May I Recommend?

It's July, a month of movements, foment, and, increasingly, reflection. Claire and Linda's relationship to revolutions on the page is the inspiration behind this episode, and we have some Roman candles in our midst (in a good way). Listen for some takes on titles that burn bright while bucking tradition in form and content.   Books discussed during the episode: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder Cloud Cuckooland by Anthony Doerr Variations on the Body by María Ospina Oreo by Fran Ross Kink: Stories, edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell Outlawed by Anna North A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

Claire and Linda were each inspired to bring four saucy summer reading picks (plus some honorable mentions) to discuss in May I Recommend's first-ever minisode! Shout-out to Union Jack's in Glenside, PA for their buffalo wing menu spice-level spectrum, which we borrowed for our own book-ranking purposes: Mild, Medium, Hot, and Suicidal (oh my). Whether you're vay or staycationing this summer, we think these options will serve as a perfect complement to some well-deserved R&R.  Books discussed during the episode: Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston A Theater for Dreamers by Polly Samson Objects of Desire by Clare Sestanovich Double Blind by Edward St. Aubyn Seven Days in June by Tia Williams Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karella Stetz-Waters Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney  Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Eagan House of Holes by Nicholson Baker  Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill 

Now it's Linda's turn to occupy the hot seat: Claire unpacks Linda's habit of abandoning books she begins and can't finish for one reason or another. These failures generally fall under the following three Categories of Abandonment: Meh: Flippantly/dispassionately tosses book aside Hit the eject button!: Violently flings book aside with revulsion, boredom, and/or deep frustration Why did I deny myself this experience?: Reluctanctly and with great shame places book gently aside while resolving to pick it up again in the future Books discussed during the episode: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens  Freedom by Jonathan Franzen The Plague by Albert Camus  Moby-Dick by Herman Melville  Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

Claire and Linda discuss the sublime experience of reading something that resonates with you so deeply that you return to the book as often as possible--in other words, you make it a reading ritual. If you are lucky enough to encounter a book that moves you when you are young and begin a ritual of rereading that book year after year, you can enjoy an evolving relationship with the text, much like enjoying the evolution of personal relationships. In this episode, we unpack why Linda does not habitually reread books but wants to (it’s never too late to begin a tradition!) and why Claire returns to certain books again and again.    Books discussed during the episode: The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard  The End of the Affair by Graham Greene The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova Christy by Catherine Marshall  Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder  What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons    

As the country experiences the first wave of school re-openings during the pandemic, Claire and Linda discuss the importance of home libraries for parents who have suddenly also become educators. We talk about organizations like Tree House Books that are providing resources to families and recommend books for different stages of development.   Books recommended during the show are listed below. For more suggestions like these, peruse our online store here.   Ages 4-6 I Talk Like a River by Scott Jordan, illustrated by Sydney Smith  Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora Ages 7-9 Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts   Ages 10-12 A Swirl of Ocean by Melissa Sarno  Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard, Donald Moses, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin  Ages 13-15 PET by Akwaeke Emezi  The Great Upending by Beth Kephart    May I Recommend? is a RADIOKISMET podcast. For more, visit RADIOKISMET.COM.

The tables have turned, but the stakes are no lower: Linda is now in the hot seat as she guesses Claire's Top Five Most Anticipated books pubbing this fall, the bulk of which are gracing digital and physical shelves this September. Listen to find out if Linda can maintain her status as both friend and bookstore business partner. Books recommended during the show and more are listed below. For more suggestions like these, peruse our online store here. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante, 9/1/20 Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, 9/1/20 Just Us by Claudia Rankine, 9/8/20 Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark, 10/13/20 A Girl Is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, 9/1/20 What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, 9/8/20 An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, Jackie Smith, 9/29/20 The Awkward Black Man by Walter Mosley, 9/15/20 Igifu by Scholastique Mukasonga, 9/15/20 White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad, 10/6/20 Be Holding by Ross Gay, 9/8/20  Stranger Faces By Namwali Serpell, 9/29/20 Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, 10/6/20 Where The Wild Ladies Are by  Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton, 10/20/20 The White Dress by Nathalie Leger, 9/15/20 May I Recommend? is a RADIOKISMET podcast. For more, visit RADIOKISMET.COM.

Claire and Linda discuss the amazing work and engagement they are witnessing in their Philadelphia literary community by Black-owned bookstores like Harriett's Bookshop and Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books. We also talk about poet Jenny Zhang's brilliant dialogue on resisting the tendency to define a group or individual by their most painful trauma and reading books that engender empathy and prime you to take action. Books recommended during the show and more are listed below. For more suggestions like these, peruse our online store here. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa by Andrea D'Aquino Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford Amora: Stories by Natalia Borges Polesso, translated by Julia Sanches The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin Or really, any James Baldwin On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib Pew by Catherine Lacey Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement by John Lewis and Michael D’Ors May I Recommend? is a RADIOKISMET podcast. For more, visit RADIOKISMET.COM.

The stakes could not be higher: Can best buds who also run a bookstore guess one another’s top five books pubbing in spring 2020 that they are most excited to read? Failing to do so might mean reevaluating both their chosen profession and abiding friendship, so tune in to see if all’s well that ends well. Note: Linda erroneously refers to the short story collection F*ckface by Leah Hampton as a novel, but this in no way diminishes her eagerness to read the collection as soon as possible.  For more suggestions like these, peruse H&H’s online store here.

Claire and Linda talk about two books that have made a major impact since we received them in store, one an experimental novel and one a memoir, both posing questions we can’t stop thinking about. Weather by Jenny Offill asks if you can still just tend your own garden once you know about the fire (read: climate crisis) outside its walls while Doyle’s memoir wonders if we can be both “held and free” as she relays her journey from a conservative christian background to writing entering into a queer relationship on a world stage.  For more suggestions like these, peruse H&H’s online store here.

Claire and Linda discuss their connection as indie booksellers to Bookshop.org (aka, The Nerd Stock Market (well, only to us), which has raised almost $5 million for local bookstores since launching at the beginning of 2020. We sing the platform’s praises, including the ability to feature curated lists like Split This Rock Founding Director Sarah Browning’s Pandemic Poetry picks, with a focus on collections by poets from populations most grievously affected by COVID-19 and by the policies of our nation, and others’, that have rendered them so vulnerable. We also talk “Trends from the Trenches” and how pivoting to direct orders during a prolonged closure has affected the reading habits of our supporters.   For more suggestions like these, peruse H&H’s online store here.

On May I Recommend, booksellers Linda Gallant and Claire Moncla fire off recommendations about what you should be reading right now, talk about books we love, and discuss literary culture from the perspective of our deeply nerdy perch behind the register. A joint project of RADIOKISMET and The Head & The Hand Books.