Podcast appearances and mentions of owen meany

Jess here! A while back, Sarina and KJ talked about how much they enjoyed Tess Gerritsen's novel, The Spy Coast, and Sarina reassured KJ she'd enjoy book two of the series even more. I had never read a Tess Gerritsen novel, and while I'd heard her name before and vaguely understood she wrote thrillers, I was starting from square one when I downloaded the audio version of The Spy Coast. Now, I'm not an international spy thriller kind of gal. In the abstract, I understand the allure of books like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Six Days of the Condor. Spies! Intrigue! International [almost exclusively men] of mystery! But they have never really floated my proverbial boat. That said, I loved Tess Gerritsen's spies and the world they inhabit. There's a sense of place - nay, a downright LOVE of place - and a retiring, rural New England domesticity that spoke to this retiring, rural New England reader. Book two, The Summer Guests, is even more rooted in Maine, on its history and the social dynamics of its natives and its summer people. Once I tore through those first two books, I went back to Gerritsen's first book, The Surgeon, one of Time Magazine's top 100 thriller/mystery books of all time and the first in the Rizzoli & Isles series, consequently made into a long-running television series. Gerritsen has a fascinating career trajectory, lots to talk about regarding pantsing and plotting, where the ideas come from, and lots of other geeky details about the writing life. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Find Tess at Tessgerritsen.com, or on Bluesky, @TessGerritsen Transcript below!EPISODE 462 - TRANSCRIPTJennie NashHey everyone, it's Jennie Nash, founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, the company I started more than 10 years ago to lead the emerging book coaching industry. In October, we'll be enrolling a new cohort of certification students who will be going through programs in either fiction, nonfiction, or memoir, and learning the editorial, emotional, and entrepreneurial skills that you need to be a successful book coach. If you've been curious about book coaching and thinking that it might be something you want to do for your next career move, I'd love to teach you more about it, you can go to bookcoaches.com/waitlist to check out the free training I have—that's bookcoaches.com/waitlist. The training is all about how to make money, meaning, and joy out of serving writers. Fall is always a great time to start something new. So if you're feeling called to do this, go check out our training and see if this might be right for you. We'd love to have you join us.Multiple SpeakersIs it recording? Now it's recording, yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay, now—one, two, three.Jess LaheyHey, this is Jess Lahey, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast. This is the podcast about writing all the things—short things, long things, poetry, prose, narrative nonfiction, fiction, creative nonfiction, queries, proposals. This is the podcast about writing all the things. More than anything else, this is the podcast about the writing life and about getting the work done. I am Jess Lahey. I'm the author of The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation. And you can find my journalism at The Atlantic and The Washington Post, and my bi-weekly (formerly bi-weekly) column at The New York Times, The Parent-Teacher Conference, ran for about three years I am joined today by Sarina Bowen, who has written 50-odd books. She has written lots and lots of romance, and her most recent addition to the world of publishing has been her thrillers, Dying to Meet You and The Five Year Lie. And she has a book coming out this fall called Thrown for a Loop. The reason I am recording this intro on my own—which, as you may know if you've been listening, is highly unusual for us—is because I know myself. And I know when I'm really excited to talk to someone on the podcast; I'm going to flub the intro. I'm going to forget something. I'm going to forget to introduce them altogether. So today, I'm doing that first, so I don't mess it up. A while ago on the podcast, you may have heard Sarina and KJ read some books by an author named Tess Gerritsen. I had heard of Tess Gerritsen, but I had never read any of her books. I just hadn't yet. I haven't read Nora Roberts yet. I haven't read—there are lots of authors I haven't read yet. And sometimes you don't even know where to start. So when Sarina and KJ recommended Tess Gerritsen's new series set in Maine—the first one being The Spy Coast and the second one being The Summer Guests—I figured I had a good place to start. And you know, as a New Englander, I love a good book about New England, and that was the start of my interest in Tess Gerritsen's work. I have gone back to the beginning and started with her book The Surgeon, which was her first book in the series that became the Rizzoli and Isles Series, as well as a television show. Tess Gerritsen has a—she's written through 33 books at this point. And as I now know, she has also directed a documentary called Magnificent Beast about pigs, which I listened to this morning while I was vacuuming the house. I loved it. She also—she has a lot to say about genre, about publishing, about second careers, about a writing place, and about process. So let's just jump right into it. I am so excited to introduce to you today, Tess Gerritsen. So from the perspective of what our listeners love—this podcast, the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast —is super geek. People who love the nuts and bolts and the dorky details of the writing life. Sarina has a past life in finance, and so she tends to be, like, our “no, but let's talk about the numbers” kind of person. I'm just the research super dork, which is why I spent my morning watching your documentary about pigs.Tess GerritsenOh my god! (Laughing)Jess LaheyMagnificent Beast. I—I've joked in the past that if I could, I would probably just research things in—in, you know, maybe there'll be a book out there, maybe there won't, but I would research things and—and just learn as much as I could. And so I loved—loved—your Magnificent Beast documentary. I thought it was fantastic. But one of the reasons that we wanted to talk to you, just from the very beginning, is that we feel like you do some pretty incredible world-building and relationship-building with your places and your characters. And so I just—I would love to start there, mainly with the idea of starting with the real nuts and bolts stuff, which is, like, what does an average writing day look like for you? And how do you, sort of—how do you set that up? What does it look like, if you have an average writing day? Maybe you don't.Tess GerritsenWell, it's hard to describe an average writing day, because every day is—there are days when you sit at your desk and you just, you know, pull your hair. And there are days when you get distracted by the news. And there are many days when I just do not want to write. But when I'm writing, the good days are when my characters are alive and talking to me. And it's—it's—you talked about world-building and character-building. That is really key to me. What are they saying to me? Can I hear their voices? And it sounds a little—a little crazy, because I am hearing voices. But it's those voices that really make characters come alive.Jess LaheyI—You have said in other interviews that you are very much—sorry to those of you who hate the terms—that you are very much a pantser. And you are sitting on this interview with a consummate plotter. Sarina is our consummate plotter. So could you talk a little bit about how those character—how those voices—influence, you know, the pantsing of the—of the book, and—and how that works for you?Tess GerritsenWell, I mean, it is weird that I am a pantser. And it's funny—I think that people who are plotters tend to be people who are in finance or in law, because they're used to having their ducks lined up, you know. They—they want everything set up ahead of time, and it makes them feel comfortable. And I think a large part of becoming a pantser is learning to be comfortable with unpredictability. Learning to just let things happen, and know you're going to take wrong turns, know you're going to end up in blind alleys—and yet just keep on forging ahead and change direction. So I suppose that what helps me become a pantser, as I said, is hearing a character's voice. If, for instance, when I wrote The Spy Coast, the first thing I heard about that book was Maggie Bird's voice. And she just said, “I'm not the woman I used to be.” And that's an opening there, right? Because you want to find out, Maggie, who did you used to be? And why do you sound so sad? So a lot of it was just—just getting into her head and letting her talk about what a day-to-day life is, which is, you know, raising chickens and collecting eggs and becoming—and being—a farmer. And then she does something surprising in that very first chapter. There's a fox that's killing her chickens, so she grabs her rifle and kills it with one shot. And that opens up another thing, like—how are you, a 62-year-old woman, able to take out a rifle and kill a fox with one shot? So it's—it's those things. It's those revelations of character. When they come out and they tell you something, or they show you they—they have a skill that you weren't aware of, you want to dig deeper and find out, you know, where did they get that skill?Sarina BowenAnd that is a really fun way to show it. I mean, you're talking today with two people who have also kept chickens.Multiple Speakers(All laughing)Jess LaheyAnd had foxes take their chickens, actually.Sarina BowenOh yes, because the two go together.Tess GerritsenYes.Sarina BowenBut yes, I admit I have never shot a fox, and maybe wouldn't.Jess LaheyI have yelled very loudly at a fox, and he actually—I have to say—really mad respect for the fox, because he took one look at me—he did drop the chicken that I was yelling at him for grabbing—and then he went across the street, around the neighbor's house, around the back of the other neighbor's house, and came at the exact same chicken from the other side of the house, where I couldn't see him out the window.Tess GerritsenOh, they are so smart. They are so smart.Jess LaheySo smart. Sarina, it sounded like you had something— you had something you wanted to add, and I interrupted you when we were talking about pantsing and we were talking about world-building and characters speaking to you.Sarina BowenWell, I just had thought that it was a lovely moment to explain why I was so excited to read this book after I heard Tess speak at Thriller Fest 2024, in a packed room where there was nowhere to sit except on the floor. You told the audience a little bit of a story from your real life that—that made you want to write that book. And I wonder if you could tell us what that was, because for me—I mean, we were only five minutes into your talk, and I'm like, oh, I'm—I'm going to download that tonight.Tess GerritsenWell, yes, it was. A lot of my books come from ideas that I've been stewing over for years. I have a folder called the ideas folder. It's an actual physical manila folder. And if I see something in an article or a newspaper or a magazine, I'll just rip it out and stick it in there, and it sometimes takes a long time before I know how to turn this into a book. So the idea for The Spy Coast is a little bit of obscure knowledge that I learned 35 years ago, when I first moved to Maine. My husband is a medical doctor. He opened up a practice, and when he would bring in new patients, he would always get an occupational history. And he used to get this answer—this very strange answer—from his new patients. They would say, “I used to work for the government, but I can't talk about it.” And after he heard that three times, he thought, what town did we land in? And who are these people? And we later found out that on our very short street, on one side of us was a retired OSS person, and on the other side was retired CIA. A realtor told us that our town was full of CIA retirees. So, I mean, of course you want to ask, why did they get here? What are they doing here? What are their lives like? I knew there was a book in there, but I didn't know what that book was. I needed 35 years to come up with the idea. And what I really needed to do was become old and—and realize that as you get older, especially women, we become invisible. People don't pay attention to us. We are over the hill. You know, everybody looks at the young, pretty chicks, but once you start getting gray hair, you fade into the background. And with that experience myself; I began to think more and more about what it's like to be retired. What is it like to be retired from a job that was maybe dangerous, or exciting, or something that you really risked your life to—to achieve? So that was—that was the beginning of The Spy Coast. What happens to CIA retirees—especially women—who are now invisible? But that makes them the best spies of all.Jess LaheyYeah, and we have—we did this really cool thing, this really fun thing for us on the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast. It's like a supporter-only thing, where we call First Pages, where very brave authors—very brave writers—submit their first page to us, and we talk about it and decide whether or not we'd want to turn the page. And you have an incredible skill on your first pages. You're very, very good at first pages. And I was thinking about The Summer Guests, that you had this wonderful line that I'm going to read now:Purity, Maine, 1972. On the last day of his life, Purity police officer Randy Pelletier ordered a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee at the Marigold Café,Which immediately reminded me of my very, very favorite line from all of literature—my very favorite first line—which is Irving's first line from A Prayer for Owen Meany, in which he ruins the story for you right there in the first line:I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God.There is this incredible power to first lines. And I'm sort of wondering where—how first lines happen for you. Do they happen first? Do they happen last? Do they happen along the way?Tess GerritsenFirst lines usually happen last. I—it's—I will write the whole book, and I'll think, something's missing in that first chapter. How do I open this up? And, you know, there are things that make lines immediately hypnotic, and one of those things is an inherent contradiction—something that makes you think, wait, okay, you start off this way, but then all of a sudden, the meaning of that line switches. So, yeah, it starts off with, you know, this guy's going to die. But on that last day of his life, he does something very ordinary. He just orders coffee at the local café. So I think it's that contradiction that makes us want to read more. It's also a way to end chapters. I think that—that if you leave your reader with a sense of unease—something