Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Our Shownotes:

1- Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

2- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

3- Saltburn - (2023, Amazon Prime)

4- Ripley - (upcoming series on Netflix)

Thrillers by the Bookclub Shownotes:

Chelsea's Book: NIGHT FILM by Marisha Pessl

- Similar Suggestions: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, The Searcher by Tana French, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, and House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

Olivia's Book: SWEET LITTLE LIES by Karin Nordin (OUT 9.28!)

- Similar Suggestions: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier, Catch Her When She Falls by Allison Buccola

Carrie's Book: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN by Patricia Highsmith

- Similar Suggestions: THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson

Amy's Book: SADIE by Courtney Summers

- Similar Suggestions: Devolution by Max Brooks, Every Bone a Prayer by Ashley Blooms, The Hollow Inside by Brook Lauren Davis, The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Email: [email protected]
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thrillersbythebookclubpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thrillersbythebookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Chelsea:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@thrillerbookbabe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Olivia:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@oliviadaywrites⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

Perks of Being a Book Lover Podcast: @perksofbeingabookloverpod

Happy Pub Day!
    •    DARK CORNERS by Megan Goldin
    •    NONE OF THIS IS TRUE by Lisa Jewell
    •    MISTER MAGIS by Kiersten White
    •    101 HORROR BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU'RE MURDERED by Sadie      Hartmann
    •    LOOKING GLASS SOUND by Catriona Ward
    •    NORTH OF NOWHERE by Alison Brennan
    •    IN A QUIET TOWN by Amber Garza
    •    THE LAST ONE by Will Dean

You can find Anna Pitoniak at www.annapitoniak.com and on socials at annapitoniak.

-Website atwww.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

For our final episode of 2023, we chat with Anna Pitoniak, whose 4th novel, The Helsinki Affair, has been named a Best Thriller of 2023 by The Washington Post. Anna has long been a fan of spy novels and decided to try her hand at writing the genre. While spy novels have usually been written by and about men, Anna shows that women agents can be just as smart, sly, and ballsy. With a background in the publishing industry, Anna discusses how this experience impacted her journey writing, finding an agent, and working to get her novel into the world.

We also discuss how she is very different from Carrie on the Christmas front and why tacos were not her favorite food from a trip to Mexico (you’ll be surprised by what was.)

Books Discussed in This Episode:

1- The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak

2- Slow Horses by Mick Herron

3- Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

4- The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre

5- The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre

6- Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukherji

7- Mr. Lullaby by J.H. Markert

8- The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert

9- The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel

10- Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Emily Wiggins @emwigsterbookshelf

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Shows mentioned--

1- Slow Horses (Apple +, 2022)

2- Russian Doll (Netflix, 2019)

Website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

You can find out more about Kelcey Ervick on her website kelceyervick.com

This week we chat with Kelcey Ervick whose graphic memoir The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives Amy discovered after our friend and former guest, Bethany, told us about what a great book it was.

Kelcey is the author of four books but The Keeper is her first foray into a full graphic experience. She weaves her own personal story of being a high school and Division I college soccer player with the history and effect Title IX has had on women in all areas of their lives, not just in sports. If you loved the feminist bent of the movie Barbie, this book will give you similar vibes.

The Keeper has been recommended by the NYT Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, and was the winner of the state literary prize of Ohio, the Ohioana Book Award, which has been awarded to other notable authors including Celeste NG, Ross Gay, and John Scalzi. Even if you aren’t a sports fan (and I am not), you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Remember, that in Season 10, Amy has a new project which is to give listeners book recommendations. If you’re looking for a book set in Romania, or a book about rabbits, or a book about changelings, or anything in between, send us a message and we’ll recommend a similar read you can add to your nightstand.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women's Lives by Kelcey Ervick

2- The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

3- The Bitter Life of Bozena Nemcova: A Biographical Collage by Kelcey Ervick

4- The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature edited by Kelcey Ervick and Tom Hart

5- Good Talk by Mira Jacob

6- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

7- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

8- Pretending is Lying by Dominique Goblet

9- The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

10- Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

11- Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

12- Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler

13- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

14- America Redux by Ariel Aberg-Riger

15- Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen

16- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue

5 Star Book Recommendation by a Fellow Book Lover Barbara K. - @msbarbarasbookshelf - Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Podcasts mentioned--

Website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

2- The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

3- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

4- Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopolou

5- Krazyland by Mar Romasco-Moore

6- Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

7- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

8- Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain by Andrew McCarthy

9- The Weight We Carry by Christina Consolino

10- The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann

11- House of Gold by CT Rwizi

12- The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

13- Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

14- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

15- Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

16- Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind who changed the Bible and Why by Bart Ehrman

17- The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

18- The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu

19- Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy

20- I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnambalam

Five Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Carol @pirotandpinot

Movies and TV series Discussed

1- Creature (2023/Netflix)

2- The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015-2017)

3- Mary Shelley (2015)

4- The Family Stone (2005)

5- Knock at the Cabin (2023)

This week we chat with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, from Carmichael’s Bookstore. Each November we let her do the heavy lifting and share books that have come out and might be good choices for your holiday shopping.

If you would like to check out Carmichael’s Bookstore Holiday Book Gift Guide, you can find it online at www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/

Website- www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

2- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

3- Foster by Claire Keegan

4- So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

5- Let us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

6- Fraud by Zadie Smith

7- Armor of Light by Ken Follett

8- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

9- Julia by Sandra Newman

10- 1984 by George Orwell

11- Reformatory by Tananarive Due

12- Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

13- A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

14- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

15- West Heart Kill by Dann Mcdorman

16- The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

17- The Appeal by Janice Hallett

18- The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

19- Stalking Shakespeare by Lee Durkee

20- They Flew by Carlos Eire

21- Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

22- Wild Girls by Tiya Miles

23- The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

24- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl

25- Watership Down (graphic novel) by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin

26- Watership Down by Richard Adams

27- Energy Follows Thought by Willie Nelson

28- World Within a Song by Jeff Tweedy

29- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

30- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

31- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

32- Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

33- Legend & Lattes by Travis Baldree

34- World Central Kitchen Cookbook by Jose Andres

35- Every Cook, Every Kitchen by Feed Louisville

36- Oldest Louisville by Kevin Gibson

37- Always Moving Forward by David Jones and Bob Hill

38- Back Page by Byron Crawford

39- Fathers by Richard Taylor

40- From the Heads of the Hollers by Shelby Lee Adams

41- Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

42- Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys by DMS Fick

43- Rabbit Heart by Kristine S. Ervin

44- My Dark Places by James Ellroy

45- Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore

46- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

47- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

48- The Man who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued his Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford

49- Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Casey @Caseys_reads

Movie and Series Mentioned:

- CODA (2021) - Apple +

Our guest this week, Ritu Mukerji, is a busy, full-time physician and a mother of 3, but she managed to find time to write her first novel, a recently published historical fiction mystery titled Murder by Degrees about a female physician in late 19th century Philadelphia. She was inspired by her love of the mystery genre as well as her experience living in Philadelphia while getting her medical degree where she would often visit places where female doctors had paved the way for other women to follow.

We chat with Ritu about why physicians can make good detectives, and she shares some of her favorite mystery series and the recipe for her favorite Thanksgiving side dish that’s been prepared in her family for over 30 years.

You can find Ritu on socials at @ritumukerji and at her website: www.ritumukerji.com

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod

FaceBook - Perks of Being a Book Lover.

To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

2- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

3- Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

4- Maisie Dobbs series by Jaqueline Winspear

5- Inspector Rutledge series by Charles Todd

6- Books by PD James, Ruth Rendell, and Barbara Vine

7- Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell

8- Truman by David McCullough

9- Grant by Ron Chernow

10- Lincoln by David Herbert Donald

11- The Dry by Jane Harper

12- Mother of Strangers by Suad Amiry

13- The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

14- The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

15- George: A Magpie Memoir by Frieda Hughes

16- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

5 Star Read Recpmmended by Fellow Book Lover Amy @readthisandsteep - Mercury by Amy Jo Burns

Ritu Mukerji's family recipe

Cranberry Salsa

-2 cups cranberries

Whirl cranberries in a blender until chopped, then empty in a bowl. Add orange peel, chopped orange (drained), onion, oil, cilantro, ginger and chile. Mix well and blend sauce; add salt to taste. Serve, or cover and chill, as long as overnight.

This week is one of the funniest shows we’ve done simply because our guests are delightful. In fact this show may be just a tad longer than normal because we almost couldn’t bear to cut any of our conversation out. They are the author/illustrator and husband/wife team of Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr whose Cookie Chronicles books are a big hit among the 8-12 year old crowd, although, honestly, their stuff is good no matter how old you are.

