Your Favorite Book

Well, we're here, and it's bittersweet. Plain and simple, these are my favorite books that I happened to read in 2022, spoiler free of course, and ranked in order. Something for everyone, with plenty of honorable mentions to boot. I will miss each and every one of you, and I hope to be back in some capacity in the future. Till then, you can stay in touch with me via instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

As the year (and Your Favorite Book as a whole) winds down, I wanted to bring back a favorite guest of mine and share some laid-back, lighthearted conversation about all things book podcasting. Julie Strauss is my podcast twin and the host of Best Book Ever, and if you don't already listen to her show, I highly recommend it! We chat about our different approaches to podcasting, how running these shows has changed our reading habits, and where I expect life to take me after wrapping up the show. 

Follow Julie on instagram @bestbookeverpodcast

Follow the show on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

For this, our last formal interview episode for Your Favorite Book, I'm delving back into nonfiction and into some serious topics. THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS deserves all its accolades, not only for its extensive research on the Great Migration in Jim Crow era America, but on the attention to narrative detail and approachable, readable tone. My guest, Keenan Norris, touches on specific migrations and how the city of Chicago impacted several important Black historical figures, including Barack Obama and Richard Wright. Together, the two of us touch on the surprising results of research, what it means to learn something that should've been taught in schools, and so much more.

Find Keenan at his website: https://www.keenannorris.com/

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After a couple weeks off, I'm bringing you an episode on one of the most hyped memoirs of the year, and it was an absolute joy to talk about. We're of course talking about I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy, a searing memoir of Hollywood, abuse, eating disorders, and coming into one's own identity. This book is straightforward and not for the faint of heart, but certainly rewarding. My guest is young adult author Deeba Zargarpur, whose YA novel HOUSE OF YESTERDAY combines elements of her Afghan-Uzbek heritage with ghost story elements, complex family dynamics, and a relatable female lead. Deeba and I chat all things families large and small, memoir styles, watching too much TV, and so much more.

Find Deeba at https://www.deebazargarpur.com/

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Our guest this week is Ethan Chatagnier, whose debut novel SINGER DISTANCE effortlessly combines the space age paranoia of the 1960s, theoretical math, and the high stakes of a love unfulfilled. The book challenges the idea of what it would mean to communicate with another planet, presenting an alternate history where this contact has been made and scientists believe they've cracked the latest Martian math challenge set for Earthlings to understand.

Ethan chose a book that also blurs the lines between literary and science fiction, Kazuo Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO. This seminal work by the Nobel Laureate defies most summaries, with its slowly unfolding plot and piecemeal storytelling. This is one of few YFB episodes that dives headfirst into spoilers, so for those who have not read NEVER LET ME GO, it's highly recommended before listening, and a highly recommended book in general.

We're back with an author who's rapidly becoming one of my twentieth century favorites, Edith Wharton. In this early novel of hers, The House of Mirth, we follow the tragic demise of socialite Lily Bart and how her decline represents the decline of an era itself, and also shows us how precarious it is to be a woman of reputation. Somehow, Sara and I find plenty of laughs. Sara is a YA novelist whose most recent novel, Grave Things Like Love, is a contemporary romance with a ghost hunting twist, and is perfect for the Halloween season. 

Buy Sara's book: https://bookshop.org/books/grave-things-like-love-9780593703557/9780593703557

Follow the podcast on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

Our guest this week is Saeed Jones, the acclaimed memoirist and poet, whose recent collection ALIVE AT THE END OF THE WORLD takes on both individual and collective grief in the midst of a nation in crisis. Spanning topics from the legacy of Black artists and entertainers to visions of the end of the world as a chaotic rave, Saeed brings every feeling to the forefront and never turns his back to the hard questions.

Saeed chose a book stemming from his adolescence and one that continues to generate deeper meaning for him, Toni Morrison's SULA. This book, hardly two hundred pages in length, delves deep into what it means to be a Black girl, and to be both in and out of a community, and the complicated social dynamics it takes to perpetuate said community. The book is luminous at a prose level and never ceases to shock at every turn. There are some spoilers for this episode, but none that take away from the integrity of the novel.

Together we chat about all things crafting a poetry collection, why the United States struggles with creating a grief culture, the triumphs and pitfalls of high school literary opinions, and so much more.

Books discussed: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel Moniz, Magical Negro by Morgan Parker

Buy Saeed's book: https://bookshop.org/books/alive-at-the-end-of-the-world/9781566896511

Follow the show on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

Our guest is Joe Meno, author of eleven books and most recently, BOOK OF EXTRAORDINARY TRAGEDIES, a family saga taking place in Chicago's south side. Told by twenty year old Aleks, former musical prodigy turned patriarch of his young family, we are shown the limits of human endurance as the family deals with medical crises, desperate poverty, and one heartbreak after another. At the same time there is a real tenderness and creativity underlining these characters, buoying everything with a sense of hope.

Joe chose Jesmyn Ward's landmark novel SALVAGE THE BONES for his episode. Like his own novel, Ward's book shows a young family in peril and the means they take to survive, but the setting differs entirely. We are taken to rural Mississippi in the days before Hurricane Katrina, as Esch and her brothers live their lives and prepare for the oncoming storm. It's a haunting, brutal read and one that proves unforgettable for us both.

Buy Joe's book: http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/book-of-extraordinary-tragedies/

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Our guest is Adam Levin, author of multiple novels and most recently, the author of MOUNT CHICAGO. This sprawling novel features the city of Chicago in the midst of natural disaster and centers two lives, comedian and writer Solomon Gladman, as well as his biggest fan, Apter Schutz. The book delves into grief, metafiction, publishing, parrots, and so much more that really defies a conventional summary.

Levin chose another book difficult to summarize, J.D. Salinger’s FRANNY AND ZOOEY. Following the youngest siblings of the Glass family, Salinger explores themes of spiritual emptiness, creativity, and social isolation in a novel that feels very much like a stage play in its form and construction. We reflect on how there’s always more to discover in reading and rereading a novel, even generations after its initial publication.

Buy Adam's book: https://bookshop.org/books/mount-chicago/9780385548243

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We're back for a new season! Our guest this week is Belinda Huijuan Tang, author of the debut novel A Map for the Missing. The novel spans time from the 1970s through the 1990s, in China as well as the United States, and centers family secrets and miscommunication along with the impact of pursuing one's dreams. What does it mean to live a life of knowledge, and how easy is it to achieve that path?

Belinda chose Wang Anyi's The Song of Everlasting Sorrow as her favorite book. Written in 1995 and translated from Chinese, this novel spans four decades in the life of Wang Qiyao, a former beauty queen who lives a life of heartbreak in both old and new Shanghai. The book is dense, complex, but also deliciously petty and joyful in its depictions of Wang Anyi's hometown. As always, no spoilers!

Books discussed: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro

Buy Belinda's book: https://bookshop.org/books/a-map-for-the-missing/9780593300664

Follow the podcast on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast