Books with Betsy

On this episode, Sirenna Blas, of @sirenbee_readsnthings on instagram, talks about how her life as a stay at home mom affords her amazing reading time. We also talk about how she is not afraid to give a spicy review, who she wants an adaptation from, and how she brings the reading life alive with her kiddos. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Kin by Tayari Jones

A Beast Slinks Toward Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang 

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 

 

Books Highlighted by Sirenna:

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones 

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Joy is My Middle Name by Sasha Debevec-McKenney

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Endling by Maria Reva

Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due 

Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich 

Dominion by Addie E. Citchens 

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle 

The WIld Robot by Peter Brown 

Laleh and the Language of the Birds by Perin Gurel 

Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes by Eric Litwin & James Dean 

Kin by Tayari Jones

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones 

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup 

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio 

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw 

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw

On this episode, Vanessa Diaz, managing editor with Book Riot, talks about how her reading life is affected by her job, recommends woman-led mysteries, and talks about her current favorite authors. If you like witchy books, you have a lot of really great recommendations in this episode. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Kin by Tayari Jones

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke 

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley 

 

Books Highlighted by Vanessa:

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Sylvia Moreno Garcia 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 

The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson 

An Ember in the Ashes by Saba Tahir 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Christina Rivera Garza 

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein

You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado 

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon 

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

We Need No Wings by Ann Dávila Cardinal 

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe 

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe 

The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

On this episode, Jeff Jones, a fan of graphic novels, talks about how he comes to reading through his interest in sci-fi movies. We talk about his favorite weekly read, how he manages his very small TBR, and his discovery of some favorite authors through their work in comics. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaeffer 

Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic 

 

Books Highlighted by Jeff:

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

The Darkseid War: The Green Lantern by Tom King & Evan “Doc” Shaner

Day After Night by Anita Diamant

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 

Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt 

Exhalation by Ted Chiang 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Shonen Jump 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 

Strange Adventures by Tom King & Evan Shaner 

Vision: The Complete Collection by Tom King 

Monstress by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda 

Far Sector by N.K Jemisin & Jamal Campbell 

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin 

All About Love by Bell Hooks 

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

On this episode, Ben from Off Color Book Club joins me to discuss the most recent Off Color Book Club book, True Biz by Sara Novic. 

 

My Book Club Guide

 

If you’re interested in joining the Off Color Book Club in the future, our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 19th to discuss Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. All are welcome!

On this episode, Tess Page, listener of Books with Betsy, talks about her requirement for books grounded in reality, her high/low reading tastes, and tells some wonderful stories of her reading habits in childhood. We talk about a shared favorite author who has a deep backlist and I encourage you to check her out!

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Milktooth by Jaime Barnett

Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma

 

Books Highlighted by Tess:

Riders by Jilly Cooper 

Rivals by Jilly Cooper 

The Babysitter’s Club Graphic Novel Adaptation by Raina Tagelmeier & Ann M. Martin

In a Blue Velvet Dress by Catherine Sefton

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym  

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 

Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell 

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins 

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman