Four Books a Fortnight

We've got some great variety this week, from a Japanese novel exploring the nature of comedy to literary fiction set in Bristol, England, that explores the boredom of being a housewife in a really beautiful way. Also, big kudos to Sam for banging out a 700-page brick in two weeks and to Hannah for reading a book about, like, British royalty, that she rated with a vacuum cleaner's whine. This fortnight, we read:

1. "Spark," by Naoki Matayoshi
2. "The Land in Winter," by Andrew Miller
3. "The Will of the Many," by James Islington
4. "The Heir Apparent," by Rebecca Armitage

What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

We shake it up this week with a philosophical text and some YA, plus a favorite backlist title of Hannah's that Sam experiences for the first time! Also, we get a treatise on the difference between a romance and a love story. This fortnight, we read:

1. "The Rest of our Lives," by Ben Markovits
2. "On Drugs," by Justin Smith-Ruiu
3. "Red as Royal Blood," by Elizabeth Hart
4. "Migrations," by Charlotte McConaghy

What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

It's all fiction all the time this episode and we mostly liked these books. Mostly. See which one gets the bellyflop splash! This fortnight, we read:

1. "Television," by Lauren Rothery
2. "The Listeners," by Maggie Stiefvater
3. "House of Day, House of Night," by Olga Tokarczuk
4. "Emergency," by George Packer

What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

We've got some biggies this week, from one of the leading Dad-gift books of the season to the latest from from a few literary powerhouses. See which one gets the whoopie cushion! This fortnight, we read:

1. "American Kings," by Seth Wickersham
2. "What We Can Know," by Ian McEwan
3. "A Guardian and a Thief," by Megha Majumdar
4. "The Four Spent the Day Together," by Chris Kraus

What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

Are you a cryer? Hannah is. But for some reason Ann Packer's brand-new tear-jerker didn't get the waterworks flowing. And, yes, Sam has another music book for you, but he swears it won't be every week! Also, we've got some sci-fi for you (and even some workplace sci-fi). This fortnight, we read:

1. "Some Bright Nowhere," by Ann Packer
2. "Tonight in Jungleland," by Peter Ames Carlin
3. "The Memory Police," by Yoko Ogawa
4. "The Employees," by Olga Ravn

What sound effects did we give these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

It's here! The brand-new podcast, "Four Books a Fortnight," where we, Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle, co-owners of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms, read four books every two weeks and tell you all about them. Then we rate them with a sound effect! This fortnight, we read:

1. "Katabasis," by RF Kuang
2. "Wreck," by Catherine Newman
3. "The Uncool," by Cameron Crowe
4. "Remain," by Nicholas Sparks and M Night Shyamalan

What sound effects did we give these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

That's right, folks. This is the last episode of "John Updike's Ghost"! But not to worry! We'll be launching a new podcast very soon! What's the name? What will it be about? When will it launch? We're not telling you yet! Until that amazing day comes, you'll just have to listen to us talk about the books we've read recently, such as:

- "Sisters in the Wind," by Angeline Boulley, which is in the same universe as "Firekeeper's Daughter" and "Warrior Girl Unearthed," and it is just as good. Angeline just keeps cranking them out. - "The Guide," by Peter Heller, which is the follow-on to "The River," and features much of the same brilliant nature writing, if maybe a little less "realistic." It's not as good as "The River," but that's not saying it's not great. - "The Frozen People," by Elly Griffiths, which starts a brand-new series and has time travel, but not the sci-fi sort of time travel, just the plot-device kind of time travel. If you like Elly's mysteries, you'll love this. - "So Far Gone," by Jess Walter, which is very much a novel of our moment, exploring what happens when your daughter marries a hardcore Christian nationalist. But it's also really funny and not too politically heavy. - "Help Wanted," by Adelle Waldman, which is a working-class novel about employees in a box-store warehouse and the pecking order that becomes clear when the boss announces he's leaving. Hannah liked it.

And then we thank everyone and say goodbye. We'll be back, but ta-ta for now.

