Best Book Ever

My dear friend Mark Lefebvre is back this week to teach me all about Canadian Literature, eh? Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram    Guest: Mark Lefebvre Website/Instagram   Editor: Emily Zumchak Website/Email   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode:   Bob and Doug McKenzie The Handmaids Tale and Others by Margaret Atwood Louise Penny The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis World of Wonders by Robertson Davies Fifth Business by Robertson Davies Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison Farley Mowat To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice A Matter of Will by Rod Carley Kinmount by Rod Carley Lives of Girls and Women and Others by Alice Munroe Steven Leacock The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot The Embroidered Book by Kate Hartfield The Hollow Boys by Douglas Smith The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee Changing Vision by Julie E. Czerneda Flash Forward Robert J Sawyer Flashforward TV series Rollback by Robert J Sawyer Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault by James Alan Gardner Eden's Eyes by Sean Costello Death Drives a Semi by Edo Van Belkom The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart Samantha M. Bailey Giles Blunt Michael Connolly Linwood Barclay Into The Fire by Rick Mofina Hollow Place by Rick Mofina Requiem by Rick Mofina Canadian Werewolf Series The Line Painter by Claire Cameron The Bear by Claire Cameron The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan The Color of Heaven by Julianne McClain Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphries Someday I'll Find You by C.C. Humphries Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill Scott Overton   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)  

This week's guest is one of my favorite readers, writers and humans on the planet: Mark Lefebvre. Mark has been pushing Terry Fallis' books on me practically since we met, and I'm so glad I finally took his advice. We had a great time discussing political satire, reading slumps, and the differences between American and Canadian humor sensibilities. Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram    Guest: Mark Lefebvre Website/Instagram   Editor: Emily Zumchak Website/Email   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time. Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list. Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode: The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis Earth Abides by George R. Stewart BBE Episode 009 Mark Lefebvre on Earth Abides BBE Episode 058 Mark Lefebvre on Traveling Music by Neil Peart (this is one of those very rare occasions when Mark and I disagreed about a book, and let me tell you, my friends: saying something negative about Neil Peart in front of Mark Lefebvre was the riskiest thing I have ever done in my life. I am so brave.)  Fifth Business by Robertson Davies Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger BBE Episode 010 Casey Starnes on Catcher in the Rye Titles Bookstore at McMaster University High Spirits by Robertson Davies John Irving Steven Leacock McClelland and Stewart Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw My Fair Lady (1964) Best Laid Plans TV Show Dennis Hamill Operation Angus by Terry Fallis No Relation by Terry Fallis Up and Down by Terry Fallis Poles Apart by Terry Follis The Candidate (1972) Three Cheers For Me by Donald Jack The Long Way Back by Nicole Bart Number One is Walking by Steve Martin Harry Bliss The Canadian Mounted by Mark Leslie Edo Van Belkom Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)  

This week I'm so delighted for you to meet Kate Reynolds, also known as The Lavender Librarian. Kate is a passionate advocate of inclusive storytimes for children, and she has some innovative ideas for how to share reading time with kids.  I was initially hesitant when Kate suggested we read a children's book for this episode - afraid that we wouldn't have enough to talk about to fill the half hour. But I was so, so wrong. Talking to librarians is always a wonderful experience, but talking to this particular one about this particular book was extra-specially magic.  Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram    Guest: Kate Reynolds Instagram/Facebook/Youtube   Storytime Solidarity - Website/Patreon/Facebook Group   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list. Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode:   A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond   Roald Dahl The Babysitters Club Beverly Cleary Mr. Rogers Sharon, Lois and Bram Sandwiches by Fred Penner Je suis une Pizza by Charlotte Diamond 123 Andres Jim Gill Little Miss Anne Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison Mouse by Art Spiegelman And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Tiffany Hammond's Instagram   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)  

Today I am joined by Lisa Petersen, my dear friend since college. We agreed to spend the summer revisiting our favorite childhood classics by Judy Blume, and now we're back to discuss our feelings about the books as children vs. as adults. Along the way, we talked about banned books and parenting, and how our love for Judy Blume has carried us through the years.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram    Guest: Lisa Petersen Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode:   Judy Blume The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling The Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang  Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume Are You There God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume Blubber by Judy Blume Deenie by Judy Blume Forever by Judy Blume It's Not the End of the World by Judy Blume Judy Blume Forever - 2023 film Are You There God? It's me, Margaret - 2023 film Terry Gross Interview In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume You've Got Mail - 1998 film Also, for fun: 87 Books Featured in “You've Got Mail” A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)  

Yolanda Skeete, an avid reader and co-host of Thrillers by the Book Club SoCal, is back on the show with our book club pal Vanessa Vicente. Yolanda and Vanessa are both bookstagrammers living in Southern California who love to review thrillers, nonfiction, romance, and other genres. As mothers ourselves, we have a lot to say about the 2022 Science Fiction novel “The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan. In this episode, we talk about our experiences, hardships, and joys as mothers, and the discussion ranges from KidLit to Black Mirror to Michelle Obama to questions like “Why aren't moms allowed to be sexy??”   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram    Guest: Yolanda Skeete Instagram    Guest: Vanessa Vicente Instagram Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast, AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode:   The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2022 Maribel's Year and Others by Michelle Sterling Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds The Couch Potato by Jory John The Bad Seed by Jory John Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Harambe Black Mirror TV Show The Sitting Month The Drowning Woman by Robin Harding Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen The Wife Between Us by Sarah Pekkanen Judy Blume Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Movie Whalefall by Daniel Kraus Drowning by T.J. Newman   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

The Best Book Ever Podcast is taking the rest of the summer off to rest, recuperate, and, best of all, to read indiscrimitately.  We'll be back on September 4, 2023, so make sure you have subscribed to the podcast on whatever podcatcher you use. I'll still send out regular emails with all sorts of bookish news, so make sure you're subscribed to my weekly newsletter HERE.

If you have not yet experienced the joy of the "Court of Thorns and Roses" fandom, we are going to fix that today.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest Panel:   Victoria Snow Instagram   Fareya Instagram/TikTok/Goodreads   Nicole Burton Instagram/Goodreads     Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.     Discussed in this episode:   A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAR) by Sarah J. Maas A Court of Wings and ruin (ACOWAR) by Sarah J. Maas A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOFAS) by Sarah J. Maas A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas ACOTAR Wiki Emma Petersen mentioned the ACOTAR books as “bird porn” when she appeared on the podcast to talk about Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang on Episode 138 A Court of Tattoos and Rosé podcast Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi House of Earth and Blood: Book one of the Crescent City Series by Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas @Kaykaysbookshelf (an awesome bookstagram account – scroll her saved stories for Sarah J. Mass mini-guides [spoiler free], maps, glossaries, etc. Her account is well worth a visit if you are a fan. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Whalefall by Daniel Kraus Daughter of the Moon Goddess: A Fantasy Romance Novel by Sue Lynn Tan Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes (a Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today I've got my first "three-peat" guest, Marion Hill. Just like in our two previous conversations, Marion introduced me to a book that I wouldn't have picked up on my own, that I sort of dreaded reading, and that I wound up loving and thinking about nonstop after I finished!   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Marion Hill Website/Instagram   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style. Discussed in this episode:   The Book of Strange new Things by Michel Faber The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende Eva Luna: A Novel by Isabel Allende   Marion's previous picks on the podcast Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint, which we talked about on Episode 008 Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which we talked about on Episode 083   The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell Gilead by Marilyn Robinson Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas The Sportswriter: Bascombe Trilogy 1 by Richard Ford Independence Day: Bascombe Trilogy 2 by Richard Ford The Lay of the Land: Bascombe Trilogy 3 by Richard Ford Let Me Be Frank with You: A Frank Bascombe Book by Richard Ford Be Mine: A Frank Bascombe Novel by Richard Ford The Kammbia Series by Marion Hill Marion's 25 by Marion Hill Marion's 25 Volume II by Marion Hill   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Ambika Devi Website/YouTube/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn     Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.     Discussed in this episode:   Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins Fun With Dick and Jane Lilith by Ambika Devi The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron Cupid is a Bastard by Ambika Devi Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe Danielle Garrett Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore Artemis by Andy Weir The Martian by Andy Weir Project Hail Mary   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

My guest this week is my beautiful daughter Ella. Ella just finished a semester at the University of Leicester, where she studied the novels of Jane Austen, and we have been talking nonstop about the books versus the movie adaptations, as well as feminism in Jane Austens books, and whether or not Harry Styles can smolder. It's a journey. Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Ella Strauss   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.     Discussed in this episode:   1st Annual Kids/YA Episode when Ella told me about Kate Atkinson Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Emma by Jane Austen Persuasion by Jane Austen Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Clueless Movie Bride and Prejudice Sense and Sensibility Movie A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft Here comes the smolder – from “Tangled” Derek Zoolander's “Blue Steel” Here is the Mr. Darcy hand flex scene that all the kids are weirdly obsessed with We Were Liars by E. Lockhart The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird Eve Ensler Colleen Hoover Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Bunny: A Novel by Mona Awad   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

My mom is the reason I'm a reader and today she joined me to talk books. She surprised me by choosing a cookbook (she and I are both fiction junkies) but The Pat Conroy Cookbook made for a great chat. We also talked about how we both cut our teeth on trashy novels and the joys of re-reading favorite books. She even spilled some tea about her book club! Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Betsy Dunn   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.     Discussed in this episode:   The Pat Conroy Cookbook by Pat Conroy The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope (this is just one in a whole series of Bobbsey Twins adventures) Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene The Red Tent by Anita Diamant The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy Beach Music by Pat Conroy The Great Santini by Pat Conroy The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son by Pat Conroy Carlsbad Aquafarm Beaufort, South Carolina really does look like a lovely town Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten Ina Garten's Beef Bourguingnon Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King The Water is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian Midwives by Chris Bohjalian Horse by Geraldine Brooks Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Y'all already know how much I love Canadians, and today you get to hear from one of my favorite ones.⁠ ⁠ I've previously interviewed Erin Walker before on Episode 101: Cookbook-Palooza with the women of the Three Kitchens Podcast. Their mission is to inspire fellow home cooks to try something new and have fun in the kitchen. They take a deep dive into a recipe, giving ideas and tips for making it, and they also talk to interesting guests from the food world.⁠ ⁠ Today I get a solo show with Erin, who is a mother, knitter, lover of the great outdoors and (of course) an avid reader. We talked about the book "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing and let me tell you: this is a jaw-dropping story. Erin is the type of human who likes to do treacherous, outdoorsy things, and I am the type of human who only goes outside to acquire more books. But we agree that this book, and the story of this particular adventurer, is an incredible read.⁠   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Erin Walker Instagram/Facebook/Website   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.       Discussed in this episode: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 049, when Ysaura Vanegas talked to me about The Alchemist) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters The Strangers by Katherena Vermette Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 024, when Jaimie Morimoto talked to me about Pride and Prejudice) The Promise by Damon Galgut (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 089, when Stephen Pelton talked to me about Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf,and we veered into a discussion about Damon Galgut's books.) Hell of a Book by Jason Mott Endurance: My Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly More Than You'll Ever Know by Kate Gutierrez Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 143, when Katy Leep Arditti talks to me about The House in the Cerulean Sea) Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 089, when Tori Snow talked to me about Hidden Valley Road) Tastes Like War: A Memoir by Grace M. Cho (Check out Best Book Ever Episode 110, when Jasmine Vyas talked to me about Tastes Like War). I was not able to do the Bosom Caresser Speakeasy Episode with the Three Kitchens Gals, but they did it, and it is wonderful. Check it out HERE!   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

It's just Julie this week, with an update about my absence and conversation about how my girlfriends have pulled me through this horrible season of life. Spoiler alert: they fed me tacos and wine and led me to the books that are helping me see things differently. As friends do! Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.     Discussed in this episode: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion This also exists as a stage play adaptation, performed on audiobook by Vanessa Redgrave Jaymi Couch, The OC Book Girl Instagram Jaymi's newsletter, Let's Read Nonfiction If you are a So Cal resident, don't miss Jaymi's amazing So Cal Reads Newsletter, where she links to author and reader events all over Southern California Geometry of Grief: Reflections on Mathematics, Loss, and Life by Michael Frame When Your Heart Says Go: My Year of Traveling Beyond Loss and Loneliness by Judy Reeves This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew by Daniel Wallace Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets by Kyo Maclear  The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Bozoma Saint John What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love by Laurel Braitman   So Sorry for Your Loss: How I Learned to Live with Grief, and Other Grave Concerns by Dina Gachman  One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care by Chenxing Han  Everything All at Once: A Memoir by Stephanie Catudal  How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton    (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

  My beloved Katy Leep Arditti is back this week, with yet another book that ripped my beating heart straight out of my chest, and left me weeping on the bedroom floor in the wee hours of the night. In a good way. We also chatted about perfume and anxiety and book bans, and how this book needs to go to people who experience all three.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Katy Leep-Arditti Katy's Bookstagram/Katy's Perfume IG Account /Perfume TikTok Account     Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   Katy's last appearance on Best Book Ever Podcast The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Skylar Salt Air perfume Fog perfume by Henry Rose Noir Exquis by L'Artisan Perfumaire Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes     (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

I liked today's book. And then I felt very weird that I liked it. Olivia Day, my guest who brought this confusing, twisty book into my life, is the co-host of the Thrillers by the Book Club pod. She is a long-time lover of thrillers, crime, and mystery stories, and a graduate of International Thriller Writer's Online Thriller School. Despite the grim thesis of the book we are discussing, Olivia and I had a lot of laughs as we discussed this book. And we drew a pretty effective through-line between the books that represent women's ultimate fantasies, whether they are sexual or, you know, murderous.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Olivia Day Instagram/Twitter   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast Chelsea Hofman on the Best Book Ever Podcast: Episode 137 and Episode 108 Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter They Never Learn by Layne Fargo Temper by Layne Fargo The Collective by Alison Gaylin The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine Best Book Ever Episode 013 Asha Sabella on The Last Mrs. Parrish Heartsick: A Thriller by Chelsea Cain What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Lisa Marie Cabrelli is my dear friend and one of my favorite people on the planet to talk books with, because her insights always knock me out. She came back to the show today to talk about "In the Woods," the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French. Lisa Marie got me hooked on this series several years ago, and I love hearing her brilliant insights about why crime fiction reflects national identity. Tana French writes literary, thought-provoking genre fiction that is deeply immersive and, as I found out, gets even better on re-reads.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Lisa Marie Cabrelli Website/Instagram/Twitter     Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   In the Woods by Tana French (Book 1 of the Dublin Murder Squad) Elizabeth George Listen to author Aime Austin talk to me about What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George in Episode 047 Ian Rankin The Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny Tana French's Intimate Crime Fiction, by Laura Miller, the New Yorker, September 26, 2016 Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason Ann Patchett's bookstore, Parnassus Books This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell Severance by Ling Ma Listen to Lisa Marie's previous appearance on this podcast, when she talked about Severance on Episode 050 Read "The Descent" by Lisa Marie Cabrelli on Yonder   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Dawn Raffel Website/Instagram/Twitter     Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy How to Read War and Peace by Dawn Raffel Oprah Magazine, July 2006 (this article really makes me want to give it a shot…) Moby Dick by Herman Melville Middlemarch by George Eliot Boundless as the Sky by Dawn Raffel Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino The Strange Case of Dr. Couney by Dawn Raffel Grendel by John Gardner Beowulf by Seamus Heaney   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Some of you may remember back in episode 107 when I had Maci Nelson on the show. Maci is an avowed bookworm – iand also the host of one of my favorite shows, the Landscape Nerd podcast, a fantastic resource for anyone who is interested in the outdoor world. You might think this is a niche interest of mine, since I'm a known garden geek, but what's great about the Landscape Nerd is how Maci looks at all aspects of our outdoor spaces – not only which plants grow there, but how we use spaces, how we look at them, evne how they sound. I promise you, even if you are not particularly interested in gardening, you will learn something wonderful when you hear Maci talk to people who care about your landscape. Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Maci Nelson Website/Instagram/Podcast   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode: Maci's appearance on the Best Book Ever podcast, when we discussed “Howl's Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones American Society of Botanical Artists The Art of Botanical Illustration, via Daily Art Magazine What is Botanical Illustration? via My Modern Met The Science of Art: Why Botanical Illustration Matters, via National Tropical Botanical Garden How Art Shapes Our Understanding of Plants and Reveals Wonders Photographs Can Miss, via National Geographic.co.uk Botanical Illustration is Becoming Endangered, But the Job is Essential, via the Washington Post (no paywall) Ode to Black Botanical Illustrators Decolonizing Botanical Illustration, via Draw Botanical Nirupa Rao: Discovering the Magical World of Botanical Illustration, via National Geographic Society An Nirupa Rao TED Talk: An Illustrated Kingdom of Real, Fantastical Plants ‘Plant Blindness' is a Real Thing: Why It's a Real Problem, Too, via The Conversation Draw Botanical.com   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Emma Dayton Petersen  lives in NYC, and is working towards getting her Masters Degree in Speech Pathology. While studying, she works full time as a Client Success Manager for a life and career coaching company for creatives. She became interested in the field of speech and linguistics during her time as a theater student at CSU, Fullerton. Emma's dream is to use performance and theater as a tool to help people with communicative disorders. Her love of language is what initially drew her to the short story, “Story of Your Life,” and we had a fascinating discussion about what language is, how we communicate, and if we'd want to know the future.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Emma Dayton Petersen Instagram   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (this is a book of short stories; the one we discussed today, ‘Story of Your Life', is the story that the movie ‘Arrival' is based on. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Arrival movie – this movie is also one of my all-time favorites! Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Best Short Stories 2022, The O. Henry Prize Winners, Edited by Valeria Luiselli The Strand Bookstore Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption edited by Daniel Jones Modern Love podcast From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today we welcome back my friend Chelsea Hofman of the Thrillers by the Book Club and Podcast. I think of all of my guest, Chelsea is probably the one whose tastes are the most polar opposite of mine. Thats why it's always such a blast talking to her. Today we discussed a book about murderous dolls that I shockingly did not hate!  Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Chelsea Hofman Instagram/Podcast   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE!   Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time.   Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list.   Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix Thrillers by the Book Club Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast So, You're Interested in Free Books episode of Thrillers by the Book Club Podcast The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Corduroy by Don Freeman The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein The Taking Tree: A Selfish Parody by Shrill Travesty Super Scary Haunted Homeschool with Grady Hendrix The Last Word by Taylor Adams The Only One Left by Riley Sager Zero Days by Ruth Ware None of This is True by Lisa Jewell The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing What Remains by Wendy Walker The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

My friends, Covid finally caught up to me this week, and holy moly did it ever knock me on my on my butt. So, today I'm sharing a replay episode. This interview with Jeff Adams was one of my all time favorites - he's a delightful human, a wonderful podcast host, and an incredibly voracious reader. The book we discussed, and this episode, have stuck with me ever since it aired. Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Jeff Adams Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Big Gay Fiction Podcast/Big Gay Author Podcast Discussed in this episode: The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen (Part of the Ivy Years Series) New York City Gay Hockey Association Trouble Shooter Series by Suzanne Brockman (This is a 19-book series that begins with The Unsung Hero.) Love, Simon The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren St. Nachos by Z.A. Maxfield Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda The Extraordinaries by TJ Clune Camp by L.C. Rosen V.L. Losey (Romance author) RJ Scott (Romance author) The MM Author Podcast GRL – Gay Rom Lit Retreat They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall Love, Victor Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera The Dreamers Series Adriana Herrera Book 1: American Dreamer Book 2 American Fairytale Book 3: American Love Story Book 4: American Sweetheart The Hideaway Inn by Phillip William Stover The Hockey Player's Heart by Jeff Adams and Will Knauss   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

A quick episode this week with updates about how you can support the podcast and links to what Julie has been reading on her own time recently.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram    Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Join the Best Book Ever Newsletter HERE! Subscribe for FREE to receive weekly emails with complete show notes, photos of our guests, and updates on what Julie is reading on her own time. Support the podcast for just $5/month and you'll receive the weekly newsletter AND a monthly themed curated book list. Become a Founder for $100 and you'll receive the weekly newsletter, the monthly curated book list, AND a personal thank you on the podcast AND a Best Book Ever T-Shirt in your favorite color and style.   Discussed in this episode:   Episode 118 Tyler Foley on “The Fool's Progress” by Edward Abbey, still one of my favorite episodes even though I hated the book Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell Episode 125 3rd Annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides The Survivors by Jane Harper Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman Jaymi Couch – Let's Read Nonfiction   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Douglas Bell is a former magician, engineer, and debut author of the novel “Cakewalk,” a novel about a cisgender man in Texas who falls in love with a transgender woman. Douglas and I talked about his unusual spiritual path, how one book changed his life outlook, and how meditation and reading are both paths to empathy. Douglas joined me to talk about Tessa Hadley's luminous novel “Free Love,” a piercing domestic drama set in London, 1967. Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Douglas Bell Website/Twitter/Instagram/Goodreads   Discussed in this episode: Free Love by Tessa Hadley The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by the Dalai Lama The Houston Zen Center Cakewalk by Douglas Bell The National Black Book Festival WriteFest Houston Save the Cat by Blake Snyder Bloomsday Literary The Enigma of Clarence Thomas by Corey Robin Writers and Lovers by Lily King Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters Married Love and Other Stories by Tessa Hadley The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks Headspace   Side note from Julie: Here are two books about meditation that I've really enjoyed. These are both very much beginner books for those of us who don't think we could possibly meditate because we have fidgety monkey brains: 10% Happier by Dan Harris The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Puddicombe   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today I'm joined by Kim Sherwood, an author and creative writing lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Kim's newest release, "A Wild and True Relation," has the tremendous distinction of a gushing review by Dame Hilary Mantel herself, who said that Sherwood's book is “a rarity – a novel as remarkable for the vigour of the storytelling as for its literary ambition. Kim Sherwood is a writer of capacity, potency and sophistication.” In addition to that, this April Kim is releasing the first book in a new James Bond trilogy, called "Double Or Nothing," commissioned the Ian Fleming estate. Kim and I had a wonderful talk about these different genres, and what brings these iconic characters to life, and why "Wolf Hall" is the Best Book Ever.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Kim Sherwood Website/Twitter/Instagram     Discussed in this episode:   Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (book 2 in the Wolf Hall trilogy) The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (book 3 in the Wolf Hall trilogy) A Wild and True Relation by Kim Sherwood Orlando by Virginia Woolf Double or Nothing: A Double O Novel by Kim Sherwood From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (This one also exists in graphic novel form!) George Baker Spare by Prince Harry Waverly by Walter Scott Testament by Kim Sherwood Greenway House – the Home of Agatha Christie V.I. Warshawski Novels by Sara Paretsky (There are, to date, 21 novels in this series.)   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Aleenah Ansari (she/her) is equal parts storyteller, creative problem solver, and journalist at heart who's rooted in the stories of people behind products, companies, and initiatives. She writes about travel, entrepreneurship, mental health and wellness, and representation in media for Insider, The Seattle Times, Byrdie, and more. You can usually find her searching for murals in Seattle and beyond, reading a book, and planning her next trip to New York. Aleenah joined me today for a particularly canded discussion about BIPOC representation in our reading life, and the way books and therapy are crucial to our mental health   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Aleenah Ansari Website/Twitter/Instagram/Linked In   Discussed in this episode:   Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Aleenah's article about the best indie bookstores across the United States Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers by Bob Eckstein Word on the Water – The London Bookbarge More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – And Keep – Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller Dear Therapists podcast with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

“Twenty Years at Hull House” is the acclaimed memoir of social reformer Jane Adams. It contains unflinching descriptions of poverty and degradation of the Industrial Revolution, and the steps she took to establish housing, food, clean water, and education for the poor of Chicago. Joining me today is Rebecca Sive, author of three books on women's politics and power. She's also a motivational speaker for women's audiences; a former professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and the recipient of numerous awards for her public leadership and service. Rebecca and I talked about how to find rest as a feminist voter, the way every public service is bound up in all aspects of society, and how the messages from Jane Adams' work, written over one hundred years ago, are still so relevant today.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Rebecca Sive Website   Discussed in this episode:   Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams Every Day is Election Day: A Woman's Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House by Rebecca Sive Vote Her In: Your Guide to Electing our First Woman President by Rebecca Sive Make Herstory Your Story: Your Guided Journal to Justice Every Day for Every Woman by Rebecca Sive Paul Wellstone Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm Rebecca's article about Twenty Years at Hull House in Windy City Times Division Street: America by Studs Terkel Rebel Bayou by Samuel and Sarah Hyde The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How it Changed America by Nicholas Lemann   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

We are going a little off script for today's episode. I'm not sure either one of us would call “Spare” the Best Book Ever, though I'm sure it has plenty of people who would. But it is definitely the book of the week, and a book that I think will come to be seen as a watershed moment in the history of the royals. Suswati Basu is a multilingual journalist, mental health books show podcast host, and award-winning activist, and one of my favorite guests of the show. I was eager to get her take on this book that has been in the news basically nonstop for the last week, and talk beyond the headlines. Besides settling the score with his family, there are a lot of really big issues in this book, and I was eager to get her take on them. We also talked about the biggest issue for all of us readers – is it actually any good?    Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Suswati Basu Website/Instagram/Podcast/YouTube/Facebook/Twitter   Listen to Suswati talk to me about “The Stranger” by Albert Camus   Discussed in this episode:   Spare by Prince Harry Suswati's Review of Spare in National World Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (co-written by J.R. Moehringer) Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff The Godfather by Mario Puzo The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

This week I'm joined by the fabulous Katy Leep Arditti, consumer of all things Thriller and Fantasy, business owner, massage therapist, and one of my favorite book club friends. Friends, Katy introduced me to a book so totally out of my wheelhouse, I actually contemplated not reading it, and just having her on to tell me about it. But I'm so glad I avoided that temptation, because Ordinary Monsters turned out to be easily one of my favorite reads of 2022. It was a delightful talk about the importance of smart heroines, rollicking adventures through foggy London, and surviving tremendous personal grief.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Katy Leep Arditti Instagram   Discussed in this episode: Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum Thrillers by the Book Club Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff The Bechdel Test Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn BBE Episode 119 – V.P. Morris on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Ben Onwukwe (audiobook narrator) Small Town Big Magic by Hazel Beck Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

To kick off the new year with a very special edition of Best Book Ever, my daughter Erin is taking over the hosting duties this week, interviewing me. She asked me all the things I normally like to ask my weekly guests – favorite books, goals for 2023, Mr. Darcy, and everything in between.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Erin Strauss Instagram   Discussed in this episode:   Unwind by Neal Shusterman Maze Runner by James Dashner The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Divergent by Veronica Roth Scythe by Neal Shusterman Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson Howard's End by E.M. Forster A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle The Giver by Lois Lowry The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Bo Burnham Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Verity by Colleen Hoover The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Time for an end of year wrap up with my Podcast Twin, Malavika Praseed. Malavika is putting her marvelous podcast on hiatus for the time being while she pursues a Master's Degree in Fiction Writing. She is one of my very favorite readers, and I always love catching up with her and finding out what books she loved over the past year, and how she thinks her reading life will change now that she's not running her podcast. As always, it was a great chat, with lots of laughs about serious and not-so-serious books.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Malavika Praseed Instagram/Chicago Review of Books     Malavika on Best Book Ever Podcast:   Episode 029 Malavika Praseed on “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers Episode 079 Malavika's 2021 End of Year Wrap Up   And I went on her podcast once to talk about, you guessed it, My Favorite Book Your Favorite Book Podcast: Howard's End with Julie Strauss     Discussed in this episode:   National Book Award Long List The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon A Death in the Family by James Agee Ethan From by Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton William Faulkner Jhumpa Lahiri Jeff Pearlman Carson McCullers Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Best Book Ever Episode 089 Stephen Pelton on Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Howard's End by E.M. Forester The Hours movie The Hours by Michael Cunningham The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers East of Eden by John Steinbeck The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Why is Santa Claus Erotica Suddenly So Popular? All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews The Pultizer Prize Winners for Fiction, by year Fuckbois of Literature podcast Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man: A Girl Friday Mystery by Emily J. Edwards Chicago Review of Books (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Episode 126 Memoir-Palooza with Denise Massar     Today, I'm so happy to welcome back the very first guest of the show, an amazing writer and reader, and, not to brag, but my best friend and soul sister, Denise Massar. Denise is a memoir junkie, and it occurred to me that mid-December is a perfect time to host a Memoir-Palooza, since so many of us like to give them as gifts over the holiday season, and I thought it would be interesting to hear which ones she liked best over the last year. A lot of the ones we talk about today deal with grief and loss, which also makes a lot of sense to address right now, as the holidays can be rough for a lot of people. Denise is my all-time most trusted memoir resource, and I know you're going to love hearing her tell me why she thinks Memoirs are the Best Books Ever.   Denise Massar is an author, a mom via birth and adoption, and an adoptee. She writes about parenting, caregiving, racism, and anything else she can't stop thinking about. As a reader, she's most interested in stories about women's day-to-day lives—in the 80s when grade-school classmates were reading Judy Blume, Denise was into Erma Bombeck. Her essays have been published in RAISE Magazine, TODAY Parenting, An Injustice!, MUTHA Magazine, and Jane Friedman's blog. Denise's memoir, SEARCH HISTORY: A Memoir of Loss, Obsession, and Meeting My Mom at 40, is currently on submission. She is represented by Jacquie Flynn at Joelle Delbourgo Associates.     Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Denise Massar Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook       Discussed in this episode:   Denise Massar on Best Book Ever Episode 002 Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas What Comes Next and How to Like it by Abigail Thomas Episode 097 – Lizbeth Meredith on “What Comes Next and How to Like It” by Abigail Thomas In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon The Liar's Club by Mary Karr The Salt Path by Raynor Winn Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney Catastrophe Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi Spare by Prince Harry J.R. Moehringer     (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

It's time for my favorite episode of the year – our Annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. I asked a group of young people, ages 8-19, to tell me about their favorite book. As always, their answers were as smart, funny, interesting, and diverse as the kids themselves. I love talking to young people about books, and even if you don't have any young people to buy for this year, I know you're going to love hearing these interesting people tell me about their favorite books.   A note: as always, the interviews go in age order, and the older kids talk about books with some very mature themes.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Discussed in this episode:   Hope, Age 8 Mysteries in Our National Park: Cliff-Hanger: A Mystery in Mesa Verde National Park by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson (This is part of a 12-book series all set in national parks across the United States.) The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne (Both Hope and her twin sister Mackenzie talked to me about multiple Magic Tree House books in last year's episode)   Henry, Age 8 Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar Holes by Louis Sachar Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar   Supernatural Bear, Age 10 Dog Man by Dav Pilkey The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey   Dante, Age 10 The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate The One and Only Ivan movie The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate Odder by Katherine Applegate Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series on Disney+)   Dorian, Age 10 Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs Spy School Secret Service by Stuart Gibbs Spy School Revolution by Stuart Gibbs The Fun Jungle Collection by Stuart Gibbs   Kate, Age 12 My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga The Storyteller's Death: A Novel by Ann Dávila Cardinal   Jack, Age 14 Maus by Art Spiegelman   Joey, Age 15 The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabreil Bá The Umbrella Academy on Netflix Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang Paper Girls Series on Amazon Prime Scythe by Neal Shusterman Terminator Genisys movie The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe   Erin, Age 19 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Thrillers by the Book Club Pod Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane     (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Skye Pratt Epperson writes about family, history, religion, and fitness. She is working on a memoir about her childhood in Eswatini, Africa, and the varying expectations of the different faiths represented there. Skye joined me today to talk about “Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover,  that has some remarkable similarities to her own life.  I know you will agree that it is fascinating to hear someone with real insight into the school free childhood tell me why “Educated” is the Best Book Ever.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Skye Pratt Epperson Website   Discussed in this episode: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover United World College Glennon Doyle memoirs – Love Warrior, Untamed, Carry On Warrior What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo This American Life Snap Judgment This Is Not A Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich Future Home of a Living God by Louise Erdrich   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Episode 123 Jessica Bell on “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson   I love noticing book covers, and paying attention to what I like and dislike about them, and it was really run to talk about them with a professional. Today I'm talking to multi-talented book-cover designer Jessica Bell about “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson. Jessica examined the cover of my copy of the book, and we talked about why it worked on me. Even better, we talked about the insides of books, and why this one, in particular, is hard to describe and even harder to forget.  It's a book that sticks with you forever, particularly if you get the quotes inscribed on your coffee mugs!   Jessica Bell is a multi-award-winning author/poet, and singer-songwriter who was born in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to having published a memoir, five novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series, she has been featured in a variety of publications and radio shows such as Writer's Digest, Publisher's Weekly, The Guardian, Life Matters, and Poetica. She is also the Publisher of Vine Leaves Press, and a highly sought-after book cover designer. She currently resides in Athens, Greece, with her partner and son, and a pile of dishes that still don't know how to wash themselves despite her consistently teaching by example.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Jessica Bell Newsletter/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Linkedin/YouTube   Discussed in this episode: Can You Make the Title Bigga? By Jessica Bell Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Home by Marilynne Robinson Lila by Marilynne Robinson Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Giving Birth to Motherhood by Amie McCracken & Katie Rössler, LPC   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Michelle Cox is the author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series, a mystery/romance saga set in the 1930s Chicago often described as “Downton Abbey Meets Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.” To date, the series has won over sixty international awards and has received positive reviews from Library Journal (starred), Booklist (starred), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and various media outlets, such as Popsugar, Buzzfeed, Redbook, Elle, Brit&Co., Bustle, Culturalist, Working Mother, and many others. Cox also pens the wildly popular, “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog chronically the lives of Chicago's forgotten residents. She lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children and is hard at work on her next novel.  Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Michelle Cox Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/BookBub/TikTok   We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who'd like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!   Previous Kids/YA Episodes:   2021 2020   And, just for fun, here's an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.   Discussed in this episode: My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series by Michelle Cox: A Girl Like You A Ring of Truth A Promise Given A Veil Removed A Child Lost A Spying Eye The Interview Show on PBS (filmed at The Hideout Bar Chicago) My Cousin Rachel film adaptation Get Out tea scene Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Brina Patel is a freelance content writer, copywriter, and journalist from Sacramento, California. Her writing has appeared in Business Insider, Byrdie, Well and Good, and Verywell Mind. When she isn't putting words to the page, Brina loves curling up with a thought-provoking memoir, making memories in new places across the globe, and spoiling her sassy Maltese. Today, she joined me to talk about this searing memoir of recovery from cancer, and why can be emotionally attached to people we've never met just by reading their words. Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Brina Patel Website/Instagram/GoodReads/TikTok/Twitter/LinkedIn   We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who'd like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!   Previous Kids/YA Episodes:   2021 2020   And, just for fun, here's an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.   Discussed in this episode: Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad Suleika Jaouad TED talk (Julie's note: this is well, well worth watching) Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Today's our lucky day, listener, because one of my favorite guests is back to talk about a book written by another one of my favorite guests. Kenya Goree Bell is herself a steamy romance author and fearless autism advocate who loves to talk books on her own show, the KGB Grown and Sexy book club. Today she joined me to talk about some of the lesser known romance subgenres and the authors we trust to make us care about common and uncommon tropes. And as always, we had a lot of laughs as Kenya told me why “His Revenge Baby” is the Best Book Ever.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Kenya Goree Bell Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook   We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who'd like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!   Previous Kids/YA Episodes:   2021 2020   And, just for fun, here's an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.   Discussed in this episode: His Revenge Baby by Theodora Taylor Theodora Taylor on Best Book Ever Episode 046, talking about Warrior's Woman by Johanna Lindsey Naima Simone books Naima Simone on Best Book Ever Episode 113 KGB's first appearance on Best Book Ever Episode 016, when we talked about Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean Ella Maven Elizabeth Stephens The Honey Badger Chronicles by Shelly Laurenston Knud: Her Big Bad Wolf by Theodora Taylor Lotus Flower Bomb by Kenya Goree Bell Demon's Dream: An Unexpected Love by Elle Kayson Sharonda Isadora TikTok Beverly Jenkins Brenda Jackson A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

I've been waiting for someone to choose this book for SO LONG! Today, V.P. Morris, an award-winning thriller author, joined me to talk about the book everyone loves, hates, or loves to hate. I fall firmly into the love category, and I loved re-reading it to see if Gillian Flynn's twisty masterpiece holds up to a re-read. Along the way, V.P and I discussed unreliable narrators and why shady women are so interesting. I have to give you an official spoiler warning: VP  and I decided there is really no way to discuss this book without discussing the twists. So if you haven't read Gone Girl, I suggest you go do it now, and then come back and listen to this episode. It's well worth your time!   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: VP Morris Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook   We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who'd like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!   Previous Kids/YA Episodes:   2021 2020   And, just for fun, here's an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.   Discussed in this episode: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ShadowCast by V.P. Morris Dead Ringer by V.P. Morris The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Gone Girl Movie Persuasion – this is the much-reviled latest version When All The Girls Are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault Home Before Dark by Riley Sager How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices by Annie Duke   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Tyler Foley is an accomplished actor, public speaker, and coach. He also has the dubious distinction of being the only guest I had to contact in advance of our recording and admit that I hated the book he chose! Tyler is extremely gracious, and we went ahead anyway, which is lucky for me, because it turned out to be one of my favorite conversations ever on this show. Whether or not you decide to read “A Fool's Progress,” I know you're going to enjoy hearing Tyler tell me why it's the Best Book Ever.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Tyler Foley Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/YouTube   We are hard at work on our annual Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide. Do you know a young person who'd like to talk to me about their favorite book? For more information, GO HERE!   Previous Kids/YA Episodes:   2021 Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide 2020 Kids/YA Gift Giving Guide   And, just for fun, here's an episode of outtakes from my chats with kids.     Discussed in this episode: The Fool's Progress by Edward Abbey The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien The Shack by William Paul Young On the Devil's Court by Carl Deuker Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Power to Speak Naked: How to Speak with Confidence, Communicate Effectively, and Win Your Audience by Sean Tyler Foley Don't Sit Under the Grits Tree with Anyone Else But Me by Lewis Grizzard The Journey Home: Some Words in the Deense of the American West by Edward Abbey Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside by Edward Abbey Abbey's Road by Edward Abbey Mike Birbiglia The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins Get the Hell Out of Debt by Erin Skye Kelly Of Dreams and Angels by Jared Morrison   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I absolutely lost my mind over the book “Darling Girl” a couple of weeks ago. It's a modern day examination of the Peter Pan fairy tale, in which Wendy Darling's granddaughter Holly must take on Peter Pan in order to save her daughter's life. I think it's such a clever take on the story, with fresh characters and a mature, nuanced look at the real heart of the story. Today, the author of that marvelous book, Liz Michalski, is here to talk to me about the original Peter Pan and why she wrote her take on it. Along the way we discussed her love of the fantastic in every day life, the joy and grief of sending our adult children into the world, the often tragic life of author J.M. Barrie and how it influenced his strange literary world, and why “Peter Pan” is the Best Book Ever. Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Liz Michalski Website/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan by Liz Michalski Fun with Dick and Jane The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Taproot: A Story About a Gardener and a Ghost by Keezy Young Disney's Peter Pan Peter Pan (2003 Live action movie) If you are looking for more iterations of Peter Pan, there is also a sort of prequel 2015 movie with Hugh Jackman, and of course, Hook with Robin Williams.  They all have really different vibes! The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Thriller author J.P. Choquette writes atmospheric suspense novels with themes of nature, art, and folklore. She started writing "books" when she was old enough to hold a crayon. These were held together with staples and left some painful scratches.  When she's not working, you'll find her sipping a hot beverage, reading, or in the woods with her family. Today J.P. joined me to talk about the modern gothic thriller, “The Stranger Diaries,” a book that hit every one of my literary sweet spots. We talked Anglophilia, gothic literature, books that are thrilling but not scary, and the joys of letter writing.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: JP Choquette Website/Instagram   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths Agatha Christie Inspector Poirot novels Monsters in the Green Mountains books by J.P. Choquette Every reference to Castle Rock in Stephen King books Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Book 1 in the Ruth Galloway Series) The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths (featuring DS Harbinder Kaur from The Stranger Diaries) The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart (Interesting side note: when I researched Rinehart's books, I came across The Bat, a three act-play of hers that is the original inspiration for Bob Kane's Batman. Reading is AWESOME.) I've Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark Let the Dead Rest by J.P. Choquette   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Like nearly everyone else in the world, I am watching the funeral preparations for Queen Elizabeth II, and the transition to the new King, with great interest. I thought you might like a compilation of my favorite books about the royals, and royally-adjacent fiction that I return to again and again. In addition to what I have already read, I am also very fascinated by all of the work that writers and activists from colonized countries are providing, and I look forward to broadening my understanding of the points of view of People of the Global Majority. I would love to hear any book recommendations you have, fiction or nonfiction.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style by Elizabeth Holmes. Our Rainbow Queen: A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and Her Colorful Wardrobe by Sali Hughes. The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe by Angela Kelly. The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown  The Palace Papers by Tina Brown Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton Elizabeth and Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters by Andrew Morton. Prince Charles: the Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life by Sally Bedell Smith Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of the Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett The Madness of King George The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. The Fug Girls Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. BBE episode 068 – Lauren Regenhardt on Red, White and Royal Blue The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black The Rose Code by Kate Quinn   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Victoria Snow is currently in her second year of grad school, working towards licensure of a marriage and family therapist. A bookstagrammer since 2019, she spends her free time reading an eclectic array of literature. She also enjoys her guilty pleasure of watching reality TV (especially any Real Housewives series). Victoria joined me to talk about the challenges of reading for pleasure while in school, and how to use Net Galley to read early release books. That's where she found today's book, “Hidden Valley Road,” a heart breaking true story of a mid-century family torn apart by mental illness. Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Victoria Snow Instagram   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker Thrillers by the Book Club Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery NetGalley I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Naima Simone is a USA today bestselling romance author I've admired for so long, and I knew we would have a lot of laughs when we finally got to sit down and chat. We had so much fun discussing the art of a perfect sex scene, which this book is full of, and why she and I are the perfect historical romance fans (spoiler alert: it's because neither of us are interested in looking up the accuracy of the historical details, so we pretty just go with the flow.) This book is new to me, but I absolutely fell in love with it, and I think I might agree with Naima that “Saving Grace” is the Best Book Ever.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Naima Simone Website/Instagram/Twitter/ Facebook   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: Saving Grace by Julie Garwood Episode 16 – Kenya Goree Bell on “Nine Rules to Break” by Sarah MacLean The Road to Rose Bend by Naima Simone Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Superfudge by Judy Blume Forever by Judy Blume Lisa Gardner John Saul Nalini Singh Christine Feehan Sherrilyn Kenyon Kristen Ashley The Thornheart Trials by Sherilee Grey: A Curse in the Darkness A Vow of Ruin Honor's Splendor by Julie Garwood Lion's Lady by Julie Garwood Castles by Julie Garwood The LOTR Battle of Helm's Deep (I totally forgot that the best line of the whole series – “I am no man!” is in this scene, as is Legolas sliding down the elephant trunk!) Heated by Naima Simone Black Sheep Bargain by Naima Simone   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

The only thing better than talking to Valerie Francis about writing is talking to Valerie Francis about reading. She is a writer and literary editor who thinks very deeply about story, and we had a blast talking about why Agatha Christie's classic "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" is the Best Book Ever. Note: this episode is spoiler-free! Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram   Guest: Valerie Francis Website/Instagram/Twitter/Story Nerd Podcast/ Facebook   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Listen to Valerie talk about Gone Girl on the Story Grid Editor Roundtable Podcast (this is episode one of a seven-part deep dive) The Inspector Rebus Novels by Ian Rankin (Note: there are 22 Inspector Rebus books, but they don't have to be read in order) Knives Out Listen to Valerie talk about Knives Out on the Story Nerd Podcast Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt The Maid by Nita Prose (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Whenever someone new to my podcast asks me where they should start, I recommend this episode. It's one of my all-time favorite conversations with one of my all-time favorite people. Since I'm on vacation this week, I thought it was time to reach back into the archive and replay this episode, in the hopes that you will pick up this lovely book. The only reason I agreed to read another pandemic book was because I totally trust my friend Lisa Marie Cabrelli, who is a writer, academic, and adventurer. She told me I would love it, and she wasn't wrong. Holy moly. There was so much to talk about. BTW – you cannot talk about this book without talking about the end. Lisa-Marie and I had totally different interpretations. But I also don't want to spoil the end for you. So I moved that part of the conversation to the very end, and added a warning so you know when to hit the pause button if you don't want to hear that part.   Support the Best Book Ever Podcast on Patreon   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram/Facebook   Guest: Lisa Marie Cabrelli Website/Instagram/Twitter   Want to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast? Go here!   Discussed in this episode: Severance by Ling Ma The Stand by Stephen King Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The Witch Elm by Tana French (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you shop using my affiliate link on Bookshop, a portion of your purchase will go to me, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting indie bookstores and for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

It is so much fun for me when a guest takes me up on the offer to return to the show when they have a new book to talk to me about. Jasmine Vyas is one of my all-time favorite guests, an avid reader with incredible taste. Jasmine primarily focuses on books by underrepresented authors, and she posts reviews books under the handle @bookblanketfort on Instagram, GoodReads, and Storygraph. During the day she works as an attorney and privacy professional and is a mother of three school aged children. Today she joined me to talk about the searing memoir, “Tastes Like War” by Grace M. Cho.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Do you have a book you want to tell me about? Go HERE to apply to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Jasmine Vyas Instagram/Goodreads   Discussed in this episode:   Tastes Like War: A Memoir by Grace M. Cho Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang Ratatouille – Anton Ego eats ratatouille Best Book Ever Episode with the Three Kitchens Podcast Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War by Grace M. Cho What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo Jasmine's first appearance on Best Book Ever Podcast – Episode 059 Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Guests and listeners recommend new books to me every week, and I always intend to read them. But since I only have 24 hours a day, it's tough to get to all of them. This week's guest is someone I frequently bump into at my local library, and so she had more opportunities than most to remind me to read her favorite. Ultimately, I cut a deal with her: I'll read the YA Fantasy book you want me to read, but only if you come on back on the show. Lauren Regenhardt is the Senior Children's Librarian at the Mission Viejo Library in Southern California. She loves young adult fiction but forces herself to read adult nonfiction and fiction when required. She also enjoys videogames, watching ghost hunting shows, sloths, Marvel, and guinea pigs. She's a strong advocate for mental health services and LGBT Rights, and she loves the challenge of getting young adults and Millennials into their local library.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Do you have a book you want to tell me about? Go HERE to apply to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Lauren Regenhardt Instagram/Twitter/Gamers Read Podcast   Discussed in this episode: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux Lauren's first appearance on the Best Book Ever Podcast, Episode 068 Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Atomic Habits by James Clear When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

For today's episode I got to sit down with Chelsea Hoffman and Yolanda Skeete, founders of Thrillers by the Book Club. I can tell you from personal experience that both of these women are sweet and kind in real life, but they have an affinity for, as Chelsea calls it, murder-y books. They found each other online and formed a book club, which has morphed into a real-life book group with 27 chapters around the world. I asked them to join me for a Thriller-Palooza, because I wanted the lowdown on the best of the best in the world of thrillers, and holy moly, did these ladies ever deliver.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Do you have a book you want to tell me about? Go HERE to apply to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Chelsea Hoffman Instagram   Yolanda Skeete Instagram   Thrillers by the Book Club Instagram   Thrillers by the Bookclub Pod   Discussed in this episode: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall Dork Diaries by Rachel Ren Russell The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon Verity by Colleen Hoover Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak The Push by Ashley Audrain His and Hers by Alice Feeney Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides The Maidens by Alex Michaelides This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky I Know Everything by Matthew Farrell Find Me by Anne Frasier Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews The Chain by Adrian McKinty The Island by Adrian McKinty The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer Blood Will Tell by Heather Chavez No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger (releases Nov 8, 2022) Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger The It Girl by Ruth Ware Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones (sequel to “My Heart is a Chainsaw;” releases Feb 7, 2023) Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica (releases Jan. 10, 2023) The Return by Rachel Harrison Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (releases Oct 4, 2022) How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (releases Jan. 17, 2023) The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix The Maid by Nita Prose Frightmares by Eva V. Gibson The Counselors by Jessica Goodman A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Maci Nelson is a landscape designer, educator, and podcaster. She launched the Landscape Nerd Podcast in 2020, and has collaborated with leaders in landscape architecture, ecology, and art. She is also an avid reader, and she joined me today to talk about “Howl's Moving Castle,” a book she loves because the landscapes in the animated movie deeply inspired her.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Do you have a book you want to tell me about? Go HERE to apply to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Maci Nelson Website/Instagram/Podcast   Discussed in this episode: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Howl's Moving Castle Film Comic by Hayao Miyazaki (this is the graphic novel based on the art of the 2004 animated film from Studio Ghibli) There is also this beautiful companion book of the sketches and concept art from the movie: The Art of Howl's Moving Castle Howl's Moving Castle Movie Spirited Away Movie Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes Best Book Ever Episode 098 – Sivan Hong on “The Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Becca Syme is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and holds a Master's degree in Transformational Leadership. She is the host of the Quitcast for Writers and the teacher of the popular Write Better-Faster class. Becca has coached 5000+ authors using success alignment and predictive reasoning to help authors write and market better-faster. She lives in the mountains of Montana where it is always winter and never Christmas. Becca joined me to today to talk about Jennifer Crusie's hilarious rom-com “Bet Me,” and given that we both have a tendency to think hard about the bigger picture, we got serious very fast. We discussed why representation matters so much, what happens to our lives when our inner perception is wrong, how curvy girl romances have gotten so much more nuanced over the years, and, of course, the best way to make chicken marsala.   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Do you have a book you want to tell me about? Go HERE to apply to be a guest on the Best Book Ever Podcast.   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Becca Syme Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Patreon/YouTube   Discussed in this episode: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie   Writer books by Becca Syme: Dear Writer, Are You in Burnout? Dear Writer, You're Doing It Wrong Dear Writer, You're Doing It Right Dear Writer, You Need to Quit Dear Writer, Are You Intuitive?   Lucy Foley Clifton Strengths Finder Enneagram Jennifer Weiner Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty Penance on the Prairies by R.L. Syme   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)