Okie Bookcast

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Welcome to Your Next Great Read! We're taking an international spin this month with our special guest, Lydia Filiou, who oversees the Translated Fiction Book Club in Oklahoma City. Translated Fiction meets once a month at a local bookshop in town to discuss a work translated into English.
You can find out more about the club, including upcoming books for discussion on their Instagram: @translatedokc.

Lydia Filiou
Battle Royale - Koushun Takami
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Notes of a Crocodile - Qiu Miaojin 

Hannah
The Only One Left - Riley Sager
Everyone Here is Lying - Shari Lapena
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir - Matthew Perry
The Vegetarian - Han Kang

J
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder - David Grann
The Balloon Hunter - Hugh Howey and Elinor Taylor
Red Sneaker Writers series - William Bernhardt
The Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy - Liu Cixin

Other books mentioned
Elena Knows - Claudia Piniero
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Silo series - Hugh Howey
Sand series - Hugh Howey
A Stranger in the House - Shari Lapena
The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena
Hurricane Season - Fernanda Melchor
Seasons of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 53 of the Okie Bookcast!

My guest is Rob Roensch, Rob is an award-winning author of short fiction and author of three books, including his latest, In the Morning, the City is the Prairie. In addition to his writing, Rob teaches at Oklahoma City University.  

In our conversation, we talk about Rob’s new book, setting books in Oklahoma City, and using description and dialog to generate and maintain momentum through a book. We also talk about the author Rob would most like to take to Sonic.

Connect with Rob: website | Twitter

Our reviewer, Sydney Aerin, should be a familiar voice. Sydney  contributed a review back in Chapter 48 and her poetry has been featured in Volumes 5 and 6 of Behind the Rain, our audio anthology of Oklahoma Poetry. Sydney is a licensed therapist who is passionate about mental health education, disability awareness, and equality for all. You can find Sydney's performance and publication information on her Instagram @sydneysometimes.

Sydney is reviewing a book by another Oklahoma poet - Mr. Monday Morning's Broken Songs and Testimonies by Durell Carter. 

Mentioned on the Show:
Belle Point Press
The Long and Faraway Gone - Lou Berney
Boom Town - Sam Anderson
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
Edisto - Padgett Powell
Annie John - Jamaica Kinkaid
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
Walden - Henry David Thoreau

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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We're talking about the 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christi's Murder on the Orient Express.
I'm joined by Jamie Ray, host of Fave Five From Fans, to talk about the book and the film adaptation. What did they get right? What got changed? Which actors nailed the characters and which might have missed (our interpretation of) the mark?

If you've never read or seen Murder on the Orient Express, we'll give you plenty to whet your appetite and talk about whether you should read the book or watch the film first. If you're a fan, listen along and let us know where we got it right (or wrong).
We also try to avoid spoilers and we do not give away the ending.

Connect with Jamie: website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Purchase Murder on the Orient Express 

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 52!

My guest is Vanessa LIllie. Vanessa is the best-selling author of the thrillers Little Voices and For the Best. She also co-authored the instant bestselling Audible Original Young Rich Widows. Her latest novel, titled Blood Sisters, released October 31st, and is the first in a new series with missing and murdered indigenous women at the heart of the stories. Vanessa is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma living on Narragansett land in Rhode Island.

In addition to her writing, she also hosts an Instagram Live show where she talks with crime fiction authors. 

In our conversation, we talk about Vanessa’s new novel and why it was important to her to set it in Northeast Oklahoma. We also talk about writing for audio versus writing for the page and why she finds it important to support the work of other authors. 

Connect with Vanessa: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Mentioned on the show:
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
And Then She Fell - Alicia Elliot
Bad Cree - Jessica Johns
Sisters of the Lost Nation - Nick Medina
Man Made Monsters - Andrea L. Rogers
Tommy Orange
Stephen Graham Jones
Firekeeper’s Daughter - Angeline Boulley
Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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It's a deluxe edition of Your Next Great Read!

Our guest is S.A.Barnes (Stacey Kade), author of Dead Silence - one of J and Hannah's favorite reads of the last couple of years. In addition to our dozen recommendations, we talk about including the COVID-19 pandemic in fiction and the progression of fan fiction authors in publishing. We also talk about another dozen or so books in the process of our recommendations. Best of luck to your TBR pile!

Connect with SA (Stacey): website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Recommendations:

Stacey
The Death of Us - Lori Rader-Day
Whalefall - Daniel Kraus
Black Sheep - Rachel Harrison
Tangled Planet - Kate Blair
Famous Last Words - Katie Alender

Hannah
The Minds of Billy Milligan - Daniel Keyes
Holly - Steven King
The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

J
Fractal Noise - Christopher Paolini
Dark Ride - Lou Berney
The Android’s Dream - John Scalzi
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

All of the extra books
Dead Silence - S.A. Barnes
Ghost Station - S.A. Barnes
The Black Hour - Lori RaderDay
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini
Paradise-1 - David Wellington
Flowers for Algernon - David Keyes
The Long and Faraway Gone - Lou Berney
Redshirts - John Scalzi
Mr. Mercedes - Steven King
The Return - Rachel Harrison
Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Fairy Tale - Steven King

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Something a little different for this episode. I'm joined by Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry from the Special Topics in Media podcast to talk about the film version of Killers of the Flower Moon and how it works as an adaptation of David Grann's book. We talk a lot about different elements and how they compare between the two versions and ultimately answer the question of whether someone should read the book or watch the film first.

