Podcasts about Litsy

Operaspymaster you may ask? Read on and listen to this episode. In this powerful and multifaceted episode of Unstoppable Mindset, we welcome Kay Sparling, former opera singer, PTSD survivor, and now debut novelist—as she shares her incredible life journey from international stages to the shadowy world of espionage fiction. Kay talks about the creation of her first novel, Mission Thaw, a gripping spy thriller based on her own real-life experiences volunteering with refugees in post-Cold War Europe. Kay and Michael discuss the inspiration behind her protagonist, CIA agent Caitlin Stewart, and how real-world trauma and service led Kay to use fiction as both a vehicle for healing and a call to action on the modern crisis of human trafficking. This is a conversation that transcends genres—music, espionage, activism, and resilience—all converging through the unstoppable spirit of a woman who refuses to stay silent. About the Guest: Kay Sparling was raised in the Midwest. At the age of seven, she began her professional singing career as Gretl in “The Sound of Music” and she continued to perform through high school. After graduation Kay attended University of Kansas and earned a BME in music education and a minor in Vocal Performance. She then attended graduate school in opera voice performance for one year at UMKC Conservatory of Music. She was awarded a grant to finish my graduate studies in Vienna, Austria. From there she won an apprenticeship at the Vienna State Opera. After moving to NYC to complete her second apprenticeship, Kay lived in Germany, Austria, and Italy for many years. In 1999 Kay returned to NYC and continued singing opera and became a cantor for the NYC diocese. After 9/11, she served as a cantor at many of the funeral and memorial masses for the fallen first responders. In 2003, Kay moved from NYC to the upper Midwest and started a conservatory of Music and Theatre where her voice students have been awarded numerous prestigious scholarships and won many competitions. In 2020, the pandemic shut down her conservatory, so she began training to be a legal assistant and now works in workers compensation. Back in 2013, Kay had started writing a journal as a PTSD treatment. She was encouraged to extend the material into a novel. After much training and several drafts, Mission Thaw was published in 2024. Kay is currently writing the second book in the Kaitlyn Stewart Spy Thriller Series. Ways to connect with Kay: Website: https://www.kaysparlingbooks.com X: https://x.com/MissionThaw/missionthaw/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/missionthaw.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/505674375416879 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-sparling-8516b638/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missionthaw/ Litsy: https://www.litsy.com/web/user/Mission%20Thaw About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:16 Well, hi everyone. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I'm your host, Mike hingson, and our guest today is a very fascinating individual. I was just teasing her a little bit about her email address, which is operaspy master@gmail.com I'm telling you, don't cross her. That's all I gotta say. Anyway, we'll, we'll get into all of that. But I really am glad that she is with us. Kay Sparling is a fascinating woman who's had an interesting career. She's written, she's done a number of things. She's used to be an opera, gosh, all sorts of stuff. So anyway, we'll get to all of it and we'll talk about it. I don't want to give it all away. Where would the fun in that be? Kay, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Kay Sparling ** 02:11 Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:13 we're glad you're here. You're from up in Wisconsin. We were going to do this a couple of weeks ago, but you had all the storms, and it stole your internet and your power away, didn't   Kay Sparling ** 02:23 it? It sure did. Yeah, that was a terrible storm we had.   Michael Hingson ** 02:28 Yeah, that's kind of no fun. I remember years ago, I was talking to somebody on the phone. We were doing a sales call, and he said, I might not be able to stay on the phone because we're having a really serious storm, and he said it is possible that the lightning could hit the phone lines, and if it does, it could come in the house. And we talked for a few minutes, and then he said, I'm going to have to hang up, because I just felt a small shock, because the lightning obviously hit the phone line, so we'll have to talk later. And and he was gone. And we did talk later, though he was okay, but still, wow, yeah, there's a lot of crazy weather going on, isn't there? And we were just talking about the, we were just talking about the Canadian wildfires. They're No fun.   Kay Sparling ** 03:15 No, no. Just everywhere is having crazy weather.   Michael Hingson ** 03:20 Well, tell us a little bit about you growing up and all that sort of stuff, and telling me about the the early K   Kay Sparling ** 03:32 Well, growing up, I grew up in a farm community in the in the central Midwest, just you know, right in the middle of the bread basket, you might say, not near where you are now. No no, no further south and in very much agriculture time, I mean skipping ahead. I remember talking to a famous opera conductor when I was an apprentice, and I made some reference, and he goes, Well, how would you know that? And I said, because I grew up on a farm. And he went, Oh, get out here. Nobody makes it, you know, to a major European opera house from a farm. And I went, Well, I did. And later, I asked my mom to send me a picture, because we had had an aerial view taken of our homestead, and it was obvious for miles, all the way around the house and the barn and all, it was just corn fields and soybeans. You know what they showed   Michael Hingson ** 04:40 Illinois, Illinois, and so you showed it to him, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 04:44 I showed it to him, and he was like, well, doggone, you're not lying. Like, No, I wasn't kidding you. I really did.   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 It shows how good I really am. See how far I progressed.   Kay Sparling ** 04:55 Well, you know, I was one of these kids. I. At five years old, I my parents took me to see sound and music at the theater, and during the intermission. Now I'm five years old, it's pretty late for me, right? But when we're in the concession stand, I tug at my mom's skirt, and I say, Mom, that's what I want to do. And she looks at me kind of funny, and she's kind of funny, and she's kind of confused. Well, what do you want to do work in a theater? You know, a movie theater? No, no, I want to do what those kids are doing on that on the movie screen. And she was like, Well, honey, you know, that's that's really hard to get somewhere like that. So that was when I was five. And then when I was seven, she just, you know, the all the school and the church were telling her, this kid's got a great voice, and they kept giving me solos and stuff. And so when I was seven, she put me in the Sangamon County Fair Little Miss competition. And of course, my talent was singing, so I just sang away. I really can't remember what I sang, but afterwards, a fellow came up to my parents and introduced himself, and he said that he was there, he had family, not, you know, in the area, and that he had grown up there, but since then, he he was in St Louis, and he said, we are, I'm a scout, and I'm looking, I'm an entertainment Scout, and I'm actually looking for, you know, the von trop children. We're going to do a big production, and we'd love to audition your daughter. Well, we were about, think it was an hour and a half away from St Louis, so my parents are like, wow, that'd be quite a commitment. But long story short, I did it, and that started my professional career. I was the youngest Bon Troy. You know, over cradle, yeah. And so it just went from there. And, you know, it was all Broadway, of course, and I did a lot of church singing, you know, it got to be by the time I was, you know, in high school, people were hiring me for weddings, funerals, all that kind of thing. And so I was a Broadway and sacred singer. Went to college. My parents said, you can't depend on a vocal performance degree. What if things don't work out? You have to have something fall back. So I went into vocal music ed at a very, very good school for that, and also music therapy, and, you know, continue being in their shows. And when I when I graduated, continued the Broadway, and one night I was also singing a little bit of jazz in Kansas City, where I was living, someone approached me. She was a voice teacher at the conservatory there, and that conservatory had an apprenticeship with the Kansas City Lyric Opera. And she said I knew you was an undergrad. My husband works where you, where you went to school, and I have been watching you for a long time. And I wish you quit this nonsense of singing Broadway and jazz and rock and everything and get serious, you know, and try opera. So I thought she was crazy to bring that up, but it wasn't the first time it had been brought up. So I have been teaching for a year, and at the end of that school year, I announced everyone I was going to graduate school and I was going to study opera. And so   Michael Hingson ** 08:55 what were you teaching?   Kay Sparling ** 08:57 I was teaching high school choir, okay, at a very big high school, very, very good choir department.   Michael Hingson ** 09:03 Now, by the way, after doing Gretel, did you ever have any other parts as you grew older in Sound of Music?   Kay Sparling ** 09:11 Okay, that's a very cool question. I am one of the few people that I know that can say I have sang every major role in Sound of Music sometime in my life. Ah, okay, because it was so popular when I was Oh, yeah. And as I would grow older, well now you're going to sing, you know, you just kept graduating up. And then pretty soon I sang quite a few Marias. And then after I was an opera singer. During covid, I was asked to sing Mother Superior. Mother Superior. Yeah, literally, have sung, you know, in a decades long career, I've sung every role in Sound of Music.   Michael Hingson ** 09:56 Cool. Well, that's great.   10:00 Yeah, so, so, anyway, so   Michael Hingson ** 10:02 you said that you were going to go study opera,   Kay Sparling ** 10:07 and I did a graduate school, and then I got the chance to get an international grant over to Europe, and so I decided to not finish my masters at that time and go over there and finish it, and most of all, importantly, do my first apprenticeship in Europe. And so I thought that was a great opportunity. They were willing. They were going to willing to pay for everything. And I said I would be a fool to turn this down. Yeah, so off I went, and that's kind of the rest of the story. You know, got a lot of great training, left Europe for a while, moved to New York City, trained best coaches and teachers in the world at the Metropolitan Opera and then, you know, launch my career.   Michael Hingson ** 11:04 So you Wow, you, you've done a number of things, of course, going to Europe and being in Vienna and places like that. Certainly you were in the the right place.   Kay Sparling ** 11:16 Yes, yes, definitely. You know, at that time in the in the middle 80s, United States was we had some great opera houses Iran, but we had very few. And it just wasn't the culture that it was in Europe, in Europe. And so, yes, there was a lot more opportunity there, because there was such a culture established there already.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 So you went off and you did Europe and saying opera, what were you a soprano? Or what were you that sounds like a way a little high for your voice?   Kay Sparling ** 11:59 Well, you have to remember, I'm a senior citizen now. So this is the way it worked for me, because we're talking decades from the age 27 and I quit singing at 63 so that's a very long time to sing opera. So I started out, as you know, there is a voice kind of category, and each one of those, we use a German word for that. It's called Foch, F, A, C, H, and you know, that is determined by the kind of vocal cords you have, and the kind of training and the literature you're singing, and hopefully that all meshes together if you have good coaches and a good agent and such. And I literally have seen so many different Fox lyric, lyric mezzo, then to, very shortly, lyric soprano, and then for a long time, spinto soprano, which would be the Puccini and a lot of them really popular things. And then I was, I felt I was quite lucky that my voice did have the strength and did mature into a Verdi soprano, which is a dramatic soprano, not many of those around. And so that was, that was an endeavor, but at the same time, that was a leg up. And so most of the time in my career, I sang the bigger Puccini, like, let's say Tosca, and I sang a lot of Verdi. So I was an Italian opera singer. I mostly sang in Italian, not to say that I didn't sing in German or French, but I did very little in comparison to the   Michael Hingson ** 13:56 Italian Well, there's a lot of good Italian opera out there, although mostly I don't understand it, but I don't speak Italian well.   Kay Sparling ** 14:07 The great thing about most houses now is, you know, you can just look at the back of the seat in front of you, and there's the translation, you know, yeah, that   Michael Hingson ** 14:18 doesn't work for me. Being blind, that doesn't work for you. Yeah, that's okay, though, but I like the music, yeah. So how long ago did you quit singing?   Kay Sparling ** 14:32 Um, just about, well, under, just a little under three years ago, okay?   Michael Hingson ** 14:38 And why did you quit? This was the right time,   Kay Sparling ** 14:42 senses or what I had a circumstance, I had to have throat surgery. Now it wasn't on my vocal cords, but it was on my thyroid, and unfortunately, the vocal cord nerve. They had to take out some Cyst On. My right thyroid, and then remove it too. And unfortunately, my vocal cords were damaged at that time, I would have probably be singing still now some you know, I mean, because dramatic sopranos just can go on and on and on. One of my mentors was Birgit Nielsen, famous singer from Sweden, and she was in my grandmother's generation, but she didn't, I went to work with her, and she demonstrated at 77 she could still pop out of high C. And I believe, I believe I would have been able to do that too, but you know, circumstances, you know, changed, but that's okay. Yeah, I had sung a long time, and at least I can speak. So I'm just very happy about that.   Michael Hingson ** 15:51 So when you did quit singing, what did you decide to go do? Or, or, How did, how did you progress from there?   Kay Sparling ** 16:01 Well, I had already made a transition where I had come in 2003 to the Midwest. I came back from New York City, where I lived many, many years, and I started a conservatory of music and acting, and then that kind of grew into a whole conservatory of music. So I was also a part time professor here in Wisconsin, and I taught voice, you know, one on one vocal lessons, so high school and college and graduate school, and so I had this huge studio. So when that happened, I wasn't getting to sing a whole lot, because I was much more focused on my students singing me at that point, especially the older ones, professional ones, and so, you know, I just kept teaching and and then I had started this book that I'm promoting now, and so that gave me more time to get that book finished   Michael Hingson ** 17:10 and published. What's the name of the book?   Kay Sparling ** 17:13 The book is called Mission, thaw.   Michael Hingson ** 17:16 Ah, okay, and what is it about   Kay Sparling ** 17:22 mission thaw is feminist spy thriller set at the very end of the Cold War in the late 80s, and the main protagonist is Caitlin Stewart, who it who has went over there to be an opera singer, and soon after she arrives, is intensely recruited by the CIA. They have a mission. They really, really need a prima donna Mozart soprano, which is what Caitlin was, and she had won a lot of competitions and won a grant to go over there, and so they had been vetting her in graduate school in the United States. And soon as she came to Europe, they they recruited her within a couple weeks of her being there, and she, of course, is totally blindsided by that. When they approach her, she had she she recognized that things were not exactly the way they should be, that people were following her, and she was trying to figure out who, are these people and why are they following me everywhere? Well, it ends up being young CIA agents, and so when the head chief and his, you know, the second chief, approach her, you know, she's not real happy, because she's already felt violated, like her privacy has been violated, and so she wasn't really too wonderful of listening to them and their needs. And so they just sort of apprehend her and and throw her in a car, in a tinted window Mercedes, and off they go to a park to talk to her, right? And so it's all like crazy movie to Caitlin. It's like, what is going on here? And, you know, she can tell they're all Americans, and they have dark suits on, even though it's very, very hot, and dark glasses, you know? So everything is just like a movie. And so when they approach her and tell her about what they need her to do, you know, and this would be in addition to the apprentice she is doing that, you know, she just gets up and says, I'm sorry I didn't come over and be in cloak and dagger. A, you know, ring, I'm getting out of here. And as she's walking away, the chief says, Well, what if you could help bring down the Berlin Wall? Well, now that stops her in her tracks, and she turns around. She goes, What are you kidding? I'm just a, you know, an opera apprentice from the Midwest grew up on a farm. What am I gonna do? Hit a high C and knock it down. I mean, what are you talking about?   Michael Hingson ** 20:28 Hey, Joshua, brought down the wealth of Jericho, after all. Well, yeah, some   Kay Sparling ** 20:34 later, someone tells her that, actually, but, but anyway, they say, well, sit down and we'll explain what we need you to do. And so the the initial job that Caitlin accepts and the CIA to be trained to do is what they call a high profile information gap. She has a wonderful personality. She's really pretty. She's very fashionable, so she can run with the jet set. And usually the jet set in Europe, the opera jet set is also where all the heads of states hang out, too. And at that time, the the Prime Minister was pretty much banking the Vienna State Opera where she was apprenticing. So he ends up being along with many other Western Austrian businessmen in a cartel of human trafficking. Who they are trafficking are all the the different citizens of the countries that USSR let go. You know, when you know just got to be too much. Remember how, oh yeah, we're going to let you go. Okay? And then they would just pull out. And there was no infrastructure. There was nothing. And these poor people didn't have jobs, they didn't have electricity. The Russian mafia was running in there trying to take, you know, take over. It was, it was chaos. And so these poor people were just packing up what they could to carry, and literally, sometimes walking or maybe taking a train into the first Western European country they could get to. And for a lot of them, just because the geographical area that was Austria. And so basically, the Austrians did not want these people, and they were being very unwelcoming and arresting a lot of them, and there was a lot of lot of bad behavior towards these refugees. And so the Catholic church, the Catholic Social Services, the Mennonite Relief Fund, the the UN and the Red Cross started building just tent after tent after tent on the edge of town for these people to stay at. And so the businessmen decide, well, we can traffic these people that have nothing over to the East Germans, who will promise them everything, but will give them nothing. But, you know, death camps, basically, just like in World War Two. So you have work camps, you have factories. They they don't feed these people correctly. They don't they don't give them anything that they promise to them in in the camps. And they say, Okay, be on this train at this time, this night. And then they stop somewhere in between Vienna and East Germany, in a very small train station in the middle of the Alps. And they have these large, you know, basic slave options. And unfortunately, the children in the older people get sent back to the camp because they don't need them or want them. So all the children get displaced from their families, as well as the senior citizens or anyone with a disability. And then, you know, the men and the women that can work are broken up as well, and they're sent to these, you know, they're bought by these owners of these factories and farms, and the beautiful women, of course, are sold to either an individual that's there in East German that just wants to have a sex aid, pretty much. Or even worse, they could be sold to an underground East Berlin men's club. And so terrible, terrible things happen to the women in particular, and the more that Caitlin learns. As she's being trained about what's happening, and she interviews a lot of these women, and she sees the results of what's happened, it, it, it really strengthens her and gives her courage. And that's a good thing, because as time goes through the mission, she ends up having to be much, much more than just a high profile social, you know, information gather. She ends up being a combat agent and so, but that that's in the mission as you read, that that happens gradually and so, what? What I think is really a good relationship in this story, is that the one that trains her, because this is actually both CIA and MI six are working on this, on this mission, thought and the director of the whole mission is an very seasoned mi six agent who everyone considers the best spy in the free world. And Ian Fleming himself this, this is true. Fact. Would go to this man and consult with him when he was writing a new book, to make sure you know that he was what he was saying is, Could this really happen? And that becomes that person, Clive Matthews become praying, Caitlyn, particularly when she has to start changing and, you know, defending herself. And possibly, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 26:38 so he becomes her teacher in   Kay Sparling ** 26:42 every way. Yes. So how   Michael Hingson ** 26:45 much? Gee, lots of questions. First of all, how much of the story is actually   Kay Sparling ** 26:50 true? All this story is true. The   Michael Hingson ** 26:53 whole mission is true. Yes, sir. And so how did you learn about this? What? What caused you to start to decide to write this story?   Kay Sparling ** 27:08 So some of these experiences are my own experiences. And so after I as an opera singer, decided to be a volunteer to help out these refugees. I witnessed a lot, and so many years later, I was being treated for PTSD because of what I'd witnessed there. And then a little bit later in Bosnia in the early 90s, and I was taking music therapy and art therapy, and my psychiatrist thought that it'd be a good idea if also I journaled, you know, the things that I saw. And so I started writing things, and then I turned it in, and they had a person that was an intern that was working with him, and both of them encouraged me. They said, wow, if, if there's more to say about this, you should write a book, cuz this is really, really, really good stuff. And so at one point I thought, Well, why not? I will try. So this book is exactly what happened Caitlin, you know, is a real person, and everyone in the book is real. Of course, I changed the names to protect people and their descriptions, but I, you know, I just interviewed a lot of spies that were involved. So, yes, this is a true story.   Michael Hingson ** 29:06 Did you do most of this? Then, after your singing career, were you writing while the career, while you were singing?   Kay Sparling ** 29:13 I was writing while I was still singing. Yeah, I started the book in 2015 Okay, and because, as I was taking the PTSD treatment and had to put it on the shelf several times, life got in the way. I got my my teaching career just really took off. And then I was still singing quite a bit. And then on top of it, everything kind of ceased in 2018 when my mother moved in with me and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but Louie body Alzheimer's, which is a very, very rough time, and so I became one of her caretakers. So I quit singing, put that on hold, and I. I had to really, really bring down the number in my studio I was teaching and spend time here at home. And so I would take care of her, but then after she would go to bed, and she'd go to bed much earlier than I wanted to, that's when I write, and that's when I got the lion's share of this book written. Was during that time, it was a great escape from what I was dealing with, believe it or not, you know, even though there's some real graphic things in the book and all it wasn't, it was a nice distraction.   Michael Hingson ** 30:36 Wow, so you, you lived this, needless to say,   Kay Sparling ** 30:41 Yes, I did, and yes.   Michael Hingson ** 30:45 So you've talked a little bit about what happened to these countries after the collapse of the USSR and communism and so on, these eastern companies, companies, countries. Has it changed much over the years.   Kay Sparling ** 31:03 Oh, yeah, for instance, one, you know, I went to Budapest after they were freed, I guess is what usr would say. Stayed in a five star hotel, and we were lucky if we had running water and electricity at the same time. And every time you went down on the streets, all you'd see is lines, you know, I mean, just because there'd be all like, Red Cross, etc, would be there, and they'd have these big trucks they drove in every day, and it just got to be because they had nothing. If you saw a truck, you'd start running towards it and get in line. You didn't care what it was, you know, and it was. And then fights would break out because they wouldn't have enough for everyone. And then, like, you know, maybe someone's walking away with a bag of rice, and some of us knock them over the head and take, you know, and it was very hard, you know, I was a volunteer there, and it was very, very hard to see this, you know, desperation, one story that I'd like to tell, and I put it in the book. I was riding my bike, you know, on a Friday afternoon to get some groceries at the nearest supermarket where my apartment was, and at that time, they still had the European hours, so they were going to close at five o'clock, and they weren't going to open until seven or eight on Monday morning. So you had to make sure you got there to get your weekend supply. So I was on my way, and I was parking my bike, and this woman, refugee woman, runs up and she has two small children with her, and she's carrying a baby, and she's speaking to me in a language I did not know. I do speak several languages, but I don't know Slavic languages and so, but I'm getting the gist of it that she has nothing to eat, neither do her children, and so I'm patting her on the shoulder, and right when I do that, a policeman that was guarding the door of the supermarket came up to me and, like, grabbed me really hard, and told me in German that I was not To speak to them, and I was not to help them, because if you help them, they'll stay. And I said to him in German, I'm an American. I am not Austrian. I am here on a work visa, and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. Well, he didn't like that. And so I just walked away from him, and I went in the store. And so I got up everything I get. Think of the big need, you know, I never had a baby, so I was trying to kind of figure that out, yeah, and I had to figure it out in German, you know, looking at labels now. And so finally I got, I got some stuff, you know, the stuff I needed, and, and, and the stuff that I got for the family, and I checked out, and I'm pushing the cart, you know, towards them. And he runs up beside me and stops me, and he says, I am going to arrest you if you bring that. I told you not to help them. And I said, again, I don't think I'm breaking any laws. And he said, Oh yes, you are. And I said, Well, I didn't read that in the papers. I didn't see it on TV where anyone said. That you cannot help a refugee. And so we're going back and forth. And so, you know, I'm pretty strong, so I just keep pushing it towards it. Well, she's kind of running down the park, and I'm like, wait, wait, you know, because she's getting scared of this guy, you know, he has a gun, he has a nightstick. Of course, she's scared, and so, you know, I would say, No, no, it's okay, because I can't speak for language, right? And so I'm just trying to give her body language and talk. Well, finally she does stop, and I just throw I give the one sack to the little boy, and one second little girl, they just run and and then, you know, I'm talking to her and saying, you know, it's okay, it's okay. And he grabs me, and he turns me around and he spits in my face.   Michael Hingson ** 35:53 Wow. Talk about breaking the law. But anyway, go ahead.   Kay Sparling ** 36:00 Welcome to Austria in the late 80s. You have to understand their Prime Minister Kurt voltheim won on the Nazi ticket. Mm, hmm. At that very time, if you got on a bus and you saw these businessmen going to work, at least 50% of them were reading the Nazi paper. Okay, so we kind of know what, where his affiliations lie. You know, this policeman and, you know, and I was very aware, you know, of of that party being very strong. And so you have to watch yourself when, when you're a foreigner. And I was a foreigner too, just like her. And so after wiping my face, I mean, I really, really wanted to give him a kick or something, yeah, and I do, I do know martial arts, but I was like, no, no, gotta stay cool. And I just told her to run. And she did and caught up with the children, and, you know, kept running. So that was the first experience I had knowing how unwelcome these people were in Austria. Yeah, so I got involved, yeah, I got involved because I was like, this is absolutely not right.   Michael Hingson ** 37:31 And so the book is, in part, to try to bring awareness to all that. I would think   Kay Sparling ** 37:36 absolutely there are, there are bits of it are, they're pretty darn graphic, but it's all true, and it's all documented. Sometimes people about human trafficking, they think, oh, it's not in my backyard. I'm not going to think about that. Well, I live in a very small college town, around 17,000 people, and two months ago, on the front page of this small paper here in town, there were seven men that were arrested for many counts of human trafficking of underage women and prostitution. So guess what, folks, it is in your backyard. If it's in this little town, it's probably in yours too. And we have to be aware before we can do anything. So we have to open our eyes. And I hope this book opens the eyes of the reader to say, Oh, my God, I knew things were bad, but I didn't realize that torture, this kind of thing went on. Well, it does, and I the International Labor Union estimates that 21 million people are being you. You are victims of human trafficking right now, as we speak, throughout the world, that's a lot of people, a lot of people. So most likely, we've all seen some hint of that going on, it didn't register as it at the time. You know, if you're just walked out of a restaurant, and you're walking to your car that's parked on the street, and you happen to go by an alley and there's restaurants on that row, and all of a sudden you see people being kind of shoved out and put in a truck. That's probably human trafficking, you know? And you know, a lot of people don't pay attention, but like, if they stop and think that doesn't look right, and if those people look like they may be from another country, yeah. And all you have to do is call the authorities, you know, and other ways that you can help are by you know, that that you can get involved. Are, you know, donate to all the different organizations that are finding this now.   Michael Hingson ** 40:19 Was the book self published, or do you have a publisher?   Kay Sparling ** 40:25 I self published, but it's more of a hybrid publishing company that's kind of a new thing that's going on, and so I cannot learn all those different facets of publishing a book, right? It just wasn't in my, you know, skill set, and it also wasn't even interesting to me. I don't want to learn how to do graphic illustration. Okay? So what I did is I hired a hybrid company that had all these different departments that dealt with this, and I had complete artistic control, and I was able to negotiate a great deal on my net profits. So I feel that, after looking into the traditional publishing world and not being exactly pleased with it to say the least, I think that was the right business choice for me to make, and I'm very happy I did it.   Michael Hingson ** 41:46 How do you market the book then?   Kay Sparling ** 41:48 Well, that was, that was the tricky part that that publisher did have some marketing they started, but obviously now they agreed it wasn't enough. So at that point, I attended a virtual women's publishing seminar, and I really paid attention to all the companies that were presenting about marketing. And in that time, I felt one that I just was totally drawn to, and so I asked her if we could have a consultation, and we did, and the rest is history. I did hire her team and a publicist, Mickey, who you probably know, and, yeah, it's been going really great. That was the second smart thing I did, was to, you know, hire, hire a publicity.   Michael Hingson ** 42:50 Well, yeah, and marketing is one is a is a tricky thing. It's not the most complicated thing in the world, but you do have to learn it, and you have to be disciplined. So good for you, for for finding someone to help, but you obviously recognize the need to market, which is extremely important, and traditional publishers don't do nearly as much of it as they used to. Of course, there are probably a lot more authors than there used to be too. But still,   Kay Sparling ** 43:19 yeah, their their marketing has changed completely. I remember I had a roommate that became a famous author, and just thinking about when he started, you know, in the 80s, how the industry is completely changed. Mm, hmm, you know. So, yeah, it's, it's really tricky. The whole thing is very tricky. One thing that I also did is one of my graduate students needed a job, and so I've known her since, literally, I've known her since eighth grade. I have been with this student a long time, and she's done very well, but she really is a wiz at the social media. And so she made all my accounts. I think I have 12 altogether, and every time I do something like what I'm doing tonight, soon as it's released, she just puts it out there, everywhere and and I have to thank her from again that that's probably not my skill set.   Michael Hingson ** 44:37 Well, everyone has gifts, right? And the the people who I think are the most successful are the people who recognize that they have gifts. There are other people that have gifts that will augment or enhance what they do. And it's good that you find ways to collaborate. I think collaborating is such an important thing. Oh, yeah. All too many people don't. They think that they can just do it all in and then some people can. I mean, I know that there are some people who can, but a lot of people don't and can't.   Kay Sparling ** 45:12 Well, I've got other things. I've got going, you know, so maybe if I only had to do the book, everything to do with the book, that would be one thing, but I, you know, I have other things I have to have in my life. And so I think that collaboration is also fun, and I'm very good at delegating. I have been very good at delegating for a long time. When I started my school. I also started a theater company, and if you know one thing, it's a three ring circus to produce an opera or a musical, and I've done a lot of them, and yeah, I would have not survived if I didn't learn how to delegate and trust people to do their own thing. So what are you   Michael Hingson ** 45:58 doing today? What are you doing today? Besides writing?   Kay Sparling ** 46:04 Well, during covid, everything got shut down, and I didn't have an income, and I had to do something. And one of, believe it or not, one of my parents, of one of my students, is an attorney for the state of Wisconsin, and she was very worried. I mean, it looked like I might lose my house. I mean, I literally had no income. And so, you know, I was a small business person, and so she offered me very graciously to come work in the department of workers compensation in the legal Bureau at the state of Wisconsin. So I never have done anything like that in my life. I have never sat in a cubicle. I've never sat in front of a computer unless it was in its recording studio or something like that. So it was a crazy thing to have to do in my early 60s, but I'm a single woman, and I had to do it, and and I did, and it put me on solid ground, and that was one reason I couldn't finish the book, because I didn't have to worry about a live cookie. And so I am continuing to do that in so as in the day, that is what I do. I'm a legal assistant, cool.   Michael Hingson ** 47:32 And so when did mission thought get published?   Kay Sparling ** 47:38 Mission thought almost a year ago, in August of 2024 it launched, yes, okay, yeah. And it was very scary for me, you know, because my hybrid publishers up in Canada, and they were telling me, Well, you know, we're going to get you some editorial reviews and we're going to have you be interviewed. And you know, those very first things where my editor at at the publisher had told me it was one of the really a good book, and that was one of the cleanest books she ever had to edit. And so that kind of gave me some confidence. But you understand, look at my background. I I didn't go to school to be a writer. I had never studied writing. I hadn't done any writing up until now, and so to that was my first kind of sigh of relief when the editor at the publisher said it was really a good book, and then I started getting the editorial reviews, and they were all stellar, and they continue to be. And I'm, I'm still a little shocked, you know, because it takes time, I guess, for a person to switch gears and identify themselves as an author. But you know, after a year now, I'm feeling much more comfortable in my shoes about that. But at first it was, it was trying because I was scared and I was worried, you know, what people were going to think about the book, not the story, so much as how it was crafted. But it ends up, well,   Michael Hingson ** 49:15 it ends up being part of the same thing, and yeah, the very fact that they love it that that means a lot. Yeah, so is, is there more in the way of adventures from Caitlin coming up or what's happening?   Kay Sparling ** 49:30 Yeah, this is hopefully a trilogy, um of Caitlin's most important standout missions. And so the second one is set in the early 90s during the Bosnian war. And this time, she cannot use opera as a cover, because obviously in a war zone, there's no opera. And so she has to. To go undercover as either a un volunteer or Red Cross, and this time, her sidekick is not the Clive Matthews. He has actually started a special squad, combat squad that's going in because, of course, we, none of us, were really involved with that war, right? But that's what he's doing. And so, believe it or not, her, her sidekick, so to speak, is a priest that very early, goes on and sees, you know, this absolute ethnic cleansing going on, you know, massacres and and he tries to get the Catholic Church to help, and they're like, no, no, we're not touching that. And so he goes AWOL. And had been friends in Vienna with the CIA during the first book. He goes to the CIA and says, This is what's going on. I saw it with my own eyes. I want to help. And so he becomes Caitlin's sidekick, which is a very interesting relationship. You know, Caitlin, the opera singer, kind of, kind of modern girl, you know, and then you know, the kind of staunch priest. But they find a way to work together, and they have to, because they have to save each other's lives a couple times. And this is my favorite book of the three. And so basically what happens is called Mission impromptu, and I hope to have that finished at the end of this month. And the reason we call it impromptu is because her chief tells her to just get the information and get out, but her and the priest find out that there is a camp of orphaned boys that they are planning to come massacre, and so they they they basically go rogue and don't follow orders and go try to help the boys. Yeah. And then the third book, she has actually moved back to New York, and she's thinking, well, she does retire from the CIA, and it's the summer of 2001 and what happened in September of 2001 911 and so they call her right back in she literally had been retired for about three months.   Michael Hingson ** 52:35 Well, to my knowledge, I never met Caitlin, so I'm just saying Mm hmm, having been in the World Trade Center on September 11, but I don't think I met Caitlin anyway.   Kay Sparling ** 52:43 Go ahead. No, she wasn't in the towers, but no, I was in New York. And yeah, so they called her back right away. And so the third one is going to be called Mission home front, because that's been her home for a very long time. She's been living in New York.   Michael Hingson ** 53:01 Are there plans for Caitlin beyond these three books? I hope so.   Kay Sparling ** 53:08 I think it would be fun for her to retire from the CIA and then move back to the Midwest. And, you know, it turned into a complete fiction. Of course, this is not true stuff, but, you know, like kind of a cozy mystery series, right, where things happen and people can't get anyone to really investigate it, so they come to Caitlin, and then maybe her ex boss, you know, the chief that's also retired, they kind of, you know, gang up and become pi type, you know, right? I'm thinking that might be a fun thing.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Now, are mostly books two and three in the mission series. Are they also relatively non fiction?   53:53 Yes, okay,   Michael Hingson ** 53:57 okay, cool, yes. Well, you know, it's, it's pretty fascinating to to hear all of this and to to see it, to hear about it from you, but to see it coming together, that is, that is really pretty cool to you know, to see you experiencing have the book, has mission thought been converted by any chance to audio? Is it available on Audible or   Kay Sparling ** 54:21 anywhere it has not but it is in my plans. It's there's a little bit of choice I have to make do. I use my publisher and hire one of their readers you know to do it, someone you know, that's in equity, that type of thing. Or you know, my publicity, or people are also saying, well, because you're an actor, and, you know, all these accents, it might be nice for you to do to read your own book. Well, the problem is time, you know, just the time to do it, because I'm so busy promoting the book right now. And really. Right writing the second one that you know, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to pull that off, but I have my own records, recording studio in my voice studio downstairs, but it's just and I have all the equipment I have engineers. It's just a matter of me being able to take the time to practice and to get that done. So it's probably going to be, I'll just use their, one of their people, but yes, yeah, it's coming. It's coming. Well, it's,   Michael Hingson ** 55:29 it's tough. I know when we published last year, live like a guide dog, and the publisher, we did it through a traditional publisher, they worked with dreamscape to create an audio version. And I actually auditioned remotely several authors and chose one. But it is hard to really find someone to read the book the way you want it read, because you know what it's like, and so there is merit to you taking the time to read it. But still, as you said, there are a lot of things going on,   Kay Sparling ** 56:09 yeah, and I have read, you know, certain portions of the book, because some podcasts that I've been on asked me to do that, and I and I practiced and that, it went very well. And of course, when people hear that, they're like, Oh, you're the one that has to do this. You know Caitlin. You can speak her, you know her attitudes and all. And then you also know how to throw all those different accents out there, because there's going to be, like, several, there's Dutch, there's German, there's Scottish, high British and Austrian. I mean, yeah, yeah, Austrians speak different than Germans. Mm, hmm,   Michael Hingson ** 56:53 yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it's still something worth considering, because you're going to bring a dimension to it that no one else really can because you wrote it and you really know what you want them to sound like, Yeah, but it's a it's a process. I and I appreciate that, but you've got lots going on, and you have to have an income. I know for me, we started live like a guide dog my latest book when the pandemic began, because I realized that although I had talked about getting out of the World Trade Center and doing so without exhibiting fear, didn't mean that it wasn't there, but I realized that I had learned to control fear, because I learned a lot that I was able to put to use on the Day of the emergency. And so the result of that was that, in fact, the mindset kicked in and I was able to function, but I never taught anyone how to do that. And so the intent of live like a guide dog was to be a way that people could learn how to control fear and not let fear overwhelm or, as I put it, blind them, but rather use fear as a very powerful tool to help you focus and do the things that you really need to do. But it's a choice. People have to learn that they can make that choice and they can control it, which is kind of what really brought the book to to mind. And the result was that we then, then did it. And so it came out last August as well.   Kay Sparling ** 58:27 Oh, well, if you read my book, you'll see Caitlin developing the same skills you were just talking about. She has to overcome fear all the time, because she's never been in these situations before, and yet she has to survive, you know?   Michael Hingson ** 58:44 Yeah, well, and the reality is that most of us take too many things for granted and don't really learn. But if you learn, for example, if there's an emergency, do you know where to go in the case of an emergency? Do you know how to evacuate, not by reading the signs? Do you know? And that's the difference, the people who know have a mindset that will help them be a lot more likely to be able to survive, because they know what all the options are, and if there's a way to get out, they know what they are, rather than relying on signs, which may or may not even be available to you if you're in a smoke filled environment, for example, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 59:22 yeah, you should know ahead of time. Yeah, you know, I know the state where I work. I I mostly work at home. I'm able to do that, but we do have to go in once a week, and we just changed floors. They've been doing a lot of remodeling, and that was the first thing, you know, the supervisor wanted us to do was walk through all the way for a tornado, fire, etc, and so we did that, you know, and that's smart, because then you're like, you say you're not trying to look at a chart as you're running or whatever,   Michael Hingson ** 59:56 and you may need to do it more than once to make sure you really know it. I know for me. I spent a lot of time walking around the World Trade Center. In fact, I didn't even use my guide dog. I used a cane, because with a cane, I'll find things that the dog would just automatically go around or ignore, like kiosks and other things. But I want to know where all that stuff is, because I want to know what all the shops are down on the first floor. Well, now that that is the case anymore, but it was at the time there was a shopping mall and knowing where everything was, but also knowing where different offices were, knowing who was in which offices, and then knowing the really important things that most people don't know about, like where the Estee Lauder second store was on the 46th floor of tower two. You know, you got to have the important things for wives, and so I learned what that was. Well, it was, it was, those are important things, but you'll learn a lot, and it's real knowledge. Someone, a recent podcast episode that they were on, said something very interesting, and that is that we're always getting information, but information isn't knowing it. Knowledge is really internalizing the information and making it part of our psyche and really getting us to the point where we truly know it and can put it to use. And that is so true. It isn't just getting information. Well, that's great. I know that now, well, no, you don't necessarily know it now, until you internalize it, until you truly make it part of your knowledge. And I think that's something that a lot of people miss. Well, this has been a lot of fun. If people want to reach out to you, is there a way they can do that?   Kay Sparling ** 1:01:40 Yeah, the best thing is my book website, K, Sparling books.com spelled and it would K, a, y, s, p, as in Paul, A, R, L, I N, G, B, O, O, K, s.com.com, okay, and you can email me through there. And all the media that I've been on is in the media section. The editorial reviews are there. There's another thing that my student heats up for me is the website. It's it's really developed. And so lots of information about the book and about me on on there. And one thing I want to mention is, just because of my background and all the all the people that you know, I know, a friend of mine is a composer, and he wrote a song, a theme song, because we do hope that someday we can sell this, you know, yeah, to for movie and, or, you know, Netflix, or something like that. And so he wrote a theme song and theme music. And I just think that's fun. And then I wanted my students saying, saying it. And then, you know, it's with a rock band, but it's, it's very James Bond, the kind of with a little opera, you know, involved too. But, you know, not a lot of authors can say that on their website, they have a theme song for their books.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:16 And where is   Kay Sparling ** 1:03:18 it? It would be under, it's going to be about the author. And there's a nice one of my other students is a graphic artist. She She did a graphic a scene of Caitlin with her ball gown, and she's got her foot up on a stool, and she's putting her pistol in her thigh holster, in I think, you know, it's kind of like a cartoon, and it quotes Caitlin saying, I bet you I'm going to be the only bell at the ball with this accessory pistol. And then right underneath that, that song, you can click it and hear it. We also are on YouTube mission. Thought does have its own YouTube channel, so you can find it there as well.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:05 So well, I want to thank you for being here and for telling us all the stories and especially about mission. I hope people will get it and read it, and I look forward to it coming out in audio at some point. Yes, I'll be lazy and wait for that, I I like to to get books with human readers. You know, I can get the print book and I can play it with a synthetic voice, but I, I really prefer human voices. And I know a lot of people who do AI has not progressed to the point where it really can pull that off.   Kay Sparling ** 1:04:38 Well, no, it cannot. Yeah, I totally agree with you there.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 So Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching us today. This has been fun. And as some of you know, if you listen to many of these podcasts, we have a rule on the podcast, you can't come on unless you're going to have fun. So we did have fun. We. You have fun? Yeah. See, there you go. I was gonna ask if you had fun. Of course, yes. So thank you all for listening. Love to hear from you. Love to hear what your thoughts are about today's episode. Feel free to email me at Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, also, please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. K, I'll appreciate it. And when this goes up, when you hear it, we really value those ratings and reviews very highly. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest and KU as well, love to hear from you. Please introduce us. Kay, you'll have to introduce us to Caitlin, but But seriously, we always are looking for more guests. So if anyone knows of anyone who ought to come on and tell a story, we'd love to hear from you. But again, Kay, I want to thank you one last time. This has been great, and we really appreciate you being here.   Kay Sparling ** 1:05:59 Well, thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:04 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Anna and Amanda discuss the Women's Prize winner Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Our book of the week is The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland.  This tells the true story of Rudolf Vrba who escaped from Auschwitz with Fred Wetzler and their attempt to tell Jewish leaders the truth about the Final Solution and prevent more deaths.  A Sunday Times Best-Seller and shortlisted for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, we could not put this down. Coming up: This Other Eden by Paul Harding. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras   Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode:  Anna chats with author Ennis Ćehić about his debut collection of short stories, Sadvertising. Ćehić is based in Melbourne and Sarajevo and writes about displacement, creativity and existentialism. The stories in Sadvertising are set in the advertising world and explore the tension between art and capitalism.  Satirical and very funny, with elements of meta-fiction and the surreal.  "A work of thrilling, audacious verve and wit ... deserves a standing ovation" (Christos Tsiolkas) and "powerful, inventive and self-assured" (Australian Book Review).  We loved this book! Ennis recommends: Hunger by Knut Hamsen translated by George Egerton Authors Rachel Cusk , Deborah Levy and Ottessa Moshfegh The Appointment by Katharina Volckmer The Shakespeare and Company podcast Coming up:  This Other Eden by Paul Harding Follow us: Instagram : @abailliekaras and @enniscehic Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha WIlkosz

A special episode: Anna chats with author Christine Keighery about her new novel The Half Brother. Christine Keighery has written over 35 novels for children and young adults (as Chrissie Perry).  The Half Brother is her first novel for adults.  It's a psychological suspense story about a family, secrets and coercive control. Described as "sinister, suspenseful and tightly written, with an ending I didn't see coming" (Vikki Wakefield).  There are no spoilers in this episode so you'll have to read it to see what the twist is! Follow us: Instagram: @ abailliekaras Twitter: @ abailliekaras Litsy: @ abailliekaras Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Christine: chrissieperry.com   Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz 

Anna and Amanda discuss The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.  This novel set in Japan and Hong Kong in 1947 explores the colonial era with a forbidden love story at its centre.  Described as "the last masterpiece of a vanished age of civility" (Wall Street Journal) it won the 2003 Miles Franklin Award and the National Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. We also recommend Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode: Anna and Amanda chat with best-selling author Sally Hepworth about her new novel The Soulmate. The Soulmate is a gripping story about Pippa and Gabe, who are happily married until a woman dies near their home and they become entangled in the mystery that follows.  A compulsive read which raises questions about marriage and loyalty, we could not put this down. Sally also recommends: Authors Jane Harper, Liane Moriarty, Kate Morton and Holly Ringland; Podcasts The First Time Podcast and The Lise and Sarah Show; and TV show Bad Sisters. Coming up: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras , @vibrant_lives_podcast and @sallyhepworth Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

A special episode as we chat with Eve Thomson about her debut novel She Too. She Too is a legal thriller about a young lawyer who acts for a man accused of being an abusive husband as he sues a news website for defamation.  It looks at the nature of truth, celebrity and power. Eve recommends the book Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and the podcasts Conversations, Chat 10 Looks 3 and Head Noise. Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land. Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Dublin Literary Award Longlist.  Our book of the week is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel. Like Station 11 and The Glass Hotel, it is speculative fiction with warmth, heart and great story-telling.  A New York Times Bestseller and a Best Book of 2022 (New York Times, Oprah Daily, NPR) it has been described as 'transporting and brilliant and generous' (USA Today).   Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the man arrested for stealing manuscripts and whether new AI technology ChatGPT can write novels.  Our book of the week is Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Set in 1970s Belfast during the Troubles, it tells the story of a young Catholic woman and her affair with a married Protestant man. Described as "brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking" (New York Times) and named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, we loved this book. Louise Kennedy will be at Adelaide Writers' Week in March.  We can't wait! Also mentioned: Scriptnotes podcast In Suspense podcast AlphaGo documentary Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna, Annie and Amanda discuss our best books of 2022. Our favourite reads were: The Comfort Book by Matt Haig Border by Kapka Kassabova Devotion by Hannah Kent Love Marriage by Monica Ali Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi translated by Elena Pala The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide translated by Eric Selland Limberlost by Robbie Arnott Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras , @mr_annie , @vibrant_lives_podcast Email: Books On The Go Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss how BookTok is helping young people discover a passion for reading. Our holiday reading recommendations are: Willowman by Inge Simpson The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn Better the Blood by Michael Bennett The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee The Palace Papers by Tina Brown The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer by Christopher Clary Coming up: Our Best Books of 2022 Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz              

Anna and Amanda discuss book shopping on TikTok.  Our book of the week is Crossroads by award-winning author Jonathan Franzen.  This is a family drama set in 1971 American suburbia and is the first in a trilogy.  It was an instant New York Times best-seller, a Guardian Best Fiction Book of 2021 and has been described as 'a Middlemarch-like triumph' (The Telegraph).  Coming up: our Holiday Reading Recomendations and TBR. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the National Book Award winner for fiction, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty. Our book of the week is The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, the follow-up novel to her hugely successful Hamnet. It's set in the Italian Renaissance and follows Lucrezia de'Medici and her marriage aged 15 to the Duke of Ferrara.  All the ingredients for a great read, we had high expectations for this one! Coming up: Crossroads by Jonanthan Franzen and our Holiday Reading recommendations and TBR! Follow us: Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras  Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the court blocking the acquisition by Penguin Random House of Simon & Schuster. Our book of the week is The Trees by Percival Everett. This novel set in Money, Mississippi starts with a brutal murder which detectives Ed and Jim struggle to solve.  Satirical with absurdist elements and a whodunnit, but confronting racism and lynching in America, it has been described as a 'gory pulp revenge fantasy' (Bookforum) and 'explosive in every way' (Dua Lipa). It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the latest book sales and our theories on TikTok or #BookTok .  We also preview our new segment Keep or Cull, as we will be reading from our ever-growing TBR shelf! Our book of the week is Limberlost by award-winning author Robbie Arnott.  It's a coming-of-age story about Ned, who lives on an apple farm in Tasmania and spends the summer of 1944 hunting rabbits while his brothers are at war.  Annie loved this and has tipped it for the Miles Franklin already. Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the death of Hilary Mantel and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux. Our books of the week are Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer and After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz, both long-listed for the 2022 Booker Prize.  We also discuss the Booker Prize Shortlist and our winner predictions. Coming up: Limberlost by Robbie Arnott Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II and recommend these books: An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett The Queen by Ben Pimlott The Palace Papers by Tina Brown Our book of the week is Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra. This New York Times Bestseller is set in Mussolini's Italy and 1940s Hollywood.  Described as 'a wonderful novel' (Sunday Times), 'epically entertaining' (San Fancisco Chronicle) and 'A gorgeous book ... sublime' (New York Times). We agree! Coming up: Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au and our small book recommendations. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss their predictions for the 2022 Booker Prize Shortlist. Our book of the week is Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley.  This novel about a young woman in Oakland has been described as 'an electrifying debut' (Dave Eggers). It is a New York Times Bestseller, an Oprah Book Club pick and is longlisted for the Booker Prize. We think it more than lives up to the hype! Coming up: Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down and Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra. Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books on the Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss their book recommendations for Women in Translation month.  There is also a #WITreadathon on BookTube hosted by Matthew Sciarappa, Kendra Winchester and Insert Literary Pun Here if you're interested. Our WIT month books: Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Jennifer Croft Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth translated by Charlotte Barslund Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Bela Shayevich The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura translated by Lucy North Heaven by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo translated by Chi-Young Kim Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung translated by Anton Hur Waiting for the Waters to Rise by Maryse Condé translated by Richard Philcox Paradais by Fernanda Melchor translated by Sophie Hughes The Mermaid's Tale by Lee Wei-Jing translated by Darryl Sterk Violets by Kyung Sook-Shin translated by Anton Hur Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz    

Anna and Annie discuss the Miles Franklin Literary Award winner and react to the 2022 Booker Prize Longlist. Our book of the week is Bolla by Pajtim Statovci translated by David Hackston. Set in Kosovo, this novel centres on Arsim, an Albanian man who falls in love with Milos, a Serbian man, just before the Kosovan war.  It won the Finlandia Prize in its original Finnish. We echo the praise of Torrey Peters:  "Devastating in the most beautiful ways ... you are in the hands of an absolute artist." Coming up: our recommendations for Women in Translation Month. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras  Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the plagiarism allegations with The Dogs originally reported by The Guardian.  We love a literary scandal! Our best books of 2022 so far are: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz The Candy House by Jennifer Egan The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy Devotion by Hannah Kent Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Son of Sin by Omar Sakr Annie also reacts to the Women's Prize winner and recommends the Tsundoku podcast.  Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the Women's Prize winner, The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. Our book of the week is Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto, the follow-up to her Stella Prize-winning novel The Strays.  A heartbroken young man lands in New York City, indulges in the hedonistic art scene and then finds himself in Ohio working for Wayne, a collector of exotic animals.   Coming up: Bolla by Pajtim Statovci. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Miles Franklin longlist. Annie's tip to win is Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down. Our comfort reading recommendations are: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative and Fate by Daniel Mendelsohn Love Marriage by Monica Ali Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au The Guncle by Steven Rowley Seventeen by John Brownlow Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz      

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the winner of the 2022 Dublin Literary Award, The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter translated by Frank Wynne. Our book of the week is The Red Arrow by William Brewer. A writer who has taken a dose of mushrooms chases a famous physicist whose memoir he is ghost-writing.  Described as 'hypnotic' and 'trippy', we could not find a bad review of this book.  We are in the minority on this one! Follow us: Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen. Our book of the week is Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari.  It explores the forces in society  that distract us and affect our ability to concentrate, from social media to processed food.  Thought-provoking and has changed the way we view our phones!  Coming up: our comfort reading recommendations. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Women's Prize Shortlist. Our book of the week is The Candy House by award-winning author Jennifer Egan. It is a sister novel to her Pulitzer-Prize winning A Visit from the Goon Squad and is set in a future where people upload their memories to the cloud. A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 and described as 'thrilling' (Kirkus); 'fiction at its best' (USA Today), 'radiant' (Slate) and 'dazzling' (Vogue), this is a wild ride of a novel.  Recommended. Coming up: our favourite comfort reads. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Yanira shares why she deleted Goodreads and how it's improved her reading life, and we talk about rereading books before we dig into books we've read and liked lately. Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 246: Unsettling Endings Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed: Very Cold People by Sarah MangusoEnd of the World House by Adrienne CeltA Very Nice Girl by Imogen CrimpThe Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe, Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renee ThomasJoan is Okay by Weike WangOther mentions:  A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Sandra CisnerosThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Hating Game by Sally ThorneThe Hating Game (film)Normal People by Sally RooneyConversations with Friends (tv adaptation)Bridgerton (Netflix)Leave the World Behind by Rumaan AlamThe Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz, translated by Elisabeth JaquetteThe Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn JohnsonDirty Computer (album)Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture]Chemistry by Weike WangEither/Or by Elif BatumanThe Idiot by Elif BatumanThe Possessed by Elif BatumanLessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, read by Miranda RaisonRelated episodes: Episode 070 - Words Like Weapons with Yanira Ramirez Episode 096 - Not Without Hope with Yanira RamirezEpisode 108 - Venn Diagram with Yanira Ramirez  Episode 141 - Profound and Tedious Work with Yanira RamirezEpisode 181 - An Awkward Woman with Yanira RamirezStalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Booker International Shortlist. Our book of the week is The Colony by Audrey Magee, author of the Women's Prize shortlisted The Undertaking. The Colony is a novel about colonialism on a wild Irish island.  Described as lyrical and intelligent, this one did not work for us but provoked much discussion. Coming up: The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras  Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

At the end of March, a handful of us gathered to discuss what we had read for the Russian novel quarter of Reading Envy Russia. We also discuss the works we abandoned, some dips into Ukrainian literature, and talked more about what makes a novel quintessentially Russian. Thanks to all who joined in during this chat, in Goodreads, and in social media!Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 245: Looking Back at the Russian Novel  Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed: The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them by Elif BatumanThe Anna Karenina Fix by Viv GroskopDead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa VolkhonskyA Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov, translated by Paul FooteThe Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Lisa C. HaydenLaurus by Eugene VodolazkinFlowers for Algernon by Daniel KeyesThe Mountain and the Wall by Alisa Ganieva, translated by Carol ApollonioThe Hall of the Singing Caryatids by Victor Pelevin, translated by Andrew BromfieldWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyThe Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo TolstoyPale Fire by Vladimir NabokovLolita by Vladimir NabokovInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceZuleikha by Guzel Yakhina, translated by Lisa C. HaydenI Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani PickhartBrisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Marian SchwarzThe Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse WheelerLucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets, translated by Eugene OstahevskyLife Went on Anyway: Stories by Oleg Sentsov, translated by Uilleam Blacker Other mentions:Ted ChiangKen LiuHanya Yanagihara"Men Who Explain Lolita to Me" by Rebecca Solnit on LitHub"Dead Soul" by Masha Gessen in Vanity FairSt. Michael's bells ringing in 2013Related episodes:Episode 237 - Reading Goals 2022Episode 241 - Feral Pigeons with LaurieEpisode 243 - Russian Novel Speed Date Stalk us online:Reading Envy Readers on Goodreads (home of Reading Envy Russia)Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. You can see the full collection for Reading Envy Russia 2022 on Bookshop.org.

Anna and Annie belatedly discuss the Booker International Longlist. Our book of the week is A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames.  Happy Doll is an LA private detective who finds himself out of his depth after killing a customer at the Thai Miracle Spa.  With Hollywood noir atmosphere, and loved by Lee Child, this hard-boiled crime novel is recommended. Coming up: The Colony by Audrey Magee. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Lauren W. will be co-hosting this non-fiction quarter of Reading Envy Russia. We share books we have already read and freely recommend, and also chat about the piles and shelves of books we are considering. Let us know your recommendations and where you hope to start in the comments, or join the conversation in Goodreads.Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 244: 2nd Quarter - Russian Non-Fiction Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books we can recommend: Memories from Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi by TeffiSecondhand Timeby Svetlana AlexievichThe Unwomanly Face of Warby Svetlana AlexievichLast Witnesses by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Pevear & VolokhonskyZinky Boysby Svetlana AlexievichVoices of Chernobyl (also titled Chernobyl Prayer) by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Keith GessenOther Russias by Victoria Lomasko, translated by Thomas CampbellThe Future is History by Masha Gessen Never Rememberby Masha Gessen, photography by Misha FriedmanWhere the Jews Aren't by Masha Gessen Pushkin's Children by Tatyana Tolstaya The Slynx by Tatyana TolstayaImperium by Ryszard Kapucinski, translated by Klara GlowczewskaA Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy by Deborah McDonald and Jeremy DronfieldPutin Country by Anne GarrelsLetters: Summer 1926 by Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Rainer Maria Rilke Sovietistan by Erika Fatland The Commissar Vanishes by David King Gulag by Anne Applebaum The Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum The Magical Chorus by Solomon Volkov, translated by Antonina Bouis  Shostaskovich and Stalin by Solomon Volkov The Tiger by John Vaillant Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog): Visionary Scientists and a Siberian Tale of Jump-Started Evolution by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut Please to the Table by Anya von Bremzen Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen Books we are considering: All Lara's Wars by Wojchiech Jagielski, translated by Antonia Lloyd-JonesGulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by Eric Ericson (there is a unabridged 1800+ pg, and an author approved abridged version, 400-some pages) Journey into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg, translated by Paul Stevenson, Max Hayward Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov, translated by John GladRiot Days by Maria AlyokhinaSpeak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov The Life Written by Himself by Avvakum Petrov My Childhood by Maxim Gorky Teffi: A Life of Letters and Laughter by Edythe Haber Hope Against Hope by Nadezhda Mandelstam, tr. Max Hayward The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin Putin's Russia: life in a failing democracy by Anna Politkovskaya ; translated by Arch Tait. A Russian diary: a journalist's final account of life, corruption, and death in Putin's Russia by Anna Politkovskaya Notes on Russian Literature by F.M. DostoevskyThe Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece by Kevin Birmingham The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses by Kevin BirminghamLess than One: Selected Essays by Joseph Brodsky Tolstoy Together by Yiyun Li The Border by Erika Fatland Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson Red Plenty by Francis Spufford Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder The Last Empire: Final Days of the Soviet Union by Serhii PlokhyThe Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii PlokhyChernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe by Serhii PlokhyNuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii PlokhyMan with the Poison Gun: a Cold War Spy Story by Serhii PlokhyBabi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov, tr. David Floyd Manual for Survival: An Environmental History of the Chernobyl Disaster by Kate Brown Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters by Kate BrownA Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland by Kate BrownOctober: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Mieville Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia by Peter Pomerantsev Across the Ussuri Kray by Vladimir Arsenyev, translated by Slaght An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman, translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army by Vasily GrossmanThe Road by Vasily GrossmanStalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and Depraved of Chernobyl by Markiyan Kamysh Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia by David Greene Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine & beyond by Olia HerculesRed Sands by Caroline EdenBlack Sea by Caroline Eden Tasting Georgia by Carla Capalbo  Other mentions:PEN list of writers against PutinNew Yorker article about Gessen siblings Thanksgivukkah 2013  League of Kitchens - Uzbek lessonLeague of Kitchens - Russian lessonMasha Gessen on Ezra Klein podcast, March 2022Related episodes:Episode 067 - Rain and Readability with Ruth(iella) Episode 084 - A Worthy Tangent with Bryan Alexander Episode 138 - Shared Landscape with Lauren Weinhold Episode 237 - Reading Goals 2022Episode 243 - Russian Novel Speed Date Stalk us online:Reading Envy Readers on Goodreads (home of Reading Envy Russia)Lauren at GoodreadsLauren is @end.notes on InstagramJenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. You can see the full collection for Reading Envy Russia 2022 on Bookshop.org.

It's been a while since I've done a speed dating bonus episode, and this one is all about Russian novels for the Reading Envy Russia novel quarter. I discuss books I tried, what I think of them, and books I read previously. We might be moving on to non-fiction officially, but that doesn't mean we have to leave Russian literature behind forever. Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 243: Russian Novel Speed Date Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed:An Evening with Claire by Gaito Gazdanov, translated by Bryan KaretnykThe Sentence by Louise ErdrichFirst Love by Ivan Turgenev, translated by Richard FreebornEugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, translated by Leo TolstoyOblomov by Ivan Goncherov, translated by Stephen PearlLolita by Vladimir NabokovZuleikha by Guzel Yakhina, translated by Lisa C. HaydenThe Time of Women by Elena Chizhova, translated by Simon Patterson and Nina ChordasUntraceable by Sergei Lebedev, translated by Antonina W. BouisOblivion by Sergei Lebedev, translated by Antonina W. BouisBrisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Marian SchwartzLaurus by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Lisa C. HaydenAnna K.: A Love Story by Jenny LeeAnna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance GarrettThe Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by David McDuffThe Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa VolokhonskyA Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony MarraThe Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony MarraCity of Thieves by David BenioffA Gentleman in Moscow by Amor TowlesThe Bookworm by Mitch SilverA Terrible Country by Keith GessenFardwor, Russia! by Oleg Kashin, translated by Will EvansRelated episodes:  Episode 228 - Full of Secrets with Audrey Episode 135 - Speed Dating 2018, Round 5Episode 113 - Speed Dating 2018, round 1Episode 117 - Speed Dating 2018, round 2Episode 120 - Summer Reading; Speed Dating 2018, round 3   Episode 128 - Poetry and Whale Guts (Bonus episode; Speed Dating 2018, round 4)Episode 063 - Desolation Road (book speed dating and books on grief)Episode 059 - Are you Inspired Yet? bonus book speed datingEpisode 047 - Sex with Elvis: Bonus Book Speed Dating EpisodeEpisode 035 - Speed Dating Books   Stalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Women's Prize Longlist. Our book of the week is Everybody: A Book About Freedom by Olivia Laing. Laing merges a biography of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich with figures such as Susan Sontag and Nina Simone to  discuss the body, illness, freedom and power. Annie rates it as her top non-fiction read of 2021. Coming up: A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

I was happy to sit down and talk to Claire, a reader from the upcoming generation. She likes dark and gloomy books! Jenny also took the opportunity to read a few YA books she had not yet gotten to, and went dark and gloomy too.Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 242: Dark and Gloomy Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed: Took by Mary Downing Hahn Truly, Devious by Maureen JohnsonPrisoner B-3087 by Alan GratzEmily of New Moon by L.M. MontgomeryThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsOther mentions:  Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing HahnMaus by Art SpiegelmanThe Hunger Games seriesDivergent seriesMaze Runner seriesDangerous by Shannon HaleA Map of Days by Ransom RiggsEnder's Game by Orson Scott CardRelated episodes: Episode 010 - YA Literature: Death and Mayhem with guests Alex and CarissaEpisode 022 - Gods and Cannibals with guest ChrisEpisode 173 - Expecting a Lot from a Book with Sarah Tittle  Stalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Laurie is back and we talk about book challenges, even one in French! Since she is a biologist, science comes up as a theme in multiple ways. Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 241: Feral Pigeons Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed:Cat's Cradle by Kurt VonnegutThe Trees by Percival EverettA Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching by Rosemary MoscoBroken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems by Aaiún NinThe Unwinding and Other Dreams by Jackie MorrisOther mentions:  Think Again by Adam GrantThe Hall of the Singing Caryatids by Victor Pelevin, translated by Andrew BromfieldThe Possessed by Elif BatumanPutin's Russia by Darryl CunninghamLilly Library - Kurt Vonnegut collectionTelephone by Percival EverettThe American Pigeon MuseumThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExuperyPigeoneticsUnbound PublisherThe Silent Unwinding by Jackie MorrisMy Year of Meats by Ruth OzekiRhythm of War by Brandon SandersonGreat Plains by Ian FrazierEcho by Thomas Olde Heuvelt  by Ali HazelwoodThe Love Hypothesis by Ali HazelwoodThe Three Robbers by Tomi UngererRelated episodes: Episode 065 - Creeping through the Uncanny Valley with guest Bryan Alexander Episode 069 - Evil Librarian/SFBRP Crossover Episode with Luke and Juliane Episode 201 - Wrestling with Complexity with Elizabeth and LaurieEpisode 216 - Eloquent and Elegant with KalaEpisode 231 - Psychological Terrorism with Reggie Episode 233 - Get Into Trouble with Ruth Stalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy Laurie on TwitterLaurie is @dryapyapi on InstagramLaurie at GoodreadsAll links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Anna and Annie discuss the LA Times Book Prize finalists.  We fail to predict which books will be on the Women's Prize longlist but recommend this video by Eric Karl Anderson and Anna James. Our book of the week is The Fell by Sarah Moss, the award-winning author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater. A short novel about a woman who breaks quarantine to go for a walk, it brings back the claustrophobia of isolation and raises the question, are we ready for pandemic fiction?  A great book club read. Coming up: Everybody by Olivia Laing Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss reading recommendations for Black History Month. Our book of the week is Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry by award-winning author Richard Flanagan.  He exposes the secrets, lies, chemical dyes and environmental harm behind what is marketed as a clean and healthy food.  We will never eat farmed salmon again after reading this book. Richard Flanagan will be in conversation with Kerry O'Brien at Adelaide Writers' Week. Coming up: The Fell by Sarah Moss.    Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast Litsy: @abailliekaras Twitter: @abailliekaras

Chris visits the podcast for the first time, where we discuss web comics and where they live, book clubs and book goals, book slumps and book challenges. We also manage to discuss several debut novels across a wide range of genres, but all with strong representation!Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 240: Air Quotes Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed:The Wolf at the Door by Charlie AdharaHow High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia NagamatsuThe Charm Offensive by Alison CochrunIslands of Decolonial Love by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, performed by Tantoo CardinalSummer Sons by Lee MandeloOther mentions:  Gotham OutsidersThirsty on ToonTalking ComicsMy Gentle GiantWEBTOONBatman: Wayne Family AdventuresWattpadReading Glasses PodcastReading Glasses ChallengeHeaving Bosoms PodcastHeaving Bosoms' Reading EmbraceBig Bad Wolf Series by Charlie AdharaGail CarrigerNagamatsu playlist at Largehearted BoyStiff by Mary RoachSmoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin DoughtySunshine Cleaning (film)The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah KrasnosteinromIndigenous Reading Circle in PatreonNoopiming by Leanne Betasamosake SimpsonBojack Horseman (tv show)Horrorstör by Grady HendrixThe Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady HendrixWe Sold Our Souls by Grady HendrixWoman Eating by Claire KohdaThe Final Girl Support Group by Grady HendrixThe Employees by Olga Gavn, translated by Martin AitkenRelated episodes: Episode 060 - A Good Era for Communists with Rose Davis Episode 148 - Multiple Lives with JeffEpisode 191 - Stealthy yet Sparkly with Gail CarrigerEpisode 231 - Psychological Terrorism with Reggie Stalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy Chris on TwitterAll links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Rathbone Folio Prize shortlist. Our book of the week is Devotion by Hannah Kent, author of the multi award-winning Burial Rites.  Devotion is a queer love story set in Prussia and Australia in the 1830s.  Described as 'utterly original' (Heather Rose), 'a glorious love story' (Sarah Winman) and 'stunning' (Evie Wyld) it was Booktopia's favourite book of 2021 and we predict will be on many awards lists.  Coming up: Toxic by Richard Flanagan and The Fell by Sarah Moss. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Facebook: Books On The Go Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Costa Book of the Year The Kids by Hannah Lowe, the 2022 Dublin International LIterary Award Longlist and the Adelaide Writers' Week program. Our book of the week is The Sentence, the new novel by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author  Louise Erdrich.  Set in Minneapolis in 2020, it tells the story of badass heroine Tookie, her marriage, and a ghost haunting the bookshop where she works.  We loved it. Coming up: Devotion by Hannah Kent. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go  Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Katie joins me for the first time from the far north to discuss her own reading, plus one very creative solution for reading short stories with a book club. Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 239: Gross but Subtle Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed:Salt Slow by Julia ArmfieldThe Sentence by Louise ErdrichSufferance by Thomas KingSeek You: A Journey through American Loneliness by Kristen RadtkeGutter Child by Jael RichardsonOther mentions: Well-Read BooksColes Books"The Great Awake" by Julia ArmfieldWayward Children series by Seanan McGuireTournament of BooksLove Medicine by Louise ErdrichThe Night Watchman by Louise ErdrichGreen Grass, Running Water by Thomas KingIndian Horse by Richard WagameseThe Marrow Thieves by Cherie DimalineThe Break by Katherena VermetteThe Strangers by Katherena Vermette (forthcoming, hopefully)Drawing Loneliness with Kristen Radtke (video)Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?: Stories by Kathleen CollinsHalf-Blood Blues by Esi EdugyanIn Concrete by Anne Garrétta, translated by Emma RamadanRelated episodes: Episode 077 - No One Messes With a Wolf with Shawn MooneyEpisode 181 - An Awkward Woman with Yanira RamirezEpisode 190 - The Good Life with AlexEpisode 202 - Jacket Flap with Chris and EmilyStalk us online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy Katie is @katie_sikkes on InstagramAll links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Anna and Annie discuss joyful stories, vampires and other book trends for 2022. Our book of the week is The Appeal by Janice Hallett.  This debut crime novel with a nod to Agatha Christie has been a Sunday Times best-seller.  Recommended as a fun holiday read. Coming up: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

In this episode, Mariam and Luci share some of their favorite apps and websites for reading and listening to books, short stories, etc.Here is a list of what was shared in this episode:1. Kindle2. Audible3. Bookbub4. Libby5. Storyline Online6. Blinkist7. Literary Hub8. Goodreads9. Fictional10. BookClubz11. Myths and Legends12. Litsy

Anna and Amanda discuss the National Book Awards longlists. Our book of the week is Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.  Compared to John Irving (The Australian) it's 'profound and witty' (Sydney Morning Herald), 'unputdownable' (David Wenham) and has become a word-of-mouth sensation. Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.  Then Anna and Amanda will be back with Snap by Belinda Bauer. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99 Twitter, Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits: Artwork:  Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie discuss the top 10 best-sellers and the release of Fear by Bob Woodward. Our book of the week is Normal People by Sally Rooney. Long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2018 and hailed by the Guardian as a 'future classic', it's compulsively readable.  Why has it struck such a chord? Next week, Anna and Amanda will be reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.  Then Anna and Annie will be back with Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. Follow us! Facebook:  Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captain_midget Instagram and Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits: Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie have an update on the New Nobel Prize and the Ned Kelly Awards for crime. Our book of the week is Milkman by Anna Burns, which has made this year's Man Booker longlist. It is nominally set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 70s (although this is never explicitly stated) and follows a young woman trying to fly under the radar in dangerous and unusual times. Both Anna and Annie found it a challenging read, but was  the struggle worth it? Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton. Follow us! Facebook:  Books On The Go Email:  booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captain_midget Instagram and Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits: Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Jaipur Literary Festival coming to Adelaide, and Barack Obama's summer reading list. Our book of the week is An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  A study of the marriage of two young black people in American and what happens when Roy is wrongfully imprisoned, this was an Oprah Book Club pick and one of Obama's summer reads.  Will it live up to the hype? Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Follow us! Facebook:  Books On The Go Email:  booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captain_midget Instagram and Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits: Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the Man Booker Longlist and make a 'Snap' decision to read The Mars Room (see what we did there). Our book of the week is Dear Friend, From My Life I Write To You in Your Life by Yiyun Li.  A memoir of reading and her battle with depression, it's a melancholy but beautiful read.  It certainly challenged us! Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99 Twitter and Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits: Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie discuss book news: Philip Roth has passed away.  Should we read more of his books?  And the Miles Franklin longlist has been announced. Our book of the week is The End by Fernanda Torres, translated by Alison Entrekin. A lively story set in Rio de Janeiro, these five men were fun to hate! Next week Anna and Amanda will be reading From The Wreck by Jane Rawson. Follow us: Facebook:  Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captainmidget Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Credits: Artwork by Sascha Wilkosz

So we'll be honest, this episode kinda got away from us and we ended up talking about ALL the stories. But they're so good! The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel Mallory Ortberg is full of wondrous stories that take a dark (and relevant) spin on your favorite folklore and fairytales. It was a perfect read for Short Story Month! If you want to read along with us, our June pick is "Goodbye, Vitamin" by Rachel Khong. Find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Litsy, Goodreads and check out our blog at thelibrarianssuggest.com for more of our bookish thoughts. https://www.instagram.com/thelibrarianssuggest/ https://twitter.com/libssuggest http://www.goodreads.com/thelibrarianssuggest See you in the stacks!