Season 14, Episode 274 The International Book Project with guest Rachel Ray
This week we talk to Rachel Ray, CEO of the International Book Project, a nonprofit organization in Lexington, KY that helps make book lovers out of people all over the world. She talks to us about the logistics of shipping books and how close relationships with the Peace Corps and other nonprofits help get English-language books into people’s hands.
And for our book recommendation section of the show, we are focusing on spies, but these definitely aren’t of the James Bond variety. We offer up 6 book suggestions that stretch our understanding of an espionage story. We are light on books set during the Cold War or World War II but instead focus on outside-the-box spy characters.
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
1- A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City by David Dominé
2- The White Heart of the Mojave: An Adventure with the Outdoors of the Desert by Edna Brush Perkins
3- Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams on the Edge of Death Valley by Brent Underwood
4- Guards, Guards! (Discworld series) by Terry Pratchett
5- The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valley
6- Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats by Courtney Gustafson
7- A Five Star Read by Fellow Book Lover Jenni Scott @storytimereviews - Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
8- Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park
9- Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht
10- An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
11- Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
12- Mr. Nice Spy by Tiana Smith
13- The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix
Media Mentioned:
1- Murder in Glitterball City (HBO Max 2026)
2- John Hendrix's link to The Faithful Spy research - https://goose-hawk-c589.squarespace.com/bonhoeffer-research