The Readerly Report

Gayle and Nicole are back with the second half of our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide. (Here is Part I of the Holiday Gift Guide.) We offer suggestions for a wide variety of readers on your list – mostly books but some “book-adjacent” items as well. We also look at the December Book of the Month picks and catch up on where we are with our 2019 reading challenges.

DECEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH PICKS
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
2019 Everyday I Write The Book Reading Challenge
Descent by Tim Johnston
The Current by Tim Johnston
Uncanny Valley by Anna Weiner
Loner by Teddy Wayne (Gayle’s review here)
The Morning Show on Apple+

FOR FANS OF LITERARY FICTION
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Gayle’s review here)
Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf (Gayle’s review here)
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (Gayle’s review here)
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (Gayle’s review here)

FOR YOUR FRIEND WHO LIKES WEIRD STORIES
The Need by Helen Philips

FOR YOUR FRIEND WHO NEEDS A DISTRACTION
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Gayle’s review here)
Forever Is The Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan (Gayle’s review here)
The Last by Hanna Jameson
The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton

(see the full post here)

Gayle and Nicole are here with the first half of our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide. We offer suggestions for a wide variety of readers on your list – mostly books but some “book-adjacent” items as well. This discussion took longer than we thought, so we split it in half! Tune in next week for the second half of the list.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
The Only Plane In The Sky by Garrett M. Graff
One Day by Gene Weingarten
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Long Bright River by Liz Moore

GAYLE’S READING CHALLENGE WOES
Gayle updates us on the 2019 Everyday I Write The Book Reading Challenge. Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer is turning out to be problematic.

FOR THE AUDIOBOOK JUNKIES
Apple AirPods
Comfortable, have a seamless connection to Bluetooth, and good are good for running. They won’t fall out of your ears.
Tranya True Wireless Earbuds
Affordable, comfortable, pair easily with any device. She has several pairs and has bought them for most of her family who love them as well, so she knows they make a great gift.
Scribd
Unlimited access to audiobooks, ebooks and digital downloads (within reason). Probably not the best for heavy listeners, but if you listen/read 6-8 books a month, it’s worth it to have access to the latest books.
Audible
Several plans and an easy return policy make it easy to find the perfect groove for your audiobook needs.

FOR THE HISTORY BUFFS
Furious Hours; Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (Audiobook)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland) by Patrick Radden Keefe (Audiobook)

FOR THE MAGICALLY & WHIMSICALLY INCLINED
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman (Illustrated Edition)
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

FOR THE FRIEND WHO LISTENS TO ALL YOUR DRAMA
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
Golden Child by Claire Adam
The Travelers by Regina Porter

FOR THOSE INTRIGUED BY THE MYSTERIES OF TIME TRAVEL
Time Was by Ian McDonald
Here And Now And Then by Mike Chen
Exhalation by Ted Chiang (from New York Times 10 Best Books of 2019)
(see the full post

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therestperpective.substack.com

Gayle and Nicole welcome Gayle’s literary hero J. Ryan Stradal to the show to talk about childhood reading influences. We also talk about the authors J. Ryan turns to to help make him feel empathetic toward his characters, why he doesn’t give up on authors, and whether it’s OK to dogear pages and mark up books.

Books mentioned:
Kitchens Of The Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center
The Cactus League by Emily Nemens
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Dubliners by James Joyce
The Dark Crystal by A.C.H. Smith
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
All-Of-A-Kind Family by Sidney Taylor
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Work by Dennis Johnson
How I Met My Husband by Alice Munro
Working by Studs Terkel
Gig by John Bowe and Marisa Bowe
Poor People by William T. Vollmann
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Dinosaurs of North America by Helen Roney Sattler
Liar by Robert Roberge
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh
My Year Of Rest And Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
Death in Her Hands by Otessa Moshfegh
Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

*Books linked above are our affiliate links. There’s no additional expense you, but if you make a purchase through us a small portion of that contributes to the costs associated with making our podcast. Thanks so much for listening and for your support!

Please help support the podcast and take a few minutes to leave a review and/or rating for the podcast...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therestperpective.substack.com

This is the 100th episode of the Readerly Report! To commemorate this milestone, we’re taking a look at 100 of our collective favorite 100 books we’ve read since launching the show. We also go behind the scenes and talk about who we are, how we record the show and how we’ve changed as readers since we started.

Links mentioned:

The Readerly Report 100 Favorite Books
GMA Cover To Cover Book Club
YouTube Launches BookTube
2019 National Book Award Finalists

Books mentioned:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
The Risen by Ron Rash
Redeployment by Phil Klay
Faith by Jennifer Haigh
The Sweetheart Deal by Polly Dugan
Early Warning by Jane Smiley
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
No One Is Coming To Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts
Fruit Of The Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase
Golden Child by Claire Adam
The Muse by Jesse Burton

*Books linked above are our affiliate links. There’s no additional expense you, but if you make a purchase through us a small portion of that contributes to the costs associated with making our podcast. Thanks so much for listening and for your support!

Please help support the podcast and take a few minutes to leave a review and/or rating for the podcast on iTunes, a comment on Soundcloud or interact wherever you listen to podcasts and talk about books. 

Connect With Us
We’d love to hear from you at any and all places that you love to talk about books. You can find us at the spaces below.

Nicole Bonia: Nicole’s Website | Instagram | Twitter |Goodreads
Gayle Weiswasser: Everyday I Write The Book Blog | Twitter | Facebook|Instagram | Goodreads
The Readerly Report: Facebook |

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therestperpective.substack.com

Gayle and Nicole are sooo close to episode 100, but they needed one more week to prepare. So they recorded Episode 99.5, in which they share a list of backlist books that they have been meaning to read and that are lingering on their shelves, but that keep getting passed over for no good reason. They commit to reading them sometime in the next 100 episodes! If you’ve read them, let them know whether they should be on their TBRs, and in what order?

Links mentioned:
By The Book column in The New York Times about Lupita Nyong’o

Books mentioned in this episode:

Patsy by Nicole Dennis Benn
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
The New Me by Halle Butler
The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Futureface: A Family Mystery, An Epic Quest, And The Secret To Belonging by Alex Wagner
The 7 1/2 Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Future Home Of The Living God by Louise Erdrich
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
The Gypsy Moth Summer by Julia Fierro
Cutting Teeth by Julia Fierro
The Only Story by Julian Barnes
Last Night At The Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
The Odds by Stewart O’Nan
Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

*Books linked above are our affiliate links. There’s no additional expense you, but if you make a purchase through us a small portion of that contributes to the costs associated with making our podcast. Thanks so much for listening and for your support!

Please help support the podcast and take a few minutes to leave a review and/or rating for the podcast on iTunes, a comment on Soundcloud or interact wherever you listen to podcasts and talk about books. 

Connect With Us
We’d love to hear from you at any and all places that you love to talk about books. You can find us at the spaces below.

Nicole Bonia: Nicole’s Website | Instagram | Twitter |Goodreads
Gayle Weiswasser: Everyday I Write The Book Blog | Twitter |