Red Fern Book Review by Amy Tyler

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Amy reviews two books focused on 20th-century women who broke barriers in their careers and personal lives. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead is a historical novel centred around the lives of famed aviator Marian Graves. The Barbizon: The Hotel that Set Women Free by Paulina Bren is a social history of the world's most famous women's hotel. Located in Manhattan, the hotel has been the home to starlets, writers, models and secretaries.
Streaming show Why Women Kill on Amazon and novel Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown is also discussed.

Books and Resources discussed:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Barbizon Hotel: The Hotel that Set Women Free by Paulina
Why Women Kill, Amazon Prime
Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Circling the Sun Paula McLain
The Bride’s Reference Book by the editors of Bride’s Magazine, 1956
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

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Happy New Year and welcome back to the Red Fern Book Review! Amy reviews two of the biggest books of 2021: Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews and Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Both are bestselling mysteries that are executed very differently. Who is Maud Dixon? is a clever thrill ride that combines an edgy whodunit reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith with the fun and accessibility of Sophie Kinsella. Apples Never Fall is the much anticipated novel by the author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. The novel focuses on missing matriarch Joy Delaney, her four adult children, husband, and a mysterious houseguest.

Books and media discussed:

River Cafe Table 4, podcast
Tig and Cheryl: True Story, podcast
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Strangers on the Train by Patricia Highsmith
Strangers on the Train, movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Casablanca, movie, directed by Michael Curitz
Remember Me? Sophie Kinsella
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 
Amy reviewed The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz in Season 2, Episode 3. To Listen to that episode click here: The Plot and When The Stars Go Dark

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Amy looks at two short story collections by well-known essayists and humourists Anne Lamott and David Sedaris. In Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage, Anne Lamott examines how to get joy and hope back in this crazy world. Her answer is a dash of spirituality and a lot of humour. The Best of Me is a greatest hits by quirky, impulsive, awkward and loveable writer David Sedaris. Also discussed, the political documentary Boys State and radio show/podcast This American Life.

Books and Resources Discussed:
Boys State, Apple TV
This American Life, Episode 165: Americans in Paris
Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage by Anne Lamott
Operating Instruction by Anne Lamott
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
At Home with Amy Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

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Fellow bibliophile Lorraine Weir joins the podcast to talk about Vancouver Writers Festival  event The Spectacular Complexity of Womanhood with authors Mona Awad, Zoe Whittall and Rachel Yoder. All three authors have written fresh, new novels borne out of their own life struggles. The books are also all anchored by strong female protagonists who also happen to be artists. Lorraine and Amy talk knitting, travel and book recommendations.

Books and resources discussed:

Into the Abyss by Carol Shaben
Ru by Kim Thuy
The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall
The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall
Schitt's Creek, Netflix
Bunny by Mona Awad
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
All's Well by Mona Awad
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
draft: the journal of process
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Have you Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde

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Amy reviews two memoirs by childhood idols Billie Jean King and Andrew McCarthy. One person surpasses her expectations and the other does not. All In by Billie Jean King charts the iconic tennis player's rise from her working class roots to No. 1 tennis player and groundbreaking feminist.
Brat: An '80s story outlines the meteoric rise and fall of teen idol Andrew McCarthy. A bit of an unlikely hero, he struggled with his fame. He dishes about his co-stars, but perhaps not enough. Amy learns through it all that her teenage crush is in fact a mere mortal.

books and resources discussed:

Fresh Air by NPR, podcast
Atomic Marriage by Curtis Sittenfeld, Audible Originals
All In by Billie Jean King
Brat: An '80s Story
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
Open by Andre Agassi

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Writer and poet Jen Sookfong Lee joins the podcast to discuss her debut poetry collection The Shadow List. Messy, raw and passionate Jen looks closely at women and desire. She reveals how poetry enables her to incorporate more of her true self into her writing and discusses her love of pop culture. She is a regular on CBC Radio One, a moderator for the Vancouver Writers Festival and has her own literary podcast Can't Lit.

Books and Resources discussed:

A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
The Shadow List by Jen Sookfong Lee
The Conjoined by Jen Sookfong Lee
Superfan by Jen Sookfong Lee (to be released in fall of 2022)
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett
The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Sashi Bhat
Gutter Child by Jael Richardson
Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson
Brat: An 80's Story by Andrew McCarthy
The White Lotus, HBO

Amy reviewed A Bright Ray of Darkness in Season 1, Episode 11. To listen to the review click here: A Bright Ray of Darkness

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Follow Jen Sookfong Lee:
Website: sookfong.com
Podcast: Can't Lit

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Fantasy Fiction enthusiast David Gates joins Amy in a discussion about Natasha Pulley's The Kingdoms. This is the story of Joe Tournier who arrives in the city of Londres in the French Colony of England in 1898 with no memory of who he is and how he got there. When Joe steps off a train he has a postcard in his pocket written in forbidden English, with a postmark dated 1805 though it inexplicably bears the image of a recently-constructed lighthouse.
Joe’s search for his identity leads him to the Outer Hebrides and back and forth through stone portals that take him on a dangerous quest to reunite with his family without changing the course of history—or erasing his own existence.  Amy and Dave discuss the pros and cons of audio books and when it is ok to throw in the towel on a book.

Books and Resources discussed:

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Munro's Books Store, Victoria, B.C.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
N.K. Jeminsin, author
Succession, HBO
Schumacher, Netflix
LuLaRich, Amazon

Amy interviewed David's wife Jill Schmelke in Season 1, episode 4. To hear that interview click here: A Light in the Dark

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Geoff is back living out his lifetime loves of surfing and music through fiction. The first book discussed is Paul Theroux's Under the Wave at Waimea.  Set in Hawaii, this epic novel follows the life of aging surfer Joe Sharkey as he grapples with a fatal accident that forces him to face down his past. The second book, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton, is a  rock novel set in the 1970s. Cleverly written as an oral history, this book by first-time author Walton examines gender inequality, race and pop culture through the lens of the music industry. The audio version of this book features several voice actors and makes for a compelling listening experience that blurs the line between fiction and reality.

Book and resources discussed:
100 Foot Wave, HBO
Under the Wave at Waimea by Paul Theroux
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
The Mosquito Coast, Apple TV
The Great Railway Bizarre by Paul Theroux
Daisy and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Great Circle: A Novel by Maggie Shipstead
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace


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Join Amy in her discussion with bestselling thriller writer Robyn Harding. Robyn's latest novel, The Perfect Family, is a twisty, addictively page-turning suspense novel about a perfect family's perfect facade. Robyn shares her favourites books, shows and podcasts and explains how miscommunication can make for a great story.

Books and Resources discussed

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Lisa Jewell, author
Jennifer Hillier, author
Liz Nugent, author
Chevy Stevens, author
The Hunted by Roz Nay
Girl in Ice by Erica Ferencik
The River at Night by Erica Ferencik
The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial, podcast
Succession, HBO

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Follow Robyn Harding:
Instagram: @rhardingwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRobynHarding/

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Susan Matheson is in the house to discuss the best books of the season! This fall many big name authors, from Colson Whitehead to Amor Towles, have new books on offer. Susan goes a bit deeper and selects books that might not be on your radar.  Amy has also launched a monthly newsletter! Subscribe and ask questions, learn about extra titles, get a sneak peek at future episodes and participate in reader giveaways. To subscribe: https://redfernwriting.com/newsletter

Books and Resources discussed:

Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Going There by Katie Couric
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
When I Ran Away: A Novel by Ilona Bannister
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, movie
Brothers on Three by Abe Streep
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
Red Island House: A Novel by Andrea Lee
Freckles by Cecilia Ahern
P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
P.S. I Love You, movie
My Biggest Mistake by Terry O'Reilly
Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly, podcast

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Instagram: @bedside_table_books
Website: https://bedsidetablebooks.com/

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