Episode 382 || Literary Therapy, Vol. 15

This week on From the Front Porch, it’s time for another round of Literary Therapy! Annie is back to answer more of your reading questions and dilemmas. If you have a question you would like Annie to answer in a future episode, you can leave us a voicemail here.

The books mentioned in this episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week Annie is listening to Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore.

If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Our Executive Producers are... Donna Hetchler, Angie Erickson, Cammy Tidwell, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Johnston Tucker.

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Transcript:

Annie Jones [00:00:01] Welcome to From The Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.  

[00:00:25] "She took the facts and in a natural way charged them with tension; she intensified reality as she reduced it to words, she injected it with energy." Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend. 

[00:00:42] I'm Annie Jones, owner of the bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia and this week, it's time for another episode of Literary Therapy. Before we get started, just a reminder that in August, just a couple of weeks from now, we will be hosting our From the Front Porch Book Club on Patreon. Earlier this year, we added more levels of support on Patreon, including a $20 a month level called Book Club Companions. This Patreon tier includes all the benefits of our $5 a month tier. That's monthly Q&A sessions, Conquer a Classic episodes. But it also adds access to our quarterly book club. These are hour long conversations held virtually on Zoom, and the book we choose comes from my Shelf Subscription selections. Earlier this year we talked about Julie Otsuka's, The Swimmers, and it was the highlight of my spring. Later this year, Olivia will also be hosting her own book club conversations through Patreon. So if you prefer mysteries and suspense novels to literary fiction, you're in luck. Hop on over to Patreon.com/fromthefrontporch for more information about our August dates and to join us for our August meeting. Now back to therapy. Every few weeks, I dIve into the metaphorical mailbag and peruse your readerly hang ups and bookish conundrums like a literary Frasier Crane tackling your issues on air.  

[00:02:07] If you have your own writerly riddle you'd like me to solve in a future episode, you can leave me a voicemail at the From the front porch website that's fromthefrontporchpodcast.com/contact. You'll scroll to the middle of the page until you see an orange button that says Start Recording. There's no need to have a microphone. Just press that button and leave me a voicemail. Our first dilemma though was actually emailed in by listener Jana Greiner. Jana says: "My literary question is about the definition of a book flight. Can you describe and then recommend a book flight as an example?" Yes, I'd be happy to do this. And in fact, one of our other questions this week kind of relates to this one. So I'll tackle your question, Jana first. Think of a book flight, much like people order flights of beer or wine when they go to restaurants.  

[00:02:59] I don't do this, but I've heard that people do this. And so it's essentially you're sampling what the restaurant has to offer. You're ordering, I think it's like four or five beers that people have on tap. And you're testing them out, you're tasting them. It's like little samplings of what's served at that restaurant or at that bar. And so that is where this concept of book flights comes from, is going to a restaurant or a bar and getting a wine flight or a beer flight and sampling what that place has to offer. I think what's a little different about book flights is I don't view those, and I think most people don't view those as samples, like little snippets of chapters or something like that. What they're doing is trying to create pairings. So almost like you pair this drink with this food. That's kind of how I see book flights. They're books paired together. Books that function in conversation with one another. That function well in conversation with one another. Books that reading one would lead you to read the other. I think you could do author book flights where it's all books by the same author, or you could do themed book flights, and I think that's what you normally see. So for example, when you said, could you recommend a book flight? Absolutely.  

[00:04:18] It's very fun to do. So I thought about books about the natural world, because I just finished not too long ago Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. So if I was coming up with a book flight. I think I would do Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver to add in an element of fiction Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray, which is essays so all around the same theme but kind of different formats and then Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. So that would be my natural world book flight. There are several other books I could come up with that could also function in conversation with these books. But I think most book flights you're going to see, just like most wine flights or beer flights, are going to be, in my mind, 3 to 5 books. And there are a few people who do this really well. I think Ann Bogle does a good job with book flights that kind of fit a theme.  

[00:05:12] We're going to talk about that with Polly, our next listener. And then one of my in real life friends. Well, I guess we were in that friends and now we're real life friends, whatever. Anyway. My friend Betsy does content flights, which I think is really lovely, where it's like a book plus a movie plus a podcast or something like that. So she pairs a book with other things like that, like other types of content that are on the same theme or dealing with the same issues as the books she read. So I love her content flight. So those are some examples, Jana, of other people who kind of do this well. I want to listen to Holly's voicemail next because I think it kind of relates to Jana's question. So here's listener Holly.  

Holly [00:05:54] Hi, Amy, it's Holly from Austin, Texas and I am looking for any tips or tricks that you have for putting together a list of books that kind of fit a certain theme. For example, I know before you went to California, you read books that had plot set in California. I've tried to do this with previous places like New Orleans, and currently I'm looking for a book set in Italy. And I know I can just search on Google and I've found a few books that way, but I'm just wondering if you maybe have another way or some ideas for books set in Italy or any other interesting themes that might be good to make a reading list out of. Thank you so much.  

Annie Jones [00:06:40] Hi, Holly from Austin, Texas. Your dilemma actually sounds quite similar to Jana's, which is why I wanted them kind of back to back here, because what you are creating, the book lists you are creating are a lot like book flights. And so as you are creating your book lists, I would encourage you to utilize the two resources I've mentioned, which is Ann Bogle from Modern Mrs. D'Arcy and What Should I Read Next? She does book flights really well and then my friend Betsy Storey, who does content flights, I think both of those would be really fun resources for you as you kind of create your own reading lists. I also think you're already going about this the right way. I think it is a little bit easier perhaps to choose books around a place because that is easily Google-able, whereas it can be harder to come up with a book flight or a book list revolving around a particular theme or idea. That, I think, is where the experts come in. So absolutely start your search by looking for books that revolve around a certain place. Or maybe you already do this when you read during Black History Month and you read books by black authors, or when you read LGBTQ authors and stories during Pride Month, like, I think you're already doing this as a reader. I think a lot of us are already doing this.  

[00:07:56] But don't hesitate to ask people who know as great as the Internet is, sometimes it's really nice to ask a fellow reader, which is why I highly recommend and obviously I'm biased here, but I highly recommend going to your local library or your local bookstore and talking to a bookseller and asking them for books about a certain theme or idea or place. In your case, Italy. I think we get readers all the time who ask these questions of the Bookshelf staff and we love answering them. This is like the highlight of our day when somebody comes in and tells us they're looking for books about, for example, dark academia or for books about nature writing, or a lot of times how these book lists come about is somebody comes in and says, I really liked this book. I would like something else like it. And then we as the bookseller kind of dig in and say, well, why did you like it? Why did you like Where The Crawdads Sing? Did you like it because of the nature writing, or did you like it because of the courtroom drama? If you liked it because of the courtroom drama, here's a book for you.  

[00:09:00] So this is what booksellers and librarians do all day long. So I would encourage you to seek out expert readers in your area, whether that's a local librarian, a local bookseller, or even a member of your book club or something like that, that is how you can begin to kind of build and formulate your own book flights and book lists. However, because you asked me about Italy, I do have some recommendations for you. And again, I try to keep book flights between 3 to 5 books because beyond that, I'm probably not going to read them all unless I'm deep diving a certain subject. So for your Italy book flight, I would do Taste by Stanley Tucci. I love this because it's nonfiction. It's food writing, which obviously Italy is known for and I think this would be a great audiobook.  

[00:09:48] I loved listening to this on audiobook in audiobook format, and perhaps you might as well. So when I think about book flights or reading lists, I don't want to pick all books in the same genre. Me personally. So even though my book flight that I gave to Jana is all about nature writing, it's not all the same kinds of nature writing. It's memoir. It's essay. It's fiction. It's a nice mixture. That's what I'm going for when I create a booklist or a book flight. So you've got Taste by Stanley Tucci, which is nonfiction and kind of personal memoir with food writing. Love and Gelato is a really fun young adult book. I don't know that I recommend the Netflix adaptation. I have not tried it yet myself, but the Rotten Tomatoes score is not great.  

[00:10:34] So Love and Gelato, though, is a really fun young adult book that I loved and absolutely flew through, and I felt like I was in Italy. It's very, very light and charming. So Love and Gelato. That's why Jenna Welch. Then One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle is more what I think many publishers would call air quotes women's fiction. Well I have feelings about that, feelings about that genre name. But basically, this is a mother daughter story. It is set in Italy. It would also make a great audio book, but it's fiction. So it would be different from the Stanley Tucci book. And then perhaps more literary and more traditional is a work of translation, which is My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. It's been translated from the Italian, so I think that would be a really authentic way to read and understand about the culture you're about to visit. So you've got a work of nonfiction memoir.  

[00:11:28] You've got a young adult kind of rom com romp of a book fiction, thoughtful mother daughter book, and then a work from that place that's actually been translated from the Italian. I think that is a lovely book flight and a booklist to prepare you for your trip to Italy. So when you're creating your own book lists, seek out the experts, whether that's Ann Bogle or Betsie Storey or your local bookseller, your local librarian. Seek out the experts and then build books around a theme or a place or idea, just like you've already done. But don't be afraid to mix genres and to mix mediums. So one book is an audiobook. One book is a work of nonfiction that you're going to highlight and really delve into and one is a rom com that you just really fly through and enjoy. I think kind of mixing it up a little bit really will diversify your reading and make your book flight really interesting and unpredictable.  

Alicia [00:12:34] Hi, Annie. This is Alicia calling from Washington. And I need major help with my digital library. My Kindle books and audiobooks are just absolute chaos. I've accumulated so many books in digital formats that I haven't actually read because I so easily forget about them. I guess because I can't see them the same way I see my physical TBR stack or the books on my shelves and then I get stuck scrolling forever, paralyzed by indecision about what to read next. And like a typical Enneagram nine, I get overwhelmed by all the options, all of the unorganized unread options on my Kindle. And lately, rather than scroll endlessly through my digital library, I find I'm just not opening my Kindle at all. Do you have any advice for organizing a digital library? Any tips or tricks for categorizing all those digital books in a way that might actually help me find what I want to read? I'd be so grateful for your help. Thanks.  

Annie Jones [00:13:33] Hi, Alicia. So I am going to give kind of a therapist's disclaimer here, which is I don't do a lot of digital reading and in fact, I don't do any books in e-book format. And I used to be a little stubborn about that. I think I still am for myself, but I abide by I believe it's Amy Poehler's rule, which is good for you, not for me. So I'm no longer quite as obnoxious about it as I feel like. If you listen to previous episodes From the Front Porch, I'm a little snobbish about digital books versus books that I can like pick up and have a tactile experience with. Look, that's because I'm a bookseller, first of all, that's because I'm a bookseller, and it's because I'm a visual, tactile learner. And so I just read better with physical books. But there is no judgment here for, if you prefer, digital books or audiobooks. I think we've come a long way. I have come a long way, baby. And so I am no longer quite as stubborn and obnoxious. And may that be the case as we all grow older, may we all grow softer in our opinions.  

[00:14:38] And so I come to you with the disclaimer that I do not own or purchase a lot of digital books. But I do have some ideas for you because I do listen to audiobooks and I was looking at my Libra FM library and boy, it is a lot of books because probably much like you, I download them thinking that, yes, this is what I want to read right now. And then I never get to them, just like with some physical books I own. And so my first recommendation to you may sound like a harsh Marie Kondo one, but I think it's just the facts. Like you've got to clear them out. You've got to clear them out. And I know that in the case of digital books, maybe you bought these. I I don't know. I don't know fully how e-books work. But just like I go into my regular physical bookshelves and I clear out books that I know I'm never going to read, and I put them in a donate pile or I take them to the little free library or I pass them out at Jordan's work. That's what I started to do and it's very fun. Look, just like I do that with my physical books, I think it's time for you to do that with your digital books.  

[00:15:49] The bummer is I don't know that you can donate or gift your digital books now if you can. Great. Send it off to a friend. Whatever. I don't know how e-books work, and I'm sorry about that. I cannot offer you that expertize, but I do think it's time to get rid of the visual clutter of so many digital e-books, even if that means it's time to delete them. And I looked at my own kind of audio book list and I was thinking the same thing, like, it's just time to get rid of some of these. I'm never going to read them. I'm never going to read them. And there's nothing wrong with getting rid of the things that are no longer for you. They're no longer for you and it's time to get rid of them. So clear out your digital book library, whatever that looks like for you, even if it means you create a folder that literally says the discard pile or something like that. We're just visually they're out of sight, out of mind. Like you no longer have to think about them anymore. So if you can't throw them away or you can't bring yourself to undownload them.  

Annie Jones [00:16:55] Look, I'm no tech expert, but here I am. I just think it's time for you to visually get rid of them. So if you can't trash them or delete them, that's the word I'm looking for. If you can't delete them from your filing system, your online filing system, at least put them in a separate folder and really be honest with yourself. Again, we have to do this with our physical books, too. We look at the books and we have to be honest with ourselves and say, okay, I'm never going to read that. And it's okay. It's okay. It might be good for somebody else to read, but you don't need to read right now, so get rid of them. That's the first thing. Clear out the ones that aren't for you anymore. And then my suggestion would be to organize them by genre folders. Now, this would work for me because I love mixing up the genres that I'm reading. So sometimes I'm reading fiction, but I'm listening to nonfiction, or I'm reading a collection of essays, but I'm also reading a poetry book. Like, I like mixing genres, and when I finish a book, I know what I'm in the mood for next. Now, this isn't always the case, but right now my reading life is relatively healthy. And so when I finish a book, I know I'm in the mood for a thriller.  

[00:18:11] And so then I could go to my genre folder, double click or tap or whatever, and open up and see, what thrillers have I already downloaded? I don't need to download any more right now. I don't need to go to Libro.fm or to my Kindle store and buy something new. I can go to this folder and see what I already have that is a thriller or suspense novel and and check it off my list. I don't know if you as an Enneagram nine feel the same compulsion to check things off like I an Enneagram five do. But that is very motivating to me to think, I finish this book now I'm in the mood for a memoir. I go to my memoir folder, I open, I scroll and browse. So it's almost like browsing a new shelf, a new store, because you've reorganized them and so they're in a new spot. So it feels exciting. And then you select one and then you get to take that one off your list. Like once you finish reading it, it can go in your discard folder. And so I really think setting up genre folders would be really fun and perhaps excite you back into e-book reading because it almost sounds like you're in a little bit of a slump.  

[00:19:20] It sounds like decision fatigue has completely taken over. But if you get the joy that I do now, which I'm not saying you do, but at least I think you might. Like if you get the same joy as I do from reorganizing, I think about even straightening my own physical shelves or my one of my favorite jobs at the bookshelf is to just lose myself in the stacks and kind of reorganize, like put books face out that need to be face out, like reorganizing books. And if you get that, if you get joy out of that, I think it will enhance and spur your reading life with new energy and excitement. And I think it will probably help, you know, what you want to read next by organizing these books and getting them into their own categories. Again. I would do it by genre. There may be a different way that you want to do that, but genre makes the most sense to me. It's almost like having your own digital library or digital bookstore at your fingertips, like you've already bought these books, you've already downloaded them, or you already have them on hand, and it's just a matter of organizing them. It sounds like right now it's just a smorgasbord of books and like, that sounds fun, but life is chaos. So maybe our digital books should be organized and not chaos because the world is chaos. So my first recommendation is to clear out some books, create a folder where you can kind of discard some of these titles and no longer think about them because they're no longer for you, and then organize the remaining books by genre so that next time you have finished a book, you know, what am I in the mood for? I think I'm in the mood for essays. I wonder if my little bookstore that's in the palm of my hand has some essay collections that I'd like to read so clear out, then organize by genre and see how that jumpstarts your reading life. I hope it will, and I think it will. Good luck.  

Anna [00:21:18] Hi, Annie, it's Anna from Oregon. And my literary issue involves big classics. So during the summertime, I love to dive into a big thick classic that I might have missed in high school or college. But I often worry that I'm not getting as much out of them as I would have in a college classroom. So my question is, is how do I make sure I'm not missing themes, motifs, symbols in the book without a professor? Should I be looking for companion podcasts, Atlantic Think pieces, even SparkNotes? Part of the reason I love your Conquer a Classic series is because it guides the reader through a classic. So how do I do this for other books? Thanks so much.  

Annie Jones [00:22:02] Anna, your question excited me so much because I have been working on a project this summer that I'm hoping, hoping, hoping I'm going to be able to launch this fall. And it very much has to do with being able to read classics as if you were being guided by a beloved instructor, but without a beloved instructor. Because I think that's what so many of us are doing. We're reading these classic books that we missed in high school or in college, and we're reading them, but we're kind of reading them in a vacuum, and that's not always a good thing. I think sometimes it's fine, but sometimes we really miss the expertize of a professional. Or at least I do. I love sitting at the feet of somebody and learning from somebody smarter and wiser than I am. And so I feel for you. I also think I'm going to have a really fun solution for you. Come, I think, September. So stay tuned for that. I don't I feel like I don't. Yeah, I don't want to give any more information because what if I bail? What if I bail on this project? But no, I'm very far along in it. I'm excited and I think I could have some fun things for you in September.  

[00:23:09] In the meantime. I think you're absolutely on the right track. We've talked this whole episode really about book flights and book lists and thoughtful pairings, and I think that's what reading classics alone really requires. It requires you to kind of do your own research and to supplement your reading and I fully intend to help you with that come September. But in the meantime I think litchart.com, I believe LitCharts or SparkNotes. That's a good place to start and I know probably somewhere the former educator is maybe rolling their eyes at me. But look, this is what helps me as I read The Count of Monte Cristo and I get a little bit lost in the language, and I know that I'm supposed to be the expert, like I'm supposed to be helping guide people through this process. And I can't do that if I don't know what's going on. And so after I read a couple of chapters, I will go to LitCharts and read the synopsis. I try not to read the, there's a summary or synopsis and then there's an analysis.  

[00:24:23] And Hunter and I talk a lot about right now I'm focusing on summary and synopsis. I don't want to read analysis yet, but I do think when I'm done with Count of Monte Cristo, it could be really fun to revisit some of those LitChart analyses and see what another reader or an expert reader might have had to say about certain sections. I'm just not personally ready for that information yet, but for past works of classics that I've read, I would absolutely do that. Kind of read the analysis of them. You mentioned Atlantic think pieces. Yes, absolutely. Amen. Those are things I absolutely love. I know I've mentioned Pilgrim at Tinker Creek already, but after I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I thought on it for a little bit, I think overnight. And then the next morning before Hunter and I recorded a podcast together, I did just a quick Google search because I wanted to read some yes analysis, but maybe even some reviews, some other people's thoughts about Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.  

[00:25:22] And I wound up discovering an Atlantic article that I think was called The Thoreau of the Suburbs, and it was all about Annie Dillard and the lasting impact of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and kind of shed some light on how she was actually living at the time she wrote Pilgrim. And so I would never would have known that if I had just read the book and then been done. I don't think there's anything wrong with just reading the book and being done. But it sounds Anna that you're a lot like me where you missed the classroom experience, and I think it is possible to recreate that and even to make it more interesting and more exciting. So yes, use LitCharts or SparkNotes, especially when it comes to kind of a basic analysis of the text. Yes, to Googling for Atlantic think pieces or author interviews. I think author interviews are wonderful. I think about even a modern book. So this isn't a classic, but a modern book like The Swimmers. My reading was only enhanced by listening to the Fresh Air interview with Julia Zuka, and I am sure even not obviously perhaps for Count of Monte Cristo, but for some more modern classics, it's entirely possible that you might Google and get an interview with an author. And so look for author interviews. Look for analyses of the text. Look for podcasts.  

[00:26:47] So when I was doing my Jane Austen year, a big part of my reading experience wound up being listening to Jane and Jesus after the fact that's a podcast series that I really liked. I think about Novel Pairings, which is a podcast that really is designed to help the modern reader fall in love with classic literature. Those hosts do a really good job of walking you through the classics, and they have episodes devoted to different works of classic books. So even if you don't listen to the entire podcast, you could pick and choose your episodes based on what you're currently reading. So buying podcasts, those are two recommendations I have specifically for Jane Austen. And the novel pairings is great for a variety of classic works and use the endnotes. So if you listen to Conquer a Classic episodes, you know I love footnotes, I love an end note, it was very hard for me that there were not footnotes. Was it in Middlemarch? There were no endnotes in Middlemarch, and that was devastating to me. So use the in notes and then go on your own research as much as you want to. This isn't a classroom, so you don't have to go super deep if you don't want to. But early in our reading of Count of Monte Cristo, I realized I really did not understand. And I still don't fully understand the French Revolution.  

[00:28:07] But I worked my way back to the endnotes, read a little bit, and then did a deep dove on Wikipedia. And maybe that's an oxymoron, but bear with me. So I went to Wikipedia and I looked at the French Revolution, and I at least now have a basic understanding beyond Les Mis, which was essentially my previous knowledge of the French Revolution. So use the endnotes and then let the endnotes guide you to further reading and further searching. Those are some recommendations that I have. And then the other kind of fun one is to reward your reading with a movie or film or TV adaptation. I'm a little bit flummoxed by the format, but I'm very excited to watch the upcoming adaptation of Persuasion on Netflix because I read that book. And so as a reward now I get to watch the film and I don't I think I used to again just talking about things that I used to believe that I no longer believe. I used to believe you had to read the book before watching the movie. I no longer adhere to that. But why not reward yourself with the film adaptation, which I think sometimes brings to light even other things in the text we weren't previously aware of because a director or a screenwriter picked up on things that I did not pick up on or chose to enhance things that I would not have chosen to enhance.  

[00:29:31] Why? Why did they do it that way? So much like in my high school English classes and I know I'm not the only one, we would read a book and then watch the film adaptation. Surely we all read Romeo and Juliet and then watched Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Like, why not mimic that in our adult reading as well? Listen to podcast episodes, Seek out podcasts, utilize LitCharts. Utilize SparkNotes. Google for author interviews. Find reviews of the original work. Hunter has been doing a great job of this with his reading of the National Book Award longlist, where he is reading the original reviews of these works. I think that is really helpful and use the endnotes. And then watch the movies. Watch the film adaptations. Watch the TV adaptations. See how that also kind of brings a deeper depth and a deeper meaning to your reading. And then hopefully I'll have some resources for you in September as well. So stay tuned. Thanks, Anna.  

Erin Smith [00:30:30] Hi, this is Erin Smith calling from Massachusetts. And basically what I'm curious about is to hear some new ways to think about the types of books that I want to seek out. So, for example, my brother is architect and when he meets a new client, he'll ask what three adjectives they would use to describe how they want their house to feel. Or am I going to want to read any book with a camp setting? Or am I trying to find books that feel like a Nancy Meyers movie, that type of thing? Also, if you want to tell us your three adjectives for how you love a book to make you feel, I would so enjoy hearing that. Thank you so much and I love your podcast. Thanks for all your recommendations.  

Annie Jones [00:31:13] Hi, Erin. It's so good to hear from you. So this reminds me a lot of the recent Lazy Genius podcast episodes. I think it's episode number 267, and then she does almost a follow up episode in number 268. All about your reading words and reading rhythm. I had not thought really about this concept before. When we at the book store ask people what they want to read next, we asked them what they read. Most recently, we asked them about a book they didn't enjoy. We asked them why they liked a certain book. Again, going back to Crawdads is just the best example I can give because so many people say they like that book, but you cannot. You cannot know why they liked that book until you ask them. Because that book, there are so many different facets of that book. And so you really have to dig a little deeper to understand why they liked it. So we have questions that we as booksellers ask.  

[00:32:13] But Kendra, the Lazy Genius, did this podcast episode and she did an Instagram post about it as well, about what are your book words? And so this is something now our staff has been thinking about a lot, like what are the descriptors that we know when a publisher uses those words, we are more than likely going to enjoy that book or at least try that book because of the words in the blurb, or words that a publisher has selected or a marketing team has selected to promote a book. And so I love thinking about this concept. Props to Kendra, because I think this is a really helpful way to think about literature and to think about why we like what we like. That is what really so much of reading and reading rhythm boils down to is being able to articulate why we like something. And so my book words that come to mind and I shared this in an Instagram post on the bookshelf Instagram feed, but some of my book words are witty, wise, propulsive, well-written, smart, messy, New York.  

[00:33:20] That was, I think, a phrase that I left off of Instagram. But that is 100% true. If a book is set in New York, I am automatically more likely to give it a go. New York siblings stories. Dysfunctional families. These are all words that I know are going to tickle my fancy. They're going to appeal to me. I also think about books that deal with faith, belief and doubt. Like those are other words that I know. I'm immediately going to at least be intrigued by the book that's in front of me. You asked a really great question too, though, which is how do I want a book to make me feel? Which what a great question for an architect to ask a homeowner or a prospective home buyer. That's a really great question. It reminds me of that book. I loved it so much. It reminds me of the book House Lessons by Erica Baumeister. But anyway, how do I want a book to make me feel? Three words. Three words are so few. But it also makes you really have to narrow down how do I want a book to make me feel? And I want a book to make me feel introspective. Bittersweet.  

[00:34:27] This is I know I love a messy ending. I'm not afraid of a messy ending because I kind of like. This is why sometimes I wonder if I'm a five wing four I love a little bit of melancholy or a little bit of heartbreak. I'm okay with that at the end of my literature. So introspective, bittersweet. The other one I came up with. I just can't decide if it's just a synonym for introspective but thoughtful. I want a book that makes me sit and think for a second. I want a book that I'm going to have to hug it for a minute before I'm done with it. Does that make sense? So that is how I want a book to make me feel. I love these new ways of thinking about books, and it's really new ways of thinking almost about everything. About all of the content we consume, about all of the, I think about the things we wear. Maybe this sounds silly, but you mentioned Nancy Meyers and there's this big, we've seen it everywhere. My mom has really bought in fully 100%. But this idea of the coastal grandmother, like, thank you, TikTok, like, what is it that makes us feel that way? Why are we drawn to the Nancy Meyers kitchen playlist on Spotify? What is it about these things and these places that make us feel something? And so I think it does go beyond books. But when I'm thinking about overall aesthetics, there are things like a Nancy Meyers kitchen or a, I think about the Kathleen Kelly apartment or Monica Geller's apartment or the Parent Trap camp aesthetic. I hate camp. We know this. The podcast listeners know this. I hate camps. I think they're a little culty. But I love the movie The Parent Trap, and I feel like I could build a whole bookshelf end cap on Parent Trap Camp vibes Camp Walden for girls vibes. Like I feel like I could crack a whole end cap or a whole book list or book flight revolving around the Parent Trap and the feeling that the Parent Trap stirs up in me. So I love these questions and I love thinking outside the box. And I wanted to say, I think you were asking like, where do we how do we cultivate this? And how do we find books that kind of fit these things? And I know I keep saying to go to the local library or the local bookstore, but booksellers and librarians think so creatively about this. So, yes, we had I think at the bookshop, we had a Father's Day in the cap. Like a display of books where we were selling books about Father's Day. But my favorite end cap, kind of during that same month was books inspired by Top Gun. And we had to kind of think outside the box. Because it's not like Top Gun was based on a book. And so we couldn't just put Top Gun with the movie adaptation cover, which gross. So we couldn't just fill an end cap with that. We really had to think creatively. And it was so fun to go through the shelves and to think what kind of book would Rooster read? What kind of book would Maverick read? And what kind of books would a dad who goes and sees Top Gun, who saw the original Top Gun in the theater, what would he want to read? So it made us ask a lot of different questions and it was so fun to build that end cap. You can't see me, but I'm talking with my hands I'm very excited about it. And so a lot of bookstores and libraries do this where they really think creatively and they cultivate an entire table display or an entire end cap devoted to these themes that others of us might not have picked up on. So I guarantee you somewhere right now and perhaps at the bookshelf, because now you've inspired me, Erin, and there's probably a whole shelf about coastal grandmother. Like if you're a coastal grandmother or if that's your vibe, here's an end cap for you and. I think about, gosh, it's not just Parent Trap, it's just the esthetics of The Summer I Turned Pretty. We have had so many customers who love that show and love the summery nature of it. And what I want to say is, yes, you should also go back and watch Dawson's Creek. It's the same themes. And yes, you should read The Summer I Turned Pretty absolutely read the Jenny Han trilogy. But there are also other books out here that you might really enjoy because you love this theme. And so, yes, find your book words. Name your book words. How do books make you feel but also be paying attention to other things that make you feel that way, whether it's a playlist on Spotify or a scene from a movie or a decorating landscape that you really enjoy, like an apartment that you've admired for a long time. I just think all of those things can inspire our reading. It really brought in our reading horizons in a way that's yeah, thinking outside the box and thinking a little more creatively about it. So, Erin, thank you. That was a fun, thoughtful question.  

Taylor [00:39:30] Hi, Annie. My name is Taylor and I am looking for audiobook recommendations. My issue is I have a really hard time sticking with audiobooks. I'll start one and then I realized that I just cannot focus on it. And so I don't finish it. I found that I've liked several of Bonnie Terpen's narrations. I loved Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, The Kitchen House. And then I just recently listened to the Golden Couple on audio, and I really liked that. But for some reason, I can't stick with a lot of audiobooks and I don't really know beyond the narrator being good. Don't really know the similarities in the books that are keeping me hooked. So if you have any good recommendations for audiobooks with great narrators, I would love to hear them.  

Annie Jones [00:40:19] Taylor, audiobook, narrators. This is very fun for me because I have not always been an audio book listener, but over the past couple of years I have found that audiobooks have really helped my reading life. They've really helped me when I'm in a slump elsewhere. It's been fun to listen to a book, but you're right, it is kind of hard to figure out why. And so much of today's podcast episode has been why do we like the books that we like? What can we read next? What pairs well with a certain title? And so I do think it would be important for you to start analyzing which audiobooks have been hard for you to focus on and hard for you to pay attention to and which haven't. Does that have to do with the time of day you're listening to them? Is your brain more frenzied in the morning? And so listening to an audiobook in the morning doesn't work for you. Is it because you prefer listening to fiction versus nonfiction? Is it a certain narrator? I think it probably has to do with all of those things. But I do think it's time for you to look at your and this is easiest to do, I think, with the things you don't like.  

[00:41:20] So go back through your list of downloaded audiobooks and ask yourself, why didn't I like this? And maybe it's because, turns out I can't listen to literary fiction. I definitely can't. Or maybe it's, turns out I can't listen to a rom com. Maybe you realize there's a pattern and turns out, like I even listening to you talk, it sounded like thrillers and suspense books do pretty well for you. I was basing that on the fact that you liked listening to Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and the other kind of thriller suspense that you mentioned. So maybe that's a genre that consistently works well for you in audiobook format. So I do think the next time you're kind of in a bit of a slump, take a minute. And instead of diving into a new book kind of analyze and I know this is my nerdy nature coming out, but take a second and kind of analyze what hasn't worked for you and what has and figure out why and see if there's a rhythm or a pattern. That being said, I think we all know and can acknowledge that the enjoyment of audiobooks is, it rests a lot. I won't say it rests solely on, but it rests a lot on the voice and the enthusiasm and the rhythm of the narrator. And I think this is very, very subjective. I do not think this is objective. There are going to be some voices that you love that I hate and vice versa. So I'm going to tell you the ones that I enjoy.  

[00:42:56] But what you should do is always listen to the sample on whatever audiobook format you choose. I prefer Libra FM for obvious reasons. And so when you go to Libra FM, listen to a sample, see if a book works for you. I will give you an example recently. So I read the book, Mary Jane, which I really liked. I thought it was very fun and I wound up listening to it. It's really right now the only way I can read my book club books is by listening to them. And so I listened to Mary Jane, but I listened to the sample first and I thought, no, this narrator is not going to work for me. And then I realized, the book is narrated by a 14 year old girl like the main character. The protagonist of the book is a 14 year old named Mary Jane. And then I realized, this narrator sounds like a teenager, and she's supposed to be a teenager. And so that helped me move beyond the sample audio and realize, this actually works like this artist because that's what audiobook narrators are. It's artists and actors and actresses. Like they knew that this was the tone and that this is how they needed to sound to be this innocent, naive girl. And so then the audiobook narration made a lot more sense.  

[00:44:15] So always keep that in mind that perhaps it is dependent upon what's actually going on in the book. That being said, here are some audiobook narrators I really like. You've heard me talk about her many times. You've heard everyone talk about her a lot. However, I know for a fact not all audiobook listeners love her. So again, this is not objective. This is subjective. You'll have to give her a listen and see if you like her. But Julia Whelan is, I think, my favorite audiobook narrator. I listened to her a lot in audiobook format. She even does some reading for articles from The New Yorker or The Atlantic through an app that I have where you can listen to those types of stories. And she is on there a lot. And I really, really just love her voice and like her narration. So some books that are examples of books she's narrated. Educated, which was one of my favorite audio books ever, Book Lovers and Betrayed. I actually think she's done all of Emily Henry's books. And then recently I listened to Flying Solo, which is another book that Julia Whelan narrates. Then I thought about Brittany Pressley. So this is somebody I would not have been able to name for you, but I did not love the American Royals books, and I think I'm kind of alone in that very young adult series. I liked them, but I didn't love them. But you know what I did love was the audiobook. Like, I could not stop listening to the audiobook. And so I went back today to figure out who narrated those? And it turns out it's a woman named Brittany Pressley. She also narrated the book Una Out of Order. And she's part of an ensemble cast for a book I'm going to mention a little later called Acts of Violet. So Brittany Pressley, Caroline Lee does all of Leon Moriarty's books. So she might be worth listening to.  

[00:45:52] She also has a lilting, beautiful accent, and so depends on whether or not you enjoy that. But I do. Katy Shoor or Shoor. S-H-O-O-R. She narrated one of my favorite audiobook experiences was Rabbit Cake. She narrated Rabbit Cake. She also narrated one of my favorite books of the last couple years. Competitive grieving. Kristen Sieh, that's S-I-E-H. Kristen Sieh. She narrated the book Funny You Should Ask, which I adored. And turns out, she also has narrated a ton of other audiobooks, including One To Watch, The Vacationers, and So Happy For You. So she might be a good one. And it turns out I think she's also like a stand up comedian. And so I really like her sensibilities in her narration, Marla Lee narrated Seven Days in June. And she also is narrating one of the books that I'm currently listening to called Half Blown Rose. I loved the audiobook for Falling. That book was narrated by Steven Weber, who's I think a television actor, actually, somebody told me after the fact. But he narrated Falling, which I loved, and he also narrated some other suspense novels, including some books by Stephen King. So if you like Taylor, that kind of suspense sensibility, you might really enjoy Stephen Weber. And then there are two other kind of genres I would recommend to you. First of all, sometimes authors reading their own books, I think particularly nonfiction.  

[00:47:15] I think this is actually harder in fiction because just like not every author should like act in their film adaptation of their own book. I don't think every author should narrate their own book, particularly if it's fiction. But with nonfiction, I think it can work really well. So John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed I actually think you might really enjoy, too, because his essays just read like little podcast episodes. David Sedaris narrates all of his own work and he is hilarious to listen to. Very funny. Mary Laura Philpott, both of her essay collections. She has narrated and does a beautiful job. Katie Couric I loved going there, and I'm not sure I would have liked it as much actually in physical book format. I loved hearing it from her perspective. I loved listening to her. Chanel Miller I mean, this book absolutely broke me in two, but she narrates the book, Know My Name, and it is very moving and very powerful. And then the last recommendation I have is books that are ensemble casts. So these books, when people when they're read aloud, it turns out they're almost like listening to plays.  

[00:48:22] I love that it may not be for everyone, but I love it. It's like listening to an old fashioned radio show, which just sounds delightful to me. So one of the ones that did this for me very well was Lincoln in the Bardo. That is literary fiction. I do not normally listen to a ton of literary fiction in audiobook format, but it was so fun. It read and listened. It sounded like a stage play. I loved it so much. And then Daisy Jones & the Six Acts of Violets, which I just previously mentioned. 84, Charing Cross Road and then Love & Saffron. Those are all ensemble cast audiobooks that I think would be really fun to listen to. Taylor, I hope that you find some audio books that fit the bill, and I hope that you can kind of figure out what works for you and what does it. I wanted to close today's episode with a question from Joanne, because I think Joanne speaks for a lot of us right now.  

Joanne [00:49:15] It's Joanne from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Used to be Cherry Hill, New Jersey. My literary therapy question is, what do we do when the news is so, so hard? How are we supposed to sit down and concentrate? While reading could be such a relief from the harsh news around us. At times I can't even make myself sit still and focus. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.  

Annie Jones [00:49:40] Hi, Joanne. I did do a double take when you said where you're from. I thought, wait a minute. I thought I knew where she was from. So I hope your move went well. You're not alone. And I think that's the first thing that all therapy should tell us, literary or otherwise, which is we are not alone. And that automatically makes me feel better. There is nothing worse than thinking you're going through something all by yourself. And so if there is one slice or bit of comfort we can take from the current conundrums of the culture, I think it's, hey, we're all in this together. Not to quote High School Musical, but so many of us feel the same exhaustion and burnout and anger and confusion and messiness that you are feeling. I feel those things, too. And so, I think it just helps to know we're not alone. The other thing I would tell you is that and this pains me to say. Sometimes books aren't the answer. And look, I love a book that I can cuddle up with and that will help me escape. I love a book that will give me information and help me figure out what I think about something. I look to literature for both of those things.  

[00:50:59] I look to literature for escape, and I also look to literature for knowledge and understanding. But a book isn't always the solution. So I guess I just want you to know that you don't have to be reading right now. And maybe that's sad, for those of us who really take a lot of comfort in books. But I think we could also maybe take some pressure off of books if we told ourselves and reminded ourselves they aren't always going to be the key. They're not always going to be the answer. When you said that you were having trouble just sitting still. I thought I think that's why during the pandemic, I mean, I did this before the pandemic, but during the pandemic, walking was such a solace for me. And if you want to listen to an audiobook while you walk, I think that could be a solution for you to take a walk and to listen to an audiobook. But maybe it's going to a walk and listening to nothing. Maybe it's going on a walk and listening to nature. Maybe it's stepping outside and putting your feet on grassy ground and remembering who you are. And then it's trying to start a new book. Like later.  

[00:52:12] The book comes later. But first, we kind of ground ourselves and give ourselves permission to. Not really be okay like not really be okay right now. If sitting still is the problem and it is for me too. I do think going for a walk and listening to an audiobook could be helpful. Get some movement in there. Listen to an audiobook while you do your dishes. Something where it's kind of it's not just multitasking, it's just your hands are doing something. I think about one of my friends who loves to knit while they listen to an audiobook. So knit, do something active that I think can help because our brains are a little frenzied right now. And so if we if we're busying our hands with something else, it might give our brain something else to focus on. So go for a walk, knit, wash dishes. Do something with your hands while you listen to a book. Another idea or thought that I had and it sounds like you're already doing this because you listen to this podcast, but it's okay to not be reading all the time.  

[00:53:08] And so maybe while you're in this space where you can't really read very much, maybe you just listen to podcasts about books. So they're still inspiring you. They're still reminding you how much you love this thing that you love, even if you're not participating in it right now. So listen to From The Front Porch or listen to Novel Pairings or listen to what should I read next? Or Listen to the Lazy Geniuses latest podcast episodes about reading. But you don't have to be reading right now, I think, for some readers books are saving our lives right now, and for some readers it's too much. And neither camp is right or wrong. Like, I think both of those things are very accurate responses to the current culture. But if you are listening to podcasts with hosts, you really like talking about things that you like. Even if you're not reading books right now, it might give you comfort to know, other people are and other people are enjoying these things.  

[00:54:06] So that could be an option for you. Even if you're not reading books, maybe you're just listening to people talk about books, maybe you're listening to people review books. I love listening to podcasts, episodes about movie reviews. Maybe you can do the same thing for books. The other thing I would recommend is read with a book club. I think, Joanne, that you're in a book club. I think we've talked about this before and so read with a book club, I think of reading in a vacuum right now is not only really hard, but might also not be good because we live in community with all kinds of people. And I don't know about you, Joanne, but I live in community with a whole lot of different kinds of people who believe a lot of different things. And if I'm just reading my books and living my life in a vacuum, yes, that might be temporarily nice, but it removes me from being able to have mind changing, enlightening conversations.  

[00:55:11] And I think those conversations are really important. And books are a great way to have those conversations. So join a book club, get involved with a book club, read with a book club, read a book and then mail it to a friend. Ask her to write her notes in it and then mail it back to you. Do something that makes you feel a little bit less alone. A return to a comforting book. This is something I have not done in a while, but at the very early days of the pandemic, returning to comforting literature. For me, it's An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott or Bloomability by Sharon Creech. Those are books that brought me a lot of comfort at the very start of the pandemic, when life just made no sense whatsoever. And I loved cuddling up with those books like a blanket. That is not the answer for me right now, that I do not find that particularly comforting right now.  

[00:55:59] But you might and so that might be worth trying. And then here's my answer. Know that sometimes a book isn't going to do the trick. What is going to do the trick might be a walk or a conversation with my husband. Or a deep breath. Sitting out by the pool, swimming a lap, actually swimming laps is really helpful for me. And so a book isn't always the answer. And then guess what? Sometimes it is, and when that feeling comes back, I take advantage of that feeling. So maybe books aren't the answer right now, but they will be again. And take comfort in that and know, Joanne, that you are not alone. We're all in this together. That was a lame way to end. But. But it's true. We're all kind of muddling through this together. And I take comfort in that. And I hope you do, too.  

Annie Jones [00:56:56] This week I'm listening to Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore. From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram @bookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website. Bookshelfthomasville.com. A full transcript of today's episode can be found at fromthefrontporchpodcast.com. Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect, warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  

Executive Producer(Read their own names) [00:57:33] Our executive producers of today's episode are: Donna Hetchler. Angie Erickson. Cammie Tidwell. Chantalle Carls. Nicole Marsee. Wendi Jenkins. Laurie Johnson. Kate Johnston Tucker.  

Annie Jones [00:57:47] Thank you all for your support of From The Front Porch. If you'd like to support From The Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From The Front Porch. Scroll down until you see 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think.  

[00:58:04] Or, if you're so inclined, you can support us over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits, like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.  

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a weekly conversational podcast on books, small business, and life in the South