Well-Read

Our favorite episode of the year, full of our favorite books of the year. Happy Holidays from your friends at Well-Read!

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Ann’s picks:

• The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia (buy from Bookshop)
• The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod (buy from Bookshop)
• This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno (buy from Bookshop)
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (buy from Bookshop)
• A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes (buy from Bookshop)
• Horseman by Christina Henry (buy from Bookshop)
  - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (buy from Bookshop)
• The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (buy from Bookshop)
• Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (buy from Bookshop)
  - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (buy from Bookshop)
• Mrs. March by Virginia Feito (buy from Bookshop)
  - Patricia Highsmith books
• Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (buy from Bookshop)
  - Reese's Book Club

Halle’s picks:

• The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (buy from Bookshop)
• Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny (buy from Bookshop)
• Arsenic & Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (buy from Bookshop)
  - Tana French books
  - Louise Penny books
• Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall (buy from Bookshop)
  - The Great British Baking Show (TV)
  - The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun (buy from Bookshop)
  - Battle Royal by Lucy Parker (buy from Bookshop)
  - One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London (buy from Bookshop)
• The Push by Ashley Audrain (buy from Bookshop)
  - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (buy from Bookshop)
  - Take It Back by Kia Abdullah (buy from Bookshop)
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (buy from Bookshop)
  - Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon (buy from Bookshop)
• The Guncle by Steven Rowley (buy from Bookshop)
  - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (buy from Bookshop)
• The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris (buy from Bookshop)
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (buy from Bookshop)
  - Fleabag (TV)
  - Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (buy from Bookshop)
• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (buy from Bookshop)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (buy from Bookshop)
  - Elena Ferrante books
  - The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (buy from Bookshop)
• Halle: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (buy from Bookshop)

We didn’t get a chance to do a publishing preview this season, but we wanted to share some books we’re excited to read soon. Ann picks three forthcoming titles and Halle went with books she didn’t have time for this year. And we end with what we’re reading this week!

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Ann’s picks:

• The Maid by Nita Prose (buy from Bookshop)
  – Florence Pugh movies
  – Little Women (film)
• Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour (buy from Bookshop)
  – Nina LaCour books
• Body and Soul Food by Abby Collette (buy from Bookshop)
  – A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collete (buy from Bookshop)

Halle’s picks:

• Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (buy from Bookshop)
  – From the Front Porch (podcast)
  – Succession (TV)
• Battle Royal by Lucy Parker (buy from Bookshop)
• Infinite Country by Patricia Engel (buy from Bookshop)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (buy from Bookshop)
• Halle: Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka (buy from Bookshop)
  – Brad Pitt movies

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Our annual Halloween episode is back – and so are we! We have some major life updates and books that show that people are much scarier than the paranormal. As always, we’ll end with what we’re reading this week.

 

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Episode 77 – Cookbooks!

Ann’s picks:

• There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (buy from Bookshop)
  – Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (buy from Bookshop)
  – Scream (film)
  – There’s Someone Inside Your House (TV)
  – The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins (buy from Bookshop)
• Knife by Jø Nesbo (buy from Bookshop)
  – Harry Hole series by Jø Nesbo
• The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (buy from Bookshop)
  – Episode 1 – Beach Reads
  – The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)

Halle’s picks:

• Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger (buy from Bookshop)
  – Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (buy from Bookshop)
• The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz (buy from Bookshop)
  – Tana French books
  – Jane Harper books
• The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (buy from Bookshop)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: When Things Get Dark edited by Ellen Datlow (buy from Bookshop)
  – Shirley Jackson books
  – Ellen Datlow books
  – Joyce Carol Oates books
  – Josh Malerman books
  – Carmen Maria Machado books
  – Paul Tremblay books
  – Kelly Link books
  – Elizabeth Hand books
  – Cassandra Khaw books
  – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (buy from Bookshop)
  – “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (buy from Bookshop)
• Halle: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang (buy from Bookshop)
  – The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (buy from Bookshop)

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Hi all  - Due to a death in Ann's family, we will be taking a brief break for the next month. Thanks and happy reading!

Thanks to a fabulous listener suggestion (hi Rikke!), we’re pairing books that inform each other or benefit from reading them back-to-back. What books would you pair up? As always, we’ll end with what we’re reading this week.

 

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (buy from Bookshop)
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (buy from Bookshop)
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (buy from Bookshop)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (buy from Bookshop)

Ann’s picks:

• The Seducer’s Diary by Søren Kierkegaard (buy from Bookshop) and Ehrengard by Isak Dinesen (buy from Bookshop) and BONUS City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (buy from Bookshop)
  – Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard (buy from Bookshop)
  – Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (buy from Bookshop)
  – Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen (buy from Bookshop)
• Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson (buy from Bookshop) and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (buy from Bookshop)
• The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (buy from Bookshop) and Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood (buy from Bookshop)
  – Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie
  – Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood
  – Miss Marple (TV)
  – Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (TV)

Halle’s picks:

• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley (buy from Bookshop) and The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (buy from Bookshop)
  – Lady Astronaut Universe series by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (buy from Bookshop) and Chemistry by Weike Wang (buy from Bookshop)
• The Push by Ashley Audrain (buy from Bookshop) and Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips (buy from Bookshop)
  – Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (buy from Bookshop)
  – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (buy from Bookshop)
  – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (buy from Bookshop)
  – Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (buy from Bookshop)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams (buy from Bookshop)
  – The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard (buy from Bookshop)
  – Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (buy from Bookshop)
• Halle: The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell (buy from Bookshop)

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This week, we’re responding to a listener request to delve into our favorite bookish media and how we balance it all with our reading. We have some tips and recommendations to help you get the most out of your reading life. As always, we end with what we’re reading this week!

 

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

For Real (podcast)
Underground: A Human History of the World Beneath Our Feet by Will Hunt (buy from Bookshop)
Audie Awards
Get Booked (podcast)
From the Front Porch (podcast)
@shelfbyshelf (Instagram)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (buy from Bookshop)
Middlemarch by George Eliot (buy from Bookshop)
All About Agatha (podcast)
Agatha Christie books
Litsy
Poirot (TV)
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (buy from Bookshop)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (buy from Bookshop)
What Should I Read Next? (podcast)
Modern Mrs. Darcy (blog)
When In Romance (podcast)
Book Riot: The Podcast (podcast)
Currently Reading (podcast)
Reading Glasses (podcast)
@thebookshopnashville (Instagram)
@melanatedreader (Instagram)
@james_travino (Instagram)
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
@wellreadblackgirl (Instagram)
@parnassusbooks (Instagram)
@booksaremagicbk (Instagram)
Emma Straub books
@ashleyspivey (Instagram)
The Bachelor (TV)
Go Fug Yourself (blog)
@spiveysbookclub (Instagram)
@hithapalepu (Instagram)
@graceatwood (Instagram)
Bad On Paper (podcast)
@beccamfreeman (Instagram)
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee (buy from Bookshop)
Reese’s Book Club
Read With Jenna
Book of the Month
@halle770 (Instagram)
@ferskner (Instagram)

 

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann:  The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia (buy from Bookshop)
  – Prince’s Hot Chicken
• Halle: The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan (buy from Bookshop)

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Our memories may be terrible but these memoirs aren’t. We’re revisiting memoirs this week, and end with what we’re currently reading.

 

 

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Ann’s picks:

• The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty (buy from Bookshop)
  – Afroculinaria (blog)
  – BTS (band)
• Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris (buy from Bookshop)
  – The New Yorker (magazine)
  – Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris (buy from Bookshop)
  – Ann Patchett books
• Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark (buy from Bookshop)
  – My Favorite Murder (podcast)
  – Mr. Show with Bob and David (TV)
  – Georgia Hardstark on Cooking Channel

Halle’s picks:

• Open Book by Jessica Simpson (buy from Bookshop)
  – Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (TV)
  – Nick Lachey (singer)
  – John Mayer (singer)
  – Dukes of Hazard (film)
  – Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick (buy from Bookshop)
• Becoming by Michelle Obama (buy from Bookshop)
  – A Promised Land by Barack Obama (buy from Bookshop)
• Here For It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays by R. Eric Thomas (buy from Bookshop)
  – Elle (magazine)
  – Bossypants by Tina Fey (buy from Bookshop)
  – Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham (buy from Bookshop)
  – Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (TV)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (buy from Bookshop)
• Halle: Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson (buy from Bookshop)
  – The Women (film)

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Do you like sports? No? Do you like stories of drama surrounding sports? Then we have some books for you! As always, we’ll end with what we’re reading this week.

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Ted Lasso (TV)
Friday Night Lights (TV)
Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger (buy on Bookshop)
Friday Night Lights (film)

Ann’s picks:

• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (buy on Bookshop)
  – Newbery Medal
  – YALLfest
  – Booked by Kwame Alexander (buy on Bookshop)
• Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (buy on Bookshop)
  – Chicago Stars series by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
  – Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (buy on Bookshop)
  – Sarah MacLean books
• The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (buy on Bookshop)

Halle’s picks:

• Beartown by Fredrik Backman (buy on Bookshop)
  – A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (buy on Bookshop)
  – Beartown (TV)
  – Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (buy on Bookshop)
  – Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (buy on Bookshop)
• Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (buy on Bookshop)
  – From the Front Porch (podcast)
  – Check, Please! series by Ngozi Ukazu
• You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (buy on Bookshop)
  – Megan Abbott books
  – Dare Me by Megan Abbott (buy on Bookshop)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: First Comes Like by Alisha Rai (buy on Bookshop)
  – Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai (buy on Bookshop)
  – Modern Love series by Alisha Rai
• Halle: The Survivors by Jane Harper (buy on Bookshop)
  – Jane Harper books
  – The Likeness by Tana French (buy on Bookshop)

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