The Readerly Report

Nicole is super psyched that The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook is being made into a movie featuring Keira Knightly and Alexander Skarsgard. Nicole and Gayle discuss the books they have been readmit and have a Q&A style conversation on The Four by Scott Galloway. Gayle and Nicole summarize and share the genres and topics which have dominated their reading over the last year, plus get really excited about the possibilities of the PopSugar Reading Challenge.

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Gayle and Nicole welcome Sarah from Sarah's Bookshelves back to the podcast to talk book superlatives. From the books that most benefitted from a particular moment in time, to the most poignant reads, to the books that made us feel dumb, we have a ton of interesting categories to help you organize your reading.

Helpful links in this podcast:

Sarah's list of underrated gems of 2018.
Sarah's list of debut authors for 2018.
Sarah's new podcast: Sarah's Bookshelves Live!

Listen to Gayle and Nicole on the What To Read Next Podcast.

 

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Gayle has updates for Nicole. She's joined Scribd, she's a veteran Spivey swapper and she's hit her reading goal for the year. Nicole discusses why she couldn't finish reading American Prison, and after discussing what they've been reading, they go on to talk about the best books they read in 2018.

What We've Been Reading

• Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister
• American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Imprisonment by Shane Bauer
• Sliver of Light: Three American Imprisoned in Iran by Shane Bauer
• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Ray & Joan: The Man who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and the Woman who Gave it All Away​ by Lisa Napoli
• The Four​: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google​ by Scott Galloway
• The Other Woman by Sandie Jones
• The Last Mrs. Parrish  by Liv Constantine

Our Best Books of the Year

The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
That Kind of Mother by Ruman Alaam
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
A Cloud in the Shape of A Girl by Jean Thompson
The Honey Farm by Harriet Alida Lye
The Caregiver

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Gayle and Nicole discuss the books they've been reading lately and suggest last minute books that will make the perfect gifts for friends with a wide variety of taste.

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Nicole loves that Gayle dogears because she dogears sometimes too. Memorable scenes in books from some of our favorite books. Will these all  be taut and tense?  What sticks out in our memories?

What We’re Reading  A Cloud In The Shape Of A Girl by Jean Thompson The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Adults by Caroline Hulse The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker  Our Kind Of Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall Waiting For Eden by Elliot Ackerman Memorable Scenes From Books We Loved Room by Emma Donoghue

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Gayle shocks Nicole with 1) trading a book on the Ashley Spivey Book Club group, and 2) reading a book before its release date. Inspired by discussing the best long best books to read over the holiday season, Gayle and Nicole discuss the best short books to read over the next few weeks, and just in time to boost those reading numbers and bring goals into line.

What We're Reading / What We've Read

One Day In Decemberby Josie Silver
The Adultsby Caroline Hulse
The Daily Stoicby Ryan Holiday
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancockby Imogen Hermes Gowar
Becomingby Michelle Obama
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Short Books To Read

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Department of Speculation by Jenny Offil
10:04 by Ben Lerner
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Foe by J.M. Coetzee
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwen
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
Single Carefree and Mellow by Katherine Heiny
Property by Valerie Martin
Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin
Trespassby Valerie Martin
Rare Bird by Anna Whiston Donaldson
The Red Car by Marcy Dermansky
Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky
The Heart by Maylis by de Kerangal
Graybar Hotel by Curtis Dwakins

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Gayle and Nicole endeavor to recommend the best big books to read over the upcoming holiday season and get stopped up by the philosophical considerations they take when considering a big book. Why read? Pleasure of accomplishment? They want the ones that are thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down, but find psychological blocks in committing to starting a long book. Gayle discusses her yearly reading goal and the opportunity cost of reading big books, and they both agree that it's super easy to prioritize the shorter books before settling down with a tome. Plus, what they're reading and Gayle's rundown of Curtis Sittenfeld's novels-which ones to read, and which ones to skip.

The Philosophy Of Reading A Long Book

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Secret History by Donna
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A Place For Us by Fatima Farhan Mirza

What We're Reading (And Finished Reading)

One Day In Decemberby Josie Silver
The Light We Lost byJill Santopolo
One Day by David Nicholls
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Vox by Christina Dalcher
Cloud in The Shape of A Girl by Jean Thompson
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and The Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
The Farm by Joanne Ramos
Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

All The Big Long Books

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Narrated by Kristoffer Tabori)
Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Jane Eyreby Charlotte Bronte
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Nicole coaxes Gayle into taking a look at the Goodreads Choice Award and to consider voting in them. How Gayle chooses the books that she reads. How we organize our shelves​, and our nonfiction recommendation and anticipated nonfiction reads.​

Current  Reads  & Just Finished

• Red Clocks Leni Zumas
• All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
• Transcription by Kate Atkinson
• The Caregiver by Samuel Park
• There There by Tommy Orange
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
• Ladder To The Sky by John Boyne 
• Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennet
• Girl Unknown by Karen Perry

Nonfiction Book Discussion

• I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
• Happiness by Heather Harpham
• Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
• Maid by Stephanie Land
• Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
• Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
• I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
• An Unexplained Death by Mikita Brottman
• Belonging by Nora Krug
• Little Dancer Aged Fourteen by Camille Lauren
• The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
• In Byron's Wake: The Turbulent Lives of Lord Byron's Wife and Daughter: Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace​ by Miranda Seymour​
• The Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean
• The Day That Went Missing by Richard Beard
• The Four​: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google​ by Scot Galloway​
• ​Ray & Joan: The Man who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman who Gave it All Away
  
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Gayle has moved and has misplaced her audiobook and book. Gayle and Nicole try to figure out how to get Gayle more time with her audiobook, now that her move has shortened her time in the car.

What We’re Reading:

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

Anticipated November Reads:

Becoming by Michelle Obama
Nine Perfect Strangers by Lianne Moriarty
One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Once A Midwife by Patricia Harman
The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim
A Ladder To The Sky by John Boyne
The Boy With The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Adults by Caroline Hulse

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Gayle and Nicole discuss the National Book Awards and whether they are inclined to read books from these lists. We also briefly refer The Man Books, The Nobel Prize, The Macarthur Prize for Genius. What types roof books are these and are they of interest to the average reader or do they serve to build the prestige and careers of these writers? 

What We’re Reading:
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Unknown Girl by Karen Perry
A Cloud In The Shape of The Girl by Jean Thompson
American Prison by Shane Bauer
The Witch Elm by Tana French

The Book Gayle Has to Have:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taking A Looks At The National Book Award Nominees & Other Book Prizes:
Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Swingtime by Zadie Smith
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
The Story of A Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
News of the World by Paulette Giles
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
Miss Jane by Brad Watson
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
The  Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley 

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