Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Ben Shattuck at his website https://www.benshattuck.com/ or on IG @Benshattuck_

This week we chat with Ben Shattuck, author of Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau published by Tin House Books in 2022.  Amy knew this book would appeal to Carrie because she is nothing if not a literary weirdo, and she has been since high school when she quoted from Thoreau in her senior yearbook. Despite her hopes that Ben would, like her, have a high school infatuation with Thoreau, he explains that his interest began much later. Even if you don’t know anything about Thoreau, if you're a walker or a hiker, you have experienced the unique meditative impact of this activity and can appreciate Ben’s insights on it. Ben also has a book of fiction out titled The History of Sound that is a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner prize so we are just really thrilled to have him with us today.

 And this week, for our recommendations section, we didn’t just pick a random topic like asparagus or comas to share books about—we actually continue with the theme of walking. We each share at least 3 books that feature walking, hiking, or being in nature in some meditative way. We have literary fiction, memoirs, essays, and even a romance.

Books mentioned--

17- In My Boots: A Memoir of 5 Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail by Amanda K. Jaros

18- Going to Maine: All the Ways to Fall on the Appalachian Trail by Sally Chaffin Brooks

19- The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky’s Red River Gorge by Wendell Berry

20- Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women by Annabelle Abbs

21- Ulysses by James Joyce 

22- The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

23- The Guide to James Joyce’s Ulysses by Patrick Hastings

24- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

25- You Are Here by David Nichols

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Rebecca Schinsky on IG @rebeccaschinsky and Book Riot at www.bookriot.com

In this week’s episode, we chat with Rebecca Schinsky, who is chief of staff for Riot New Media Group and co-host of The Book Riot podcast. Book Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America and book lovers can find all kinds of interesting stuff there, such as numerous podcasts, newsletters, and articles about different genres.

I have long been a listener of this podcast and love it because ….I am a book nerd through and through and this podcast gives me the inside look at the world of publishing.  If you enjoy learning about trends and want the inside scoop about how and why certain books make it to your eyeballs or just want to have your pulse on bookish news, this podcast is for you.  Rebecca talks to us about what book trends have had the biggest impact on the industry over the last 15 years, what other goodies you can find at Book Riot.com, and why social media flattens the book options we see in our feeds.

And this week for our book recommendations section, we put on our 10 gallon hats and our chaps because we’re talking about westerns. Westerns became popular in the late 1800s and derived from the dime novels of the mid-19th century. Many of these stories were later turned into movies in the 1940s and 1950s, which is probably the way most people had exposure to them. Films like High Noon and Shane were based on western stories. There was a second resurgence of western films based on novels between the 1970s-90s such as The Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josey Wales. We offer westerns that are in the graphic novel genre, the horror genre, literary fiction, and middle grade.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

17- Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

18- Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

19- The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

20- Pony by RJ Palacio

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Katherine Marsh at her website www.katherinemarsh.com or on IG at @katherinemarshauthor.

This week we chat with Katherine Marsh, author of The Lost Year, a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. I recently discovered this book after one of our book club members selected another Katherine Marsh book, Nowhere Boy, for our August read. The Lost Year is middle-grade historical fiction and it is super timely because part of it is set in Ukraine in the 1930s. The story introduced me to a topic in Ukraine history I knew nothing about called the Holodomor. Katherine tells us all about her novel which was inspired by her relationship with her grandmother who was from Ukraine. It is a perfect book selection if you are curious about Ukrainian history that influences current events; reading this book would also allow you to check off having read something for Middle Grade March. 

For our book recommendations in this episode, we’re talking about books in which cats are a central part of the story. We have some nonfiction selections, as well as literary fiction and graphic novels that will definitely appeal to your inner cat. If you don’t love cats, you can check out these books anyway for their compelling stories OR you can wait around for Amy to muscle Carrie into a future dog episode. 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

15- The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa by Jonathan B. Losos

16- Katie the Catsitter by Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Stephanie Yue

17- The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Sariah Wilson at her website www.sariahwilson.com or on IG - @sariahwilsonauthor

We chat this week with Sariah Wilson, the author of many, many rom-coms, who recently published her first romantasy titled A Tribute of Fire. A Tribute of Fire is inspired by the myth of Cassandra who, if you remember, is the Trojan princess who was cursed with the ability to see the future but no one believes her. Sariah’s story focuses on Cassandra’s assault in Athena's temple by Greek hero Ajax and the resulting punishment which is that two maidens from Ajax’s home, Locris, will be sacrified. How exactly, this punishes Ajax, I’m not sure, but such is Greek myth. 

Sariah talks to us about her favorite romance trope (which she hardly ever writes herself), the whirlwind backstory to the publishing of this book, and how the popularity of The Fourth Wing series really cracked open a whole new world for romance writers.

And for our book recommendations, we’re going to share some children’s picture books that have stories and illustrations we love. Earlier this month was National Picture Book Authors & Illustrators Week, but we don’t think you need a special week as an excuse to read a delightful picture book. 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson

9- Little Golden Book, The Christmas Story 

10-  Little Golden Book, Colors Are Nice 

11- Little Golden Book Riddles, Riddles From A to Z

12- Little Golden Book,  Mickey Mouse Picnic

13- Disney’s World of Wonders The Magic Grinder

14- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

15- Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf

16- The Mitten by Jan Brett

17- Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

18- The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone

24- Mimi’s Dada Catifesto by Shelley Jackson

25- Oh, Bear by Melissa Nelson Greenberg. illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld

26- Boobies by Nancy Vo

27- The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mickey Please

28- The Cave Downwind of the Cafe by Mickey Please

29- Shakespeare The Tempest by Georghia Ellinas, illustrated by Jane Ray

Media mentioned--

1- Stephen King/Maurice Sendak upcoming children's book - https://apnews.com/article/stephen-king-maurice-sendak-hansel-gretel-c9f8c7e18254d1e406b59e0ebe3cd20b

2- Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey - coming in 2026 - 

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/the-odyssey-matt-damon-odysseus-christopher-nolan-1236311018/

3- The Return (2024)

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find if there is a chapter of Silent Book Club near you or look into starting your own by going to their website; https://silentbook.club/

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at perksofbeingabooklover.com.  We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a BookLover. To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Have you ever wanted to try a book club but they just seem too peopley?  Or maybe you don’t want to be told what book you have to read. OR maybe you are looking for a place away from kids and responsibilities where nothing else but the words in front of you are vying for your attention.  If any of these apply, then a Silent Book Club might be for you.  Silent Book Club began in 2012 and is, according to their mission statement, a “global community of readers, with more than 1500 chapters in 54 countries around the world led by local volunteers. SBC members gather in public at bars, cafes, bookstores, libraries, and online to read together in quiet camaraderie.”  

This week we chat with Brittany Brar, the leader of a local chapter of the Silent Book Club in Louisville, Kentucky.  Brittany started the local chapter here in 2019, right before the pandemic with 5 people.  She was new in town and didn’t know where to find a booklcub to join.  Now the group has over 2000 members of their FB group and as many as 60 people have shown up to their monthly meetings. Brittany talks to us about how people have developed a new sense of community, when a powerpoint presentation can be regarded as fun, and her go-to  genres

After our chat with Brittany, we will give you our recommendations for big honking books that meet not only your reading but also strength training goals. 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

14- Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (546 pages) 

15- When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson (528 pages)

16- East of Eden by John Steinbeck (601 pages)

17- A Five Star Read Recommended By Fellow Book Lover Kim Wells @the_salty_islander - A Home for Friendless Women by Kelly E. Hill

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Wes Browne at www.wesbrowneauthor.com or on IG at @browne_all_over

This week we chat with Wes Browne, a Michigan transplant who has been a Kentucky attorney for over 20 years. When he’s not lawyering, he writes crime fiction, and his most recent novel is called They All Fall the Same. In this novel, he picks up with a character who readers met in his first novel, Hillbilly Hustle. While Wes’s new book is not a sequel, readers were so intrigued by the character, Burl Spoon, that Wes felt like he could make an entire book around him. Burl is a character you love to hate, but readers also feel his humanity, which always makes for a more interesting bad guy. 

We chat with Wes about how his job as a defense attorney has prepared him to write books that make you root for a bad guy, his passion for soft serve ice cream, and why a timeshare ended up giving him a book idea.

And in the second half of the show, we each give you 3 book recommendations on the theme of books about the art world.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- If You Lived Here, You’d Be Here by Now: Why We Traded the Commuting Life for a Little House on the Prairie by Christopher Ingraham

2- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Media mentioned—

1- Come From Away —

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Meg Shaffer at www.megshaffer.com or on IG at meg_shaffer.

This week we officially begin Season 12 so we have both a guest and book recommendations on a particular theme. Our guest this week is Meg Shaffer, best-selling author of The Wishing Game and The Lost Story. She talks to us about shifting gears to write books for adults that read a lot like the cool fantasy books we read as kids (think The Chronicles of Narnia in The Lost Story). And for our book recs, we will each be sharing 3 books related to libraries. 

Books mentioned—

21- The Nightmare Man by JH Markert

22- The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

23- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

24- I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

25- Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

26- A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

27- A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck

28- Reading Behind Bars: A True Story of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunenwald

29- Lonely Planet Hidden Libraries: The World's Most Unusual Book Depositories by DC Helmuth

30- The Godwick series by Tiffany Reisz

Squid Games (Netflix, 2021 - present)

Cunk on Life (Netflix, 2024)

Black Doves (Netflix, 2024)

Night of the Hunter (Tubi, 1955)

Website- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

This week we are doing our 2024 recap, covering the books that earned 5 stars. We’ve also got some audio interspersed in the episode from 2024 guests to The Perks who also share their favorite books of the year. This is always one of our most popular episodes of the year.

And don’t forget, this new season is a whole new bag.  We are going to every other week episodes and each one will include an interview with a bookish guest plus some book recommendations by us on a particular topic.  

Books mentioned--

1- The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

2- Woodworm by Layla Martinez

3- North Woods by Daniel Mason

4- Six Truths and a Lie by Ream Shukairy

5- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

6- Greenwood by Michael Christie

7- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

8- A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney 

9- Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle

10- The Library Book by Susan Orlean 

11- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

12- The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

13- One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus 

14- Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

15- I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

16- The Wedding People by Alison Espach

17- The Huntress by Kate Quinn

18- Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransom

19- The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley

20- All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby

21- Being Henry by Henry Winkler

22- The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

23- Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

24- Border Crossings: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway by Emma Fick

25- The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

26- All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Brynn Greenwood

27- That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

28- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

29- Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

30- Arroyo Circle by JoeAnn Hart

31- Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our World , Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

Media mentioned--

1- Dune: Prophecy (HBO Max, 2024)

2- Shrinking (Apple+, 2024)

3- What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu)

4- The Professor and the Madman (Tubi, 2019)

5- Your Friend by Nate Bargatze (Netflix, 2024)

6- The Skinny by Jim Gaffigan (Hulu, 2024)

7- Catastrophe (Prime, 2015)

8- Three Body Problem (Netflix, 2024)

You can find Tracy Clark on social media on Instagram @tpclark2000 and on her website www.tracyclarkbooks.com/

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. We are also on Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod and on FB Perks of Being a Book Lover

This week we have a Remix episode and catch up with Tracy Clark, who we interviewed in Season 8 (episode 161) about her first Harriet Foster novel titled Hide. Her most recent title, number 3 in the series, is called Echo, and it came out Dec 3. We chat with her about this book, as well as the Harriet Foster book she is currently writing. We caught her on a writing day in which Harriet Foster was not cooperating. Then you will hear some of our conversation with Tracy back in 2023 when Harriet Foster first arrived on the scene.

Books Mentioned In This Episode

1- Hide by Tracy Clark

2- Echo by Tracy Clark

3- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

4- Her Name is Knight series by Yasmin Angoe

5- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

6-The Ninja's Oath (Lily Wong series) by Tori Eldridge

7- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

8- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

9- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

10- American Fever by Dur e Aziz Almna

Authors mentioned:

1- Sarah Paretsky

2- Sue Grafton

3- Agatha Christie

4- Valerie Wilson Wesley

5- Barbara Neely

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find Sharon Short at her website, www.sharonshort.com and on Instagram at @sharongshortauthor.

This week we have a Remix episode and catch up with Sharon Short, who we initially interviewed about her historical mystery novels which she wrote under the pen name Jess Montgomery. She has a new stand alone mystery suspense out titled Trouble Island that was inspired by a very interesting family story. You will first hear our most recent chat with her just a few weeks ago and then we will replay our original conversation with her back in the Spring of 2022 talking about her Kinship series.

Just a note that next week we will have another REMIX episode, this time with award winning mystery writer Tracy Clark whose most recent in the Detective Harriet Foster series came out Dec 3 titled Echo. The Washington Post has just named it one of their top mysteries of 2024.

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- Trouble Island by Jess Montgomery

2- The Widows by Jess Montgomery (Kinship series)

3- The Echoes by Jess Montgomery (Kinship series)

4- Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen Kirby

5- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan

6- How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith