In Our Bookish Era

It's our HUNDREDTH full episode, call y'all believe it, becuase we can't!

We picked some award winning books, well one finalist, to bring you this week. Not just anyway, the Pulitzer! Did you know only one book wins a year, we didn't but we do now.

There are some heavy topics today to check the trigger warnings below. Today is all about some interesting characters, some possible snow magic, loss, love, and figuring out who we are and who we want to be.

Books Discussed:

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Trigger Warnings: Suicide (attempt, success, and idealization), racism and serotyping, sexism, infertility issues, child loss (still birth).

Please listen at your own discretion, we understand this episode may not be for everyone.

Apologizes dear listeners, we know we're a day late this week, but we found ourselves stuck in a fairytale and couldn't get out. Thankfully it wasn't as dark as the fairytales we're covering in the week's episode.

Turns out the power went to Dorothy's head and somehow a house has chicken legs. Both are being hunted in one way or another, and who knows which will survive.

Books Discussed:

Dorothy Must Die by Danelle Page

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nerthercott

Our last April mini takes us into some crime fiction. There's murder, there's fraud, there's infidelity, if it's not a great thing to do, this book probably has it. Rachael tells us about the top 2 of the 12 short stories.

Book Discussed:

Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman

Mixing it up this week and covering the same book, but on purpose this time! One was on kindle and audio, the other in paper back. One read it in a day, the other struggled a little. The book has you questioning if you'd open your door and let in a stranger during a storm. Personally, we'd never, but we can see why our main character did. The story unfold in about a day, so listen in!

Book Discussed:

Someone Else's Life by Lyn Liao Butler

April minis bring mini stories. Kristia is kicking us off with a collection of short stories about the lives of Cambodian-Americans and what it's like finding your place in the world being a child of an immigrant.

Book Discussed:

Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

There's nothing quite like family, and this episode we've got some family drama for ya. There's an unexpected half sister, an unexpected werewolf transformation, a police investigation, and estranged sister relationships. Truly, there's a lot for unpack here, come along for the ride.

TW: Death of a parent (father), infertility issues.

Books Discussed:

Such Sharpe Teeth by Rachel Harrison

The Half Sister by Sadie Jones

And happy birthday to all the other March babies out there. We may be biased but March is the best month to have a birthday! This episode we each gifted the other a birthday book. One is paranormal, one is set in India, one has some romance, the other has a woman who may have killed her husband.

TW: Animal Abuse, Domestic Violence, Rape. These are all from Rachael's book, they are mentioned in the episode but we do not go inot detail. Her section begins 20 minutes into the episode.

Books Discussed:

Sleep No More by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Bandit Queens by Parini Scroff

The theme of this season is tackling our physical TBR, so this episode we picked books that have been sitting on our shelves for quite some time. Rachael has a repeat author, a mute child with only one eye, and a cold case disappearance. Kristia's book was been on her shelf for three years. It's a love story with incredibly wealthy New York teenagers. There are horses, parties, and heartbreak.

Listen in to see if these should have stayed on the shelf or not.

Books Discussed:

We're All The Same In The Dark by Julia Heaberlin

Anna K by Jenny Lee

These books had a lot more in common that we thought they would. There are neighborhood book clubs and a lot of secrets, secrets that could destroy lives.

Books Dicussed:

The Neighbor's Secret by L. Alison Heller

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Another mini episode all about love. Kristia's book centers on two contests on an amateur cooking show. One is recently divorced from the only person she's ever been with and the other has dated anyone since they came out as non-binary three years ago. And in a dash of stress and excitement from filming and you've got a recipe for love. See what I did there ;)

Book Discussed:

Love and Other by Anita Kelly