There Will Be Books

We begin this episode with a mystery that's being troubling Matt for a very long time, who stole his copy of Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Vol 3? From there we jump into the delightful world at Blandings Castle, and discuss "Summer Lightning" by P.G. Wodehouse. Full of hilarious writing, memorable characters, and a prized pig, we discuss why Wodehouse is so beloved and what makes "Summer Lightning" a good entry point into the vast Wodehouse bibliography. Finally, we'll soon be nominating books for our new seasonal book club, so if you're listening and you have a long book that is a favorite of yours let us know and we might make it the new seasonal book! Enjoy!

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This week's book contains mercenaries, marching armies, treachery, and a dangerous retreat. Part military history and part philosophical study, the "Anabasis" by Xenophon has been studied and enjoyed for a variety of reasons. We delve into how a book written 2,500 years ago can feel so present, and the many interesting things Xenophon has to say about the nature of leadership and military command. Enjoyable discussion about a rich text, ending in Matt pleading for an oracle. Enjoy!

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What do you do when you have so many great nominations? You can't just pick one, so pick a few. And that is what we did listener, we know we have a mountain of books we're reading but what's better than adding more great selections?! Hopefully you join us in reading some if not all the books we've added to the TBR. Plus, friend of the pod, Sam Ernst, sent in his fantasy baseball author team and Matt describes how he and his wife pick movies to watch. Enjoy!

Books Nominated:

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan

Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin*

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies*

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman*

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell*

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Two weeks ago Matt walked under a ladder, and the next day Peter had a kidney stone attack and Matt developed nerve pain. Coincidence? Maybe. So after a couple weeks of recovery we're back! And we're discussing a fantastic American classic, Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey. Join us as we dissect the indelible Stamper family and go into what makes this a classic. High recommend from us both. Enjoy!

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Awhile back we created fantasy football teams with authors, we put a lot of thought and effort into this silly idea and we enjoyed it so much that we are back for baseball. Tonight, learn how much Matt loves this concept. Would he abandon everything and create fake author baseball teams all over the country? Maybe. As for Peter, his choice at catcher certainly didn't make sense but he wouldn't have it any other way. We hope you make your own team and nerd out on this ridiculous idea. Enjoy!

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It's been too long. We're back and picking our newest book club selection. But first, since we haven't recorded an episode in a little while, we both have some side books we've been listening to or reading. Plus, Peter rushes through a library book sale haul. Then we come to the main event, picking a new book club selection and since it's summer we selected a funny, satirical, and enjoyable book*. Enjoy!

*Side note- we selected two books. 

Books nominated:

Norco ‘80 by Peter Houlahan

Empire’s Eagles by Thomas E. Crocker

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse*

Satantango by László Krasznahorkai

Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis*

The Princess Pride by William Goldman

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David Mitchell is a favorite author of ours and tonight we're discussing his novel "Black Swan Green." A brilliant coming of age novel, full of humor, insight, wonder, and compassion. Mitchell is an amazing storyteller and writer and we discuss why he succeeds at creating such memorable characters and stories. Finally, we look at this novel in relation to his other works. Needless to say, high recommend from both of us and we hope to lead new readers to the world of David Mitchell. Enjoy!

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Longtime listener and friend of the show, author Sam Ernst stops by to discuss his debut novel, The New Manifesto. We delve into the process of how the novel came to be, and some of the backstory to this fun and creative metafictional work. We also discuss music criticism, islands, alternate history books, future books, and more. We had a great time talking to Sam and recommend you check out his book. Enjoy!

Books mentioned:

The New Manifesto by Sam Ernst

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Another month means picking another book club selection. We decided to do something slightly different this month, we nominated all non-fiction books. A varied and interesting group of books were nominated and we think we ended on a very interesting selection. Of course, we discussed all things other than books including Xavier University, starting a farm, and more! Enjoy.

Books Discussed

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor

The Persian Expedition by Xenophon

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

Keith County Journal by John Janovy Jr

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

The General by Paul Williams

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides

Atlas of a Lost World by Craig Childs

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

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We've got a bit of everything on this episode. We venture from Chris Rock to Laurent Binet, from long movies to box chain book stores. We end on Matt stashing books under the baby stroller. Hope you enjoy this hodgepodge of an episode and please tell Matt he needs to start making BookTok videos for us. Enjoy!

Books mentioned

Civilizations by Laurent Binet

The New Manifesto by Sam Ernst

Contact Us:

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Email [email protected]

Goodreads: Therewillbebooks

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