Shelf Motivated

Happy Spooky Season! That means this is our Annual Spooky Season Reading Episode, so break out some Halloween candy and dig in. We talk about folk horror, classic horror, horror comedy and more. Come for the horror, stay for the shocking realization that our reading tastes and habits shift and evolve over the years!

Books discussed include:

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley The Rednexorcist by Frank Sloane (Grady Hendrix) Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix Midnight Pleasures by Robert Bloch Dwellings by Jay Stephens Salem's Lot by Stephen King Ocultos by Laura Perez Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

TBRs:

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne Restoration by Ave Barrera trans. by Ellen Jones and Robin Myers

We're back! After a break, Sharon, Sarah, and Eric are back behind the microphones to bring you episode 33 of Shelf Motivated. Come for the book chat, stay for continued discussion of a movie that Sarah says was better than the book! Here's a hint… we've been talking about this book on the pod since 2024! Sharon explores the darker end of the cozy spectrum, Eric reads one of the most popular books of the year, Sarah reads about kids books, and retired killers (not in the same book…don't worry). All this and more!

Books Discussed: Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett Life In the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis Blood on the Forge by William Attaway Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell Flesh by David Szalay Too Old for This by Samantha Downing Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann trans. by Anthea Bell The Meg by Steve Alten Cozy: Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams TBRs: Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout Middlemarch by George Elliot The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

'Tis the season! It's time for another Shelf Motivated end of year holiday extravaganza! Come for the time-tested classics… stick around for the Victorian Ghost Stories and Folk Horror adjacent seasonal reads. Sarah discusses a stone-cold Christmas Classic… and also a book by LM Montgomery that technically takes place during the winter for part of it. Sharon gets into the ritual of reading when it's cold outside, and like the Ghost of Holiday Podcasts Past, revisits some titles we discussed on early holiday episodes. So, grab a holiday cookie or two, a warm beverage, and hunker down with us for a Winter Holiday book chat!

Books discussed:

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg Advent by Gunnar Gunnarsson The Valencourt Book of Victorian Ghost Stories Volumes 1-6 Twelve Nights by Urs Faes (translated by Lee Searle) Rock Crystal: A Christmas Story by Adalbert Stifter (translated by Marianne Moore) Cozy: A Totally 80s Christmas: A Holiday Novella (Totally 80s Mysteries) by D.A. Wilkerson

Happy Spooky Season! This year on the Shelf Motivated Spooky Season Spectacular Special we get into a few classics of American horror from the 1970s, some folk horror, some horror anthologies, and a few British books that are horror adjacent. Come for the horror, stick around to hear Sharon talk about literary fiction that has ghosts, and Sarah take one of her all-time favorite writers to task! Break out the candy! Books discussed: Hide by Kiersten White The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty Cuddy by Benjamin Myers When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson ed. by Ellen Datlow Flowers of Mold by Ha Seong-nan trans. by Janet Hong Mother Naked by Glen James Brown TBR: A Dark Corner by Celia Dale A Helping Hand by Celia Dale House of Day and House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones Cozy Recommendation: Autumn Alibi (A Wiccan Wheel Mystery) by Jennifer David Hesse

Even if you aren't a comics reader, come for the graphic novel chat, stay for the dive into a hyper-local figure who changed the face of comics and publishing forever! This time on the pod we sit down with MLPL Clerk Chris Lutes and talk all things graphic novels and comics. Chris is a graphic artist and has had experience in comic shops and bookstores before coming over to Library Land… and he gave us homework! We discussed a BUNCH of books this time around, but we really dive into:

Life Drawing by Jamie Hernandez Friday by Ed Brubaker Jim Shooter: Conversations ed. by Jason Sacks, Eric Hoffman, and Dominick Grace

Come for the Summer Reads, stay for a chat about college kids and if they've ever actually read books, and more talk of The Meg!

This time on the podcast the crew tackles "The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books," an article from the Atlantic by Rose Horowitch, as well as our usual book chat.

Eric takes credit for a worldwide resurgence of popularity in short stories citing the Shelf Motivate bump (a thing he made up that minute), Sharon reads a book translated from Catalan, and a perfect summer read set in Cumbria! Eric talks about his quest to read Ulysses (this time guided by Patrick Hastings) and his attempt to march through Middlemarch, while Sarah reads a book recommended by friend of the pod Flannery, as well as concluding her saga of Gila! by Kathryn Ptacek by giving us the rundown of the book including where to read it for free! Oh, and of course we have another discussion about The Meg (both the Jason Statham movie and the Steve Alton novel)! Books discussed include: The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam Gila! by Kathryn Ptacek Edenville by Sam Rebelein Water by Rumi trans. by Haleh Liza Gafori Garden by the Sea by Mercè Rodoreda trans. by Martha Tennent and Maruxa Relaño The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones From the Ashes by Sarah Jaffe Log Off by Catherine Cross Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

TBRs Cozy: Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke The Whiskey Rebellion by William Hogeland Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

It's Summer Reading season! You know what that means…beach reads, sunshine, and good times! So of course, on this episode of Shelf Motivated you'll hear about:

Late capitalism and the Potemkin City Limits of the Ikea apartment, books about the Supreme Court, supermarkets, Multi-Level Marketing, a collection of poetry by a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant and Pulitzer Prize winner, and tales of Sarah's missed opportunities as a grocery store manager! Add a wildly expensive horror novel hardcover edition, and of course… Proust. Throw in a cozy mystery about a Hungarian Tea House for good measure and you get the Shelf Motivated Summer Reading Spectacular!

Books discussed:

Lion by Sonia Walger

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

Lawless by Leah Litman

Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read

The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz

Cozy Mystery selection: Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley

TBRs:

Gila! By Kathryn Ptacek

Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport

Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya

Summer 2025: KEEP READING FUN!

This episode, join us as we talk reading with MLPL Children's Librarian Elizabeth! We talk about what we read as kids and discuss our childhood public libraries. We also chat about current, classic, and local children's books, audio books, Summer Reading, and more. And in a bit of personal librarian anthropology, we track Eric's love of the Cozy Mystery, and Sarah's love of Horror. Come for the book chat, stay for the mantra –

Summer 2025: KEEP READING FUN!

Books discussed:

All Ears - Stewart Gibbs

Ferris - Kate DiCamillo

Boy 2.0 - Tracey Baptiste

The House with a Clock in its Walls - John Bellairs, ills. Edward Gorey

Encyclopedia Brown – Douglas J Sobol

Vernon Poche & the Ghosts of New Orleans – Paul Siefken

Snoopers and Sneakers – Cristina Rouvalis and Lydia Wayman

Waiting for the Magic – Patricia MacLachlan

Painting the Game - Patricia MacLachlan

The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story – Mary Downing Hahn

The Beach Day – Ame Dyckman

Fox the Tiger – Corey R Tabor

And Then Boom – Lisa Fipps

Rosie Revere, Engineer – Andrea Beaty

TBR:

Mary Poppins – PL Travers

Two Minute Mysteries – Donald J Sobol

J vs. K – Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft

Come for the second-ever GUEST on Shelf Motivated and stay for the poetry! In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Shelf Motivated crew invited local poet and force behind Mt Lebanon Public Library's own poetry writing group, The Nebby Poetry Society, Angela Petsis to sit down and chat about poetry with us. We share some of our favorites, read a few poems, and share some notable to-be-reads. Happy National Poetry Month!

Books discussed:

Mary Olver - Devotions

Maja Haderlap – Distant Transit

Katrina Porteous – Rhizodont

Peter Gizzi – In Defense of Nothing

Louise Gluck – The Wild Iris

Natasha Trethewey – Native Guard

John Brehm ed. – The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy

Kamo no Chomei – Hojoki

Roger Reeves – Best Barbarian

Brandon Som – Tripas: Poems

Diane Seuss – Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open

To-Be-Reads:

Miguel Algarin and Bob Holman eds. – Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café

Anne Carson – Wrong Norma

Jorie Graham – To 2024

Celebrate Small Press Month with us on Shelf Motivated! Come for the strange coming of age stories, stay for the 500-page Icelandic translation that features a gravestone with a Kierkegard quote, and a playlist! Sarah talks about Teethmarks on my Tongue by Eileen Battersby from Dalkey Archive Press, Eric talks about some of his favorite small presses in general, and Sharon talks about Your Absence Is Darkness by Jon Kalman Stefansson from Biblioasis.

TBR

Killoyle: An Irish Farce by Roger Boylan Appalachian Spring by Marcia Bonta