Episode 481 || Shop Dad Selects
This week on From the Front Porch, we have a special guest: Shop Dad, a.k.a. Annie’s actual Dad, Chris! Shop Dad shares his favorite recent reads in honor of Father’s Day, as well as books he’s chosen for his Shop Dad Shelf Subscription. To treat your dad to a Shop Dad Shelf Subscription this Father’s Day, tap here!
Stop by the store or check out our Father’s Day Collection to find the perfect gift for your dad or anyone in your life who’s loved you like a dad.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (type “Episode 481” into the search bar and tap enter to find the books mentioned in this episode), or shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
Chenneville by Paulette Jiles
In the Pines by Grace Elizabeth Hale
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
The Deerfield Massacre by James L. Swanson
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller
The Great Escape by Saket Soni
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
A Course Called America by Tom Coyne
The Wager by David Grann
Educated by Tara Westover
The City Game by Matthew Goodman (unavailable to order)
This week, Annie is reading Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. Shop Dad Chris is reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.
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, Tiktok, and Facebook, 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 Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum. Olivia is reading The Unwedding by Ally Condie. Erin is listening to Funny Story by Emily Henry.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. 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...Jennifer Bannerton, Stephanie Dean, Linda Lee Drozt, Ashley Ferrell, Susan Hulings, Wendi Jenkins, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Gene Queens, Cammy Tidwell, and Amanda Whigham.
Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
“He expected to be in more discomfort as an old man, but in general he felt good. HE felt better, in fact, than he had many days when he was young, a change he attributed to...a heart that had unburdened itself gradually, shedding hatred and resentment, greed, anger, fear.” - Elizabeth Gonzalez James, The Bullet Swallower
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m chatting with Shop Dad (and literal dad Chris) about his favorite recent reads and books for your own fathers and father figures. Before we get started, a thank you to everyone who’s been leaving reviews for From the Front Porch. iTunes reviews and ratings are how new listeners can best find out about From the Front Porch and — as a result — find out about our indie bookstore, too.
Here’s a recent review: This podcast is a gem. I feel amongst friends and look forward to each episode. The book recommendations are great.
Thank you so much! If you haven’t left a review, 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. Your reviews help us spread the word about not only our podcast, but about our small brick-and-mortar business, too. Now, back to the show. Shop Dad is actually my literal dad, and for the last couple of years, he’s been picking books as a part of our Shop Dad Shelf Subscription. In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to talk to dad about his love of reading, and give you ideas for your own gift giving this summer. Hi, Dad!
Shop Dad [00:01:50] Good morning daughter.
Annie Jones [00:01:52] This is new. Normally, mom's in the hot seat.
Shop Dad [00:01:55] That's right. And I'm very nervous about it.
Annie Jones [00:01:58] Mom does great. You're going to do great, too.
Shop Dad [00:02:00] Mom's a conversationalist, too.
Annie Jones [00:02:03] I think this is going to be super fun. Actually, podcast listeners have been asking for this.
Shop Dad [00:02:08] I'm so honored.
Annie Jones [00:02:10] So, they've been asking for this. If you are a new listener of the show Shop Dad is somebody you hear referenced frequently at the store. That is for a couple of reasons. First of all, this is Chris Butterworth. He is my literal dad, but he does play a fatherly figure at The Bookshelf as well through Shelf Subscription selections, which we're going to talk about, in a few minutes. And also, through repairs at the bookstore.
Shop Dad [00:02:36] As long as they're not too complicated, I can handle.
Annie Jones [00:02:38] Yes. Basic handyman work, dad stuff. He takes care of a lot of dad's stuff at the store. Sometimes Olivia will leave him a Shop Dad to-do list. And so Shop Dad is my literal dad. And for the last couple of years, he has been picking books. Is it two years or more?
Shop Dad [00:02:57] I think I started sometime in '22. Late '22.
Annie Jones [00:03:00] Okay. So maybe two years, maybe we did start it around Father's Day. But, anyway, for two years he's been picking books as part of our Shelf Subscription program. So, you've heard his voice before. He has been featured on a couple of our Shelf Subscription episodes. Our Shelf Subscription is our book of the month program, where each staffer picks their favorite book of the month. And we wanted to kind of diversify, and we acknowledge that at The Bookshelf, we're a woman- led operation. And so, we decided dad might get to fill in. We especially decided this after, our beloved Lucy left the store. Lucy and shop that actually have quite a bit of overlap in terms of their tastes. So, we're looking for a way to fill the Lucy void. And Shop Dad came to the rescue.
[00:03:53] In honor of Father's Day, which is coming up, we wanted to feature dad on the podcast, talk about his love of reading, and then give you ideas for your own gift giving to dads and dad figures this summer. So, dad, we know mom's history of reading. She's been on the episodes before. She's told us about how she kind of fell in love with reading when she turned 40, she discovered the Mitford books. So, the listeners are pretty familiar with that story. I don't even know if I know the answer to this question, but what is your history with reading? Were you an avid reader growing up?
Shop Dad [00:04:29] I never liked reading.
Annie Jones [00:04:30] Ever? Do you do you write now? Is this all a facade?
Shop Dad [00:04:35] It's all a facade. No, I actually didn't become, I guess, an "avid reader" until I became a Shelf Subscription subscriber person.
Annie Jones [00:04:48] I don't know if that's fully true. You read a lot. Because even before Shelf Subscriptions, you were reading.
Shop Dad [00:04:55] Yes, but I was reading haphazardly.
Annie Jones [00:04:59] Okay, so what if I asked the question not if you were an avid reader, but did you pre-Shelf Subscription enjoy reading?
Shop Dad [00:05:09] I guess I did enjoy reading early on, but I have found that now after being required to read a book a month that my genre, my favorite genre is broader than I would have ever imagined it to be. But going back further, as to my growing up, my first exposure that I can remember to just pleasurable reading was my mother reading to me the Hardy Boys series when I was little. But then when I became a rebellion teenager, I don't remember actually just having books to read. My favorite thing to do was play basketball. So, I don't know that reading became a favorite pastime or something that I really enjoyed doing until much, much later as an adult.
Annie Jones [00:06:17] So part of me would think, oh, maybe retirement because you have more time. When mom talks about she fell in love with reading at age 40, that makes sense to me because I have memories of mom reading. I remember her reading in the porch swing, reading in the living room. I also have memories of you reading. My memories of both of you-- and mom and I have talked about this a little bit. She read a lot of nonfiction homemaking books, like family manager stuff, and you both read a lot of what I guess I would call it Christian nonfiction. I remember a lot of visits to the Christian bookstore.
Shop Dad [00:06:53] Yeah, we just recently reorganized our bookshelves, some bookcases, and both were-- I don't know, we weren't really astonished, but we were reminded about how many self-help Christian type books that we had.
Annie Jones [00:07:13] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:07:14] And still have. So, I guess you could say, yes, those kinds of things I read from time to time. I think I was shifting somewhat in my understanding of the scriptures or understanding of Christianity. So, I was kind of absorbing a lot of other kinds of authors during that time.
Annie Jones [00:07:44] Well, and then I think part of the ways I remember you reading is even in retirement and maybe in more recent history, Chet [sp] would recommend books to you and you would read them a lot. As he finished his grad degree and would recommend books home.
Shop Dad [00:08:03] Yes, he did, and they were all good recommendations, as I recall. But I wish I could recall some of those just so I could be able to call them out.
Annie Jones [00:08:11] Yeah. Shane Claiborne comes to mind.
Shop Dad [00:08:15] Did he recommend that?
Annie Jones [00:08:16] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:08:17] Jesus for President?
Annie Jones [00:08:18] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:08:19] Yeah, great book. So that's one of the ones he recommended.
Annie Jones [00:08:22] Okay. So, you've kind of alluded to it, how have your reading tastes changed over the years?
Shop Dad [00:08:30] I think that maybe one of the things that I really found out that I liked a lot-- and actually this actually probably does go back to pre-retirement days, but it was probably post kids in the house.
Annie Jones [00:08:47] There you go. That's really what gave you more time.
Shop Dad [00:08:53] Yes. So, post kids in the house time, I think I found out that I really enjoyed good biographies.
Annie Jones [00:08:58] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:08:58] There's a number of biographies that I had read that I really did enjoy. And so, I kind of leaned toward that for a while.
Annie Jones [00:09:06] I remember that as a kid and this was kid living at home time. But I remember being astonished when you read the Truman biography by David McCullough.
Shop Dad [00:09:15] Great, great biography. And I think I've picked up one or two others of since then. But the Ronald Reagan biography called Dutch, the one about George Bush, the second one. The great biography about the first, woman Supreme Court justice.
Annie Jones [00:09:33] Oh, yes. Sandra Day O'Connor. Yes, I would like to read that one.
Shop Dad [00:09:37] That's more recent. I really liked that book. So, a number of them in there, and I still have them on our Bookshelf, that we just recently went through that I was glad to know that, oh, you got a number of biographies here.
Annie Jones [00:09:49] Yeah. So, biographies. And then, dare I say, did The Bookshelf change or affect your reading life?
Shop Dad [00:09:57] Yeah. So that kind of was an early interest that I might not have had before was biographies, but since The Bookshelf and us spending so much time at The Bookshelf in ways more than just fixing electrical outlets or whatever kind of did. Because every time we'd come in, I was just kind of looking through the book stacks and saying, "Oh, that looks interesting." So, yeah, I think that helped to broaden my interest to things like nonfiction and historical fiction. And just did broaden it quite a bit.
Annie Jones [00:10:37] Which is part of the reason when we were brainstorming Shelf Subscriptions, I mentioned Lucy, our staffer, she read a lot of historical fiction, a lot of nonfiction, and I knew what you liked to read and it felt kind of similar to Lucy. And so, I approached you about doing a Shelf Subscription, which you weren't sure about because a book of the month is a lot of books. It's a lot of reading. But if you were to have to describe your Shelf Subscription or give an elevator pitch for your Shelf Subscription, what would you say people are getting if they get a Shop Dad book?
Shop Dad [00:11:10] A what kind of pitch?
Annie Jones [00:11:12] Elevator pitch.
Shop Dad [00:11:13] Elevator pitch. The one that goes up and down?
Annie Jones [00:11:15] That's a business term.
Shop Dad [00:11:17] Is it really?
Annie Jones [00:11:18] Yes. You go into an elevator and you have to pitch your stuff quick before the guy gets on the next floor.
Shop Dad [00:11:25] I've heard of elevator music, but not the elevator pitch.
Annie Jones [00:11:28] No, you get on an elevator and you have to pitch your business before the guy gets off.
Shop Dad [00:11:32] Okay.
Annie Jones [00:11:32] Okay, so if you're in an elevator, how are you pitching your Shelf Subscription?
Shop Dad [00:11:39] My Shelf Subscription?
Annie Jones [00:11:39] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:11:40] Well, my Shelf Subscription tends to lean maybe towards nonfiction. I kind of figured that out as I was looking over my last six picks. A couple of novels in there, but some nonfiction. And I guess I migrate towards that, which is maybe somewhat different. Maybe social justice is another area in which I tend to spend a lot of time reading in social justice and racial inequality and listening to things like that. But my fiction selections have been, I think, really, really good ones. So, I think somebody was interested in getting a Shop Dad Shelf Subscription, you'd end up with some good novels.
Annie Jones [00:12:27] Yeah, I think that's pretty good. Nonfiction. Social justice. I do think you like an adventure story it feels like. When I see what you've picked for the month, it feels like, oh, that's kind of an adventure or...
Shop Dad [00:12:41] And I've been surprised by some months I don't have as many things to choose from.
Annie Jones [00:12:47] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:12:47] So I'm kind of forced to pick something that maybe I wouldn't have picked anyway. And then I was truly surprised. As a matter of fact, the one that's on the list, A Short Walk Through a Wide World, that was the weirdest novel adventure type book that I've ever read. Almost kind of borders into the science fiction kind of thing.
Annie Jones [00:13:09] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:13:11] I thought, this is really weird for me. But I really liked it.
Annie Jones [00:13:15] Well, when we say narrowed down, I do think for some inside baseball for listeners and for Shelf Subscribers, for Shop Dad, Shop Mom and Nancy, and then sometimes for Olivia. But Olivia does so much of her own kind of culling and narrowing down. But for Shop Dad, Shop Mom and Nancy, I go through the ARCs-- and Nancy sometimes finds her own, but like I narrowed down for you from the ARC stack what I think dad would like, what I think mom would like. And also, when we read for Shelf Subscriptions, it has to be a book that releases by a certain date. There's all kinds of criteria we're looking at. So, frequently, dad and mom will get a stack of three books and you have to pick for that month.
Shop Dad [00:14:02] By the way, July I want to have two to pick from.
Annie Jones [00:14:04] I have homework to do. So, you've given your little elevator spiel. Do you want to talk about some of your past Shelf Subscription selections?
Shop Dad [00:14:17] Yes. Matter of fact, I think I've got a really good list for my last six or seven selections because some of these would actually fall into some of my favorite books ever.
Annie Jones [00:14:30] Oh, wow. Okay, well, where do you want to start?
Shop Dad [00:14:32] I want to start at the maybe the oldest version of Pietro Houdini.
Annie Jones [00:14:37] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:14:38] Are you familiar with that book?
Annie Jones [00:14:40] Well, you told me a little bit about that one. That was your January book.
Shop Dad [00:14:44] Yeah. That's going to have to be in my top five.
Annie Jones [00:14:51] Oh, of all time.
Shop Dad [00:14:52] Of all time.
Annie Jones [00:14:53] Oh, wow!
Shop Dad [00:14:54] Just an intriguing novel. And it was kind of set in Italy, in World War Two. It's got certainly some true historical information in it about the war itself. But it is a fiction. And the protagonist is a fellow by the name of Massimo, which is not his real name even in the book.
Annie Jones [00:15:27] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:15:29] The author made this name up for somebody who really has another fictional name.
Annie Jones [00:15:35] I see. Okay. Is this almost like a book within a book kind of thing?
Shop Dad [00:15:39] No, I wouldn't necessarily call it that. But Pietro Houdini-- no relation to the escape artist Houdini-- he has conflicting desires in this book.
Annie Jones [00:15:53] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:15:54] One is to protect irreplaceable works of art that are being stored in this monastery in Italy.
Annie Jones [00:16:02] Like hiding from the Nazis kind of thing?
Shop Dad [00:16:04] Hiding them to protect them. And then also the conflicting desire is also to become rich. But he wants to become rich for a morally understandable reason. And so, he actually wants to become rich by stealing some of these works himself.
Annie Jones [00:16:26] Oh, Robin Hood.
Shop Dad [00:16:27] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:16:29] A Robin Hood type figure.
Shop Dad [00:16:30] Yeah. So, it's a compelling story. And the author, Derek B Miller, puts Houdini's goals and a child's coming of age because he kind of got matched up with this young girl that he kind of helps raise her when her family is--
Annie Jones [00:16:54] So, how did Mossimo and Houdini connected?
Shop Dad [00:16:59] The 14-year-old girl is Massimo.
Annie Jones [00:17:02] I see, that's what you're hinting at. I understand. Okay, so that's how Houdini and Massimo kind of connect. And he kind of takes Massimo under his wing. I see. Okay.
Shop Dad [00:17:14] And he doesn't know that she's a girl.
Annie Jones [00:17:16] Okay. I see.
Shop Dad [00:17:18] She actually disguises herself to be a boy because she would be safer.
Annie Jones [00:17:24] Yes, to survive probably.
Shop Dad [00:17:27] Because she was family less.
Annie Jones [00:17:28] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:17:29] But later on, he finds out that she's really a girl.
Annie Jones [00:17:32] Okay, so historical fiction, World War two, but a little bit different from your typical World War two fiction.
Shop Dad [00:17:37] Yes.
[00:17:37] I feel like a little bit more original.
Shop Dad [00:17:40] The war is almost kind of a side story.
Annie Jones [00:17:44] To the art heist.
Shop Dad [00:17:45] The art. And protecting the art and stealing the art.
Annie Jones [00:17:49] Okay, well, that sounds good. So that's The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek Miller. Okay, then what? That was your January pick, I think. What's another?
Shop Dad [00:18:01] Right. Well, in September of '23, one of my picks was Chenniville, a Paulette Jiles fictional novel. When I wrote my write up about this book for the subscribers, I told them that it would be my top five so far this year-- 2023.
Annie Jones [00:18:20] Okay. Do you still feel that way?
Shop Dad [00:18:23] Yes. It was a fantastic read. And it's set in the post-Civil War South. The protagonist is actually of French descent. But he fought on the Union side. His family lived in Memphis, so he fought on the Union side. And he was coming home from the war and found when he got home to Memphis that his entire family had been killed. So, the rest of the book is about him and his pursuit of the murderer of his family, which happened because of some familial dispute that took place back before the war started.
Annie Jones [00:19:08] Okay, interesting. Kind of a revenge plot.
Shop Dad [00:19:10] Yeah. So, his whole pursuit of this person, which took him South, and further south into the deep South, into Texas, was beautifully and masterfully written. And he's seeking justice for his family. But he himself has to recover from a severe head wound that he suffered during the war. So, he has to kind of take it slow at first, and then he pushes. And Paulette Jiles paints a really cruel landscape that he has to navigate and that he has to traverse. And it presents some intriguing obstacles that complicates his pursuit. But I really did find it a captivating read.
Annie Jones [00:20:05] I have not read Chenniville, but I feel like several of our customers really like Paulette Jiles. This is not her first book. But your description reminds me of another book that we quoted at the top of the episode, which was one of your more recent Shelf Subscriptions, the bullet swallower.
Shop Dad [00:20:23] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:20:23] There is some overlap there, because that book also feels like a revenge plot.
Shop Dad [00:20:29] Yeah, exactly.
Annie Jones [00:20:30] Through Texas. Jordan and I listened to the Bullet Swallower on audiobook. And we listened to it because you had talked about it. So, talk a little bit about why you picked The Bullet Swallower.
Shop Dad [00:20:43] The Bullet Swallow is also one of those books that is probably going to remain in my top reads for a long, long time. If it doesn't become a bestseller, I'm going to be really surprised. Elizabeth Gonzalez James, imagines this-- this is one of those books where it bounces back and forth between the protagonist of an old period of time and actually his grandfather in a more recent period of time.
Annie Jones [00:21:24] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:21:25] Both of which are of the same name.
Annie Jones [00:21:27] That's right.
Shop Dad [00:21:27] It was a fantastic read from the standpoint that this guy and this new generation, their names were-- let me see if I can remember.
Annie Jones [00:21:40] It's the Sanora family?
Shop Dad [00:21:41] Antonio Sanoro.
Annie Jones [00:21:43] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:21:43] So the new generation Antonio Sanoro comes across some writings about his grandfather, which didn't paint a very pleasant picture and very good picture. And so, he's having to deal with that. But the previous generation Antonio Sanoro is trying to get some revenge.
Annie Jones [00:22:10] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:22:11] And which takes him from Mexico, northward into Texas. And what he encounters, in that, he encounters some racial inequality kinds of things and having to keep one step ahead of the Texas Rangers, actually gets caught by the Texas Rangers as he's trying to flee on a train.
Annie Jones [00:22:35] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:22:37] Then he gets caught and then he escapes.
Annie Jones [00:22:39] It's really an adventure book. And one of the things that I was surprised that you liked-- so it goes back and forth in time. I think the 1960s is the more recent. I liked it because I'm reading Lonesome Dove, and so there's definitely some parallels there between the Texas Rangers and things like that. So, this was a fun one to read alongside Lonesome Dove. But there's also kind of what we call a magical realism element or maybe like a folklore kind of element because in the book, Antonio Sanoro, as I recall, he becomes the Bullet Swallower because he doesn't die when he should have died.
Shop Dad [00:23:20] Yeah. He gets shot. Actually, the bullet enters in through the neck and then he gets found by a medicine woman. Actually, her nephew finds him, as I recall. And he brings his aunt a Mexican medicine woman to him. And she and he gather him up, Antonio, and carry him back to her place and she cares for him. And you find that he's basically left for dead, but she nurses him back to health. But she says they never found the bullet. And he becomes known as the Bullets Swallower as a result.
Annie Jones [00:23:58] Almost kind of this magical type of character. I really liked that book a lot and felt like it was really original. So, we've talked about Chenniville, The Curse of Pietro Houdini. I can see there's some similarities, like I said, some adventure. Okay. Where do you want to go next?
Shop Dad [00:24:19] So because I've already mentioned it and because it's so different in terms of a novel, let's talk about a short walk through a wide world.
Annie Jones [00:24:29] Yes, I do believe I handed this to you. This was an April subscription. April was a hard month. Am I right about that? Did I give you very many options?
Shop Dad [00:24:40] No.
Annie Jones [00:24:40] Yeah, I think that was part of it. Which forces you to read different things. You're welcome.
Shop Dad [00:24:48] I don't remember being so aggravated. This was the only book that I had to choose from. I think I did choose another book and then found out that the release date was being pushed out or something.
Annie Jones [00:24:59] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:24:59] So I was left with A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke and I didn't want to read that book.
Annie Jones [00:25:09] Why didn't you want to read it?
Shop Dad [00:25:11] Matter of fact, I said in my blurb that I wrote about this to the Shelf Subscription subscribers, "Hoping not to discourage you from taking in the wonders of this novel. I will say at the outset that it is one of the stranger books that I've read." And it kind of borders on, as I said earlier, science fiction. And I'm not a reader of science fiction, but this is a true science fiction book. But I said that you'll find timeless life lessons scattered throughout. So, Aubrey LaRue is the protagonist, and he's a young girl from Paris, near the beginning of the 20th century. But early in her life, she becomes burdened with a strange disease. And it's an, diagnosable disease. Something that the health professionals of the day didn't know anything about. And she found that the only way to stay ahead of it was to actually physically keep moving. It's really kind of gross. I mean, she would just all of a sudden start bleeding from nose, from all the orifices. And if she didn't leave that physical place, she would probably die. So, at first when she was a young, young girl, she found out about this. And so, her mother was there too. They were outside of Paris. They went into Paris, saw doctors after doctor after doctor, couldn't figure it out. And every time she started bleeding, they had to leave. So finally, they had to leave Paris. Her mother was with her, but then she had to get back to her family, which was her sister and her father. And so, she was left in a wide, wide world by herself.
Annie Jones [00:26:53] Oh, interesting. So, it's really just her story as she goes from place to place?
Shop Dad [00:27:01] Right. And so, she just went from place to place, from the ugly to the beautiful and then back again. And she met unique and strange people along the way who helped her. Some that helped her and some that endangered her. She found love and she lost love. And it's interesting that Douglas Westerbeke, I think his bio is that he is a librarian.
Annie Jones [00:27:25] Oh, cool.
Shop Dad [00:27:27] And so, one of the environments that she kind of bounced in and out of in her worldly journeys were these magnificent, huge libraries where she would just encounter halls and halls-- and most of them were, like, in caves.
Annie Jones [00:27:48] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:27:49] And so, it's very much just a huge imagination being poured out by the author about this. And the way he describes her adventures was just captivating. And so, I kicked myself because I--
Annie Jones [00:28:12] Because you were a little bit of a pill about it.
Shop Dad [00:28:15] I was a pill.
Annie Jones [00:28:16] You were a bit of a pill, and it turned out to be great.
Shop Dad [00:28:19] I'm not much of a pill very often.
Annie Jones [00:28:23] Well, I'm glad it wound up working for you. And it does sound really interesting. I'm intrigued because Pietro Houdini also had, like, a 14-year-old character. So, you also maybe even like some of these coming-of-age stories.
Shop Dad [00:28:36] Yeah, I guess, but I don't know that they're coming of age until I get into them.
Annie Jones [00:28:41] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:28:41] Can I read the quote from this book?
Annie Jones [00:28:42] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:28:43] This is from A Short Walk Through a Wide World. "She had friends back in Paris who never fought with their teachers, who would be going to the best schools and getting the best jobs while she was begging on the streets of an unknown city. Now she knew without a doubt that she did not command the world, but was at the mercy of it. It's a lesson most people learn at some point in their lives, but the realization that the world is a bigger and more powerful thing than you are, learned in such a merciless way, was a lot for a proud 12-year-old to come to grips with so suddenly and with so much room for error."
Annie Jones [00:29:22] That's so good.
Shop Dad [00:29:25] Yeah, it really is a good quote.
Annie Jones [00:29:26] Okay, well, that's good because that also feels like sometimes when we pick Shelf Subscriptions, we can't predict how big they're going to become or not. So I think sometimes, for example, my shelf subscribers, occasionally we get a little bit of pushback if the book I have chosen is also like Jenna Bush Hager book that she has picked. And I can't predict that. I like to try to predict it, but I don't know if the book that I pick is going to become a Good Morning America selection.
Shop Dad [00:29:58] We're reading them before they're published.
Annie Jones [00:29:59] Right. We're reading them so far in advance. We don't know. And so, we can't really predict that. So, we can't predictive if a novel is going to become big. And what I like about this is because I do in my heart of hearts want Shelf Subscriptions to highlight some unsung books. Now, that can't always be the case. A lot of times they become bestsellers. They become Reese Witherspoon picks. But sometimes it sounds like a book like that is a little bit quieter, we've not heard as much about it, but you really loved it.
Shop Dad [00:30:25] Yeah, I really loved it. And I think that should be a lesson to us all that maybe there's a real enjoyment in reading something that doesn't first seem to be interesting.
Annie Jones [00:30:37] Yeah, there's something different. Okay. Now let's talk about some nonfiction.
Shop Dad [00:30:41] Okay.
Annie Jones [00:30:41] So tell me about a nonfiction Shelf Subscription selection.
Shop Dad [00:30:46] In November of last year, I read a book called In the Pines. The subtitle A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning. And this was another one of those books that at first you're not certain that you'd be drawn to it, even though I've read lots of nonfiction about social injustice and things like that. But what I didn't know about this book when I did in the picking it was that the author, Grace Elizabeth Hale, is actually the granddaughter of the sheriff of the town in which this person that she writes about is lynched. So, it was.
Annie Jones [00:31:35] That would be tough to find out.
Shop Dad [00:31:36] Yeah. When I read this book, it was time for me to turn to something kind of real and historical. It turned out being tragic. Sometimes a very difficult read because as a white Southerner, it’s kind of impossible, I guess, to be too informed about battles towards justice by the black people of the South. And so, this one was especially intriguing to me since it was the author's grandfather. And he was not only sheriff, he was, of course, a huge influencer in Jefferson Davis County in rural Mississippi. So, he was either fully or partially responsible for this young man's death.
Annie Jones [00:32:33] Yeah. So, is she approaching it from a historical perspective, from a journalistic perspective? I do want to tell you I saw somebody taking a picture of this book. This book has a really great cover. And it was a woman. And I said, "Oh, have you read this one?" And she said, "This is my friend's book."
Shop Dad [00:32:56] Oh, really?
Annie Jones [00:32:57] And she said, "My friend is the author of this book." Anyway, this lady was just visiting town. But I said, "Oh, well, my dad picked it for a Shelf Subscription." So, I just wonder if this was almost like a-- I think Grace Elizabeth Hale is a historian, if I'm not mistaken, and maybe she just came across her family's history.
Shop Dad [00:33:15] Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure of her bio, but you're saying that kind of reminds me that I think that she was actually a journalist.
Annie Jones [00:33:25] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:33:26] But when she learned of this story and she was like, I don't know, maybe 20s when she actually learned of the facts behind some of the history of her a grandfather. And as she learned about this particular lynching, she was just taken back. And so, she decided that she wanted to look into it further. And I guess it was kind of a difficult thing for her to do.
Annie Jones [00:34:04] Yeah. Of your selections, this is the one I would be most interested in. I think. Yeah, I think so.
Shop Dad [00:34:10] You mean of these? The group that I have listed?
Annie Jones [00:34:12] Yes, I think so. This is the one I'm very curious about. And I remember this one. It's quite thin. A lot of your books are tomes. Some of your books are big.
Shop Dad [00:34:26] Yeah. This one is not all that thick. You can read it pretty quickly. But it's very, very well, written and I think that people will learn a great deal about that part of the history of the South that maybe kind of stays hidden to some of us for way too long.
Annie Jones [00:34:52] I follow the Equal Justice Initiative on Instagram, and in their Instagram stories they'll do like this day in history. And there was one if you if you click on it, it'll take you to the full story. But there was one recently that was a lynching in Brooks County. In Valdosta-- in or near Valdosta. I guess Valdosta is Lounds County. But anyway, I was shocked. And I shouldn't be shocked because I've been to the memorial in Montgomery. I should not be as shocked as I am at how recent. And it was of lynching of a pregnant woman in the 20th century. It's really astounding. And like you said, it's sobering and difficult to read about. But it is important, especially, I think, those of us who live in the South. I think it's important for us to acknowledge what happened here.
Shop Dad [00:35:44] Well, this young man deserves to have his name mentioned.
Annie Jones [00:35:47] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:35:48] Versie Johnson. And this was 1947. I mean, that's just four years before I was born.
Annie Jones [00:35:54] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:35:55] And so, it continues to amaze me that some of these things happened. Really, I read Devil in the Grove.
Annie Jones [00:36:04] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:36:05] That took place in Central Florida where I grew up. And that took place in the 50s.
Annie Jones [00:36:10] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:36:11] We didn't arrive in Central Florida from 1956, but this was just the adjoining county to where I grew up. And so, yeah.
Annie Jones [00:36:23] It's important to learn the histories of the places where we live. And a lot of your books again, another kind of throughline. A lot of your books really do grapple with American history. So, one of your books is called The Deerfield Massacre. What is that about? That has an interesting cover.
Shop Dad [00:36:41] Yes. The Deerfield Massacre is about the massacre of a small settlement in Massachusetts. This was before the American Revolution.
Annie Jones [00:36:52] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:36:54] And James Swanson is the author. He writes about this small village of the name Deerfield in Massachusetts in 1704. And so, it was really kind of on the frontier. Everything hadn't really started moving west all that much. Interestingly, and I didn't know this part of the history, but there was a kind of an alignment. The French and the Indians were kind of allies. And I'm talking about the Canadian French. And the Indians of that area were kind of allied together because the French wanted to be able to take over.
Annie Jones [00:37:40] Right. So, they didn't want Britain to come.
Shop Dad [00:37:42] Yeah. They didn't want Britain to continue to spread the colonies westward. So, they allied with the Indians and they came up with this plan to attack these different villages. But this particular one is the subject of this book, and it's very intriguing now. The massacre was in itself difficult to read because of the historical evidence that had been left about it. But it is really very much about the history following the massacre. And there were like, I don't know, 200 or so of the citizens. So, the people who were in this settlement of Deerfield, they were carried off into captivity to Canada. And so, many of them ended up being up there until they were grown. And it's very much about the local, Puritan minister of that settlement.
Annie Jones [00:38:56] Interesting.
Shop Dad [00:38:57] Because he was carried off into captivity, as were his children. His wife was murdered in the massacre. And so, the interconnectivity between his family members and others as things progressed through history were just very, very, intriguing. So then I wrote in my write up about this that the early inhabitants of Deerfield lived in relative peace with the neighboring Indians until King Philip's War. That War was 14 years, beginning in 1675.
Annie Jones [00:39:37] Never even heard about it.
Shop Dad [00:39:39] So, I asked the readers when they got this book to look for who King Philip was in the narrative. He wasn't the king of England.
Annie Jones [00:39:49] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:39:50] King Philip was somebody different. And I don't want to give the secret away for those who might want to read it. But, anyway, Puritan minister John Williams is a very key figure in this story. He was captured in that raid in 1704. And all of his children were also captured, but William survived the 300-mile march to Canada. And there were many of those that were captured were forced to live as the Indians. They kind of took them into their tribes.
Annie Jones [00:40:24] I see. Assimilate.
Shop Dad [00:40:25] And I'm talking about children. So, they didn't know anything else.
Annie Jones [00:40:31] So they grew up as that.
Shop Dad [00:40:32] So a lot of the narrative is about the families of these children who wanted to get them back. And then when they came of age, they didn't want to come back.
Annie Jones [00:40:44] Interesting. Okay. That's fascinating because I don't read a lot pre-Revolutionary War at all. Recently, I read a book-- and Nina would really like it actually-- called Frozen River. And it is all about the criminal justice system before we really had one of those. So, it's right around the cusp of the Revolutionary War. And it was fascinating, because you forget that this was essentially the Wild West. All of that was the Wild West.
Shop Dad [00:41:13] Exactly. I want to read the quote that I chose from this book, The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. That came along much, much later to remember what happened.
Annie Jones [00:41:23] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:41:25] That association would dominate the history, memory, and myth of the Deerfield massacre for the next 150 years. No organization has had a more far-reaching influence on the narrative interpretation and meaning of the events surrounding February 1704. History is not just the story of what happened, but also how the story of what happened is told.
Annie Jones [00:41:51] Oh, that's true.
Shop Dad [00:41:52] So, you got to remember that people telling the story maybe right after it happened, might be telling it a different way than from those who tell it later when more information and more facts become known.
Annie Jones [00:42:11] An important listen.
Shop Dad [00:42:12] That was a good quote.
Annie Jones [00:42:13] That is a good quote. Okay. Let's end with you telling us about, I think, the book that you've read maybe most recently. I love this author. I think you do too. I think you've read his books before. Tell me about The Demon of Unrest.
Shop Dad [00:42:29] I read, Eric Larson's book, The Splendid and the Vile. And that was about Churchill during the bombing of Britain as the beginning of World War two. That was a splendid book.
Annie Jones [00:42:52] Pun intended.
Shop Dad [00:42:54] So The Demon of Unrest, I just knew that having read the other book, that Eric Lawson is going to tell this story in a way that just brings it to life.
Annie Jones [00:43:09] He's so good. Because I don't even read historical nonfiction very much, but I love his books. They're very well researched, but also told in a non-boring way.
Shop Dad [00:43:20] Unbelievably researched. And when you look at the notes at the end of the book, the bibliography, I can't imagine an author looking at that much material to present a story. But this one, The Demon of Unrest, provides the untold details of just a five-month period of time between the election of Abraham Lincoln to the US presidency, that was in November of 1860, and the shelling of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in 1861. So much of this book is told from the story of him leading up to his presidency, to the election, and him becoming president and all of the things that happen that led up to the shelling of Fort Sumter, which became really the beginning of the Civil War.
[00:44:23] And his narrative provides a look at all the mistakes and the fumbling and the misadventures that took place that might have been able to prevent at least that shelling. Could the Civil War have been prevented? And there probably is lot of other events leading up to it that maybe couldn't have been reversed. But that time when we don't think of how difficult the passing of power could be. I mean, we've recently seen how strange it can be. But in this time before telephones-- telegraph existed. But Lincoln didn't even arrive in Washington, and he had to do so stealthily because word was out that he was a secessionist. He really wasn't. But word was out in the South that he was.
Annie Jones [00:45:36] Oh, interesting.
Shop Dad [00:45:37] And so, they wanted to take his life. I mean, there were people that put a price on his head. So, he had actually come in to Washington for his inauguration in disguise.
Annie Jones [00:45:51] Oh, I didn't know that. I don't think I knew that.
Shop Dad [00:45:53] Yes. And so, after he became president and trying to focus on developing his cabinet, everything was happening in the South that made everybody believe that this president is going to ruin our economic way of life. They're going to ruin our personal way of life. And so, they were already talking secession.
Annie Jones [00:46:28] They already had a plan. And he was not a secessionist.
Shop Dad [00:46:33] He was not a secessionist. He wanted to preserve the Indian.
Annie Jones [00:46:35] The he wanted to preserve the Indian. And so, they knew.
Shop Dad [00:46:39] Matter of fact, he was even an abolitionist-- Lincoln was.
Annie Jones [00:46:43] Yes. We have that confused, I think, sometime.
Shop Dad [00:46:48] He didn't want slavery to expand, but he was willing to allow it to exist just to maintain the union.
Annie Jones [00:47:00] Yes, that was what was important to him. He had one goal, I think.
Shop Dad [00:47:03] But such was not to be the case.
Annie Jones [00:47:06] I like Eric Larson. And when you told me this was only set in a five -month period I became very intrigued. So, I think I might try to read this one this summer.
Shop Dad [00:47:15] The description of Fort Sumter, of Charleston Harbor, about the way of life of all the Charlestonians, the chivalry of the deep South, he brings all that into play and how that culture of chivalry contributed to really the Civil War. I mean, it wasn't certainly the only reason, but it was a lot behind that, that I think was contributing.
Annie Jones [00:47:53] Okay. So, we have a lot of fiction, a lot of nonfiction. So, if listeners want to buy a Shop Dad Shelf Subscription, it really does make a great Father's Day present. So many of these selections I am intrigued by, and other folks on staff. Like Erin read The Bullet Swallower and really liked it. We have had customers report back on Chenniville, and so lots of really diverse range of books. Before we go, do you want to just give a lightning round of some other Father's Day reading recommendations?
Shop Dad [00:48:28] Sure. I'm a golfer, so I like to read things about golf. Now, since I became a Shelf Subscription person, I don't read as much of just things, "Oh, I won't read this." I'm kind of forced into certain things. But every chance I get, I gravitate towards some other things. A great book by Tom Coyne, A Course Called America. He travels the whole country playing golf at different iconic golf courses, which might sound boring in itself, but he gives a lot of the history of these courses and how they came about and who designed them and why they did certain things the way they did it. It's a fantastic read by those who like golf and golf courses. I'm taking some time out after I finished my June read to read Amore Towles, the Lincoln Highway.
Annie Jones [00:49:20] Yes.
Shop Dad [00:49:21] I read the other book by Amor Towles, A Gentlemen in Moscow. Loved, loved that book.
Annie Jones [00:49:28] I still haven't read that.
Shop Dad [00:49:29] You did?
Annie Jones [00:49:29] I haven't read it.
Shop Dad [00:49:31] Both of these, I think?
Annie Jones [00:49:32] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:49:32] I'm just now beginning the Lincoln Highway. It's really going to be good.
Annie Jones [00:49:37] That was a Lucy Shelf Subscription.
Shop Dad [00:49:40] Well, shout out to Lucy. The Great Escape by Saket Soni is a nonfiction, true story about the forced labor and immigrant dreams in America. This took place in the South, where immigrants were forced to work and they couldn't get out of it because they had paid money to being brought over. It's just sickening. Anyway, The Wager Boy, it became a bestseller.
Annie Jones [00:50:07] It did.
Shop Dad [00:50:08] I loved that book. Tara Westover, Educated, I think that became a bestseller.
Annie Jones [00:50:14] Oh, yes.
Shop Dad [00:50:15] Anyway, and one other, The City Game by Matthew Goodman. The City Game is about basketball. My other love. And this is actually about basketball In Ohio. It's set about high school basketball. And the reason this was interesting is because a person that's near and dear to both of our hearts was actually mentioned in this book.
Annie Jones [00:50:41] Who? Now you're not going to remember it. Who is it?
Shop Dad [00:50:47] You know him. Because he came to The Bookshelf quite often and just would read. And he sat outside the bookstore and would read.
Annie Jones [00:50:55] Oh, yes! Oh, wait. Ahmad Aliyy.
Shop Dad [00:50:57] Ahmad Aliyy.
Annie Jones [00:50:58] He's in this book?
Shop Dad [00:50:59] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:51:00] Oh, cool.
Shop Dad [00:51:01] Before he changed his name to Ahmad Aliyy, his name was Skip Young.
Annie Jones [00:51:04] Okay.
Shop Dad [00:51:05] And Skip Young was a Florida State University basketball player. And he graduated right before I arrived at Florida state.
Shop Dad [00:51:13] But anyway, he was a high school basketball player in Ohio.
Annie Jones [00:51:17] Oh, my gosh!
Shop Dad [00:51:18] One of the most sought-after high school players. And he chose to come to Florida State and not a basketball power at the time.
Annie Jones [00:51:25] Yeah.
Shop Dad [00:51:26] But he chose to come because Hugh Durham was trying to change the culture of basketball in the South, and he was one of the first ones to recruit black players. But anyway, that whole book is really good because it talks. The book's not about Skip Young. Yeah, but it's about high school basketball in Ohio.
Annie Jones [00:51:45] Okay. The City Game by Matthew Goodman. Okay, so whenever mom comes on the show, she'll talk to me about what she's been reading and then I make her book recommendations. So, I have a book recommendation for you, which is it's called Rednecks with an S, and it is a historical fiction book. Just came out this month, I believe. Think it came out in June. But it is about-- and now I'm going to not remember the name of it, but it's the first armed conflict after the Civil War. It was called the Battle of Blair Mountain, I think, and it was between the coal miners and then the coal companies. And it's where Mother Jones came into play, unions and the unionization of workers. I had no idea that I didn't know anything about that. And it has gotten great reviews in The Bitter Southerner, but it just sounds like something you might like to read because it's social justice, but it's historical fiction. Anyway, I think you might like to read it.
Shop Dad [00:52:43] Yeah, I think that does sound like something I would like to read. And I read-- I wish I could [inaudible] long, long time ago. I read a book by the guy who wrote Rocket Boys.
Annie Jones [00:52:58] Oh, yes! the October Sky book.
Shop Dad [00:53:00] Yes. And he grew up in a coal mining company.
Annie Jones [00:53:05] Yes. Homer Hickam.
Shop Dad [00:53:06] Homer Hickam. Right. That's a good book. Rocket Boys.
Annie Jones [00:53:16] Well, good. You might like this one too.
Shop Dad [00:53:18] That was set in that time period.
Annie Jones [00:53:19] Yeah. Same time period.
Shop Dad [00:53:22] What you're talking about is probably way before that, but it was still about the coal miners.
Annie Jones [00:53:26] Yes. That culture.
Shop Dad [00:53:27] Even 20th century coal miners, what they had to endure from the coal mining companies.
Annie Jones [00:53:32] Yeah. So anyway, that's one you should read it next time you don't have a Shelf Subscription deadline.
Shop Dad [00:53:37] What did you call?
Annie Jones [00:53:38] Rednecks?
Shop Dad [00:53:39] Rednecks.
Annie Jones [00:53:39] Yeah, because you kind of get the history of the term. Fascinating. Well, dad, thanks.
Shop Dad [00:53:44] And I don't mention my June subscription because I haven't gotten that book.
Annie Jones [00:53:48] That's right. Well, and I think this episode releases mid-June in time for Father's Day. So by the time they listen to it, they might have gotten the June-- but I don't know. So don't, because people like to be surprised.
Shop Dad [00:53:58] It's a secret.
Annie Jones [00:54:00] We have to keep it a secret. Dad, you did it!
Shop Dad [00:54:02] I did it. High five.
Shop Dad [00:54:05] If you are interested in a Shop Dad Shelf Subscription for your own dad, or maybe even for yourself to help diversify your reading, you can visit Bookshelfthomasville.com, click Shelf Subscriptions at the top of the page. You can also find all of the books that dad talked about today by going to our website and searching for episode 481 in the search bar. Erin has worked really hard to list all of dad's books there for your easy shopping. Thanks, and happy Father's Day, everybody! This week I'm reading Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. Dad, what are you reading?
Shop Dad [00:54:42] The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles.
Annie Jones: 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 at @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:
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…
Cammy Tidwell, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell, Jennifer Bannerton
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Susan Hulings Annie Jones: 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. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have 3 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.