Justin Magnuson and Rebecca Sturgeon are co-moderators of a book club called The Long Before the End Book Club that started as part of The Before I Die Festival in Louisville Kentucky. They are an organization that along with other groups like Bevival and the Trager Institute at the University of Louisville promote discussions about the end of life through a variety of means including the arts.

Alix Harrow is a Hugo award-winning writer of historical fantasy fiction who also happens to be a fellow Kentuckian. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, has been called by Kirkus Reviews a ‘A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word,’ and NPR books says it is one that should go on your Favorites Shelf. It has been on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers List. It was recently nominated for the Nebula Award. She is a rising star in the burgeoning female revolution taking place in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Our guest today grew up in poverty in eastern Kentucky, but attended Yale and Harvard, received her law degree, and came back to Kentucky to work for the Legal Aid Society, helping at-risk women in her home state. Cassie Chambers has also written a memoir, called Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains, about life and culture in Owsley County through the lens of three generations of women in her own family.

Our guest this week, Emily McKeehan, left a job in the insurance industry to follow her dream of becoming a high school English teacher because she felt that was what she has been called to do.

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also the love of humanity”. This quote from Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is especially true when doctors imbue their experiences into artistic pursuits like today’s guest. Kimmery Martin is an emergency room physician turned author whose medical fiction features female doctors shouldering the life and death responsibilities of their profession but also dealing with questions of friendship, love, and the thorny cultural Issues of our times with a good dose of humor thrown into the mix.

Our guest today, Niamh Lutes, is a local music teacher, vocalist, and avid reader who grew up near Kilkenny, Ireland. She gives us a glimpse of a childhood in Ireland and a whole new world of Irish authors to add to our TBR.

This week Carrie and I traveled to record at the Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion, which is a Victorian era mansion built in 1871, with 12-foot ceilings, hand-carved wood balusters, and intricately designed colorful wallpapers. It has been preserved and enveloped by the campus of Spalding University and is the location of their School of Creative and Professional Writing and home base for today’s guest, debut novelist Katy Yocom.

Our guests today are members of a group they comicly refer to as a “literary gang”, a book club called The Monstrous Regiment, a name based on a book by author Terry Pratchett that features a feminist manifesto.

Our guest this week, Robert Eric Shoemaker, likes art that defies categorization. He is drawn to literary experiences that he would describe as “all kinds of crazy”. He is a poet, playwright, and translator who is the artistic director of Poetry Is: A Sound Experience, a collaboration between musicians and poets to create an event where the audience interacts with the performance in a way that perhaps makes poetry more accessible.

Our guest this week, Anne Bogel, is a fellow Kentuckian, as well as the person thousands of readers turn to for new book recommendations with both her popular book and lifestyle blog, Modern Mrs. Darcy and on her podcast, What Should I Read Next. On her blog, you can sign up for book journaling classes, be part of a monthly online book club or read lifestyle articles like her tips for cozy sweater care. Her podcast examines the reading life of her guests and suggests new titles for them based on their favorites as well as a book they love to hate.