Episode 226 - A Book-Packed Episode including Listener Top Ten Reads of 2024
Episode 226 Show Notes
– 2025 Readalong Theme and 1st Quarter Book –
Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.
Our 1st Quarter Readalong is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, February 16th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
We will also be doing a companion read of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin.
Over the course of the year, we will be reading The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, one story at a time. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.
Listener Top Tens! There were a few ties so we have a listener top fourteen. There is a list on Bookshop.org where you can learn more about the books. (*We are an affiliate of Bookshop.org and receive a commission when you purchase books through our affiliate links.)
1. James by Percival Everett
2. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
3. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
4. The Women by Kristin Hannah
5. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
6. North Woods by Daniel Mason
7. Clear by Carys Davies
8. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
9. Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
10. Go As a River by Shelley Read
11. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
12. My Friends by Hisham Matar
13. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
14. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
– Currently Reading –
Winter Swimming: The Nordic Way Towards a Healthier and Happier Life – Susanna Søberg (EF)
A New Home, Who Will Follow? – Caroline Kirkland (CW)
Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories – Jeanette Winterson (EF)(audiobook)
The Vanishing Kind – Alice Henderson (CW)
Alice Henderson was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 141
Three Days in June – Anne Tyler (EF) release date 2/11/2025
– Just Read –
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout – Cal Newport (CW)(audiobook)
Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns and Encountering Naked Reality – Pema Chödrön(EF)(audiobook)
The Book of Shadow Work: Unlock the True You: The Must-Have Guide to Inner Healing and Authenticity – Keila Shaheen (CW) (audiobook)
Speak to Me of Home – Jeanine Cummins (EF) release date 5/13/2025
The Last Room on the Left – Leah Konen (CW)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy (EF)
Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel – Kiersten White (CW)
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern – Lynda Cohen Loigman (EF)(audiobook)
The Militia House – John Milas (CW)
Heartwood – Amity Gaige (EF) release date 4/1/2025
A Son at the Front – Edith Wharton (CW)
What Are You Going Through – Sigrid Nunez (EF)(audiobook)
Alexander’s Bridge – Willa Cather (CW)
– Biblio Adventure –
Emily watched the movie The Devil Wears Prada based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger.
Chris went to see the film Nosferatu loosely based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Emily listened to a conversation between Charlotte Wood and Sigrid Nunez via the American Writer’s Museum. The video is available here.
Chris went to Chicago and had two Biblio Adventures. The first was a resale shop with lots of books where her mom purchased a copy of Envy by Sandra Brown. Next, she met Colleen at Anderson Bookshop in Naperville. She got a copy of Woodworm by Layla Martinez, translated by Annie McDermott.
Emily and The Gentleman Caller watched the six-part series American Primeval on Netflix written by Mark L. Smith, who also wrote The Revenant.
Chris participated in the first Zoom conversation with Colleen and her monthly Willa Cather reading challenge, starting with Alexander’s Bridge. Follow Colleen: https://www.instagram.com/colleenka/ to learn more.
Chris and Emily went on a Joint Jaunt to Providence, Rhode Island to visit the Providence Athenaeum. They also popped into the Rockefeller Library on Brown University campus.
– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is going to see the movie The Room Next Door based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.
On January 28, Chris is participating in the Women’s Prize Book Club book club with Sarah Waters in conversation with Simon Savidge about her novel Fingersmith. You can register for the event here.
On February 5, Chris and Emily are registered for the virtual event: The Many Lives of Anne Frank. Learn more and register here.
On February 5, Chris and Emily are registered for an in-person event at the New York Society Library. The New Relic Theatre presents Lord Byron’s Manfred. You can purchase register for the event here.
On February 12, Emily is registered to attend an event at RJ Julia’s in Madison, CT. Kristan Higgins will be in conversation with Charmaine Wilkerson and her new novel Good Dirt. You can register here.
– Upcoming Reads –
Good Dirt – Charmaine Wilkerson (EF)
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (CW)(EF)
O Pioneers! – Willa Cather (CW)
Swann’s Way – Marcel Proust (CW)
Robin is doing a buddy read, follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinlgustafson/ and via #ProustPilotProject
The Grey Wolf – Louise Penny (CW)
– Also Mentioned –
Author Louise Erdrich
Author Richard Osman
Indigo by Beverly Jenkins
Author Edith Wharton
Author S.A. Cosby
Author William Kent Kreuger
Author Willa Cather
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Author Pat Conroy
Author Edgar Allan Poe
Author Nevada Barr
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
American Dirt by Jeannine Cummins
The Shining by Stephen King
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Also by Willa Cather: One of Ours and O Pioneers!
Also by Sigrid Nunez: The Friend and The Vulnerables
Charlotte Wood novels: The Weekend and Stone Yard Devotional
Oh Reader Magazine
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