Books with Betsy

On this episode, Molly Page, @mollypg on instagram, talks about her project visiting all of the branches of the Chicago Public Library, how her writing is how she first fell in love with words, and how adaptations drive most of her reading decisions. We also talk a lot about Chicago and how amazing it is to be a reader in the city! 

 

100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash 

Rental House by Weike Wang 

 

Books Highlighted by Molly:

Trust by Hernan Diaz 

The Need by Helen Phillips 

Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It by Tonika Lewis Johnson and Maria Krysan 

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

Starter Villain by John Scalzi 

Yearbook by Seth Rogan 

Who is This City For?: Architecture, Equity, and the Public Realm in Chicago by Blair Kamin & Lee Bey

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

The Odyssey by Homer, trans. Emily Wilson 

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman 

All This and More by Peng Shepherd 

Hum by Helen Phillips

On this episode, Brady Parkin, @booksbybrady on Instagram, is a bookseller who enjoys reading broadly but focuses on literary fiction. We talk about the seemingly magical access he has as a bookseller, how awards lists impact reading, and he gives a lot of really great book recommendations. 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

The Renovation by Kenan Orhan 

Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius 

 

Books Highlighted by Brady:

Babel by R.F. Kuang 

The Book of Luke by Lovell Holder 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar 

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen 

In Memoriam by Alice Winn 

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin 

The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy 

Sisters of a Halved Heart by Nayantara Roy

The End of Drum Time by Hanna Pylväinen

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

Kaikeyi by Vishnavi Patel 

Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela 

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang 

Orbital by Samantha Harvey 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee 

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

On this episode, Lydia Plahn, a journalism student in Chicago, who talks about how she incorporates reading into her life as a student, how being a younger sister prompted her to read more as a child, and how important used bookstores are to her. We also talk about one of the classes she took entitled Millenial Fiction so lookout for that!! 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra 

The Renovation by Kenan Orhan 

 

Books Highlighted by Lydia:

Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski 

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 

Theater Kid by Jeffrey Seller 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Life Would be Perfect if I Lived in that House by Meghan Daum

Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York by Francis Spufford 

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 

A Journey to the New World (Dear America) by Kathryn Lasky 

American Girl by Sydney Hanson 

Flashout by Alexis Soloski 

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan 

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Verity by Colleen Hoover 

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Normal People by Sally Rooney 

Luster by Raven Leilani 

Real Life by Brandon Taylor 

Kin by Tayari Jones 

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott

On this episode, Sam and Maggie from Off Color Book Club join me to discuss the most recent Off Color Book Club book, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. 

 

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, June 16th to discuss A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. All are welcome!

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