Little Sleep//Much Reading

This week Riss and Liza are joined by a dear friend, Vineeta Chauhan, as they discuss historical fiction. Vineeta read The Gladd Palace by Amitav Ghosh, Liza read The Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, and Riss read the podcast's first graphic novel (!!!) Unterzakhn by Leela Corman. This episode is a long one!!

Today the Little Sleep Ladies celebrate Louisa May Alcott's birthday by discussing a collection of essays called March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado, and Jane Smiley. The book relates not only each writer but also the readers to the March Sisters. Liza and Riss jump through topics: Which March Sister are you? (Along with Hogwarts Houses), Relating ourselves to aspects in the essays, What Little Women means for many women (and women writers!), etc.

Join us in reliving Alcott's beloved classic Little Women once again by listening to this episode! And be sure to let us know on our Social Media (@LSMRpodcast) which March Sister are you???

Happy Thanksgiving! In this episode, the Girlies talk Feasts! What can a feast mean in literature? How can a feast be used in a story? Marissa reviews Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham and Aliza reviewed The Council of Animals by Nick McDonell. Wishing everyone a wonderful turkey (or tofurkey) nap!

Surprise Bonus Episode!!!!!! The Little Sleep Ladies talk about Lit News from this week including the National Book Awards! Marissa and Liza also clarify some things about Memoir. We discuss "truth" in Memoir and the use of "emotional truth".

If you would like to read more about this check out the links below!

https://bookriot.com/a-memoir-doesnt-have-to-tell-the-truth/

https://www.janefriedman.com/memoir/

https://kucreativewriting.wordpress.com/memory/memoir-fiction-wheres-the-line/

And if you find any information you would like to share with us, be sure to hit us up on our socials!

November is Memoir Month!!! Have you read a memoir yet? The LSMR Girlies have! Aliza read "Tastes Like War" by Grace M. Cho and Marissa read "Men We Reaped" by Jesmyn Ward. Both of these books were fantastic and absolutely devastating! Also, notice these authors are both women and POC. We would like to remind you to support POC authors! Read their memoirs and their stories and thank them for the courage they must have had to share these words. We admire women POC authors, and have absolute love and appreciation for them!

Happy Birthday Mr. Neil Gaiman! The hosts of the Little Sleep Pod celebrated by reading two of Neil's books. Marissa read "American Gods" while Liza read "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane" and the ladies had much to say about these books!

Apologies in advance for the background noise! Please keep in mind that Marissa is not recording in her usual space, and is having to record in a shared space (a noisy shared space)! Thank you for understanding!

HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU! YOU RIGHT THERE!!! HAVE YOU SHOPPED AT A NATIVE AMERICAN OWNED BOOKSTORE??? BOUGHT A BOOK WRITTEN BY A NATIVE AMERICAN AUTHOR??? DO YOU KNOW WHAT STOLEN LAND YOU ARE CURRENTLY OCCUPYING??? NO? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT IS NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH!!!

This week the Little Sleep Hosts reviewed books by Native American authors! They discussed Native American Literatures (yes, with an s on the end!) and common themes. They also talked a bit about Social Horror. Aliza reviewed Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe, a quick read in play form and worth every word. Riss Reviewed The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, a gory and gritty read that will have you thinking about the consequences of your every action.

All of the links mentioned in the podcast can be found in this neat Twitter thread. Go there now and check them all out!

https://twitter.com/lsmrpodcast/status/1447592892898422791?s=10

Also be sure to text your city and state, or your area code to (907)312-5085 to find out the stolen land you occupy.

The ladies awaken the dead with their reviews of this book! Just kidding, but also maybe not... The hosts discuss the difference between the Supernatural genre and the Paranormal genre. Did you know there was a difference? Marissa gives her review of Malachi Martin's Hostage To The Devil! While Liza brings us a much more lighthearted review with My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. Can you guys survive the end of this spooky episode? Hit us up on our Socials to let us know if you lived.

This week the LSMR Hosts welcome the wonderfully talented, Lexi Anderson! She joins the ladies for a conversation on body horror and shares a bit of her own writing with a piece called, Disgust, which takes influence from body horror. Aliza reviews Night Bitch by Rachel Yoder, while Riss reviews Tender is the FLesh by Agustina Bazterrica.

FInd yourself asking: What is Psychological Horror? Riss and Liza are here to help! Come listen to our ideas on what psych horror is, and some common technical aspects in writing psych horror. Riss reviews Iain Reid's psych horror masterpiece, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" while Liza reviews the classic "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by the great Sherley Jackson.