Episode 16

04/02/24 • 51 min

Come for the Crested Grebes, stay for the conspiracy theories! This time around on the podcast we check in with our own book-prize judge Sarah as her current Book Tube judging comes to an end, we get into the difficulty of discussing short story collections in book clubs, and broach the topic of the “glacially beautiful” in literature. Sharon provides a raft of Irish Writers for March, and Eric reads books debunking conspiracy theories, and a novel about the end of the home video rental era. Oh, and also... cats!

Books discussed include:

Long Time, No See by Dermot Healy Bliss Montage by Ling Ma Minka and Curdy by Antonia White Seven Steeples by Sara Bayme Wild Embrace by Anja Murray Trust the Process by Will Sommar Republic of Lies by Anna Merlan Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins Cozy: Magical Bakery Mysteries by Bailey Cates

TBR:

Song for a New Day by Sara Pinsker James by Percival Everett

Books discussed include:

TBR:

Song for a New Day by Sara Pinsker James by Percival Everett

Previous Episode

Episode 15

You know what they say... “Genre, genre, genre!” Well, OK, maybe nobody is saying that, but on this episode, we discuss genre, A LOT! Come for the genre, but stick around for a check-in on Sarah’s Book Tube judging, multiple literary trips to Italy, the book-as-object and how disgruntled book people get about certain things publishers do (“that should be illegal!”), analog and digital, and who gets described as “a long-winded Elizabeth Strout.” Books discussed include: Grove: A Field Novel by Esther Kinsky Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri Angel of Oblivion by Maja Haderlap Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler Winter Love by Suyin Han Divine Days by Leon Forrest At the Café by Errico Malatesta The Revenge of Analog by David Sax The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins Hiss Me Deadly by Miranda James

Next Episode

Episode 17

This time on the podcast we span the globe! From wading into the folk tales and literary essays of Appalachia, to swimming in the waters of the Booker International Prize, books on classic American cinema, poetry in translation, and of course a cozy mystery with a glorious title.

Stick around for our ever-growing list of to-be-read books and hear about the deterioration of Sarah’s email formality. It’s all on Episode 17 of Shelf Motivated!

Books discussed:

John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman The House on Via Gomito by Domenico Starnone Undiscovered by Gabiela Wiener What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma The Brush by Eliana Hernandez-Pachon Daughter of the Dragon by Yunte Huang What Are People For? Essays by Wendell Berry Cozy: Cremains of the Day by Misty Simon TBRs: The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue Passage West by Rishi Reddi Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban