A list of all our podcasts. Enjoy!
Episode 27: What makes a classic?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Rachel and Carmen talk about what makes a book a classic. Let us know how you define a “classic” and some of your favorites. Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Here are our links for this episode:
“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley
“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
“The “I Ching”: A Biography” by Richard J. Smith
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathanial Hawthorne
“Animal Farm” by George Orwell
“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
“A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“I know why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
Episode 26: 2021 Reading Challenges
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
A big Congratulations to our friend Janet who finished the Pop Sugar 2020 Challenge with the Advanced Prompts. With Janet’s accomplishment, Rachel and Carmen decided to do an episode dedicated to reading challenges. Are participating in any reading challenges this year? Which ones do you recommend?
Links for our Episode:
Drinks:
Dixie Beer
Challenges:
Modern Mrs. Darcy 2021 Reading Challenge
2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Read Harder Challenge by Book Riot
Build Your Library 2021 Reading Challenge
Beat the Backlist 2021 Prompts
Books mentioned:
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V. E. Schwab
“A Darker Shade of Magic” by V. E. Schwab
“Book Charmer” by Karen Hawkins
“A Discovery of Witches” by Deborah Harkness
“The Lake of Dead Languages” by Carol Goodman
Episode 24: Books About Dresses
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Rachel and Carmen discuss why there are so many novels about dresses. Carmen makes Rachel laugh when she forgets to mute her mic while struggling with her allergies. This episode will make you laugh and want to go shopping! Let us know what you think of books about dresses. Do you have a favorite? Be sure to check out our Facebook page and group.
Links to the Episode:
“The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov
“Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
Wedding:
- “Girls in White Dresses” by Jennifer Close
- “The Wedding Dress” by Rachel Hauck
- “The Perfect Dress” by Carolyn Brown
- “The Grace Kelly Dress” by Brenda Janowitz
Life Lessons:
- “The Hundred Dresses” by Eleanor Estes
- “The Boy in the Dress” by David Walliams
- “The Prince and the Dressmaker” by Jen Wang
- “Not All Princesses Dress in Pink” by Jane Yolen
Several Owners:
- “Nine Women, One Dress” by Jane L. Rosen
- “The Secret Lives of Dresses” by Erin McKean
- “The Grace Kelly Dress” by Brenda Janowitz
Magical Realism:
- “The Dress Shop of Dreams” by Menna van Praag
- “Psyche in a Dress” by Francesca Lia Block
- “The Midnight Dress” by Karen Foxlee
Historical Fiction:
Episode 23: Magical Realism
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Carmen and Rachel discuss Carmen’s favorite genre – Magical Realism. This was lively discussion. (Be looking for a special edition of outtakes.) Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of the magical realism genre, and whether or not you have favorite authors or titles.
Episode Links:
“The Invisible Life of Addie Larue” by V. E. Schwab
“A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World” by C.A. Fletcher
“Garden Spells” by Sarah Addison Allen
“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“The Christmas Pearl” by Dorothea Benton Frank
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“The House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende
“City of the Beasts” by Isabel Allende
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel
“The Strawberry Thief” by Joanne Harris
Episode 22: Overrated Books
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
What comes to mind when you hear the word “overrated”? Rachel and Carmen have a lively discussion about overrated music, movies, and finally books. Let us know which books you think are overrated – you may say Harry Potter and I would not get too upset with you. Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Links to the books mentioned:
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V. E. Schwab
“The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
“Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown
“The Prague Cemetery” by Umberto Eco
“Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger
Special Episode: Interview with Linda Olsson
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Welcome to our very first author spotlight interview. Linda Olsson is a Swedish-born novelist who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Published in 2003, her first novel “Let me sing you gentle songs”, an international best seller, has been translated into 15 languages. She writes in both English and Swedish. She has since published several more novels, including “Sonata for Miriam” and “A Sister in My House”. Please enjoy our interview with Linda Olsson.
Here are the links to the interview:
Blog post of crayfish dinner
Blog Archive
Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson
The Memory of Love by Linda Olsson
Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson
A Sister in My House by Linda Olsson
Carmen’s Author Spotlight: Linda Olsson
The Art of Eating by M. F. K. Fisher
Episode 21: One-sitting Books
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
In this episode, Rachel and Carmen talk about one-sitting books. Let us know which books you have read in one sitting, whether or not you agree with our parameters, and anything else you want us to know; and, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest
“The Paris Architect” by Charles Belfoure
“Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
“The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series by Alexander McCall Smith
The Southern Reach series by Jeff VanderMeer
Crazy Rich Asians series by Kevin Kwan
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote
“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders
“The Spellmans” series by Lisa Lutz
“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd
“The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men” by William Longgood
The Rook” by Daniel O’Malley
“Agnes and the Hitman” by Jennifer Crusie
Episode 20: Book Scenes That Stay With You
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Rachel and Carmen discuss book scenes that they love. Let us know which books have left you with an indelible memory. We would love to hear from you.
“The Twelve Dates of Christmas” by Jenny Bayliss
“A Sister in My House” by Linda Olsson
“The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett
“My Sister, The Serial Killer” by Oyinkan Braithwaite
“The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan” by Sherry Thomas
“Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell
“Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak
“Then Came You” by Jennifer Weiner
“The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
Episode 19: Do you Reread Books?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Rachel and Carmen discuss whether they reread books. Do you reread a book or books? Why or why not?
Episode Links:
Being There by Jerzy Kosinski
The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz
The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Episode 18: One Hit Wonders
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Blubrry | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
Rachel and Carmen are having fun discussing one hit wonders, not only in the record industry, but also in the book industry. Let us know which literary one hit wonders have resonated with you.
Links for this episode:
Songs:
“Come on Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
“Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds
“I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts
“Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang
“Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba
“Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles
“Whip It” by Devo
Books:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe