Episode 390 || Literary Therapy, Vol. 17
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s time for another Literary Therapy session! Our literary Frasier Crane, 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:
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
The Paris Bookseller by Kerrii Maher
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland
Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
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 reading Sam by Allegra Goodman.
If you’re a local reader, Thomasville native and author Katie Joy Duke is coming to The Bookshelf on September 19 from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. for a book signing. Katie’s new book, Still Breathing: My Journey with Love, Loss, and Reinvention is a raw, vulnerable story about Katie’s healing journey after her first daughter, Poppy Annabelle, was stillborn at full-term. Join us on September 19th for an afternoon of hope and resilience.
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, Chantalle C, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Johnston Tucker.
Transcript:
Annie [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:25] "Daniel lost sight of the score, which coincided with the realization of what Brett had always been trying to convince him of-- that it wasn't just music that made you bigger. People did. People gave you stories. People made you expand." Aja Gabel, The Ensemble.
[00:00:48] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, it's time for an episode of Literary Therapy. Before we get started, just a reminder that this month we are hosting our From the Front Porch Book Club over on Patreon. Earlier this year, we added more levels of support there, including a $20 a month level for our 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 book club. These hour long meetings are held virtually over Zoom, and the book we choose comes from our staff Shelf Subscription selections. We talked about Julie Otsoukas, The Swimmers back in April, then CJ Hauser's, the Crane wife in August. This month, Olivia is leading our discussion of Acts of Violet by Margarita Montemore.
[00:01:46] Hop on over to Patreon.com/fromthefront porch for more information and to join us for our September meeting, which is scheduled for September 22nd.
[00:01:56] And if you're a local listener, we've got some in-store events officially on the books for Fall, including a Shelf Talk and signing on Monday, September 19th, from 2 to 4 p.m. with author Katie Duke. Katie's new book, Still Breathing, chronicles her journey through grief and reinvention after the stillbirth of her daughter, Poppy. Fans of Kate Bowler and Norah McInerney will appreciate Katie's insight, honesty, and humor. It's a book about grief, but it's also a book about hope. Copies of Still Breathing are available for purchase online and in store, and Katie's signing event on September 19th is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there.
[00:02:39] Now, back to the task at hand. Every few weeks, I dive into the metaphorical mailbag and peruse your readerly hangups and bookish conundrums like a literary Frasier Crane, tackling your issues on air. If you have your own readerly 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 www.from thefrontporchpodcast.com/contact. There's a link in the show notes too to make it super easy. You'll scroll until you see an orange button on that page that says 'Start Recording'. You click or tap there and voila. I'd love to hear from you. I got quite a few voicemails this go round, so if you don't hear your conundrum in this literary therapy episode, chances are your issue will be discussed in a future session. Let's listen to the first literary problem.
Noelle [00:03:33] Hi, Annie, it's Noel from Maryland, and my daughter is getting ready to go to college this weekend. And there's a lot of big feelings in our house right now about that. We're excited. She's going to be going 10 hours away from where we live. So I was thinking about trying to stay connected with her through books, and I was looking for some ideas for reading a book with my daughter while she's at college. She's studying a dual degree in trumpet and classics. And some of her recent favorites have been Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. And she loves all things related to France. So if you could help us out with a few recommendations to keep us connected through the next year, I'd really appreciate that.
Annie [00:04:29] Noel, congratulations. But also I know it is very bittersweet. I still have vivid memories of my parents dropping me off for college, and it is a family milestone and it changes the family dynamic. But it can be a really beautiful, wonderful thing too and I know you know that. So I love this idea of partnering with your daughter and kind of keeping the lines of communication open through books. And I also know college is a lot. And so I wanted to pick books that wouldn't overwhelm your daughter too much because she may have a full course load and maybe she's reading a lot for school. And that was one thing I wanted to mention to you. It sounds like your daughter is pursuing a degree in the classics, or at least partially in the classics. And so she may be reading quite a few works of literature for her coursework, and I think it could be fun for you to read alongside her any books that maybe she recommends or books that she's reading that she's really loving in school. I just remember reading several books through my great books program and during my college experience, and that's part of the reason Jordan and I bonded so strongly and wound up falling in love was because we were discussing these books together. So I think you could wind up sharing in your daughter's coursework and reading alongside her as she kind of completes her degree. So that's one option I wanted to present to you. That if she's reading books in the classics program that appeal to you, that could be really fun. And then when she comes home for holidays or for long weekends, you could kind of talk through those things together. However, I do think it's a good idea to read something kind of fun and different, but I also wanted to incorporate your daughter's interest, whether it was France or pursuing the degree in the classics or the trumpet. I tried to think about what books you guys might enjoy together, and books that might be relatively easy for her to complete while also reading for school. So the first book is the book that I mentioned at the very top of the episode, which is the Ensemble by Aja Gable.
[00:06:31] This is a book I loved when it first came out, I think around 2018, maybe earlier than that, even maybe 2016. Gosh, I don't know. It was one of the first books I remember really loving and really trying to handsell during my tenure at The Bookshelf. I also bonded with Kate, she's a current manager at BookMark. She's a former employee of The Bookshelf, and she was a musicology major, and she'd come to work at The Bookshelf. And so I really loved this work of literature, shared it with Kate, who wound up really loving it from a musicologist perspective. So the book is about a group of students who form an ensemble together and they wind up continuing to perform after graduation. And what does it look like to continue to pursue this thing that you love after college in this group of people that you love, and what happens when it maybe starts to fall apart or what happens when people start to pursue other interests or other career opportunities? I loved this book. I think it would tie in a lot of your daughter's interests. And it's pretty short, so I think it would be relatively easy for her to read as well. Then I thought of Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swan. I also thought of Searcy by Madeline Miller. Both of these appeal to your daughter's interest in the classics. These, in their own way, are kind of retellings of Greek myth or Greek mythology. Olympus, Texas it's a little more subtle. Searcy is pretty much a retelling, and so it depends kind of on which direction you want to go. But I thought both of these were really accessible, really easily readable, and could also tie in with some of the studies your daughter is doing. Next, I thought of John Green's essay collection, The Anthropocene reviewed. I like this one because perhaps your daughter might have more time to listen it to a book than she might have to physically read it. And this is a great audiobook. Really fantastic audiobook. You could read and discuss one or two essays at a time. There would be no real time frame on this. I like essay collections for people who are really busy, whether it's busy new moms or busy new college students. And I think this could be one that you all could read in pieces parts and not lose any of the beauty. Because of your daughter's interest in C.S. Lewis, I also wondered if she had read the Space Trilogy. Jordan and I love the Space Trilogy. Interestingly, we read the third in the Trilogy in college, but the first book in the Trilogy is called Out of the Silent Planet. These are, yes, a little bit sci fi, but if I can read them, believe me, you can read them.
[00:09:05] I am not. A huge science fiction fan, but I really liked these books and I thought it was interesting looking back that our great books program required us to read the third in this series, which means perhaps that you could read them out of order or that you could read them spaced out (no pun intended), over a period of time and nothing would get lost in that transition. Okay. And then the last book I thought of as a new work of historical fiction, I think I've mentioned it on from the front porch before, but it's called The Paris Bookseller. This is by Kerri Maher. I have not read this book, but I think it sounds like a fascinating, deep dive into the history of Shakespeare and Company, which is the famous bookstore in Paris, France. And the history of that bookstore is deeply tied into the publication of the novel Ulysses by James Joyce. And so this, to me, would encompass a lot of your daughter's interests because it's historical fiction. I think there would be a rootedness to the research and to the history of the bookstore and this work of great literary fiction. But it also would tie into your daughter's interests in France, and I think would be pretty easily readable and enjoyable. So those are my recommendations, Noelle. The Ensemble by Aja Gabel. Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swan. Searcy by Madeline Miller, The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, C.S. Lewis's The Space Trilogy starting, if you want, with the first book Out of the Silent Planet, and The Paris Bookseller by Kerrie Maher. I love this idea so much. This was a delight to think through. And I just hope your daughter is having the best time and that the transition has not been too difficult for your family.
Susannah [00:10:46] Hi, Annie. This is Susanna White from Tallahassee, Florida. I've got a bit of a heavy literary conundrum today. I'm an avid reader and love sharing book experiences with my friends and family. It's so fun to laugh about books, debate about books, whether you love it or hate it. Well, I've got two unread books on my shelf that were loaned to me by people who have since passed away. I feel very conflicted about reading them. On one hand, I think I'll feel closer to the person since they really loved the book. But on the other hand, what if I hate it? And who will I talk to about it if I loved it as well? I feel like books can be so personal, which can be really uplifting when there's a positive emotion associated with it. And so gut wrenching when it's a sad emotion. I don't really think there's a right answer here, but I would love to know how you might handle the scenario.
Annie [00:11:42] Susannah, I love this question, and it broke my heart into a million pieces. I find myself very tender these days. I don't know if it's the pandemic of it all or just as we kind of change seasons and work our way into fall, even though it feels nothing like fall locally, as Susanna from Tallahassee knows. But I find myself very susceptible to tears. And your question really moved me. I have a lot of books on my shelves that were either given to me or loaned to me by people I love who have now passed. And I thought about this and I thought, what would I do? And I think if I needed something to read, I would read them. So if I was in a reading slump or I didn't have a book that I was just currently reading and loving, I think I would read these books as a way to honor the people who gave them to me. And it sounds like if they're the book people that you are, then they would love if you didn't like their book. Do you know what I mean? Obviously, we all hold our book preferences and our book opinions very close. But I think book people are very comfortable with debating and discussing books that one of us might love and one of us might hate. I think that's the very nature of book clubs, and it sounds like these people in your life were really bookish people. They loaned you these books. They obviously cared deeply for the books, but they cared even more for you. And so I think even if you read these books and you wind up really hating them, you will still feel a communion with these people who you love. And I can think of nothing better. So I think I would lean toward reading them. Now, I don't know that I would totally turn my reading life upside down in order to read them. I really do think I would kind of wait for the moment when these make sense. Whether that's, again, because I'm in a reading rut or because I don't have anything else that's really getting my attention. I think I would just pull these off the shelf when I'm feeling lonely or when I'm missing these people. To me, it's almost like you get to go out to coffee with them, even though they're not here by getting to read these books that they loaned you. So I don't know that I would read them as I would read just any other book that I pulled off my shelf.
[00:14:14] I think I'd wait for the right for the right moment, whether that's the moment when you're missing them the most or the moment when you might normally be going out to coffee or dinner with them, but they're not here and so you can't do that, but you can do the next best thing by reading something they loved. And so that is what I would do in order to honor them, to bring a little bit of peace and comfort and joy to my life to the memory of them. That is the direction I would take. I don't think there's anything wrong. I think you're exactly right. There's no wrong answer here. You don't have to read them. No one's forcing you to read them. And certainly there is always probably the simmering question of but what if I hate it? But I think, again, if you hate it, that's okay. Picture yourself discussing it with them and debating it with them and talking about it while sitting cozied up on a couch together. So that is my recommendation and advice. Books in their best are ways to communicate, they're ways to open doors. They are ways to bring us closer together. And I don't think death changes that. And so one of the reasons I'm a very sentimental person, I'm not the world's most emotional person, but I am extremely sentimental. And there are books on my shelves that I've never read, and I get rid of books pretty frequently. Like, I go through them and I get rid of them. But there are books on my shelves that because they have a note from my dad in the front or a note from another relative in the front, I will never get rid of them. You can't make me. No one can make me. And I think what you're talking about is quite similar. Just the very feeling these books give you by looking at them. And I think bringing out bringing them out and reading them is a chance to get together with these people one more time. And I can think of nothing sweeter. So that is my personal recommendation. There's no wrong answer. But your question certainly got me thinking and it got me thinking about the books on my shelf. So, thank you.
Elizabeth [00:16:21] Hey, Annie. My name is Elizabeth and I'm calling from Pittsburgh. I love your podcast. I have perpetually struggled with my reading memory, and it's getting harder for me to recall settings, characters, even basic summaries after reading a novel lately. I think it's mom brain. I've thought about starting a book journal, but don't know where to begin. Do you take notes when you read? If so, do you follow a particular format? Any tips on strengthening one's reader memory? Appreciate it. Thank you.
Annie [00:16:53] Elizabeth, I feel this deeply. And I don't want you to think-- I mean, sure, could your lapsed reading memory be from mom brain? Absolutely. But I want you to know, I also struggle with this. And I don't have children. I don't have children I can blame. I think this happens a lot, especially if you're an avid reader. If you're reading a lot of books, I don't know how we can keep up with them all. I think it was the book Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, I literally started reading that book; I think I made it probably 50 pages and thought, wait a minute, I've read this before. Like, it took me 50 pages. And so don't feel like you are the lone ranger. You are not alone. I think this is a pretty common conundrum. I will tell you some things that I have tried. Some of them have worked for me. Some of them haven't. But I figure the more options, the better. So the first thing I do want to say, aside from you are not alone, is a minister of mine that used to quote Maya Angelou from the pulpit. I believe this is a Maya Angelou quote. That's what the Internet says. Is it? Who knows? But the quote is one I'm sure you've heard before, which is, "People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." I love that quote. I apply it to books all the time. I may not remember what character said. I may not remember what characters did. But I will for sure remember how a book made me feel. And I think that is okay. I don't think you have to remember every book you've ever read, every plot point, every character. I understand if you want to. And that's what we'll talk about next. If you really want to remember some things, I think there are some things we can do. But I don't want you to feel like you have to. Nobody is testing us anymore. If you're like me, maybe I'm projecting, Elizabeth, but if you're like me, maybe you got out of school and thought, where are the gold stars? No one's passing them out. No one is passing out A's any more. There are no more gold stars. No one's testing you. If you don't remember a book you read, that's okay. No one cares. If you care, here are some tips. So, first of all, I really do like the Reading Journal put out by Ann Bogel of modern Mrs. Darcy, what should I read next? Fame. That journal is called My Reading Life. I like it because there are just enough prompts to kind of spur you on to have to remember, like, who were the characters that I really loved or what plot point, what climactic moment? What do I want to remember? What quote was memorable. So I like that it's a little bit of a guided journal, and it's not just you staring at a blank page wondering what you're supposed to write.