They recently completed a year long cross-country trip called the Busload of Books Tour in a remodeled school bus with their four kids and grumpy dog to do school visits to Title I schools in the continental United States. They teamed up with a nonprofit to fund the trip and provide books for children. We talk with Matthew and Robbi about their cross-country trip, what “thing” they collected along the way, and Robbi’s favorite scent that you can’t buy.

Books Mentioned In this Episode:

1- Ben Yokohama and the Cookie of Doom (Cookie Chronicles series) by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

2- The Real McCoys by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

3- Babies Ruin Everything by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

4- Sunrise Summer by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

5- Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice by Vanessa Zoltan

6- Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

7- A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russian Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

8- Dirty Birds by Morgan Murray

9- Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Amber @amber.always.reading

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

Podcasts mentioned--

Websites mentioned--

You can find our guests at their website robbiandmatthew.com/

Website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com

Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod

Face Book - Perks of Being a BookLover.

To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

This week we have a book recommendation episode. We hunker down for November and embrace fall. We call this our Free For F(all) episode because we each give you a recommendation in 5 categories to represent November : Autumn, Native American Heritage Month, Diwali, Day of the Dead/ All Soul's Day, and No-Shave November.

For show notes for any episode, go to our website at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

Instagram @perksofbeingabookloverpod 

FaceBook - Perks of Being a BookLover.

To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

2- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

3- Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family by Catherine Newman

4- Love Deleted by Paul Indigo

5- An Event in Autumn by Henning Markell

6- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan

7- Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris

8- Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

9- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

10- A People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian

11- The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox

12- The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

13- Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean

14- These Honored Dead (A Lincoln and Speed mystery) by Jonathan F. Putnam

15- Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will by Robert M. Sapolsky

16- Plight of the Living Dead: What Real Life Zombies Reveal About Our World and Ourselves by Matt Simon

A 5 star book recommendation by a fellow book Lover -

Podcasts mentioned--

1- Ologies with Alie Ward

Movies mentioned--

1- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2- Fargo (1996) - movie

3- Fargo - (2014 - present, FX) - TV series

Bookish news--

She challenges one book a week:

1 parent is responsible for a book ban in North Carolina-

Scholastic Book Fair Dilemna

Erin Flanagan podcast episode episode:

Robert Sapolsky doesn't believe in free will

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 Boo kLover. To send us a message, go to our website and click the Contact button.

We interviewed Alix E. Harrow in the before times (2019) when her first novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, was published. We drove to Berea, Kentucky and recorded in Berea College’s library, where Harrow graduated from and where she lived for a time. In the years since her debut, Harrow has come out with several new and cool entries into the speculative fiction genre. Her most recent book, Starling House, is a NYT, Washington Post, and USA Today bestseller.  It is the October pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club.

Books mentioned--

1- Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

2- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

3- The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

4- Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

5- The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

6- What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

7- Foundation by Isaac Asimov

8- Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

9- The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnomes by Margaret St. Clair (short story)

10- Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir

11- The City We Became by N. K. Jemesin

12- The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry

13- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Booklover Mackenxie @kenzathome-

Shows mentioned--

1- The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix, 2024)

2- Foundation (Apple TV, 2021 - present)

You can find Katrina Monroe on IG @katrinamonroeauthor or on her website katrinamonroe.com/

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

If you would like to contact us, go to our website and click the Contact button.

I happened upon the audiobook Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe on Libby and was riveted by how the horror novel explored the postpartum period while also bringing in supernatural elements. It totally sucked me back into the early weeks after delivering my first child and left me with that same sense of shellshock, and I thought, “OF COURSE having a baby is a horror story.”

We reached out to Katrina to see if she would be interested in chatting with us, and we’re so glad she was. We talk with her about Graveyard of Lost Children and her first novel They Drown Our Daughters and about why motherhood and the mother-daughter relationship are perfect topics to write about because they are steeped in fear and confusion, and inspire terror at times.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

2- They Drown our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

3- Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe

4- Goosebumps series by RL Stine

5- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

6- Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

7- The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

8- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

9- The Electric Woman by Tessa Fontaine

10- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

11- Under an Outlaw Moon by Dietrich Kalteis

12-Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

13- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

14- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Jen @bookedupgirl - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Movies/Shows mentioned--

1- The Woman in Black (2012)

2- The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix - 2023)

3- Midnight Mass (Netflix - 2021)

4- The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix - 2018)

5- Goosebumps TV series (1995)

6- Goosebumps (Netflix - 2023)

7- The Changeling (Apple + - 2023)

8- Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

9- A Monster Calls (2016)