This is Part One of our conversation. Part Two focuses on an analysis of the film itself and will be posted to the Special Topics in Media feed soon.

Special Topics in Media: Facebook | Listen to the show

For further reading:
Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann
Rich Indians: Native People and the Problem of Wealth in American History - Alexandra Harmon
Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians - Bonnin, Fabens, and Sniffen (1924)

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 51!
My guest for this episode is crime novelist, Lou Berney. Lou is the author of several novels, including November Road and The Long and Faraway Gone, which is on the Okie Bookcast list of 50 Essential Oklahoma Reads.  His latest novel - Dark Ride - was released earlier this fall. Lou has lived most of his life in Oklahoma City where, in addition to his writing, he teaches in the MFA program at Oklahoma City University. Lou’s work has won Edgar, Hammett, Steel Dagger, Barry, Macavity, Lefty, and Anthony awards, and he has been a finalist twice for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. 

In our conversation Lou and I talk about his books, why he prefers to write ordinary people as his heroes, and setting books in Oklahoma City. We also talk about a shared memory that he describes as the secret handshake of Oklahoma City residents from a particular time period.

Connect with Lou: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Our review comes from Vanessa Lillie - Vanessa is the bestselling author of the thrillers Little Voices, For the Best and coauthor of the Young Rich Widows series. Her forthcoming novel, Blood Sisters, launches a new suspense series and releases on October 31. Vanessa will be touring around Oklahoma in early November in support of her book release. You can find details about her appearances on her instagram - @vanessalillie

Vannessa reviews Man Made Monsters by another great Oklahoma author - Andrea L. Rogers.

Connect with Vanessa: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Mentioned on the show:

Elmore Leonard
Happy Hollisters books - Jerry West
Happiness Falls - Angie Kim
Walking Through Needles - Heather Levy
Mysteries and Manners - Flannery O' Conner
Man Made Monsters - Andrea L. Rogers

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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It's Volume 6 of Behind the Rain! I've got 13 poems from 11 Oklahoma poets cued up and ready for you to enjoy. Be sure to connect with the poets across their social media (linked below) to let them know how much you appreciate their work. 

Here's the lineup for this edition of the anthology:

Citizen Eagle - Seth Copeland

• BlueSky: @brushwithseth.bsky.social
• Website: https://neutralspaces.co/seth_t_copeland/

Dragonfly - Stevie Guymon-Clemens

• Instagram: @royal_scumbag_

I Grew Some More Today - Sydney Aerin

• Instagram: @sydneysometimes

The Weather and Pruning - Britta Newton-Tarron

• Instagram: @brittanewtontarron

Choreography - Brand Rackley

• Instagram: @brandrackley 

Crisis of Faith - Rebecca Lemke

• Instagram: @newcrunchymom
• Website: rebeccalemke.com

Grandmother Trueshot - Jackie Kraft

• Facebook: @jackie.kraft.58

Don't Love Me for Who I Was in the 90s - Durell Carter

• Instagram: @durellrc
• Twitter: @DurellCarter90

Stepping Out of Your Own Shadow - Xander Thomas

• Facebook: @xanderbooks
• Website: xanderthomasbooks.com

My Fall - David Jennings

• Facebook: @DJennPhotos
• Website: davidjenningsartinphotographyandpoetry.com

The Sky For Me and Magical - Ruth Key

If you'd like to submit a poem for consideration for Volume Seven of Behind the Rain (releasing January 15, 2024), visit okiebookcast.com/behindtherain for details. Submission deadline is December 15!

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 50 AND our second birthday! The Bookcast launched 2 years ago this week and it's been a great ride so far. Stay tuned after the interview to hear a bit about where we're heading as we move into year 3.

My guest is Mary Kay Zuravleff. Mary Kay is a graduate of the original Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City and, although she now resides in Washington, D.C., she comes back often to visit her parents and sister. Her latest novel, American Ending, is her fourth book. Released in June, American Ending has won critical acclaim, including being selected to Oprah’s 2023 Spring Reading List. Her first book, The Frequency of Souls, was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award and the winner of the James Jones Award and the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy. She spent years editing and writing for the Smithsonian, which inspired her second novel, The Bowl is Already Broken, And her third novel, Man Alive!, was a Washington Post Notable Book. 

In our conversation, we talk about American Ending and it’s connections to both history and Mary Kay’s family. We also talk about her approach to research and writing and have a great conversation about genre. You’re going to love getting to know the fantastic Mary Kay Zuravleff.

Connect with Mary Kay: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Mentioned on the Show:
Ghost Wall - Sarah Moss
Now Is Not the Time to Panic - Kevin Wilson
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
How to Be Both - Ali Smith
Orlando - Virginia Wolff

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Music by JuliusH

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Welcome to the September edition of Your Next Great Read from the Okie Bookcast!

Our guest, Bookstagrammer Mellisa Coast, is back for a second round of recommendations and reviews.
Connect with Melissa: Instagram | Linktree

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Melissa
The Spaceship Next Door - Gene Doucette
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
The Bodyguard - Katherine Center
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

Hannah
The Night Parade - Ronald Malfi
Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren
Ghost Summer: Stories - Tananarive Due
The Shining - Stephen King

J
Final Girls - Riley Sager
American Ending - Mary Kay Zuravleff
The Long and Faraway Gone - Lou Berney
Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Music by JuliusH