[00:19:43] So I like a book journal. Now, I personally can't keep up with one.This is my own personal conundrum, which is too many things to keep up with. But I do like the Reading Journal by Ann Bogel called My Reading Life. That's one option if you prefer like a physical journal. There is an app that I started using at the beginning of the year called StoryGraph. Ask me if I've used it since February 2022. No, I have not. However, at the end of the year, I do think I will use it. So Story Graph is essentially a tracking mechanism for your books. I think it's supposed to compete a little bit with good reads. Goodreads is affiliated with Amazon. StoryGraph is kind of its own independent thing. So it's to help you track your reading. At the end of the year, you can see how many books in a particular genre you read or what have you. It kind of shows you some stats, which I love and I find fascinating. So I have not been good about keeping up with StoryGraphs through the year, but at the end of my year I think I will go in and try to plug in those book titles. How do I keep track of my books that I've read? Instagram. Will that always be the case? I don't know. But as someone who didn't want one more thing, I was already on Instagram. I didn't want good reads. Really I wasn't good at keeping up with a physical book journal. So Instagram is how I've chosen to keep track of my books. I don't know if that will always be the case, but that is where I keep track. I also write the titles in my notes app. I just write down the title and then when it's time for me to do my review, I kind of-- this isn't really on purpose, but it kind of is now. What happens in my reading life is I finish a book, I'll write down the title in my notes app, and then a few days later I will think, okay, I thought that book was five stars. Do I still think it's five stars? I thought that book was three and a half stars. Do I still feel that way? I like to kind of evaluate my feelings and see do I still feel the same way about the book that I did when I finished? And then I will write up a little review in my notes app. It includes a star rating. I don't know if I will do that forever, but for now it includes a star rating, the book title, and then just a little brief thing. I don't even want to say synopsis because it's not. It's not a synopsis. I really just jot down three sentences about the book that I loved. Sometimes that includes character names, sometimes it doesn't. And that way I have a little record of what I read, often why I read it, how it made me feel and what I thought. Again, not long at all.
[00:22:28] My book reviews on Instagram used to be more lengthy, and I know some lovely people, including my dear friend Hunter, who write these really beautiful reviews about the books they read. I love that. I don't do that. I literally write three sentences. Like, three phrases. I write three little phrases, semicolon those things together and post my review. That's kind of how I keep track. I like keeping track through the notes app on my phone and then ultimately putting their full review on Instagram. One of the things I loved about former reviews I have done in previous years is I do love picking a quote from each book. I think you can tell that by the way we introduce each episode of From the Front Porch, but there is something about finding a quote that I really loved. And so even today, when I read the episode with the quote from Aj Gables, The Ensemble, I hadn't read the ensemble in years, but I went back to my physical copy, sure enough, found some quotes that I had marked, and that was a really lovely way to revisit a book. Even though I do not remember a single character's name from that book. I don't remember anything about that book, except it was about a group of friends. They played music. The book struck me in a very deep way. It has a beautiful cover. The writing is gorgeous. The end. Those are the things I remembered about that book. So first up, you are not alone. Lots of people struggle with this. Second of all, it's okay. You don't have to remember everything about a book. No one is grading you. And then third, if you, for your own sake, want to keep track of your reading, I like my Reading Life by Ann Bogle, StoryGraph as an app or just using your notes app and an app you are to use. And maybe you don't even need public reviews. I partly post public reviews because of my job. I think I'd do it anyway because I did it pre Bookshelf. But maybe you don't even need that part. Maybe you can just have a notes app then you don't even have to have anything else on your phone. It's just keeping track of your reading through an app you already have downloaded that basically already came with your phone. So those are some tips and tricks, but I mostly just want you to know, yes, me too.
Kacy [00:24:46] Hi, Annie. It's Kacy from Orlando. I love literary fiction. It's one of my favorite genres, and I know it's one of yours as well. One issue, though, that I'm having with the genre, because these books are less plot driven and more slice of life, sometimes I am taken off guard by content that I wasn't necessarily anticipating being in a specific novel. Specifically like sexually explicit content, whether that's of abuse or assault or just content that's a little bit more open door than it's to my taste. I was wondering if you had any tips on how to predict if a literary fiction novel will have this kind of content? I'm a little better at doing this when it comes to genre specific books like romance or mystery. I can kind of tell whether that's by knowing the author or by the words that are used to describe a book, whether it's going to be opened or not. But I'm having a harder time with that with literary fiction. And also, if you have any authors that you love that tend to be more closed door or just stay away from sexual content in general, I'd love to hear those. Thanks so much.
Annie [00:25:51] Kacy, this is such a good question and this is so hard. I feel you on this. I think this happens a lot. I think it's why we've tried at the bookshelf to do kind of a shelf subscription option for more PG, PG 13 readers. But what we all have noticed as a staff is when a book is a little more closed door or a little less graphic, whether it's sexually graphic or less graphic language or less violent, the book often becomes perhaps, at least in the eyes of the publishing world, less literary. And so it is a real challenge for Nancy and my mom, who pick those PG, PG 13 shelf subscriptions. It's a real challenge for them to find something that is still beautifully written, still very compelling, still a great story that also kind of abides by these parameters of being maybe for the more sensitive reader. So I think this is a problem a lot of people face. And sometimes at the bookshelf we get asked, like, is there a rating system for books or is there a website I can go to? I think you can go to Common Sense Media and they will frequently update about books specifically. But other than that, there's not a lot of resources. And the other thing, as a reader, you know, we don't want to be spoiled, right? We don't want a book to be ruined because we're trying to figure out if it's too graphic for us. And so I think there's just a lot kind of wrapped up into this. And so I thought, okay, what do I do? And the reality is and I'm going to use the example of a book I really, really, love and I don't consider it graphic, but there is more sexual content in the book than I would have guessed from the outset. And that is Matrix by Lauren Groff. I love this book. I stand by my love of this book. I do not find it particularly sexually explicit or graphic, but it certainly was more sexually graphic or explicit than I anticipated in a book about nuns. You know what I'm saying? So I do feel, Kacy, like this is not your imagination. I do think this is true. Where you will be reading a book of literary fiction and all of a sudden there might be an assault or some kind of graphic violence that just is not alluded to in the blurbs or not alluded to in the reviews.
