Books with Betsy

On this episode, I bring back Sam Wilmes from episode 1 to celebrate 100 episodes of Books with Betsy so she can interview me! I am the guest on this episode so if you’ve ever wanted to hear my answers to my interview questions, here it is! We talk about a ton of books and somehow I neglected to talk about Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel which is one of my absolute favorite books. I am sure I will continue to think about more and more books that I didn’t discuss because there are so many amazing books out there! 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan 

Heart the Lover by Lily King 

 

Books Highlighted by Betsy:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

1984 by George Orwell 

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix 

No Exit by Taylor Adams 

Trust by Hernan Diaz 

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee 

Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 

The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski 

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli 

Redwall by Brian Jacques 

Amelia’s Notebook by Marissa Moss 

Sunny: Diary One, California Diaries by Ann M. Martin 

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh 

Bloomability by Sharon Creech 

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech 

A Winkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata 

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata 

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 

Brawler by Lauren Groff 

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 

Matilda by Roald Dahl 

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler by E.L. Konigsburg 

The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg 

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater

On this episode, Emily Bogaert, a fellow teacher, talks about how her childhood made her fall in love with the library, the joy she feels when getting the right books into the hands of her students, and we talk about the ups and downs of the reading life when you’re a teacher. She also has a reading habit that is absolutely wild and I didn’t even know was still possible. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Time, Silence, and Yeast: A Song of Appreciation for Trappist Communities and Their Beer by Marty Tomszak 

Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran by Shahrnush Parsipur

Small Comfort by Ia Genberg

 

Books Highlighted by Emily:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi 

Trial by Journal by Kate Klise 

Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones 

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

My Friends by Frederik Backman 

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett 

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett 

Woodworking by Emily St. James 

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 

11/22/63 by Stephen King 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander 

True Biz by Sara Nović

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

North Woods by Daniel Mason 

Trust by Hernan Diaz 

Little Women by Louisa My Alcott 

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey 

Juana & Lucas by Juana Medina 

The Institute by Stephen King 

There is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone

On this episode, Jennifer from Off Color Book Club joins me to discuss the most recent Off Color Book Club book, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli. 

 

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, April 21st to discuss True Biz by Sara Novic. All are welcome!

On this episode, Stephanie Bailey, a fellow Read & Runner, talks about her love of audiobooks, especially a favorite narrator, how much she enjoys graphic novels, and we discuss our shared love of sad books. She also has a surprising way that school helped her fall in love with reading. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

This Here is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry

Brawler by Lauren Groff 

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon

 

Books Highlighted by Stephanie:

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool too) by Nora McInerny Purmort

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast

The Trees by Percival Everett 

Dream City by Brendan Short 

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein 

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean-Dominique Bauby

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr 

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon 

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix 

The World According to Garp by John Irving 

The Water-Method Man by John Irving 

Setting Free the Bears by John Irving 

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney 

Angel Down by Daniel Kraus 

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 

No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny

You by Caroline Kepnes 

Shopgirl by Steve Martin 

Erasure by Percival Everett 

James by Percival Everett 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

On this episode, Arionne Nettles, author, journalist, and professor, talks about how she finds romance to be a comfort, audiobook preferences that she loves, and why she likes talking about books in person but has a harder time with the bookish internet. We also get to talk about her book that I would absolutely recommend widely!

 

We Are the Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Intemperance by Sonora Jha 

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie 

Brawler by Lauren Groff 

 

Books Highlighted by Arionne:

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Matriarch by Tina Knowles 

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith 

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee 

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Addy: Finding Freedom by Connie Porter 

The Care and Keeping of You by Valorie Schaefer & Cara Netterson 

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan 

Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen 

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah 

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey 

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid 

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond 

Evicted by Matthew Desmond