in the same world as The Girl with all the Gifts.

* Lucifer: Book One by Mike Carey.

* Lucifer: Season One. Based on the graphic novels by Mike Carey.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there.

This episode, Meghann and I discuss scary books of all sorts – one for kids, classics by Stephen King, a thriller. And one with man-eating hippos. Seriously. Hippos. With teeth.

What’s your favorite horror book or author? Tell us in the comments below.

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones by Alvin Schwartz. More traditional and modern-day stories of ghosts, haunts, superstitions, monsters, and horrible scary things. Click for more collections by AlvinSchwartz.

Behind her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. David and Adele seem like the ideal pair. He’s a successful psychiatrist, she is his picture-perfect wife who adores him. But why is he so controlling? And why is she keeping things hidden? As Louise, David’s new secretary, is drawn into their orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can’t guess how wrong–and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.

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Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. The now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) must save a very special twelve-year-old girl from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless; mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.” Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival.

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This week’s episode is a special one! I talk with Ashley and Sam, staff members who are also two of the judges for our upcoming Short Story Contest. They’re discussing books about writing. Get inspired and submit a story!

Our Short Story Contest begins October 8 and runs through November 30. Contest rules and submission guidelines  here.

Book Suggestions

Extraordinary Short Story Writing by Steven Otfinoski. One of the few titles on this subject geared specifically to the young adult market. At 128 pages, this guide is more concise and accessible than competing titles.

Plot Versus Character by Jeff Gerke. What’s more important to a story: a gripping plot or compelling characters? Literary-minded novelists argue in favor of character-based novels while commercial novelists argue in favor of plot-based stories, but the truth of the matter is this: The best fiction is rich in both.

Writing Fiction by the faculty of The Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Gotham Writers’ Workshop has mastered the art of teaching the craft of writing in a way that is practical, accessible, and entertaining. The fundamental elements of fiction craft-character, plot, point of view, etc.-explained clearly and completely.

Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin. Science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin generously shares the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime’s work.

The Anatomy of Curiosity by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff. This is three new stories complete with commentary on the creative process from three acclaimed young adult authors working at the height of their powers.

You Might Also Enjoy

* Tips to Galvinize Your Writing

* NaNoWriMo Write-In Event

* NaNoWriMo Tips

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To celebrate the changing of the seasons from summer into Pumpkin Spice Everything, Meghann and I talk books about witches.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. After fifteen-year-old Chloe starts seeing ghosts and is sent to Lyle House, a mysterious group home for mentally disturbed teenagers, she soon discovers that neither Lyle House nor its inhabitants are exactly what they seem, and that she and her new friends are in danger.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco. Tea’s gift for death magic means that she is a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community, but when an older bone witch trains her to become an asha–one who can wield elemental magic–Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice in the face of danger as dark forces approach.

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. On the island of Fennbirn, triplet sisters who each wield a coveted magic skill and claim an equal right to the throne must fight to the death when they turn sixteen for the title of Queen Crowned.

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Discovering a magical manuscript in Oxford’s library, scholar Diana Bishop, a descendant of witches who has rejected her heritage, inadvertently unleashes a fantastical underworld of daemons, witches, and vampires whose activities center around an enchanted treasure.

You might also enjoy:

* Witches of New York by Ami McCay. We talked about it in an earlier episode. Listen here.

* Scary books for kids. Read more.

* 5 books scarier than their movies. Read more.

* 6 zombie books. Read more.

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Enjoy the banter as Andrea and Laura discuss books that they’ve recently read and enjoyed.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month so make sure you have a library card! Sign up online for an eCard.

Our Suggestions

The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman. Collin James is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he waits tables and spends his free time beautifying the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collin’s art captivates passersby with its vibrant colors and intricate lines–until the moment he wipes it all away. Nothing in Collin’s life is meant to last. Then he meets Nina.  The daughter of a tech mogul who is revolutionizing virtual reality, Nina Lazare is trying to give back as a high school teacher–but her students won’t listen to her. When Collin enters her world, he inspires her to think bigger. Nina wants to return the favor–even if it means losing him. Against this poignant backdrop, Allegra Goodman paints a tableau of students, neighbors, and colleagues: Diana, a teenage girl trying to make herself invisible; her twin brother, Aidan, who’s addicted to the games produced by Nina’s father; and Daphne, a viral-marketing trickster who unites them all, for better or worse.

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson. Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’ weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman. It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. She’s having a baby boy–an unexpected but not unhappy development in the thirty-eight year-old’s life. But before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her step-sister Rachel’s marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, and she’s been hiding her dementia with the help of Wattie, her best friend since girlhood. Leia returns to Alabama to put her grandmother’s affairs in order, clean out the big Victorian that has been in the Birch family for generations, and tell her family that she’s pregnant. Yet just when Leia thinks she’s got it all under control, she learns that illness is not the only thing Birchie’s been hiding. Tucked in the attic is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War.

Jackaby by William Ritter. Newly arrived in 1892 New England, Abigail Rook becomes assistant to R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with the ability to see supernatural beings, and she helps him delve into a case of serial murder which, Jackaby is convinced, is due to a nonhuman creature.

When you say “fairy tale,” most of us think of the Brothers Grimm or even Charles Perrault. They captured stories that had long oral traditions reaching back hundreds, even thousands of years. Recent research has scientists believing those traditions might stretch all the way back to the Bronze Age! Read more about the research.

During this week’s podcast, Andrea, Sam, and Laura talk about some of our favorite fairy tale retellings. Be forewarned, not all of these books end in happily ever after! But they’re all intensely awesome reads. Besides, sometimes you need a book that’s going to give you an ugly cry.

Our Suggestions

Entwined by Heather Dixon. Confined to their dreary castle while mourning their mother’s death, Princess Azalea and her eleven sisters join The Keeper, who is trapped in a magic passageway, in a nightly dance that soon becomes nightmarish.

Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from stories, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin, a High Lord of the faeries. As her feelings toward him transform from hostility to a fiery passion, the threats against the faerie lands grow. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose Tamlin forever.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer. In this prequel to Alice in Wonderland, Cath would rather open a bakery and marry for love than accept a proposal from the King of Hearts, especially after meeting the handsome and mysterious court jester.

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes. Follows the downward spiral of princess Dinah, whose future reign in Wonderland is threatened by a devastating betrayal that leaves her with a broken heart and taking on the personality of the Queen of Hearts.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom — all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle — a shifting maze of magical rooms — enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out,

This week, Andrea and Sam join Laura to talk about exciting new young adult novels. Not a young adult? No worries. These books are so well written and fun that you’ll enjoy them no matter age you are!

Our Young Adult Suggestions

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Henry “Monty” Montague was bred to be a gentleman. His passions for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men, have earned the disapproval of his father. His quest for pleasures and vices have led to one last hedonistic hurrah as Monty, his best friend and crush Percy, and Monty’s sister Felicity begin a Grand Tour of Europe. When a reckless decision turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything Monty knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart. Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat. Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, or maybe three. Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her. A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

Laura talks about We Were Liars by E. Lockhart in an earlier podcast.

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron. Canaan is a quiet city on an idyllic world, hemmed in by high walls, but every twelve years the town breaks out in a chaos of bloody violence, after which all the people undergo the Forgetting, in which they are left without any trace of memory of themselves, their families, or their lives–but somehow seventeen-year-old Nadia has never forgotten, and she is determined to find out what causes it and how to put a stop to the Forgetting forever.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater. Here is a thing everyone wants: A miracle. Here is a thing everyone fears: What it takes to get one.

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This week we’re talking about mysteries. Specifically, mysteries that remind us of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. We’re talking full on darkness, intricate plot twists and surprise endings.

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Our Mystery Suggestions

The Girl Before by PJ Delaney. A psychological thriller that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune, and another woman’s mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death, and deception. Seizing a unique opportunity to rent a one-of-a-kind house, a damaged young woman falls in love with the enigmatic architect who designed the residence, unaware that she is following in the footsteps of a doomed former tenant.

 

 

 

Final Girls by Riley Sager. Emerging as the lone survivor of a serial killer’s massacre a decade earlier, Quincy Carpenter struggles to ignore traumatic memories and move on as one of a group of other survivors who look to her for answers when one of them is found dead in a suspicious suicide.

 

 

 

Stranger in the House by Shari LaPena. A suspicious accident, a wife who can’t account for herself, and unsettling questions that threaten to tear the couple apart You’re home making dinner for your husband. You expect him any second. The phone rings–it’s the call you hoped you’d never get. You jump in your car and race to a neighborhood you thought you’d never visit. You peer into the dark, deserted building. You brace yourself for the worst. And then, you remember nothing else. They tell your husband you’ve been in an accident. You lost control of your car as you sped through the worst side of town. The police suspect you were up to no good. But your husband refuses to believe it. Your best friendis not so sure. And even you don’t know what to believe.

 

Last Good Girl by Allison Leotta. Emma, a freshman at a Michigan university, has gone missing.

 

August is Read a Romance Month so that’s what we’re talking about during this episode. Enjoy a steamy historical, zany supernatural or contemporary hijinx.

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Laura’s Suggestion

From Duke Till Dawn by Eva Leigh. Years ago, the Duke of Greyland gave his heart–and a princely sum of money–to a charming, destitute widow with unparalleled beauty. But after one passionate night, she slipped from his bed and vanished without a trace. And just when he’s given up hope of ever seeing her again, Greyland finds her managing a gaming hell. He’s desperate to have her… until he discovers everything about his long-lost lover was a lie. In truth, Cassandra Blake grew up on the streets, picking pockets to survive. Greyland was a mark–to be fleeced and forgotten–but her feelings for the duke became all too real. Once he learns of her deception, however, the heat in his eyes turns to ice. When her business partner absconds with the gaming hell proceeds–leaving unsavory investors out for blood–Cassandra must beg the man she betrayed for help. Greyland wants compensation, too, and he’ll assist her under one condition: she doesn’t leave his sight until her debts are paid. But it’s not long before the real Cassandra–the smart, streetwise criminal–is stealing his heart all over again.

Andrea’s Suggestions

Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie. As she attempts to restore the decaying Dreamland amusement park, Mary Alice Brannigan must contend with five powerful demons that it houses, as well as a shady new beau, a crooked politician, a supernatural raven, and an inexperienced sorceress.

Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie. Laid-back hippie Tess Newheart is still in love with her ex-boyfriend, social-climbing businessman Nick Jamieson. When Tess pretends to be his fiancee on a business trip that could ma...

This week, we’re talking about books to read if you’re a Game of Thrones fan. Enjoy epic fantasy novels full of intrigue? Read one of these titles!

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Game of Thrones Readalikes

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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* eBook

* Downloadable audio

Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin

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* eBook

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

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* eBook

* Downloadable audio

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

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* eBook

* Downloadable audiobook

 

 

 

 

 

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