[00:28:23] I do think people are getting a little bit better about this. I remember, for example, and this isn't fiction, but CJ Hauser's, the Crane wife, had a list of triggers and content warnings. And so I do think we're going to start to see a little bit more of this that might help readers. In the meantime, I think it's okay to put a foot down. I know we don't like saying that. We don't like hearing that. But I think it is okay if a book isn't for you, you can put it down. I also think there's a way to move past it. A book that I loved and I'm trying to remember the publication date, but I'm not quite sure. But there's a book called Fire Sermon by Jamie Quattro. It's a book I sent out as a shelf subscription a few years ago. I did get a copy of that book sent back to me with a with a very strongly worded letter, which I can laugh about now because that book is quite sexually explicit. And I finished that book and thought, wow, this book is beautiful. The sex scenes make sense and the book isn't about those. And so I loved it. But I think my brain does this a lot, actually. I think my brain just kind of glossed over certain scenes and it did not occur to me, oh, this is pretty explicit. And for a reader who doesn't know what they're getting into, this is a little bit much. And so I think this happens in literary fiction where we get so caught up. I as a reader get so caught up in the beautiful writing, the gorgeous storytelling, the profoundly complicated characters that I forget and am unable to give proper content warnings or trigger warnings. Also, I'm not always the world's most sensitive reader, so I guess what I'm saying, Kacy, is this isn't your imagination. I do think this happens. But how can we help you? And your question at the end is the one I feel most capable of answering, which was, okay, maybe you can't help me figure out how to find a book that is more PG or PG 13 in nature, but are there literary fiction authors who do this well. And that I can for sure answer for you. Because, yes, there are some literary fiction writers. And if you're at home wondering what is literary fiction? This is so difficult. And it's not something I ever would have known had I not entered the bookselling world. But I think there's kind of a sliding scale of commercial fiction.
[00:30:59] And when I say commercial fiction, I'm talking about commercially accessible. Maybe the most obvious example of this would be John Grisham, James Patterson. Those are commercial writers who write for the masses. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I think that's amazing. So they're writing for maybe the wider world. Like, as many readers as possible. And I think literary fiction is on the other end of that scale. And literary fiction is perhaps a bit more niche and is really critically successful, so critically acclaimed, so well reviewed literature. And, look, some commercially accessible books are definitely well-reviewed. So that's why I say it's kind of a sliding scale. But if you're at home wondering what's literary fiction? Literary fiction is really well-reviewed award winning. Think of blockbuster popcorn films versus like indie films, if you like movies. That's kind of the best way I kind of know how to explain it. So literary fiction is kind of on the other end of that scale, kind of like an indie movie or something like that. So I thought about my favorite literary fiction writers, and I actually think many of them write closed door lids because I don't think literary fiction has to be open door or explicit or graphically violent, but sometimes it is. But I do think there are authors who are doing quiet works of literary fiction without maybe explicit sex scenes or gratuitous violence or graphic violence or whatever. So here's some authors for you, Kacy. Based on your reading tastes, I'm sure you are very familiar with most of these writers, but hopefully there's one or two in here who might be new to you. So Maggie Shipstead is the first one. We are going to talk a little bit about Maggie's work in the next literary conundrum. But Maggie Shipstead, I think all of her certainly fall into this category, but The Great Circle is her most recent. Her collection of short stories actually is her very most recent. And I started that collection and really liked it.
[00:33:07] So I think she would be a good author for you to try if you have not already. Jacqueline Woodson is another one. Elizabeth Strout. Marilynne Robinson. Julianne Otsuka. Andrew Sean Greer. Geraldine Brooks. Emily St. John Mendel. Amor Towles. Jesmyn Ward. Those are some just off the top of my head, looking at my own shelves, thinking about authors I really love, thinking about works of fiction that I really love and respect. All of those authors are writing beautiful, critically acclaimed works, but there's nothing in those books or in most of their books where I kind of gasp or think, oh, that was unexpected or whatever, or what have you. So those are some authors, Kacy, that I think you could could start with. I don't know. You were exactly right in your initial ask, which is genres, for some reason this is a little easier to determine. Like, I think it's pretty easy to figure out is this romcom, open door, or closed door? Well, you kind of know pretty quickly. But literary fiction, because of its very nature, is just a little bit more subtle. And so I do think it's kind of hard to tell until out of nowhere a character is in the middle of a sexual assault or something like that, and you're a little bit flummoxed or confounded or confused because it's just not what you were anticipating. So I think these authors and their works do a good job of telling really profound stories without maybe shocking content or language. I hope that helps. I really do because I feel for you and I feel similarly. The good news is I do think these books are out there. So let me know. I would love to know if this helped you at all. I feel a little bit like I'm floundering. But I think these authors are at least a good starting point. And I do hope that helps.
Chrissie [00:35:21] Hi, Annie. My name is Chrissie. I am a school librarian and a raging book nerd in the Pacific Northwest. And I'm calling with a question for my grown up reading life. So I recently read and absolutely loved Great The Circle by Maggie Shipstead. I think one of the things that worked so well for me about it was that it was a dual timeline with present day and then a really gripping story set in the past. And so I'm curious if you have ideas for more literary historical fiction with dual timelines. Now, I should add the caveat that one of the tropes in historical fiction that drives me nuts and typically leads me to say I don't even like historical fiction as a genre, is when the present day timeline is like setting the protagonist off on a weird goose chase, like, they found a picture in the attic and now they want to go discover what it really is. Instead, the dual timelines that I'm looking for are ones where the protagonist is, because of something in their life, really engaging in like an intellectual deep way with a historical narrative. Another example of a book that does that is my current read, Horse, which I'm loving, by the way. So if you have any ideas of dual narrative or dual timeline historical fiction, that's a touch on the literary side. I would love to hear them. Thanks, Annie.
Annie [00:36:41] Hi, Chrissie. What a great and fun question. I love hearing from other readers because all of a sudden I'll be like, Oh, is that a genre I like as well? I feel like readers are so good about articulating what they love, and I sometimes struggle with that, which you'd think I would be much better at by now. But I'm constantly learning through readers about tropes that I enjoy, or it feel like readers are so good at putting language around what they like and why. So I love this description of literary historical fiction with dual timelines. This is so specific. I love it. I already am picturing like you could a display in your library. I could do an end gap because this is so specific and yet I know exactly what you're talking about. And so this was a very fun exercise for me. Some of these authors, I believe you will probably already have read or be familiar with, but I still wanted to just go through my list. So the first author, of course, that comes to mind, I think almost all of her books fall in this category is Kate Morton. I have not read a Kate Morton book in years, but I recall really loving her a few years ago, particularly the book The Secret Keeper. Now, I do think a couple of her books get a little close to your one kind of critique point or criticism point, which was you didn't want people who like discover something and it leads them backwards. And I do think Kate Morton does occasionally play with that trope, but I think she's a great writer. I think she writes really beautiful historical fiction. And frequently there is a dual timeline narrative there. I also like Fiona Davis. She doesn't do this always, but I know she did this in The Masterpiece, which I really loved. I also like Fiona Davis a lot. I think she does a lot of research. You can kind of tell her journalistic background into her historical fiction. She obviously has done the work, and I like a book that's really well researched and well thought of. So those authors just immediately kind of came to mind whether or not you would classify them as literary, historical fiction, I do not know. But I certainly think those writers are doing some of what you are asking for.
[00:38:40] The next book I thought of immediately was The Many Daughters Afong Moy. This is by Jamie Ford. It is his latest book. I love this book. I've been talking about it since I read it, I think back earlier this winter, maybe January or February. I think it will be, if not in my top 10 of the year-- will it be my top 10? It's a really good book. Now, forget dual timelines. There are multiple timelines happening here, and that may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I was never confused by the multiple timelines. I liked that it was rooted in this historical figure Afong Moy who was the first Chinese woman to set foot on American soil. So she kind of roots and grounds the story, but then the story covers multiple generations in the same family. And so you get a variety of timelines kind of going back and forth. And I loved that there's even kind of a future timeline that I really liked and appreciated. I just think the writing is great in this book. I do think it would qualify as literary, historical fiction. And it just depends on how many timelines you wanted. But I really do like this book and I think it qualifies. The next book is one I have not read, but I've been very curious about since its release, and that is Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia. This is a book about a Cuban immigrant family. It goes back and forth between present day Miami and even some detention centers along the border, and then also 19th century cigar factories. So the main character decides to take in a neighbor’s-- I think the neighbor's daughter after the neighbor is detained. And so she takes in the daughter, but she herself is grappling with addiction. So she goes back to Cuba to kind of converse with her grandmother and to figure out her family's history. And I don't know if The Great Circle did this, but all of these books, and books that I really find myself gravitating toward this year, deal with kind of family and inherited trauma and also inherited the joys and like the things that are passed down from generation to generation. And so that's another kind of throughline that I find myself really attracted to and, Chrissie, maybe you do too. But Of Women and Salt I think would be a perfect read along after Afong Moy or there's a new book coming out this October called Signal Fires by Danny Shapiro. All of these books to me kind of relate to one another. So that's Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia.
[00:41:06] Another backlist title would be The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. This goes back and forth between 1980 Chicago and the AIDS epidemic and then Present Day Paris, a book that one of our staffers, Nancy, read and loved, I think it was even one of her shelf subscription selections, is The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. This goes back and forth between present day London and then 1791 London. I know that's very specific, but Nancy wound up picking this book for her shelf subscription, and then she also sold it to her book club. And so this is a good book club kind of conversation starter. She really liked this book. Earlier this year, I read Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, and I think this qualifies. I don't know if you've read this one yet, Chrissie, but this goes back and forth between present day California and then the Caribbean Islands. So it's really a sibling story to me at its heart. But these two siblings return home after their matriarch dies, after their mom dies, and they find a black cake, like a traditional Caribbean black cake in their refrigerator. And they realize that their mother has kind of left them a note that kind of alludes to her complicated history and her complicated story. And so we get both the siblings in present day and then we get the mother's story. And that is the story that's kind of set in the Caribbean Islands. So I really liked that book a lot, and that would be a front list title you might consider. And then I'm so excited about this. Right from the very moment you mentioned literary, historical fiction, dual timelines, I thought, yes, I talked about a book in our Fall Literary Lunch that I think would exactly qualify. So this book does not release until October 4th, but it's called The Night Ship. It's by Jess Kidd.
[00:42:53] The reason it was on my radar initially was because Chela, one of our booksellers, mentioned this during Reader Retreat as a book that she was looking forward to, and I believe she has already read it. If she's not read the whole thing, she's read parts of it because she discussed it during our reader retreat. So the night ship is by Jess Kidd. It goes back and forth between 1629 and 1989. There is a girl who is shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Western Australia. That's the 1629 story. And then 300 years later there's a boy who is establishing a home with his grandad on this very same island. And so you get the girl on the boat that is ultimately shipwrecked. She's an orphan, she's being transported. And then you also get the young boy growing up with his grandfather on this island with the history of this shipwreck. It sounds fascinating to me. Kaela really liked what she had read of it. And right when you mentioned the great circle and kind of that back and forth, I thought this might be another one, Chrissie, that that you could really enjoy. So that is the Night Ship by Jess Kidd it is a preorder title. It comes out on October 4th, though as a librarian, you might have access to some early readers. I'll go through this one more time. Basically, authors. Kate Morton and Fiona Davis, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford. Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, the Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson and the Night Ship by Jess Kidd. I'm not going to lie Chrissie, That's a fun stack of books. I hope some of those are books you're not familiar with or you haven't read yet. Please report back and let us know what you decide.
Lindsey [00:44:41] Hi, Annie. This is Lindsey from Canton, Georgia. And this summer, I have just really zoned out on summery romcoms. I'm a teacher and had some stuff going on in my personal life earlier in the year, and that just was all my brain can handle. Normally, I enjoy literary fiction and mysteries and thrillers, but it's been a summer romcom summer all year. So I want to know what you think I should read for the fall. Are there any fall romcoms that you know of? Should I maybe try to get back into mysteries again? I don't know. What do you think I should do? Give me some advice, Annie. Thanks.
Annie [00:45:20] Lindsay, here's what I think. I was all ready to help you and transition you back into the genres you loved. I was ready to recommend some fall mysteries, and then I thought, no. No, Lindsay, ride this wave. Ride this wave. Read what you want to read for now. Because there may come a day and it may not be far from now when you are burnt out on this kind of literature. And so I have decided to provide you with fall romcom recommendations because I just think eventually your reading life will return to its baseline. Or if not return to the baseline, the pendulum will swing back the other direction. I really do believe that. I think the pandemic has messed with all of us in so many ways, and some of those ways are deep and heavy. And some of those ways are light and only affecting what kind of pop culture we're consuming. I myself feel like I have run the gamut. I could not read literary fiction, which is one of my favorite genres. I feel like I couldn't read it for months and months. And now this year I cannot. I can barely finish a romcom. And so, as someone kind of coming out from that, I just feel like why don't you just enjoy it while you can? Because your reading life may return to a different spot sooner than you think. And so let's just enjoy it. Romcom summer all year long. I'm ready to help you with this. So let's talk about rom coms. I immediately thought, of course, of our beloved Kerry Winfrey. We love Kerry Winfrey. We love the books that she writes. I like them because they are frequently closed door. So they're books that I can easily hand sell or pass on to varying customers. But two of her titles in particular feel very cozy to me and very full. And though those books are her two most recent books, that's Very Sincerely Yours and Just Another Love Song. Very Sincerely Yours came out last year. We're talking small town, toy store, Fred Rogers, cardigans and loafers. That's the vibe of Very Sincerely Yours. Just Another Love Song is cowboy boots, nice country music and county Fairs. And I love all of those things. And so I think both of those would be very fun fall romantic comedies for you to dove into.
[00:47:50] I also immediately thought of a backlist young adult romcom that I really loved called Tell Me Three Things. This is by Julie Buxbaum. If you like the movie, You've Got Mail, this is a very fun comp to that. I have almost convinced myself that it's time for a reread of this book. I picked it because the setting is back to school even though it's set in California. So it's not maybe New England with crunchy leaves instead. Instead it's set in Los Angeles at a private school. But the back to school element to me lends toward fall reading. And I know it's a young adult, but I found it to be really charming and lovely. Then a book that I haven't read, but a series that I have been very intrigued by and it does pretty well for us at The Bookshelf is the Bromance Book Club. This is by Lyssa Kay Adams. We have several readers in our staff or adjacent to our staff who love the series and who really recommend it, and so I trust recommending it to you. This is about a group of Southern men who in a desire to be better husbands, or better partners, better significant others decide to read romance literature, and so they secretly like form this romance book club, hence the name The Bromance Book Club. It sounds really just delightful and interesting. And so it's a series. So if you read the first one and you like it, congratulations, there would be more for you. So that is the Romance Book Club. Last fall, I read the romantic comedy Well-Matched by Jen DeLuca. This was a book I picked up while visiting a friend in Chicago, and it's set at a renaissance fair. It felt very fall, almost Gilmore Girl vibes to me. There's a single mom. This is apparently a part of a trilogy. I did not know that going in. I guess I just missed that memo, but not for fear because it was delightful on its own. So I don't think you have to read the trilogy though you may be interested in the Jean DeLuca trilogy. I thought this book was really, really fun. And again, I can think of nothing more fall than Gilmore Girls, and this definitely had Gilmore Girls sensibilities. Okay, then I'm very curious about this new book. It came out this month. It's called The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland. I mentioned it, I'm pretty sure, on the New Release Rundown episode. But this is a book that's not necessarily a romance, so it might be a little different, but that could be good for you to read something just ever so slightly different.
[00:50:12] So this is a book about four friends who they're approaching their 25th high school reunion and they realize that their senior superlatives that they earned, they really have not lived up to those expectations. And they set out on a mission to each accomplish the things that would make their senior superlatives be true. I just think this is a very funny premise. I've not read it. I've actually not read any of a list of freelance books, but they look really welcoming and enjoyable and good for cozying up on a fall day. Again, the school element to me helps with that fall atmosphere. So that is the Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland. Honey and Space by Bolu Babalola is a new book that came out this year. It's set on a college campus. It's kind of a love story between two people who should kind of hate each other, but instead they fall in love. There's a campus radio program. I just think the campus setting makes this a perfect fall read. I read earlier this summer A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin. This is more closed door regency romance. And I read it this summer and really loved it. But I do think like my mom, for example, I'm pretty sure watches Pride and Prejudice every fall. Like, I do think this is just a good regency era. It is fun to read this time of year. So a Ladies Guide to Fortune-Hunting. Nancy read and loved earlier this year, The Bodyguard by Catherine Center. That does look really fun and looks like it could be a fun one to read or pair with Just Another Love Song to Kerry Winfrey. Releasing later this fall is the book Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. This is by Sally Thorne, who you might recognize from the book The Hating Game. I am so intrigued by this premise. So this is a retelling of Frankenstein, as you might have guessed from the title. It is about a woman scientist who decides she is going to make her perfect man and she creates him in a lab. He comes to life. Can their love last? I would wager, no. But I'm intrigued to see what Sally Thorne does. And I have had very little luck with seasonally specific romances. So your romcoms about witches, your romcoms about Halloween. I struggle with those a little bit, but I am very intrigued by this one. So I will be anxious to see if this one makes it onto your TBR, what you wind up thinking about it.
[00:52:57] And then I wanted to include one last book. This is not a romantic comedy, but Lindsay, if we're thinking toward the future and we're thinking, okay, romcoms 2022, but maybe not forever, there is a book that does not-- please don't [Inaudible]. This does not qualify as a romantic comedy. This is not a particularly funny book, but it is a very, very, cozy book about complicated people. And I just remember reading it and wishing I was reading it in October. I know that sounds silly, but it's true. The book is This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross Smith. Again, this is not a particularly funny book. This is a book dealing with complicated issues of mental health and suicide. But it is to me a pretty hopeful book when it's all said and done. And I cannot stress enough the cozy nature of this book. It's set over the course of a rainy weekend. It's told between two perspectives and two voices. It is not a mystery. And I know mystery is normally a genre that you love or that you love pre your romcom summer/romcom year. So there's not a mystery element here. I just thought the cozy nature of this book and the complicated, interesting characters. And it's set over a weekend, so it reads very quickly. I just thought you might want to try it. So that's mostly romcoms and then one kind of bonus title. I think you'll ride this romcom wave until you're over it, because I do think eventually you will be ready to pick up a mystery again. But you didn't sound particularly ready. You just didn't sound ready. And so instead of going the mystery route and trying to push you towards something new, I'm here to tell you, lean in. Lean in to what you're feeling. Stock up on the romcoms for fall. These are some recommendations for you. I hope you find a few that work for you.
[00:54:52] And those are our literary conundrums for this edition of Literary Therapy. Thank you so much to everyone that submitted voicemails. Don't forget that you too can leave your literary problem at my feet by leaving a voicemail at fromthefrontporchpodcast.com/contact. I would love to consider your conundrum for a future episode of From the Front Porch.
[00:55:16] This week I'm reading Sam by Allegra Goodman. 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.
[00:55:38] 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. Our executive producers of today's episode are Donna Hechler, Cami Tidwell.
Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:55:57] Nichole Marsee, Wendy Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, Kate Johnston Tucker.
Annie [00:56:04] 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.
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