I started listening to this on Libby because of your comment and I am floored. It is sooooo good. I really love how Anna Funder interspersed bits of her own life into the book. It felt like she and I were going through the journey of learning about Eileen’s life together, and commiserating about how awful the patriarchy is. This is one of my fav reads this year, and I think the audiobook is also really well done. Thank you for this recommendation!
I think if you ever do a Farmer's Market event with the book truck your curated shelf could be Cottagecore / Farmhouse books. I think Anne of Green Gables would be perfect for a Farmer's Market! Anything with a rural vibe.
I have seen quite a few of these "books we pretend we've read" displays over the years and I think most of them are just tongue in cheek and also a new way to highlight certain books that don't end up on promotion tables that often. It's a good conversation starter too. The phrase does make some sense though, because some classics are so well known through popculture or multiple movie adaptations that it can almost feel like you read the book even though you just watched a couple of of "Pride and Prejudice"s or heard a few too many "1984" references ...
38:15 Ariel, I'm a huge graphic novel reader. Ballad for Sophie is an all time favorite, the Sheets series is quite up there too. And even usually despising graphic novel adaptation's of novels, I believe Thummler did an incredible job there. So having said that, I believe I might have a sense of what you're looking for: "About Betty's Boob" by Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau. (Hoping this comment doesn't get flagged by RU-vid because of that title 🤞🏼)
Ariel, a biography I recommend is For Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse by Howard Fishman. It is about Connie Converse, who was a musician, writer, academic, and activist who was wayyy ahead of her time. Much about her life (including the most well-known thing about her, her disappearance at the end of her life) is unknown, even to the author, the first person to write a book about her. But her cultural/musical impact was undeniable! When you talked about Agatha Christie's personal mystery, it reminded me of this. It was so cool to read a biography about someone relatively unknown and do such a deep dive into their life. I would also highly recommend the audiobook because it intersperses recordings of Connie's music!
What I find incredible about the Agatha Christie disappearance is the fact that she went missing from Sunningdale, Berkshire and was found at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire! Around 220 miles away! How did she get there? Did she hitchhike? Did she get a train? But then how did she pay for the train ticket when all her belongings were found in her car? There is a fictional account of what happened called The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont which I’m obsessed with! Love the podcast ❤
Ariel, the way you talk about swimming has made me seek out swimming any chance I’ve had this summer. Like if a lake or river wasn’t involved I’d actively make sure it was (almost too aggressively). I had/am having so much fun. Thank you both for loving swimming and reminding me how much I love it!
Thanks to Ariel for banging on about Tove Jansson - just read 'The Summer Book' and it was A DELIGHT. Now I'm daydreaming about sailing off into the sunset to live the simple life on a small Finnish island....
Ariel, if you enjoy The Con Artists, make sure to check out Americana, also by Luke Healy :) It’s so so pretty and an autobiographical story of his time on the PCT! Knowing you liked Wild by Cheryl Strayed, it may interest you ❤
Raeleen!!! You need to read spinning by Tillie Walden! A graphic memoir about her time as a competitive skater. I read it in one sitting yesterday… highly recommend!!
Rae, another book you may enjoy is, Sure, I’ll join your cult by Maria Bamford. It’s the memoir of a comedian who has spent her whole life dealing with mental illness and she talks a lot about her multiple stays in psychiatric hospitals. It’s told with such vulnerability and humour and I think you’d really enjoy it.
I'm also a Southern woman and yes Raeleen should definitely try the Jiffy mix even if it's just once. I had almost recommended it before but didn't since I know she's been making things from scratch.
I bought a signed copy of The God if the Woods (they got me!!! I am a sucker for a signed book ugh) I read it immediately which doesn’t usually happen and I LOVED ITTTT. It shocked me so much. I don’t read books from that genre often and I ended up giving it 5 stars!!
