Furthermore

Happy Halloween! This Hallow’s Eve, Furthermore is starting a style of Episode- Furthermore Head to Head, where a guest and I decide if we would rather delve into a book or the movie/tv show adaptation. I’m joined by Hanna McKean, author of the blog Food and a Film to get our nerves shattered by Stephen King’s It. Hanna and I read the first 50 pages of the book and watch the first half hour of the 2017 film staring Bill Skarsgård to decide which is worth the delve and which is headed back to the shelf. Which Pennywise did we like more? Will we ever go near a storm drain again? What are our Halloween favorites to get us into the Fall spirit?

Thank you for listening to Furthermore! Don’t forget to check out Hanna’s blog at foodandafilm.com. Also remember to check out Furthermore artist Max Farinato at maxfarinato.com.

Four months, four great reads. It's time we go back and take a look at the first four books we got into on Furthermore. I give some more thoughts on each book, talk a little more about my reading experience and check in with each of our guests! That's right- Katie, Spencer, Scott and Sarah all return (well, briefly) and I even have a special guest lined up as well. Did my guests stick to their picks? Did I stay true to my word?

Thank you so much for listening to Furthermore! Don't forget to follow us on instagram: @furthermorepodcast and check out our website over at anchor.fm/furthermore.

It may seem strange for Little Fires Everywhere, something that's been out for so long, to end up as August's best seller, but slow summer months and a lull before an enormous new release fall means Celeste Ng's second novel ended up as our next episode! It came down to a vote to break a tie with My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but with book in hand, my good friend from NYU, Andrea, joins me to find out what's up with this New York Times bestseller. The book is the story of the Richardson family, who find their house burned down one morning by a series of small fires set off inside; worst of all, they're certain it was the youngest sibling who did it.  Andrea and I set off for Shaker Heights, Cleveland to join the Richardsons as they navigate not only their own family drama, but the town's as well. Did we delve in or shelve it? Will a new food fact become a regular part of Furthermore? And with a Hulu series set to premiere next year, do Andrea and I hop on the hype train, or was Little Fires Everywhere  just too far from  my usual read?

Sometimes fact really is stranger than fiction. Does that mean that fact is up for grabs when a writer needs a good story? I'm joined by an old fellow manager from the store, my friend Sarah High, to discuss July's bestseller, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. This is Sarah's first read by the Pulitzer Prize winner author; did she like it? Can we pinpoint Colson's style? How did he adapt the true story of the horrors of a reform school in Florida into a novel?. Why did he wait nearly 50 pages to get our main character to Nickel Academy? Check it out and see Sarah and I delved in or shelved Colson Whitehead's newest hit, where discuss growing up in the South vs the North, what it feels like to discover a new author and ask ourselves; is the worst of real life worth making into a piece of fiction?

Have you ever felt literary peer pressure? A book so giant and so widely praised that you know you have to read it? For me, that was June's bestseller, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. My college roommate, groomsman at my wedding, and overall amazing friend Scott Duel joins Furthermore to share his own experience reading the poet's first Novel.Did Scott and I delve in, or did Ocean Vuong go back on our shelves? We'll discuss the Vietnam War, shared books we love, monkey brains, and ask ourselves; how far out of your comfort zone should you go? And, if you don't love what you everyone else can't stop talking about, should you keep reading or can you put it down?

 My friend and former NYU classmate Spencer Gaffney helps me break down May's best seller, Sally Rooney's literary sensation Normal People, about the relationship between odd but fascinating Marianne  and rich, popular Connell as it grows from high school romance to university tryst. Hailed as "The Millennial Writer," Sally Rooney has seen a rapid rise to fame, sometimes to her dismay. Spencer and I discuss the Irish Economy, what it means to be the author who defines a generation, and what the words "grinds," "binned," and "rounders" mean. Is Normal People worth the hype, the fame, the countless famous recommendations? Is Sally Rooney "Salinger for the Snapchat generation"? Does my west Irish accent carry too many notes of Dublin? 

I'm joined by my friend Katie Bockino to discuss April's bestseller, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. A Reese Witherspoon book club pick, Owens' first novel is the story of Kya Clark, suspected of killing town hero Chase Andrews in their home in the North Carolina swamps. The book sold very well at the store and continues  to; I can't keep it in stock. Katie and I get to the bottom of the power of Reese, Delia Owen's African Zoology career, and dig deep into the first 50 pages of the book.  Do we agree with Reese? What kind of beginnings does Kya have? Did I do a good enough job of resisting speaking in a southern accent all podcast long? 

Hi there! I'm Andy DeRado and welcome to Furthermore! Episode 0 is here to get you primed and ready to explore books with me. This episode serves to give you a little bit of my background and what the Podcast is all about. When you're done here jump right in to any of our episodes or start with Episode 1! Thank you so much for checking us out and I hope you enjoy Furthermore! Keep reading!!