That's right, folks. This is the second-to-last episode of "John Updike's Ghost," which will end with Episode 100. But not to worry! We'll be launching a new podcast not long afterward, with a new name and a little bit of a new focus. In the meantime, though, we've got a cracker-jack episode for you this week, with a bunch of books we really like. Here's the deal:

- "Flashlight" by Susan Choi, which is one of those books you tell other people about. The history of Korea-Japan-China conflict is at its heart. - "The Wall," by Marlen Haushofer (translated by Shaun Whiteside), which is a classic of post-apocalyptic Feminist literature, and completely delivers, with a story of self-sufficiency that speaks to the essence of humanity's relationship with nature. - "A Month in the Country," by J.L. Carr, which a classic of pastoral literature, a treatise on hard work well done and the value of rural community. - "Fonseca," by Jessica Francis Kane, which is the made-up story of author Penelope Fitzgerald's apocryphal trip to Mexico (look up who Penelope is; she's dope). - "Heartbreaker," by Mike Campbell and Ari Surdoval, which is among the best musician memoirs ever produced, the story of the creation of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but so much more than that.

We're switching it up a little bit this episode, as the Booker Prize Long List has just been released and it's fun to talk about what they've chosen — plus, the judges this year are really interesting! These are "chosen from 153 submissions, celebrates the best works of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025." Some of the books we've read, some we've just heard about, some we have no idea about. Play along!

Here's the list as we tackle it:

- "Seascraper," by Benjamin Wood, which is not available in the U.S. - "The Rest of our Lives," by Ben Markovitz, which is not available in the U.S. (though Ben is from the U.S. and used to be a professional basketball player) - "Audition," by Katie Kitamura, which is so out there that Hannah legit doesn't know how to talk about it. No one seems to know what's happening with this book. - "Endling," by Maria Reva, which we talked about quite a bit in EP92 (not 94, as Sam says on the pod, for no good reason), and is a substantive, interesting, weird novel, but maybe not Sam's favorite. - "Flashlight," by Susan Choi, a National Book Award winner, which Hannah started out super excited about, but then her fervor sort of faded... There's some great stuff in here about Japan-Korea history and the immigrant story, in general. - "The Land in Winter," by Andrew Miller, which Hannah hasn't read, but she does remember that "The Optimists" was big and she meant to read it. - "Love Forms," by Claire Adam, who was published by Sarah Jessica Parker, who also happens to be a judge! But we're sure it's a coincidence. "Like a Claire Keegan novel written by Elizabeth Strout," apparently. - "Universality," by Natasha Brown, which we know is short and is all about words and meaning. - "Misinterpretation," by Ledia Xhoga, which is similarly about words and meaning. We don't know much, really. But there seems to be a theme here. - "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny," by Kiran Desai, who has a Booker Prize under her belt. This book is going to be big. - "One Boat," by Jonathan Buckley, which is about a murder and a love affair on a Greek island. - "The South," by Tash Aw, which is this year's young gay love story, Hannah thinks, though she's not sure, but it is the first of a quartet of novels, "a reimagined epic for our times." - "Flesh," by David Szalay, which is a stylish Hungarian novel, a coming-of-age sort of thing.

This week, Hannah is on vacation, Sam is working hard, but both have two books to talk about and we mostly like them. Yes, there's some embarrassing stuff where Sam has no idea about major biographical elements of the authors he's praising profusely, but let's pretend it's not happening in the moment.

On the agenda this week:

• "A Marriage at Sea," by Sophie Elmhirst, which is a real-life story about a couple who decided to just drop out of society and "live a more interesting life." So, they bought a boat, then crashed it against a whale, and then somehow survived for months in a life raft. It's wild. But ultimately a treatise on fame.
• "Death of the Author," by Nnedi Okorafor, which Sam thinks is the best book he's read this year so far and criminally under-talked-about. It's sci-fi, family drama, social commentary, and so much more. Also, Sam was wrong. Nnedi is 51. Older than him. He's dumb.
• "A Dog in Georgia," by Lauren Grodstein, which Hannah likes a lot, and not just because she was in a writing class with Lauren a while back. It's lighter than "We Must Not Think of Ourselves," which is more to her skillset. And, yes, it's about looking for a lost dog in the country of Georgia, but, yes, everyone agrees that's weird.
• "The Third Rule of Time Travel," by Philip Fracassi, which Sam mostly enjoyed, but was sort of a "Netflix original" of a time-travel novel. Very readable! Entertaining! But maybe doesn't stick the landing. And it's a dude writing a woman, but it's a fine.