A documentary by Lucy Worsley --Jane Austen - Behind Closed Door For Settings Of Her Novels. It's on RU-vid I believe, and worth a watch as a pre-novel trailer. big Pod fan ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 Australia
I just have to say seeing the notification for this episode being out at work made me realize what a big part of my life the podcast has become. Finally at home and winding down watching the pod 💛🙏
Hey Ariel! If you want a good graphic novel with beautiful art & a beautiful story I really reccomend Tillie Waldens work especially "On A Sunbeam" and her graphic memoir "Spinning." On a Sunbeam is about a small crew of women & nonbinary people who travel space in a fish spaceship fixing old broken temples, and it also delves into the main characters past looking at her first love/relationship. Spinning is about the author's childhood spent as a figure skater & how she fell out of love w the sport. Both are absolutely stunning in every way!
Anna Marie Tendler is comedian John Mulaney's ex-wife. I saw that book in the airport bookstore and didn't recognize it at first, but I used to follow her instagram for her art and now I'd be really interested to read her book!
I LOVED Men Have Called Her Crazy, but recognize that I am also its bullseye demographic (cis white mentally ill woman with creative brain and trauma). It's not for everyone but I do think Raeleen will enjoy it :-)
Honestly, it sounds like a self projection! I personally think I’ll read classics that I am interested in, but bc of the older dialects found in classics, I can never finish! Though I would never encourage people to just buy and not read 😅
This was a good pod. I have heard some things about Agatha Christie views that gave me pause to want to read any of her books. After hearing your take on her biography, I am going to read that and go from there.
I think Lucy Worsley did a great job being honest about Agatha Christie’s antisemitism and prejudices and gave some helpful context as well. I really enjoyed the book even tho I didn’t know much about Christie going into it
I really want ot read something by Lucy Worsley. I love the shows I have seen with her on RU-vid. I am worried about the Christie biography though...are there spoilers for Christie novels? I want to read her novels and do not want them to be ruined for me. I knew Ariel would love biographies! Am I mentally pulling for a Frida biography to be next? Yes, I totally am. I have been seeing the Frida books collection grow over the years and I think it would be a perfect choice to go for one of her biographies next!
No spoilers that I can think of! They just mention certain characters and how they transformed over the years and what was going on in Christie’s life when she wrote some of the major ones.
I finished reading Moonbound by Robin Sloan and I LOVED it!! My husband also read it and declared he didn't like it, on the whole, because he found the ending to be unsatisfying. I honestly don't know if either of you would like it. It's as hard to describe as the inside flap exemplifies. All I can say is that it is a JOURNEY. And I rarely re-read books anymore, but that one... Ooh! I kinda want to read it again right away.
Lol good luck on your cornbread endeavors Raeleen 😂 also, I now want to read the Agatha Christie biography & I already wanted to read God of the Woods but now I really want to read it!
I've recently read/listened to, two really good autobiographies. 1st. Dave Grohl's- The Storyteller He's just a good, fun, human being who loves his mom, would listen again. 2nd. Geena Davis- Dying of Politeness. On the same line of someone's brain working differently, it's hers. I was amazed at her life and her work for females getting more say, money, and time as the opposite sex. I was kinda sad when I didn't get hear either of the voices telling me their stories at the end.
What I love about Agatha Christie is the fact that she was a big woman. She was tall and large with broad shoulders. In her autobiography she complains about the fact that she can't find summer dresses her size.
Love the pod! Just wanted to recommend a game i thought you both may like. It's called Fields of Mistria, and it's the best farming sim i have played in recent memory. It takes the best from stardew, but really has it's own identity by having new features for the genre like something as simple as being able to jump, which after playing with it i could not go back to a farming game without it. Visually its also really cool, with a 90s shojo look for the portraits. It's on early access, so it's only on steam right now, but it has so much content already that it doesn't feel incomplete. Just wanted to recommend it to everyone.
What brand are the penny loafers? They’re so cute! I’m going to have to come back to God of the Woods, it came on hold for me at my library, I read about 20 pages and realized I just really wanted to read sci fi instead, so once I’m back in a mystery mood, I’m going to revisit it!
I read God of the Woods this summer and I really like the cover! I actually don't like the title; I feel like it's too paranormal for a straight laced literary mystery.
For anyone who liked “The God of the Woods,” try “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker (2024). It’s a story about girls who go missing from a small town in Missouri. It takes place in 1975, the same year as “The God of the Woods.”
I second this!!! I started All the Colors of the Dark on Saturday morning and finished the next night, because I could not put it down. The characters have so much heart.
