The Librarian Is In

Gwen gets fired up about reading—you guessed it—new fiction this year, while Frank dips into the backlist of a new favorite author. Plus: New Year's resolutions, The Bachelor, and the best short stories of 2018.

Best American Short Stories 2018, ed. by Roxane Gay

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley

Encocylopedia Britannica's quick summary of "Beowulf"—or check out lots of versions of the actual poem from the Library

• The panel Gwen is speaking on at ALA Midwinter: "So You Want to Podcast." Come say hi!
• Vice
• Nina LaCour's podcast, Keeping a Notebook
• The Bachelor

Glory Edim, creator of the coolest book club on the Internet, joins Frank and Gwen to discuss book clubs and beyond! They talk about Well-Read Black Girl, empowered storytelling, the potentials and pitfalls of making book recommendations, Black writers in the diaspora and the canon... and focusing on the things that unite us all. Happy new year, friends!

Aca-scuse me? It's an impromptu celebration of our favorite feel-good a capella movie... and, oh yeah, some book recommendations, too. Frank goes for a soul-searching memoir about spirituality and religion, and Gwen suggests a fantastical flipbook for kids.

Welcome to our first-ever live show, recorded in Frank's very own Jefferson Market Library! Gwen and Frank talk to Eric Klinenberg, sociologist and author of a new book about libraries and social infrastructure. Plus: the audience offers an invaluable assist during the guessing game.

Aristotle famously (er, probably) said that anger is a gift, and Gwen's been given one this year: Rebecca Traister's book about the power of women's rage, "Good and Mad." Plus, Frank finds more presents in The New Yorker archives and NYPL announces its year-end Best Books lists.

We're obsessed with libraries loaning unconventional items: seeds, toys, tools, clothes, games, museum passes... and sculptures. Local artist Wendy Richmond joins Gwen and Frank to talk about her work and her new installation, which encouraged patrons to take home her incredible sculptures of her own hands.

Frank and Gwen will be talking to Eric Klinenberg, author of Palaces for the People, at Frank's own Jefferson Market Library! Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 6:30 p.m. -- click here for all the details.

Whether you're cooking turkey for 20 or opting out of Thanksgiving entirely, books about food are always in season. Frank and Gwen talk about their favorite cookbooks and chef memoirs with NYPL's resident foodie, Jeanne Hodesh, and offer some family recipes of their very own.

• The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones
• Memories of a Lost Egypt by Colette Rossant
• Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
• Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser
• The audiobooks of Anthony Bourdain
• Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel

• The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen (and the Moosewood archives at Cornell University Library)
• Fannie Farmer cookbooks
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Salt Fat Acid Heat

• My Soul Looks Back by Jessica B. Harris
• Consider the Oyster and Long Ago in France by MFK Fisher
• My Life in France byJulia Child

What makes a good story time? Anthony Murisco, youth librarian extraordinaire, joins Frank and Gwen to talk all things kids and books. Plus: everyone's favorite lazy cartoon cat, a true stumper of a guessing game, and a flurry of pop-culture recommendations.

In This Episode:

Anthony's library: The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

NLS: The National Library Service for the blind and physically handicapped

A book Anthony likes for storytime: Jump by David McPhail

NYPL's Best Books for Kids and Teens and Anthony's 2017 list with Bookshare links

"Book That Talk and Books You Touch": Jill Rothstein's TLII episode about technology for print-disabled patrons

Kris Jenner... and All Things Kardashian (and her cookbook)

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner

Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa (and RIVERDALE!)

Garfield: The Complete Works, 1978-1979 (coming soon to the Library!)

DinosaurDracula.com

Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades on YouTube

The Grinch Menu at iHop

Golden Girls Pez

A library podcast about a book about libraries? Sign us up! Frank goes meta this week with an in-depth review of Susan Orlean's new page-turner, and and Gwen sees an author of children's classics in a new light.

Frank & Gwen's Recommendations

The Library Book, The Orchid Thief, and several other books by Susan Orlean

Check out the Library Talks podcast (after Sunday, Nov. 11) to hear an interview with Orlean!

The works of Canadian children's author Robert Munsch:

• Angela's Airplane
• Paper Bag Princess
• Love You Forever
• and many more

And "The Story Behind 'Love You Forever' Is Probably Not What You Thought"

It's almost Election Day. Do you know where your voting rights are? Christopher Famighetti, professor at Jefferson Market University, joins Frank and Gwen for an in-depth convo about voting — and what libraries have to do with it. Plus: a different take on Tolstoy and the surreal films of Luis Buñuel.