It is officially Halloween season so we’re talking all about witches this week. We’ll each share 5 bewitching books, 10 total, that you should put on your TBRs.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Leslie “F*cking” Jones by Leslie Jones

2- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

3- My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar

4- Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman

6- Everything/Nothing/Someone by Alice Carriere

7- Circe by Madeline Miller

8- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

9- Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

10- Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

11- The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

12- Cackle by Rachel Harrison

13- Akata Witch–Nnedi Okorafor

14- Akata Warrrior by Nnedi Okorafor

15- Hester by Laura Lico Albanese

16- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

17- The Last Witch by Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher series)

18- Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher series)

19- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

20- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

23- The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

24- Macbeth by William Shakespeare

25- Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott

26- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

27- My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood (Amaaon Original Story)

28- Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America by Leila Philip

29- Loot by Tania James

30- Night watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

*5 Star Read Recommended by Book Lover Meghan Geary @biblioactivist203

Celine by Peter Heller

Movies and or TV series mentioned—

1- Ghostbusters (2016)

2- Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

3- The Witcher (2019 - present, Netflix))

4- Discovery of Witches - (2018-2022 AMC)

Shows Mentioned—

Wicked (Broadway)

Our guest this week, Kika Hatzopoulou, grew up in Greece with the foundation of Ancient Greece and its mythology all around her. She now lives in London and until recently was an acquisitions editor for a Greek publisher, where she read and recommended books being published in the US and Britain for acquisition and translation for Greek audiences. She tinkered with the idea of writing a book herself, combining the Greek mythology stories she learned as a child with the detective stories and gritty noir that she loves reading. The result is Threads that Bind.

The novel Threads That Bind is about three sisters who are descendants of the Fates (also known as the Morai), the three mythological sisters who hold everyone’s destinies in their hands via threads. Io, the youngest sister, is a private investigator who discovers that someone is kidnapping women, tampering with their threads and essentially turning them into zombies. She has numerous potential suspects from Greek mythology: the Furies, the Oneroi (who control dreams), the Graces (who bestow artistic gifts on humans), and the Keres (who are the spirits of violent death). It is a novel that opens up a world of mythological characters you may not know much about.

A sequel to Threads that Bind titled Hearts that Cut comes out in summer 2024.

In addition to being our novelist guest, she also serves as this season’s global reader since we talk to her about Greek education and writers. She also turns the tables on us during the Fast and the Furious, the first guest to have ever done so, and we were unprepared.

You can find Kika at her website at kikahatzopoulou.com/ and on Insta at @kikahatzapoulou

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

2- Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou

3- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

4- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

5- Frindle by Andrew Clements

6- Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

7- Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

8- Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

9- Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Munoz

10- Orpheus and Eurydice (the original Greek myth)

11- Lore by Alexandra Bracken

12- Girl Goddess Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

13- Mythology by Edith Hamilton

14- Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

15- The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

16- Simon & the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

17- What Bees Want: Beekeeping as Nature Intended by Susan Knilens

18- The Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik

19- The Prison Healer by Linnette Noni

20- Wesley Yorstead Goes Outside by Stephanie Harper

5 Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover Fabee @devouredpages

1- The Ill-Made Mute by Celicia Dart-Thornton (and all of The Bitterbynde Trilogy)

Movies mentioned--

Rear Window (1954)

Theatre mentioned--

Hadestown

This week we are featuring books by Latino authors in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Molly's Tuxedo by Vicki Johnson

2- Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (short story)

3- Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

4- Fever by Mary Beth Keane

5- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

6- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

7- Why Didn’t You Tell Me by Carmen Rita Wong

8- Ghetto Klown by John Leguizamo

9- The Last Cuentista by Barbara Donna Higuera

10- The Murmur of Bees by Sophía Segovia

11- The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernandez

12- The Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

13- Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Peña

14- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

15- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

16- The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

17- Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

18- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

19- I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

20- Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

21- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

22- Leech by Hiron Ennes

5 Star Book Recommendation by a Fellow Book Lover - Ciera Oldham @Disappearherebookblog

- Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Movies mentioned--

1- Arrival (2016)

2- The Afterparty (Apple + TV, 2022 - present)

Article about Cuban community in Louisville:

www.nytimes.com/2023/08/26/us/cub…lle-kentucky.html

Article about wasps and figs:

www.bonappetit.com/story/figs-and-wasps

We always enjoy chatting with people we find on Instagram who are doing bookish things, and Kristine Eckart is one of those folks. She is the creator of Gilmore Book Club, which offers all kinds of book blogs, discussions, videos, and lists associated with the show Gilmore Girls. As if that wouldn’t keep her busy enough, she also hosts a book club for people with chronic health conditions (and we’re including the link to it in our show notes) and is working on creating book-related content for other beloved shows, such as Gossip Girl and The Office.

You can find Kristine on Insta and Youtube at @gilmorebookclub and at her website www.gilmorebookclub.com. Her Chronic Illness Bookclub can be found at www.thechroniconcommunity.com/share/_diU…rce=manual

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Blacktop Wasterland by S.A. Cosby

2- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

3- Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons From Russian Literature by Viv Groskop

4- Cujo by Stephen King

5- Tortall series by Tamora Pierce

6- Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

7- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

8- Moby Dick by Herman Melville

9- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

10- The Vampyre by John Polidori

11- Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw

12- Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakeable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson

13- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

14- The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

15- The President’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

16- The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

17- The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict

18- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

19- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

5 Star Read Recommended by a Fellow Book Lover

1- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness recommended by Kim Layman @the_read_rat

Shows mentioned—

1- Gilmore Girls (Netflix, 2000)

2- Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (Netflix, 2016)

3- Gossip Girl - (HBO Max 2007 - 2012)

4- The Office (2005-2013)

5- White Lotus - (HBO Max 2021 - present)

6- The Good Witch - (Netflix 2015-2021)

7- Anne with an "E" - (Netflix 2017 - 2019)

Sometimes when people have experienced a loss or some kind of traumatic event, they are encouraged to write about it, which gives them an outlet for their feelings and a way to help them process the experience. Our guest this week, Willie Carver Jr. was the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year but he experienced loss and trauma when both he and his students were targeted because he is gay. He began putting his thoughts and feelings into poetic lines and stanzas.

The book of poems that resulted, Gay Poems for Red States published by University Press of Kentucky, helped him look back at prejudices he had experienced as a child living in rural Kentucky, as a gay man, and as a teacher offering a place of security for his students. The poetry served as an impetus for him to engage more as an activist, even testifying before the House Subcommittee on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights concerning the need for rights for LGBTQ students and educators. Book Riot has named Gay Poems for Red States one of the best of the year.

You can find Willie Carver on Instagram @williecarverjr or on his website at www.williecarver.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Gay Poems for Red States by Willie Carver Jr

2- The Awakening by Kate Chopin

3- Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (audiobook)

4- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll narrated by Sally Field (audiobook)

5- The Eyre Affair series by Jasper Fforde (audiobook)

6- What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

7- The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

8- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

9- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

10- Theoretical Tiger Society by Brian Fuchs

11- With a Hammer for My Heart by George Ella Lyon

12- Undercooked: How I Let Food Become My Life Navigator and How Maybe That's a Dumb Way to Live by Dan Ahdoot

Five Star Recommendation by Fellow Book Lover Michael DeConzo, author of Welcome to the Arcade and Two Nickels

1- Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

Podcast mentioned

1- Green Eggs and Dan

A few weeks ago we talked about journeys and this week we are completing the circle with an episode about destinations; specifically about places we have visited in the last few years. Do you read books about the places you travel before or during a trip? We talk about how it can enrich both your reading and travel experience.

You can find books we've talked about and other curated lists at our Bookshop page at bookshop.org/shop/PerksOfBeingABookLover

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Broadway Butterfly by Sara DiVello

2- When You Find My Body by D. Dauphinee

3- Alice the Cat by Tim Cummings

4- Tell the Rest by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

5- Burying My Dead by Bettie Lennett Denny

6- Martin Marten by Brian Doyle

7- Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan

8- The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett

9- The Highland Witch by Susan Fletcher (Corrag)

10- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

11- The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's

First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth

12- Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

13- 44 Scotland Street (#1) by Alexander McCall Smith

14- Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

15- My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

18- West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

19- City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

20- The Tale of Halycon Crane by Wendy Webb

21- The Crow Road by Iain Banks

22- The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter

23- Blacktop Wasteland by SA Cosby

24- Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby

25- All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby

5 Star Recommneded Read By a Fellow Booklover - Ivana @MissTuned

1- Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino

Shows mentioned--

1- The Bear (Hulu)

2- Beef (Netflix)

3- Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Articles mentioned--

www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www…na98970

We were honored to welcome Andy Hunter, the CEO of Bookshop.org to the podcast this week. Andy is a writer, a publisher, and now heads up a company that competes with Amazon for on-line book sales. But unlike Amazon, the proceeds of Bookshop.org’s sales go back to independent bookstores.

At the click of a button, you can order a book to be delivered while your favorite independent bookseller gets part of that sale. Independent bookstores that sell most of their books during summer or don’t have the capacity to ship books can create a Bookshop.org page and sell books to anyone at any time. Authors, schools, and book influencers can create pages, too.

We talk with Andy about why he started this endeavor a few months before COVID hit, why he loves Coney Island, and how his degree in philosophy has affected the types of books he gravitates to.

Oh, and as of this recording, we decided to get with the times. The Perks is a Bookshop affiliate; you can see any of the books we talk about on the show on our new bookshop page and order them there.

bookshop.org/shop/PerksOfBeingABookLover

You can find Bookshop at https//bookshop.org.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- Is It Hot In Here? (Or am I Suffering for all Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth?) by Zach Zimmerman

2- Emergency by Kathleen Alcott

3- The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut

4- When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut

5- Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

6- The Wizard's Guide to Magical Baking by T. Kingfisher

7- The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Movies mentioned--

1- Barbie (2023)

Podcast episode-

1- Thrillers by the Bookclub Podcast - Ep. 39 - Murder Ensues

Recipe Mentioned:

smittenkitchen.com/2015/07/tomato-…olone-sandwich/

This week we are talking all about journeys. Whether they be physical or mental, we whisk you away in a good book. Choose from 10 book recommendations from Carrie and Amy for when you're ready to be on the move.

Books Mentioned in this Episode

1- How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas Foster

2- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

3- Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

4- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

5- The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor by Aubrey Hartman

6- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester (The Surgeon of Crowthorne)

7- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

8- Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Lauren Artress

9- Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

10- Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

11- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

12- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

13- What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Most Mysterious Portrait by Eden Collinsworth

14- News of the World by Paulette Jilles

15- Enemy Women by Paulette Jilles

16- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

17- The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas

18- A Pearl in a Storm: How I Found my Heart in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean by Tori Murden McClure

19- The Gran Tour: Travels with My Elders by Ben Aitken

20- Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker

21- Cosmic Cats and Fantastic Furballs by Mary Turzillo

22- Your Cat and Other Space Aliens by Mary Turzillo

23- Mars is No Place for Children by Mary Turzillo

5 Star Book Recommendation by a Book Lover

1- Empire Of A Vampire by Jay Christoff recommended by Tiffany K., Omaha, NE. Instagram @chaiteaandbooksareallineed

Shows/Movies watched—

1- American Born Chinese (Disney+, 2023)

2- Annihilation (Netflix, 2018)

3- The Professor and the Madman (2019)

Labirynth Locator

www.labyrinthlocator.com

Bookish News

Article about Henrietta Lacks

apnews.com/article/henrietta-l…efa34c9b79a544f0729

This week we chat with Katrina Kittle, a Dayton, OH author whose most recent novel is titled Morning in This Broken World. I met Katrina when I took her online writing class not even knowing she had a new novel coming out but had heard such wonderful things about her four previously published books. Katrina is a real delight of a person. She is fun and bubbly but she would say she is also anti-social. So maybe a mix of both Carrie and I?

Her newest novel is about a group of unlikely companions who quarantine together during the Covid pandemic.

You can find Katrina Kittle at her website www.katrinakittle.com or on instagram at @katrinakittle

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- 5 star recommednation by fellow book lover Megan Cox

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

2- Morning in This Broken World by Katrina Kittle

3- Reasons To Be Happy by Katrina Kittle

4- Invitation by Mary Oliver

5- Babel by RF Kuang

6- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

7- Yellowface by RF Kuang

8- Come With Me by Erin Flanagan

9- Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane (audiobook narrated by Noah Galvin

10- The Guncle by Steven Rowley

This week we celebrate all the special days of June! Want a book rec for Pride month? We have one. What about Juneteenth or Father's Day? We have you covered. And did you know it's National Audiobook Month? It's new to us as well but we love audiobooks so we give you some recommendations for that too. And we throw in one wildcard category - one of those random National Days or Months that always makes you wonder why there needs to be a month for that:)

This is the last episode for Season 8. We are taking a month off for summer family travel and some rest and relaxation. We will be back the late July/ early August with all new episodes. Until then, we will air some of our favorite past episodes in case you missed them the first time around.

Happy Reading!

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

1- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

2- The Road by Cormac McCarthy

3- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

4- Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo

5- Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo

6- The Scent of a Garden by Namrata Patel

7- The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel

8- The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule

9- Fun Home: A Famliy Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

10- Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

11- And Then the Grey Heaven by RE Katz

12- Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

13- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

14- Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

15- The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

16- The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

17- The Chosen by Chaim Potok

18- Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

19- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

20- The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

21- Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham

22- The Good One by Polly Stewart

23- On Earth as it is on Television by Emily Jane

Shows/movies mentioned--

1- No Country For Old Men ( 2007)

2- My Octopus Teacher (Netflix, 2020)

Articles Mentioned

1- www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/20…-author-dies/

2- www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/13/1…ler-lists-explained