is about to go wrong, but they don't know what it is yet—or leave them with an unanswered question, or leave them with, as I said, a contradiction—that is what's page-turning. I think that a lot of thriller writers in particular mistake action for—for being—for being interesting. A car chase on the page is really very boring. But what's interesting is something that—you could feel that tension building, but you don't know why.Sarina BowenI have joked sometimes that when I get stuck on a plot, sometimes I will talk at my husband and—and say, “you know, I'm stuck here.” And he always says, “And then a giant squid attacked.” And it—of course I don't write books that take place where this is possible, so—but it never fails to remind me that, like, external action can sometimes be just, you know, totally pointless. And that if you're stuck, it's because one of your dominoes isn't leaning, you know, in the right spot. So...Tess GerritsenYeah, it's—it's not as much fun seeing that domino fall as seeing it go slowly tilting over. You know, I really learned this when I was watching a James Bond movie. And it starts off—you know, the usual James Bonds have their cold open to those action and chasing and death-defying acts. I found that—I find that really, in that movie anyway—I was like, Ho hum. Can we get to the story? And I found the time when I was leaning forward in my theater seat, watching every moment, was really a very quiet conversation aboard a train between him and this woman who was going to become his lover. That was fascinating to me. So I think that that transfers to book writing as well. Action is boring.Jess LaheyYou and Sarina do something that I feel, as a writer; I would probably not be very good at, which is creating that unease. I—Sarina in particular does this thing... I've read every one of Sarina's books, as a good friend is supposed to do. And I text her, and I say, Why don't they just talk about it and just deal? Get it out in the open! And she's like, you know, we just got to make these people uncomfortable. And you both have this incredible talent for helping—keeping the reader, uh, along with you, simply because there is this sense of unease. We're slightly off-kilter the whole time. And yet in me, as a people pleaser, that makes me very uncomfortable. I want people to be happy with each other. So how do you—if you get to a place where you feel like maybe things aren't off-kilter enough, or things aren't off-balance enough—how do you introduce a little bit of unease into your—into your story?Tess GerritsenWell, I think it comes down to very small points of conflict—little bits of tension. Like, we call it micro-tension. And I think those occur in everyday life all the time. For instance, you know, things that happen that really don't have any big consequence, but are still irritating. We will stew about those for—for a while. And, you know, I used to write romance as well, so I understand entirely what Sarina is doing, because romance is really about courtship and conflict. And it's the conflict that makes us keep reading. We just—we know this is the courtship. So there's always that sense of it's not quite there, because once the characters are happy, the story is over, right?Sarina BowenYeah.Multiple Speakers(All laughing)Sarina BowenAlso, writing the ends of romance novels is the least interesting part. Like, what...? Once the conflict is resolved, like, I cannot wait to get out of there.Tess GerritsenRight, exactly. You know, I—I pay attention to my feelings when I'm reading a book, and I've noticed that the books that I remember are not the books with happy endings, because happiness is so fleeting. You know, you can be happy one second, and then something terrible will happen. You'll be unhappy. What lasts for us is sadness, or the sense of bittersweet. So when I read a book that ends with a bittersweet ending—such as, you know, Larry McMurtry Lonesome Dove—I ended up crying at the end of that book, and I have never forgotten that ending. Now, if everybody had been happy and there had been nobody to drag all those miles at the end, I would have forgotten that book very quickly. So I think—I try—I always try to leave the end of the book either bittersweet—I mean, you want to resolve all the major plot points—but also leave that sense of unease, because people remember that. And it also helps you, if you have a sequel.Sarina BowenThat's so interesting you've just brought up a couple of really interesting points, because there is a thriller—I actually write suspense now—and one of the books that so captured my attention about five years ago was killing it on the charts. And I thought it was actually a terrible book, but it nailed the bittersweet ending. Like, the premise was solid, and then the bittersweet ending was perfect, and the everything between the first chapter and the last chapter was a hot mess, but—but—um, that ending really stuck with me. And I remember carrying it around with me, like, Wow, they really nailed that ending. You know, and—and maybe that has, like, legs in terms of, like, talking about it. And, you know, if it—if—if it's irritating enough, like, the tension is still there—enough to, like, make people talk about it—it could actually affect the performance of that book. But also, um, one thing that I really love about this series—you have—what is the series title for the...?Tess GerritsenMartini—The Martini Club.Sarina BowenThe Martini Club, right? So The Martini Club is two books now. I inhaled the first one last summer, and I inhaled the second one this summer. And The Martini Club refers to this group of friends—these retired spies. And of course, there are two completely different mysteries in book one and book two. And I noticed a couple of things about the difference between those mysteries that was really fun. So in the first case—or in one of the two cases, let's see—in one of them, the thing that happens in their town is actually, like, related to them. And in the other one, it's kind of not. So to me, that felt like a boundary expansion of your world and your system. But also, I just love the way you leaned into the relationship of these people and their town in such a way. And how did you know to do that? Like, how—what does your toolbox say about how to get that expansiveness in your character set? Like, you know, to—to find all the limits of it?Tess GerritsenThat—you know, so much is like—it's like asking a pole-vaulter how they do it. They just—they have just—I guess its muscle memory. You don't really know how you're doing it, but what I did know was—with age, and because I love these characters so much—it really became about them and about what is going to deepen their friendship? What kind of a challenge is going to make them lean into each other—lean on each other? That's really what I was writing about, I think, was this circle of friends, and—and what you will do, how much you will sacrifice, to make sure your friends are safe. No, you're right—the second book is much more of a classic mystery. Yeah—a girl disappears. I mean, there was—there were—there were CIA undertones in that, because that becomes an important part of the book. But I think that what people are—when people say they love this book—they really talk about the characters and that friendship. And we all want friends like this, where we can go and—and—and have martinis together, and then if we—one of us needs to—we'll go help them bury a body.Multiple Speakers(All laughing)Tess GerritsenThat's—they all have shovels, and they're willing to do it. That's the kind of friendship—friends—we want.Jess LaheyWell, and that's funny you mention that—I had an entire question—it wasn't even a question, it was a statement—in here about friendships and being grateful to you for the reminder about the importance of relationships. And this entire podcast was born out of the fact that we were talking writing all the time, and we just wanted an official way to sit down once a week and actually talk about the work. And your work is suffused with just these incredible relationships—whether that's the Rizzoli and Isles—you know, in your first—in the one of your other series—and I'm just—I'm very grateful for that, because we—especially—I think I re—I really crave books about female relationships, especially about older female relationships. And I have been loving your books, and I've—like, as I may have mentioned to you in my initial email—I had—I'm so sorry—never read your books before. And I admitted in the introduction that there are lots of very, very famous authors whose books I have never read. And it's always so exciting to me to dive into someone's series and realize, oh, this person really touches on themes that mean a lot to me, and I can already tell that I'm going to be enjoying a lot of their books to come forward. So thank you for all of the great descriptions of relationships and how we do rely on each other for various aspects of just how we get through all of this stuff.Tess GerritsenYeah—get through life. But you know what's funny about it is that it didn't start that way. For instance, let's go back to Rizzoli and Isles. The very first time they both appear in a book is in The Apprentice. And they don't start off being friends. They start off being—they're so different. As the TV producer once said, “you've really written about Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.” That's okay—they are—in the books. They are not natural friends. But like real-life friendships, sometimes—just kind of develop slowly, and—and they have their ups and downs. So there are times when—when Jane and Maura are barely speaking to each other because of conflicts they have. But by the time book twelve comes around—or maybe book seven comes around—you know that they would risk their lives for each other. So I think that if you're writing a series like Rizzoli and Isles, or like The Martini Club, it really helps to develop the friendship on the fly and see how they react to certain stresses. The next book, which I just turned in, called The Shadow Friends—it even put—pushes them even further, and it really—it really strains a marriage, because it's—it's more about Ingrid, and an old lover comes back into her life. She used to—they were both spies—and he is, like, hot, hot, hot—Antonio Banderas kind of guy. And here's Ingrid, married to Lloyd, you know, who's just a sweet analyst who cooks dinner for her every night. And I—when I was coming up with that story, I thought, I want to write a book about their marriage. So it wasn't—the plot wasn't about, oh, you know, international assassinations, even though that does occur in the book. It's really about the story of a marriage.Jess LaheyAnd it gives you, it gives you added unease. You know, if you have your two characters not speaking to each other, and you know your readers love those characters and crave those characters to be getting along at some point, then that's just another reason that we're following along. I was just thinking about, uh, Michael Connelly, uh, book the other day, because I really, really like the series he did with Renée Ballard and her relationship with the Bosch character, and how that series is totally about crime, but yet it's also very much about the relationship. And I think I follow—I continue to read those because of the relationship between those two human beings, and less so because of the murder mystery sort of stuff.Tess GerritsenI think it really becomes important if you're dealing also with Hollywood television series. I still remember what the producer first said when he called me up about Rizzoli and Isles. He said, "I love your girls, and I think they belong on TV.” He didn't say, I love your plots. He didn't say, I love your mysteries, you know, all your intricate ups and downs. It was really about the girls. So if you hope to sell to a television series, really, it's about characters again.Jess LaheyAbsolutely.Sarina BowenI was going to ask about longevity, because you have so many books, and you're so obviously still invigorated by the process, or there wouldn't be a book three that you just turned in. So how have you been able to avoid just being sick to death of—of writing suspense novel after suspense novel?Tess GerritsenI refused. That's what it is. You know, I—I don't—I guess I could say that I have a little bit of ADHD when it comes to—to the books I write. I cannot—after 13 books of Rizzoli and Isles, I just had a different idea. And it takes—it takes a certain amount of backbone to say no to your publisher, to your editor, to people who are going, well, when's the next one in this series coming out? And to be able to say, I need a break. I need to do something completely different. So over—how many years I've been a writer—almost 40 now—I've written science fiction and historicals and a ghost story and romantic suspense and spy novels and medical thrillers and crime novels. I've been all over the place, but each one of those books that took me out of what I was expected to do was so invigorating. It was a book that I needed to write. As an example, I wrote a book called Playing with Fire. Nobody wanted that book. Nobody expected that book. It was a historical about World War II, and about music—about the power of music—and having to do with the death camps. I remember my publisher going, "What are you doing?" And, you know, it's—it's true—they're—they—they are marketers, and they understood that that book would not sell as well, and it didn't. But it still remains one of my favorite books. And when you want to write a book, you need to write that book. That's all—even—even if nobody wants it.Jess LaheyI actually was—I'm so pleased that this came up, because that was actually going to be my question, because both you and Sarina have done this—done, you know, 90 degrees—whether it's out of, you know, one genre into another—and that, to me, requires an enormous amount of courage. Because you know you have people expecting things from you. And you in particular, Tess, have people saying, "No, I want the next one. I love this relationship. I want the next one." And—and dealing—you're not just dealing with the disappointment of whether it's an agent or an editor, but the disappointment of fans. And that's a pressure as well. So when I used to do journalism, I remember a question I asked of another journalist was, "How do you continue to write without fear of the comment section?" And essentially, for us, that's our—you know, those are our readers. So how do you find that thing within yourself to say, no, this really is the thing that I need to be writing now?Tess GerritsenWell, that is a really—it's a really tough decision to buck the trend or buck what everybody's expecting, because there's a thing in publishing called the death spiral. And if your book does not sell well, they will print fewer copies for the next one. And then that won't sell well. So you start—your career starts to go down the drain. And that is a danger every time you step out of your tried and true series and do something out of—you know, completely out of the ordinary. I think the reason I did it was that I really didn't give a damn. It was—it was like, Okay, maybe this will kill my career, but I've got to write this book. And it was always with the idea that if my publisher did not want that, I would just self-publish. I would just, you know, find another way to get it out there. And I—I was warned, rightly so, that your sales will not be good for this book, and that will—it will hurt the next contract. And I understood that. But it was the only way I could keep my career going. Once you get bored, and you're—you're trapped in a drawer, I think it shows up in your writing.Jess LaheyI had this very conversation with my agent. The—my first book did well. And so then, you know, the expectation is, I'll write like part two of that, or I'll write something for that exact same audience again. And when I told my agent—I said, "You know, this book on substance use prevention and kids—I—it's—I have to write it. And I'm going to write it even, you know, if I have to go out there and sell it out of the trunk of my car." And she said, "Okay, then I guess we're doing this." And yes...Tess Gerritsen(Laughing) They had their best wishes at heart.Jess LaheyAnd honestly, I love—I loved my book that did well. But The Addiction Inoculation is the book I'm most proud of. And, you know, that's—yeah, that's been very important to me.Tess GerritsenI often hear from writers that the book that sold the fewest copies was one that was—were their favorites. Those are the ones that they took a risk on, that they—I mean, they put their heart and soul into it. And maybe those hurt their careers, but those are the ones that we end up being proud of.Jess LaheyI like to remind Sarina of that, because I do remember we text each other constantly. We have a little group, the three of us, a little group text all day long. And there was—I remember when she first wrote a male-male romance, she was scared. She was really scared that this was going to be too different for her readers. And it ended up being, I think, my favorite book that she's ever written, and also a very important book for her in terms of her career development and growth, and what she loves about the work that she does. And so I like to remind her every once in a while, remember when you said that really scared you and you weren't sure how your readers were going to handle it?Sarina BowenRight? Well, I also did that in the middle of a series, and I went looking for confirmation that that is a thing that people did sometimes, and it was not findable. You know, that was...Jess LaheyWhat? Change things up in terms of—change things up in the middle of a series?Sarina BowenIn the middle of a series. And anyway, that book still sells.Tess GerritsenThat is a great act of courage, but it's also an act of confidence in yourself as a writer. There are ways to do it. I think some writers will just adopt a different pen name for something that's way out there.Jess LaheyIt's funny you should say... it's funny you should say that.Sarina BowenWell, no, and I never have done that, but, um—but anyway, yeah, that's hard. I, uh...Jess LaheyYeah.Sarina BowenIt's hard to know. Sometimes...Jess LaheyWe entertain it all the time. We do talk about that as an option all the time. Shouldn't we just pick up and do something completely different? One of the things that I also—I mentioned at the top of the podcast about, you know, you went off—not only have you done lots of different things in terms of your writing—but you went off and you did an entire documentary about pigs. I have—I have to ask you where on earth that came from and why. And it is a total delight, as I mentioned, and I have already recommended it to two people that I know also love the topic. But, you know, to go off—and especially when you usually, as some of us have experienced—our agents saying, so when am I going to see more pages? or when am I going to see the next book? And you say, I'm really sorry, but I have to go off and film this documentary about pigs.Tess GerritsenYes. Well, you know, I was an anthropology major in college, and I've always been interested in the pig taboo. You know, back then, everybody just assumed it was because, yeah, it was disease or they're dirty animals—that's why they're forbidden food. It never quite convinced me, because I'm Chinese-American. Asia—you know, Asia loves pork. Why aren't they worried about all that? So I was in Istanbul for a book tour once, and I remember I really wanted bacon, and, you know, I couldn't get bacon. And then I thought, okay, I really need to find out why pork is forbidden. This is a—this is a cultural and historical mystery that never made sense to me. The explanations just never made sense to me. It cannot be trichinosis. So I told my son that—my son is—he does—he's a filmmaker as well. And he just said, "Well, let's do it. Let's—we will pose it as a mystery," because it is a mystery. So it took us probably two years to go and—you know, we interviewed anthropologists and pet pig owners and archaeologists, actually, just to find out, what do they say? What is the answer to this? And to us, the answer really just came down to this cultural desire for every—every tribe—to define us versus them. You know, they eat pigs. They're not us, so therefore they're the enemy. And it was fascinating because we—we ended up finding out more about pigs than I was expecting, and also finding out that people who have pet pigs can sometimes be a little unusual.Jess LaheyAnd the people who purchase the clothes for the pigs are also crazy.Tess GerritsenYes. Sew outfits for their pigs and sleep with their pigs. And there was—there was one woman who had—she slept on the second floor of her house, so she had an elevator for her pig who couldn't make it up the stairs, and, you know, ramps to get up onto the bed because they've gotten so fat—they've been overfed. But it was—for me, at the heart of it was a mystery.Jess LaheyAs a nonfiction author whose whole entire reason for being is, "I don't know—let's find out," I think that's just the most delightful thing. And I loved your framing as, "I don't know, we have this question, let's go out there and just ask people about it and find the experts." And that's—oh, I could just live on that stuff. So...Tess GerritsenSo could I. You know, research is so enticing. It's enticing. It is—it can get you into trouble because you never write your book. Some of us just love to do the research.Jess LaheySarina actually has taken skating lessons, done glass blowing—what else have you done? Yoga classes and all—all kinds of things in the pursuit of knowledge for her characters. And I think that's a delight.Sarina BowenYes. If you can sign up for a class as part of your research, like, that is just the best day. Like, you know, oh, I must take these ice skating lessons twice a day for five months, because—yeah—or twice a week, but still.Tess GerritsenYou must be a good ice skater then.Sarina BowenI'm getting better.Tess GerritsenSo you never gave them up, I see.Jess LaheyWell, it's fun because she usually writes about hockey, but she has a figure skater coming up in this book that's coming out this fall. And she's like, "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to learn how to figure skate."Tess GerritsenYeah.Sarina BowenI also—one time I went to see Rebecca Skloot speak about her big nonfiction The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.Tess GerritsenOh, okay.Sarina BowenAnd she said that all her best ideas had come from moments in her life when she went, "Wait, what?!"Tess GerritsenYes. Yep.Sarina BowenIncluding for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Like, she learned about the cells in high school—she was in high school biology class—and the teacher said, like, "This woman died in the '60s, but we're still using her cells," and she said, "Wait, what?!" And that's—that's what you made me think of with the pigs. Like, I think...Jess LaheyWell, and also your folder of ideas. I mean, I immediately texted Sarina after listening to a podcast where I heard an ad, and the ad made me go, "Oh that could be creepy." And then I'm like, "Okay, this is—this is a plot. This is going in the folder somewhere." And so you have to just think about how those things could unfold over time. And I love the idea of—and even in journalism—there are articles that I've written where I said, this just isn't their time. And then, like, five years later, I'll hear something out there, and I'm like, okay, finally, it's the time for this thing. And there's a reason you put that article in your idea—in your paper—manila folder of ideas.Tess GerritsenWell, I think writers are—we have to be curious. We have to be engaged in what's going on around us, because the ideas are everywhere. And I have this—I like to say I have a formula. It's called "two plus two equals five." And what that means is, sometimes you'll have a—you'll have a piece of information that, you know, there's a book here, but you haven't figured out what to do with it. And you wait for another piece of information from some completely different source, and you put them together, and they end up being like nuclear fusion—bigger than the…Sarina BowenYes!Jess LaheyYes!Tess GerritsenSome of the parts.Sarina BowenMost every book I've ever written works like that. Like, I have one idea that I drag around for, like, five years, and then I have this other idea, and one day I'm like, oh, those two things go together.Tess GerritsenYep.Jess LaheyYeah, absolutely. I think Stephen King mentioned that about Carrie. I think it was like, telekinesis, and that usually starts about the time of menstruation, and it was like, boom, there was Carrie. You know, those two things came together. I love that so much. So you mentioned that you have just handed in your next book, and we don't—we do not, as a rule, ask about what's next for an author, because I find that to be an incredibly intimidating and horrifying question to be asked. But I would love to hear; you know, is this—is this series one that you hope to continue working on? The main series, mainly because we have quite fallen in love with your little town in Maine—in Purity, Maine. Fantastic name for your town, by the way. It's really lovely. It creates such a nice dichotomy for these people who have seen and heard things during their careers that maybe are quite dark, and then they retire to a place called Purity. Is this a place where we can hopefully spend a little bit of time?Tess GerritsenWell, I am thinking about book number four now. I have an idea. You know, it always starts with—it starts with an idea and doodling around and trying to figure out what—you know, you start with this horrible situation, and then you have to explain it. So that's where I am now. I have this horrible situation, I have to explain it. So, yeah, I'm thinking about book four. I don't know how—you never know how long a series is going to go. It's a little tough because I have my characters who are internationally based—I mean, they've been around the world—but then I can't leave behind my local cop who is also a part of this group as well. So I have to keep an eye out on Maine being the center of most of the action.Sarina BowenRight, because how many international plots can you give Purity, Maine?Tess GerritsenThat's right, exactly. Well, luckily…Jess LaheyLook, Murder, She Wrote—how many things happened to that woman in that small town?Tess GerritsenExactly, exactly. Well, luckily, because I have so many CIA retirees up here, the international world comes to us. Like the next book, The Shadow Friends, is about a global security conference where one of the speakers gets murdered. And it turns out we have a global security conference right here in our town that was started by CIA 40 years ago. So I'm just—I'm just piggybacking on reality here. And—not that the spies up here think that's very amusing.Sarina BowenThat is fantastic, because, you know, the essential problem of writing a suspense novel is that you have to ground it in a reality that everyone is super familiar with, and you have to bring in this explosive bit of action that is unlikely to happen near any of us. And those two things have to fit together correctly. So by, um, by putting your retired spies in this tiny town, you have sort of, like, gifted yourself with that, you know, precise problem solver.Tess GerritsenYeah, reminding us.Sarina BowenYeah.Tess GerritsenBut there's only so far I can take that. I'm not sure what the limits... I think book four is going to take them all overseas, because my local cop, Jo, she's never been out of the country—except for Canada—and it's time for her dad to drag her over to Italy and say, "Your dead mom wanted to come to Italy, so I'm taking you." And, of course, things go wrong in Italy for Jo.Jess LaheyOf course, of course. Well, we're going to keep just banging on about how much we love these books. I think we've already mentioned it in three podcast episodes so far in our “What have you been reading lately that you've really loved?” So we're—we're big fans. And thank you so much for sitting down to talk with us and to—you know, one of the whole points of our podcast is to flatten the learning curve for other authors, so we hope that that's done a little bit of that for our listeners. And again, thank you so much. Where can people find you and your work if they want to learn a little bit more about Tess Gerritsen—her work?Tess GerritsenYou can go to TessGerritsen.com, and I try to post as much information there as I can. But I'm also at Bluesky, @TessGerritsen, and what is now called “X”—a legacy person on X—@TessGerritsen, yes.Jess LaheyThank you so, so much again. And for everyone out there listening, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.The Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music—aptly titled Unemployed Monday—was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Current Sermon Series Faith in Fiction: Finding God Between the Lines June 29 – July 13 Stories have always been God's chosen medium—from ancient parables to modern novels. Literature doesn't just entertain; it reveals profound truths about the human condition, moral struggle, and our deepest longings for meaning and redemption. In this transformative sermon series, we'll explore how faith intersects with great works of fiction, discovering how authors across centuries have wrestled with questions of belief, doubt, sacrifice, and grace.  Each week, we'll examine how fictional characters mirror our own faith journeys—their moments of crisis and revelation, struggles with forgiveness, and encounters with the divine in unexpected places. Join us as we discover that the greatest stories are ultimately about us, our relationship with God, and the enduring narrative of redemption. June 29 | Book: A Prayer for Owen Meany • Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16 July 6 | Book: You Are So Special | Bulletin • Order of Worship July 13 | Book: Grapes of Wrath | Bulletin • Order of Worship

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is the big-hearted tale of a detective octopus helping a grieving aquarium employee solve the mystery of her missing son. Shelby joins us to talk about living in an octopus renaissance, small towns, feeling uprooted, writing about grief, creating chapter titles and more with cohost Jenna Seery. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang.                     New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app. Featured Books (Episode): Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Charlotte's Web by E. B. White A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

As our literary season continues, we bring you this classic episode from the Namaste archive where Cally talks to crime writer Mark Billingham, about writing, fans, zoom life, reviews, crowd-pleasing, Elvis Costello, showing off, personality types, writing, reading, poker, luck vs hard work, midlife crises and John Irving.    Find out more about Mark Billingham   A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving   John Cleese on creativity in management Get tickets for Cally's Tour   More about Cally   Order Cally's Book   Produced by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions   Music by Jake Yapp   Cover design by Jaijo   Part of the Auddy Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, Meredith Turits, debut novelist, and I discuss the process of making her book come to life, how amazing her editor is, and the best ways to support friends who are writers. We also discuss her book, Just Want You Here, which I encourage anyone to go pick up!   Order Just Want You Here!   Books mentioned in this episode:    What Betsy's reading:  Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin  Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden   Books Highlighted by Meredith: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier The Wedding People by Alison Espach The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin  The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm by Emmeline Cline The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin    All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.   Other books mentioned in this episode: Watership Down by Richard Adams  East of Eden by John Steinbeck A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving  American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis  Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis  Anthropology of the American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann  The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer  Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer  Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka The God of the Woods by Liz Moore  The Wayside by Caroline Wolff  Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake  Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

Send us a textIn today's episode, I interview Hannah Beach, Phoebe Campbell-Harris, and Sophie Stacey, the director, writer, and producer of the short film "A Matter of Minutes," a story of a young woman facing a life threatening situation at a house party.Listen to hear about Phoebe's personal experience that inspired the story, how the film used aspect ratio to drive the story, and a partnership the film has developed with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.Books mentioned in this episode include:Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. RosenbergA Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingThe Cider House Rules by John Irving Apt Pupil by Stephen KingFilms mentioned in this episode include:"A Matter of Minutes" directed by Hannah BeachMommy directed by Xavier DolanBoiling Point directed by Philip BarantiniRosemary's Baby directed by Roman PolanskiWaking Life directed by Richard LinklaterArrival directed by Denis VillenueveLife is Beautiful directed by Roberto BenigniIt's a Wonderful Life directed by Frank CapraPast Lives directed by Celine Song The Manchurian Candidate directed by John FrankenheimerRear Window directed by Alfred HitchcockSilence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan DemmeErin Brockovich directed by Steven SoderberghThe Incredibles directed by Brad BirdThe Big Lebowski directed by Joel CoenE.T. The Extraterrestrial directed by Steven SpielbergThe Empire Strikes Back directed by Irvin KershnerMy Dinner With Andre directed by Louis MalleThe Lord of the Rings directed by Peter JacksonBorat directed by Larry Charles"A Matter of Minutes" will be continuing its festival run throughout 2025.On Instagram Hannah is @hannah__beach__, Phoebe is @phoebecampbellharris, and Sophie is @sophielst. You can also follow the film @amatterofminutesfilm for all the latest updates. Check out Hannah's film "Pockets: New York" at the London Short Film Festival this month.

Speaking coach Neil Gordon joins the podcast to recount how school "educated me out of an interest in reading and communication," and his journey back to a love of both.   Neil specializes in persuasion and helping speakers create more compelling narratives in their stories. Out of that work, Neil says, a path to ward off pessimism and skepticism emerges.   Check out A Prayer for Owen Meany, the book Neil references in this conversation, at https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Owen-Meany-John-Irving/dp/006220422X    To learn more about Neil's work, visit https://neilcanhelp.com/ 

Kristian Thees liebt Kultur und das hörbar! Der aus Lübeck stammende Radiomoderator („Talk mit Thees“ SWR3) spricht seit vielen Jahrzehnten mit prominenten Menschen – am liebsten über Bücher. Zum Beispiel mit seiner besten Freundin Anke Engelke. In ihrem gemeinsamen Podcast „Wie war der Tag, Liebling?“ plaudern sie bereits seit 2007 über Alltägliches, Liebevolles, Lebensnahes und Lesbares. Seit einigen Monaten finden seine Buchtipps zusätzlich in einem weiteren Podcast Platz – gemeinsam mit Larissa Vassilian in „Lies und Das“. Im Buchclub erzählt er Karla und Euch von seinen ersten Leseanfängen mit Max Kruse und den ??? in der Kindheit, er schwärmt von Graphic Novels, dem Bergdoktor und Thomas Mann, zitiert „John Maynard“ von Theodor Fontane und empfiehlt John Irving. Mehr dazu im Podcast! Infos zu den Projekten von Kristian Thees: Promi Talk mit Thees, Wie war der Tag, Liebling?, Lies und Das.Die Titel dieser Folge: Kinder- und Jugendliteratur: „Urmel aus dem Eis“ von Max Kruse (dtv), „Pippi Langstrumpf“ von Astrid Lindgren (Oetinger), „Fünf Freunde“ von Enid Blyton (Carlsen). Gedicht: „John Maynard“ von Theodor Fontane. Romane: „Homo Faber“ von Max Frisch (Suhrkamp), „Die Buddenbrooks“ von Thomas Mann (Fischer), „Die Korrekturen“ von Jonathan Franzen (Rowohlt), „Extrem laut und unglaublich nah“ von Jonathan Safran Foer (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), „Pas de deux“ von Philippe Djian (Diogenes), „Owen Meany“ von John Irving (Diogenes), „Sakrileg – The Da Vinci Code“ von Dan Brown (Lübbe), „Das kalte Blut“ von Chris Kraus (Diogenes), „Zur See“ von Dörte Hansen (Penguin), „Pi mal Daumen“ von Alina Bronsky (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), „Das Flüstern der Feigenbäume“ Elif Shafak (Kein & Aber), „Schloss Gripsholm“ von Kurt Tucholsky (Kröner Verlag), „Morgen und für immer“ von Ermal Meta (hanserblau).Sachbücher: “Die Bergretter: Meine Erfahrungen bei den Dreharbeiten und was ich von den echten Bergrettern lernte” von Sebastian Ströbel (GU), „Buchenleben“ von Peter Wohlleben (Penguin), „Kamala Harris – Die Biographie“ von Dan Morain (Penguin).Graphic Novels: „Die Straße“ nach dem Roman von Cormac McCarthy von Manu Larcenet (Reprodukt), „Stockhausen: Der Mann, der vom Sirius kam“ von Thomas von Steinaecker, illustriert von David von Bassewitz (Carlsen), „Beate und Serge Klarsfeld: Die Nazijäger“ von Pascal Bresson, Sylvain Dorange, illustriert von Sylvain Dorange, „Unerschrocken 1“ von Pénélope Bagieu (Reprodukt), „Madeleine die Widerständige“ Text & Szenario: Madeleine Riffaud & Jean-David Morvan, Zeichnungen: Dominique Bertail (avant-verlag), „Starman - David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Years“ von Reinhard Kleist (Carlsen).+++ Viel Spaß mit dieser Folge. Wir freuen uns auf euer Feedback an podcast@penguinrandomhouse.de! +++ Unsere allgemeinen Datenschutzrichtlinien finden Sie unter https://art19.com/privacy. Die Datenschutzrichtlinien für Kalifornien sind unter https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info abrufbar.

It's a new Booklab: First pages episode! At some point—maybe next week—these episodes will go out only to our fellow Stickers (supporters of the podcast). Want to join that crew, where you'll be able to send in your own first page for the pod, join write-alongs and get AMAs from our hosts and guest book coaches?I'm a sticker! Or I want to be. Also I get that y'all need support to get this out here and I love that it's here so yeah.On today's episode, we discuss the first pages of SAILING TO THE MOON: THE TWO YEARS AT SEA THAT SANK MY MARRIAGE, a memoir and The Pie Window, a novel. Would we turn the page? Opinions are mixed, but good advice for improving—these first pages and yours—abounds. THANK YOU to the writers willing to submit their work for our discussion.Did you like First pages? Have ideas for how we can make it better? We'd love to hear it and we'll talk back, so comment away.We offered some comps to our first submitter:Jennie offered Between Two Worlds: An Inspiring Story of a Kiwi Woman Who Left Her Heart in UgandaJess offers Wind, a movie from her teenage yearsAnd to our second submitter:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins ReidThe Twisted Ones, T. KingfisherA Prayer for Owen Meany, John IrvingPS to the second submitter: we also wanted a little hint about the pie window on that first page!Want to submit a first page to Booklab? Fill out the form HERE.Theme music credit: “Circle,” by Phoebe LaheyHey everyone, I'm Jennie Nash, and if you're interested in becoming a book, coach, I have a special offer for you. It's a free pass to a mini course called The One Page Book Coaching Business Plan. This course walks you step-by-step through how to envision your future book coaching business and it leads to a one-on-one strategy session with me! Go to bookcoaches.com/ABC and at the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to the course. That's bookcoaches.com/ABC.  You can use the code FROMJENNIE to get in free. That's FROMJENNIE all caps and make sure you spell my name out: J E N N I E. We're going to be raising our prices in 2025 so now's a great time to get certified if you think it's something you want to do. I look forward to speaking with you.Hey readers—KJ here. This episode of #AmWriting is brought to you by my latest, Playing the Witch Card. I wrote this at a moment when I needed more magic in my life—but it turned out to be a book about how until we know who we are and what makes us happy, even magic doesn't help. My main character, Flair, is a total control freak who fears the chaos created by her family deck of Tarot cards and the cookies it inspires her to make until she decides that she can harness their power to control the world and people around her—but that's not what the cards are for at all. I was inspired by what I see as the real magic of Tarot cards—and tea leaves and palm reading and every form of oracle: they help us to see and understand our own stories. As someone for whom stories are pretty much everything, I love that. You can buy Playing the Witch Card on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org and my local indie—and I hope you'll love it too. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Ben Shattuck is a renaissance man of sorts, which might be why we dedicated the whole episode to him. He wrote The History of Sound, a thought provoking and beautiful collection of short stories that spans the Eastern Seaboard as well as eons of time. Then there's his general store, which, on top of being the oldest general store in the country also boasts an independent bookstore curated by, you guessed it, Ben Shattuck. Join us. Books mentioned in this week's episode: The History of Sound: Stories by Ben Shattuck Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry This Is Happiness by Niall Williams Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hannah and Laura try to talk about anything BUT Grave Peril, including desserts, vegetables, and houseplants. Then they do eventually talk about Jim Butcher's Grave Peril and it's roller coaster of an ending.*Spoilers for The Boys at 20 mins.***This episode contains SPOILERS for Grave Peril by Jim Butcher.***Spoiler section begins at: 54 min.**CW for this episode: discussions of sexual assault, violence, murder, blood, misogyny, drug abuse, death, hospitalization, pregnancy, infant illness, eating disorders.Apologies for some audio issues.Media Mentions:Grave Peril by Jim ButcherFool Moon by Jim ButcherStorm Front by Jim ButcherThe Acolyte---Disney+The Boys---Prime Video@jstoobs ----TikTokPluto---NetflixFox 8 by George SaundersLincoln in the Bardo by George SaundersHungry Ghost by Victoria YingHeartstopper Vol. 3 by Alice OsemanHeartstopper---NetflixLesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim FuThe Wheel of Time---Prime VideoSquid Game---NetflixA Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingStation Eleven by Emily St. John MandelDimension 20---Drop OutGame Changer---Drop OutBe sure to follow OWWR Pod!www.owwrpod.com Twitter: @OwwrPodBlueSky: @OwwrPodTikTok: @OwwrPodInstagram: @owwrpodThreads: @OwwrPodHive: @owwrpodSend us an email at: owwrpod@gmail.comCheck out OWWR Patreon: patreon.com/owwrpodOr join OWWR Discord! We'd love to chat with you!You can follow Hannah at:Instagram: @brews.and.booksThreads: @brews.and.booksTikTok: @brews.and.booksYou can follow Laura at:Instagram: @goodbooksgreatgoatsTwitter: @myyypodBlueSky: @myyypodHive: @myyypod

John Irving, „Palve Owen Meany eest“. Tõlkinud Mario Pulver. Postimehe kirjastuselt. Loeb Rando Tammik. On 1953. aasta suvi. Õnnetu hetk toob kahe 11-aastase poisi ellu tohutu muutuse ning üks neist – pisike, kummalise hääle ja muljet avaldava intellektiga Owen Meany – veendub, et ta on Jumala tööriist. Ja sedamööda, kuidas poisid kooli jõululavastuste, televisiooni tuleku ja Vietnami sõja taustal täiskasvanuikka jõuavad, näitab erakordne sündmuste jada, et ehk ei eksisteerigi Oweni jumalik plaan üksnes tema kujutelmades.

In this episode of Unfiltered, we're sharing our all-time-fav books (so far). Everything from nonfiction books in the business and self development genres to fantasy and thriller fiction genres! Have any recs that you think we'd like? Message us on IG! Here are the ones we mentioned: Nonfiction Books: “Permission to Put Yourself First” by Nancy Levin “The Dark Side of the Light Chasers” by Debbie Ford “The Cult of the Customer“ by Shep Hyken “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller “Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One” by Emily Hayward “You are a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley “The Storyteller's Secret” by Carmine Gallo “10x Is Easier Than 2x” by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan “Tools of Titans” by Tim Ferriss “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle “Becoming Supernatural” by Joe Dispenza Fiction Books: “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts “Kingdom of the Wicked” by Kerri Maniscalco (3 Book Series) “Starling House” by Alix E. Harrow “Between Shades of Gray” by Ruta Sepetys “The House Across the Lake” by Riley Sager “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides “100 Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez “House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” by Michael Chabon Want a free book? You can use Fran's or Alethea's Thriftbooks link and when you spend $30, you'll get credit for a free book! We'd love to connect with you! You can join our broadcast channel and connect with us on Instagram: Han @hannahreed.co, Fran @thepassionscollective, and Alethea @copywithspice. And if you have thoughts, feedback, questions, etc. that you want to share with us, pop over to the bottom of this page on Alethea's website!

Owen Meany is a fictional character in John Irving's novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany. If I could give you a one paragraph commentary on I Corinthians 15, it might be this. Here is what he says:I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished—I am terrified that, this year, it won't happen; that, that year, it didn't. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you're not a believer. (John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany)Paul would like that. In fact, Paul actually hints at that when he says that, by denying the resurrection, perhaps many had believed in vain. Resurrection is the gospel! In our text this week, Paul basically asks those who are doubting the bodily resurrection of Jesus to have the courage of their convictions, and then he outlines a bunch of things that are true if there is no resurrection of the dead. It is terrifying. Terrifying but essential. This Sunday, we will talk about what life and reality look like if Jesus is not raised from the dead. We are so often tempted to think of Christianity only in terms of morality, as we often see parents who have long abandoned the church return, only so that their children can get a moral basis for life. Paul would basically tell you that is really a ridiculous proposition. How so? Join us Sunday and we will talk about it.

Owen Meany is a fictional character in John Irving's novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany. If I could give you a one paragraph commentary on I Corinthians 15, it might be this. Here is what he says:I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished—I am terrified that, this year, it won't happen; that, that year, it didn't. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you're not a believer. (John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany)Paul would like that. In fact, Paul actually hints at that when he says that, by denying the resurrection, perhaps many had believed in vain. Resurrection is the gospel! In our text this week, Paul basically asks those who are doubting the bodily resurrection of Jesus to have the courage of their convictions, and then he outlines a bunch of things that are true if there is no resurrection of the dead. It is terrifying. Terrifying but essential. This Sunday, we will talk about what life and reality look like if Jesus is not raised from the dead. We are so often tempted to think of Christianity only in terms of morality, as we often see parents who have long abandoned the church return, only so that their children can get a moral basis for life. Paul would basically tell you that is really a ridiculous proposition. How so? Join us Sunday and we will talk about it.

Jeopardy! recaps from the week of February 5th, 2024. We criticize A Prayer for Owen Meany, become more convinced that the J! writers are communicating with us, and Emily does the ecologically responsible thing: recycling a quiz with a deep dive about the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Find us on Facebook (Potent Podables) and Twitter(X, I guess) (@potentpodables1). Check out our Patreon (patreon.com/potentpodables). Email us at potentpodablescast@gmail.com. Continue to support social justice movements in your community and our world. www.communityjusticeexchange.org https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate www.rescue.org  www.therebelsproject.org www.abortionfunds.org  https://wck.org/ 

Where does sentimental value come from? Why did Angela throw out her childhood journals? And would Mike wear Hitler's sweater?  SOURCES:Jeffrey Galak, professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University.John Irving, author.Marie Kondo, professional organizer and consultant.Paul Rozin, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.Yang Yang, research scientist at the Institute of Behavioral Research at Texas Christian University. RESOURCES:"Experiences Endure," by Angela Duckworth (Character Lab, 2022)."Study Finds That THESE Are the Most Valued Family Heirlooms," by SWNS Staff (SWNS, 2021)."Micro Wave: How 'Bout Dem Apple...Seeds," by Thomas Lu, Madeline K. Sofia, and Brit Hanson (Short Wave, 2021)."Sentimental Value and Its Influence on Hedonic Adaptation," by Yang Yang and Jeffrey Galak (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2015)The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo (2010)."A Real-Life Version of the Hitler's Sweater Experiment," by David Berreby (Big Think, 2010)."The Makings of the Magical Mind: The Nature and Function of Sympathetic Magical Thinking," by Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin (Imagining the Impossible: Magical, Scientific, and Religious Thinking in Children, 2000)."Operation of the Laws of Sympathetic Magic in Disgust and Other Domains," by Paul Rozin, Linda Millman, and Carol Nemeroff (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986). EXTRAS:"How Do You Connect With Someone You Just Met?" by No Stupid Questions (2023)."Do You Savor or Gobble?" by No Stupid Questions (2022)."Why Do We Hoard?" by No Stupid Questions (2020).The Twilight Saga, by Stephanie Meyer (2005-2020).A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (1989).

Sarah Desmeules, aka Lady Boo, sells handpicked vintage and handmade jewellery from her home, online and at south London markets. She's known for her bold, bright unapologetic clothing that makes you feel great. Her catchphrase is ‘Dress for fun, dress for you. I salute you'! Dawn French is a fan - she recently was seen sporting a dress made entirely from tea towels.   Lady Boo opens up her home four times a year for the Boo Open House and lets clients peruse all things vintage whilst eating cake and drinking tea and something stronger from vintage tea cups.  From actress to HR manager to crafter, creator, community maker, Lady Boo is fun and fabulous and offers a bucket-load of fun in this episode and over on her instagram feed.  For Emmeline's bookshelf she recommends A Prayer for Owen Meany. Links to her instagram and others: Lady Boo on instagram Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet! Lady Boo's next open house on publication of this episode is on Feb 17th 2024. DM via instagram to book your spot.  

VTDigger is re-releasing some of our favorite interviews of the past decade to mark the 10th anniversary of The Vermont Conversation.John Irving, widely hailed as one of America's greatest novelists, is back, and he has a lot to say.Irving, 81, is the author of 15 novels, including the international bestsellers “The World According to Garp,” “The Cider House Rules” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” which is his top-selling book. Irving's latest novel, “The Last Chairlift,” was released Oct. 17. It has been seven years in the making and at 900 pages, it is his longest work. He says that “The Last Chairlift” will be his last long novel.John Irving wrote his first novel at age 26. He competed as a wrestler for 20 years and coached wrestling until he was 47. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Irving has won a National Book Award, an Oscar and a Lambda Literary Award, among numerous other recognitions. His books have been translated into more than 35 languages.John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. He lived for many years in Vermont, first in Putney and later in Dorset. He sold his Vermont home in 2014 and now lives in Toronto. He is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S.Irving has long tackled controversial issues in his novels. “The World According to Garp” (1978) has a transgender character, “The Cider House Rules” (1985) deals with abortion and “A Prayer for Owen Meany” (1989) confronts the fallout from the Vietnam War. His books have periodically been banned.“What are they banning? They're banning books about abortion and they're banning books on LGBTQ subjects,” he told The Vermont Conversation. “What they're saying to young, gay, lesbian, trans kids, they want them to feel even more alone and isolated than they already feel. They don't want those kids to have access to material that will let them know they're not alone. They already feel alone. There's a cruelty to that that is unspeakable.”Irving is a sharp critic of American politics today. Speaking about the recent Supreme Court decision striking down abortion rights, he said, “What they did is more in step with the Vatican than it is with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”Irving's advice to young writers: “You can't let outside factors get under your skin. You have to stick to your purpose and be a kind of horse with blinders on. … You also can't get down on yourself after somebody's just kicked your tail. You've got to do it again and get better.”

In this episode of the One Drink Book Club Jamey and his guest Shane Sleighter discuss A Prayer for Owen Meany, a novel by John Irving. In the novel, the main character John Wheelwright tells the story of his childhood growing up in New Hampshire in the 1950s and 60s with his best friend Owen Meany. In the episode, Shane makes his own twist on a Pimms Royal and Jamey makes a Toronto cocktail. Recipes can be found at http://www.OneDrinkBookClub.com.

On this week's episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Mary are discussing: Bookish Moments: reading on certain dates and galley homework Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: we are bookish travel agents, choosing books to match your travels The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!  We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans! *Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you'd prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*   . . . . 1:15 - Bookish Moment of the Week 1:24 - The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles 2:05 - Fable App 4:31 - Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou (pre-order. Release date September 12, 2023) 6:16  - Current Reads 6:23 - Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield (Mary) 10:24 - CR Season 5: Episode 33 10:44 - The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett (Kaytee) 11:19 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 12:54 - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcet  13:52 - Royal Blood by Aimee Carter (Mary) 15:04 - Storygraph 15:44 - American Royals by Katharine McGee 15:47 - The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot 15:56 - Spare by Prince Harry 16:19 - Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson 16:20 - A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 17:02 - A Beginner's Guide to America by Roya Hakakian (Kaytee) 20:00 - What Looks Like Bravery by Laurel Braitman (Mary) 21:55 - Go As A River by Shelley Read (Kaytee) 25:39 - Deep Dive: Books To Take You Around the World 25:51 - CR Season 4: Episode 44 26:14 - CR Season 4: Episode 5 27:15 - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson 27:58 - Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center 28:00 - Wild by Cheryl Strayed 28:43 - Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke 29:46 - Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer 30:56 - How The Word is Passed by Clint Smith 31:57 - The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles 32:50 - Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid 34:57 - Happy Place by Emily Henry 35:43 - The Cider House Rules by John Irving 35:46 - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 36:10 - The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser 36:29 - City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert 37:20 - Gods of Jade and Shadow by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia 37:35 - Beartown by Fredrik Backman 37:48 - Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys 38:17 - Violeta by Isabel Allende 38:26 - Storygraph 39:07 - City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab 39:32 - Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke 39:44 - Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch 39:45 - Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch 40:08 - The Dry by Jane Harper 40:31 - The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough 40:57 - Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane 41:00 - Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen 42:00 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 42:01 - The Martian by Andy Weir 42:05 - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield 42:03 - ANY J. Ryan Stradal book  42:37 - Meet Us At The Fountain 44:12 - I wish all libraries did adult summer reading programs. (Mary) 45:06 - I wish parents would buy their kids Kindle Fires and turn them into reading only machines. (Kaytee) 45:14 - Kindle Fire (but wait until Prime Day to get a discount!) 45:45 - Hoopla 45:56 - Libby 45:57 - Libro.fm 45:58 - Instructions to download Libro.FM (Libby should have no issues) Connect With Us: *Please note the change in Meredith's Instagram handle. This was recorded prior to the change. We apologize for any inconvenience.* Meredith is @meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast.com @currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading

Most of us have books that we just can't finish, no matter how many times we try. This hour, a look at those books that we find unreadable, whether they're too long, too difficult, too confusing, or too dated. What makes a book unreadable? Plus: The Voynich Manuscript, an unreadable and undeciphered book housed at Yale University's Beinecke Library. We asked our listeners for their list of unreadable books. Here are those responses: The Bible Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt Rim by Alexander Besher The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Collapse by Jared Diamond Great Expectations by Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald anything by William Faulkner Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter Les Misérables by Victor Hugo A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James The Dubliners by James Joyce Ulysses by James Joyce Wicked by Gregory Maguire One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Moby Dick by Herman Melville Faithful by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon How to Write by Gertrude Stein Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace GUESTS: Ray Clemens: Curator of early books and manuscripts at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and restaurant critic for The Hartford Courant Dennis Duncan: Lecturer in English at University College London and the author of Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age Juliet Lapidos: Ideas editor for The Atlantic and the author of Talent The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 14, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Mike Drew (@mrdsclass), Nick Bambach (@NickDBambach and @rockinretropod) and Woody Meachum  (@TheWoodenChef) join me for book (!), movie and TV talk. Enjoy!A few things we talked about, among others: Catch-22, Ready Player One, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Bad Guys, Roger Ebert, Mystery Train, eXistenZ, We Have a Ghost, John Wick 4, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, Cocaine Bear, Scream 6, Ant-Man 3, The Drop, Living, Infinity Pool, World Baseball Classic, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Agent Elvis, Iron Chef World All Stars, History of the World Part II, Night Court, This Is Pop, Class of '07, Succession, Daisy Jones and the Six, Lucky Hank, Luther, Party Down, The Mandalorian, The Night Agent, The Book of Boba Fett.YouTube recommendation (as mentioned at 1:37:30):HIDARI (Pilot Film) - The Stop-Motion Samurai Film - YouTubeTwitter - Instagram - Website

Enjoy this lively book discussion between Fairfax County Public Library Director Jessica Hudson and Branch Manager Christine Jones. They're librarians who love a good book but almost never agree on what makes a book great. In this episode, Christine selects A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and it gives Jessica a nightmare. Please note, this podcast discusses the entire book and contains spoilers. Start reading now to join us for the next episode about After Dark by Jayne Castle. .

Sunday Times best-selling debut author Jo Browning Wroe discusses her Richard & Judy Bookclub pick novel A TERRIBLE KINDNESS.Jo chats about:researching and writing about people who care for the deadwriting about Cambridge and Fitzbillie's Chelsea bunsworking with the Cambridge Literary FestivalTaking time to work out how time works when you are writingGuest Author: Jo Browning Wroe Twitter: @JoBrowningWroe IG: @jobrowningwroe Books: A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning-WroeHost: Kate Sawyer Twitter: @katesawyer IG: @mskatesawyer Books: The Stranding by Kate Sawyer & This Family (coming May 2023. Jo's recommendations:A book for fan's of Jo's work: All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Towes, Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth StroutA book Jo has always loved: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingA book that's been published recently or is coming soon: A Wild and True Relation by Kim Sherwood & The Red Bird Sings by Aoife FitzpatrickOther books discussed in this episode: Women Talking by Mirian Towes, Fight Night by Miriam Towes, Tales of the City by Amistead Maupin, Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara TrapidoNovel Experience with Kate Sawyer is recorded and produced by Kate Sawyer - GET IN TOUCHTo receive transcripts and news from Kate to your inbox please SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER or visit https://www.mskatesawyer.com/novelexperiencepodcast for more information.

Enjoy this lively book discussion between Fairfax County Public Library Director Jessica Hudson and Branch Manager Christine Jones. They're librarians who love a good book but almost never agree on what makes a book great. In this episode, Jessica selects Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Please note, this podcast discusses the entire book and contains spoilers. Start reading now to join us for the next episode about A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

Do you feel like your enthusiasm for reading has gone into a downward spiral, creating an un-awesome urge to turn away from books? Don't worry - we get it! This week, Meg is joined by books and reading regular Katie Proctor who is here to help lift your spirits and show you how book-lovers can avoid the dreaded reading slump. So grab your favorite reading snack and journey with us down this literary rabbit hole of tips, tricks, and inspiration! This is the PERFECT time to become a Super Star Awesome! Earlier this month, Super Stars Live featured a Spicy Book Show & Tell and hilarity ensued. You can catch up with the video and audio replays PLUS get access to hundreds of hours of bonus material, an exclusive Facebook group, and the texting number to reach out to the Sorta Awesome team! It's a GREAT day to become a Super Star! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: *Prose: Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/awesome! *Babbel: Get up to 55% off your subscription when you go to BABBEL.com/awesome SHOW NOTES: Katie's AotW: The Source of Self Regard by Toni Morrison Inciting Joy by Ross Gay One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul Meg's AotW: AD Open Door Celebrity Home Tours on YouTube Liv Tyler's home tour BOOKS The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (whole series) Cinder by Marissa Meyer (whole Lunar Chronicles series) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving The Salt Path by Raynor Winn AUDIOBOOKS Sign up for audiobooks.com using our link and get 3 audiobooks with a 30-day free trial! The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Amazon | Audible Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile Amazon | Audible I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt Amazon | Audible Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir Amazon | Audible Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders Amazon | Audible Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid Amazon | Audible MORE EPISODES FROM SORTA AWESOME: Ep. 408: The books that shaped who we are Ep. 385: Ten favorite middle grade reads Ep. 366: Best in books & reading in 2021! Ep. 279: The Enneagram explains your reading life You can find Meg on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can find Katie at her website or on Facebook and Instagram! And be sure to check out her latest book Hand in Hand! Visit sortaawesomeshow.com for show notes on this and every episode. And don't forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook or @sortaawesomeshow on Instagram, and @sortaawesomepod on Twitter! This post may contain affiliate links, which means we receive a tiny commission from the seller at no additional cost to you, if you purchase from them. We only share products and services we have used, tested, and love ourselves! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jo Browning Wroe grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham. She has an MA in Creative writing from the University of East Anglia, and teaches at the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education on their Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing. Her debut novel, A Terrible Kindness, was a Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award and longlisted for the Prix du Roman Fnac. Jo has two adult daughters and lives with her husband in Cambridge.Jo's ChoicesPrecious Bane by Mary Webb A Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingMy Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.Other books mentionedFar from the Madding Crowd by Thomas HardyListener's Choice (Gareth Hutchins)Yes Man by Danny WallaceLinks to other things discussedNetgalley (the site for requesting ARCs)Story Origin (the site Julia is using to find reviewers)If you want to be one of Julia's ARC readers for Shooters, head to Juliaboggio.com and sign up for her newsletter. You can buy books mentioned in this episode on our Bookshop.org Affiliate page (UK Only). By purchasing here, you support both small bookshops AND our podcast.Keep in touchWe love our listeners, and we want to hear from you. Please leave a review on one of our podcast platforms and chat with us on social media:Twitter: @twolitchicksInstagram: @two_lit_chicks TikTok: @two_lit_chicks Email: hello@twolitchicks.orgIf you do one thing today, sign up to our newsletter so we can keep you updated with all our news.If you do two things, leave us a (nice!) review on Itunes.Thank you so much for listening.  Listeners, we love you.Two Lit Chicks Podcast is recorded and produced by Your Voice HereSupport the show

Just in time for the holiday, the boys review the Veggietales episode "The Toy That Saved Christmas". Larry the Cucumber gets a visit from the IRS for not reporting his $600 worth of Venmo transactions while Buzz-saw Louie experiences an "Owen Meany' moment. Mike and Jared wonder if this is just a retread of Rack, Shack, and Benny. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/youth-group/message

2022 was a big year for John Irving, the author of "The World According to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "The Cider House Rules." He turned 80, and just recently published The Last Chairlift, his first novel in seven years.  It is 913 pages long and is, he says, the last long book he will ever write. Seemed like a great time to bring back our 2016 episode on John Irving. In it, he talks about why he approaches every book by writing the last sentence first.  And he might just convince you that his uncommon approach is the only one that makes any sense. In this episode, he also opens up about his early life, and reveals how his mysteriously absent father, his learning disability, and his passion for wrestling, all contributed to his success as a writer. Whether you've read every John Irving novel or none, this is a fascinating story about the writing process, and about an author some critics have called the Charles Dickens of our time.

John Irving has written some of the most acclaimed books of our time, among them: “The World According to Garp,” “A Widow for One Year,” “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “The Cider House Rules.” He now returns with his first novel in seven years “The Last Chairlift.”

John Irving has written some of the most acclaimed books of our time, among them, "The World According to Garp," "A Widow for One Year," "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and "The Cider House Rules." He now returns with his first novel in seven years—a ghost story, a love story, and a lifetime of sexual politics, "The Last Chairlift."

When this podcast was in its infancy, John Irving joined us to talk about his work and what he described as “his last big novel,” that was, at the time, still being written. It is now “in better bookstores everywhere” as they say. And “big” is something of an understatement. “The Last Chairlift” is close to 900 pages! Is it worth that much an investment of time? If you're a John Irving admirer—how can you say no? And we are among John's many admirers. The novel has all of John's familiar themes: the search for an unknown father, sexual politics, a highly unusual family, ghosts as well as skiing, wrestling and Exeter Academy. John even includes a couple of screenplays as part of the story. Reading “The Last Chairlift” is a significant investment of time, but it is both moving and entertaining. This is our second conversation with John Irving, and he never fails to fascinate us. Books in this podcast: The Last Chairlift by John Irving Setting Free the Bears by John Irving The Water-Method Man by John Irving The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving The World According to Garp by John Irving The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving The Cider House Rules by John Irving A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving A Son of the Circus by John Irving The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving A Widow for One Year by John Irving My Movie Business: A Memoir by John Irving The Fourth Hand by John Irving Until I Find You by John Irving Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving In One Person by John Irving Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Moby Dick by Herman Melville Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy A Saint from Texas by Edmund White A Previous Life by Edmund White Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda Dante's Indiana by Randy Boyagoda The Absolutist by John Boyne The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne A History of Loneliness by John Boyne The Way Home by Kardea Brown South of Broad by Pat Conroy Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera

John Irving, widely hailed as one of America's greatest novelists, is back, and he has a lot to say.John Irving, 80, is the author of 15 novels, including the international bestsellers “The World According to Garp,” “The Cider House Rules” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” which is his top-selling book. Irving's latest novel, “The Last Chairlift,” was released Oct. 17. It has been seven years in the making and at 900 pages, it is his longest work. He says that “The Last Chairlift” will be his last long novel.John Irving wrote his first novel at age 26. He competed as a wrestler for 20 years and coached wrestling until he was 47. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Irving has won a National Book Award, an Oscar and a Lambda Literary Award, among numerous other recognitions. His books have been translated into more than 35 languages.John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. He lived for many years in Vermont, first in Putney and later in Dorset. He sold his Vermont home in 2014 and now lives in Toronto. He is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S.Irving has long tackled controversial issues in his novels. “The World According to Garp” (1978) has a transgender character, “The Cider House Rules” (1985) deals with abortion and “A Prayer for Owen Meany” (1989) confronts the fallout from the Vietnam War. His books have periodically been banned.“What are they banning? They're banning books about abortion and they're banning books on LGBTQ subjects,” he told The Vermont Conversation. “What they're saying to young, gay, lesbian, trans kids, they want them to feel even more alone and isolated than they already feel. They don't want those kids to have access to material that will let them know they're not alone. They already feel alone. There's a cruelty to that that is unspeakable.” Irving is a sharp critic of American politics today. Speaking about the recent Supreme Court decision striking down abortion rights, he said, “What they did is more in step with the Vatican than it is with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”Irving's advice to young writers: “You can't let outside factors get under your skin. You have to stick to your purpose and be a kind of horse with blinders on. … You also can't get down on yourself after somebody's just kicked your tail. You've got to do it again and get better.”

From picture books read to us as children to our first visits to the public library to the school-assigned reading that ended up changing out lives, all of us can point to books that have made us the people we have grown to be. This week, Meg welcomes Sorta Awesome regular for books and reading Katie Proctor back to the show, and they each bring a list of books that have shaped the people (and the readers) they are today. Don't miss this conversation about their most meaningful reads! Come be a part of our Patreon community and join in our FIRST book club discussion of Tabitha Carvan's This Is NOT A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: the joy of loving something - anything - like your life depends on it.! You'll get exclusive content every month plus hundreds of hours of Super Star episodes to download and binge right now! And bonus - get our texting number so you can send us your thoughts anytime! Go to patreon.com/sortaawesome to become a Super Star Awesome! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: *Rocket Money: Cancel unneccessary subscriptions with Rocket Money today. Go to RockeyMoney.com/awesome. *Foria: Get 20% off your first order by visiting foriawellness.com/AWESOME or use code AWESOME at checkout SHOW NOTES: contains affiliate links Katie's AotW: Liquid IV Meg's AotW: Sephora #LIPSTORIES Lipstick Katie's list: Babysitter's Club Series by Ann M Martin Amazon | Bookshop American Girl Series Amazon Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech Amazon | Bookshop The Iliad by Homer Amazon Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Amazon | Bookshop One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Amazon | Bookshop The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares Amazon | Bookshop The Hurried Child by David Elkind Amazon | Bookshop A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Amazon | Bookshop Daring Greatly by Brené Brown Amazon | Bookshop Inspired by Rachel Held Evans Amazon | Bookshop The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer Amazon | Bookshop Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Amazon | Bookshop Meg's list Face on the Milk Carton by Carolyn B Cooney Amazon | Bookshop The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin Amazon | Bookshop The Road from Home by David Kherdian Amazon | Bookshop Beloved by Toni Morrison Amazon | Bookshop Complete Poems of ee. Cummings Amazon | Bookshop The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Amazon | Bookshop Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw Amazon Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning Amazon | Bookshop Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey Amazon | Bookshop Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch Amazon | Bookshop Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson Amazon | Bookshop The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr Amazon | Bookshop You can find Meg on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can find Katie at her website or on Facebook and Instagram! And be sure to check out her latest book Hand in Hand! Visit sortaawesomeshow.com for show notes on this and every episode. And don't forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook or @sortaawesomeshow on Instagram, and @sortaawesomepod on Twitter! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sophie and I are so excited for my next trip to visit her in NYC and we are headed up for an event at her boyfriend's new art gallery, Lincoln Glenn. It's a great online/IG follow and here is the link! https://www.lincolnglenn.com/ Here are all the books we recommended and my Bookshop links! A Prayer for Owen Meany a book by John Irving Elizabeth Finch a book by Julian Barnes The Prince of Tides a book by Pat Conroy Goldfinch a book by Donna Tartt Anna Karenina a book by Leo Tolstoy and Constance Garnett Persuasion a book by Jane Austen and Gillian Beer

My podcast got a makeover! Welcome to Stress Therapy! A podcast about getting better at stress for people living in the real world. Yes, things have changed a bit, but for the better. Today, you'll learn just why change is so hard (even if it's "good change!") and how to make it easier, more beneficial and way less stressful. Here is a book I mentioned: Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life by Wayne Dyer https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4473.A_Prayer_for_Owen_Meany?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0g1LCnvgll&rank=1And another:You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hayhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/129603.You_Can_Heal_Your_Life?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8C2PGU7w2R&rank=1Join me on my next retreat!https://thestresstherapist.com/retreats/https://thestresstherapist.com/beach-retreats/Stay in touch with md, sign up for The Stress Therapist's Newsletter: https://thestresstherapist.com/contact/Want Me to be your therapist? If you live in Georgia, click here https://thestresstherapist.com/contact/ to schedule a free 15 minute consultation.Instagram: @thestresstherapistFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheriaugustineflakeWebsite: https://thestresstherapist.com/Twitter: @stresstherapyFollow me on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15903117.Cheri_Augustine_FlakeBuy My Book: Honey Do to Honey DONE! A Simple System for A Productive and Happy Household with Absolutely No More Nagging! https://www.amazon.com/Honey-DONE-Productive-Household-Absolutely/dp/0997950919/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

In Episode 115, Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry, discusses the inspiration behind her best-selling debut novel, sexism in the workplace, and the story behind Six-Thirty the dog. Plus, Bonnie's book recommendations!  This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). Introducing Summer Shelves (a companion to my Summer Reading Guide)… In addition to my annual 2022 Summer Reading Guide, I introduced Summer Shelves, a companion exclusively for Superstars Patrons ($7/mo). Summer Shelves features BACKLIST summer reading recommendations from over 25 former podcast guests and our team members. The Summer Shelves design is clean, crisp, and unique and is available in a PDF file format via Patreon. If you'd like to get the Summer Shelves companion guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here. You'll also get access to a monthly bonus podcast series called Double Booked (where Catherine or Susie and I share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show) and my Rock Your Reading Tracker. Plus, as a patron you can listen to the monthly Superlatives bonus podcast episodes where I continue the discussion with every guest from the full-length episodes, as they answer 5 bookish “superlative” questions. Get Summer Shelves! Highlights Bonnie talks about her inspiration for Lessons in Chemistry and the main character, Elizabeth Zott, who began her book life in a previously unpublished book. Why Bonnie chose the professions featured in the book: scientist and television host on a cooking show. How Elizabeth's rowing brings balance to the story. How her copywriting career played a role in the novel. The significance of the numerical names for the two dogs' in Bonnie's life: 99 (in her real life) and Six-Thirty (in the book). The real-life dog who inspired the fictional dog, Six-Thirty. The big message Bonnie would like both men and women to take away from the book. How Sarah and Bonnie feel about posthumously published work. Bonnie shares a little bit about her next book and how it compares to Lessons in Chemistry. Bonnie's Book Recommendations [25:20] Two OLD Books She Loves The Secret History by Donna Tartt | Amazon | Bookshop.org [25:31] The Cider House Rules by John Irving | Amazon | Bookshop.org [27:35] Two NEW Books She Loves Free Love by Tessa Hadley | Amazon | Bookshop.org [28:56] Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:48] One Book She DIDN'T LOVE Billy Budd by Herman Melville | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:15] One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk (June 9) | Book Depository [36:37] Last 5-Star Book Bonnie Read Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder | Amazon | Bookshop.org [38:25] Other Books Mentioned The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne [3:20] The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt [26:24] A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving [28:43] The World According to Garp by John Irving [28:47] Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel [31:02] The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel [31:46] Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee [35:11] The Need by Helen Phillips [40:29] Other Links Six-Thirty the dog on Instagram About Bonnie Garmus Website | Twitter | Instagram Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She's an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99. Lessons in Chemistry is her first novel.

For the first episode of the second season of The Literary Edit podcast, I was joined by the utterly divine Markus Zusak. You can read his list of Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in the episode are:   Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Night Train by Thom Jones Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger City of God by Paulo Lins   Other books we spoke about included A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze By Clayton Zane Comber and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.   If you'd like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you're based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.   Facebook The Literary Edit   Instagram @the_litedit @markuszusak   Twitter @thelitedit  

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1779 Birth of the physician, botanist, and American statesman, Joel Roberts Poinsett. In the 1820s, President John Quincy Adams appointed Joel to serve as a US ambassador in Mexico. Joel was introduced to a beautiful plant that the Aztecs called the cuetlaxochitl ("qwet-la-SHO-chee-til”), but today it's better known as the Poinsettia (books about this topic). Like most euphorbias, the Poinsettia has a white sap that the Aztecs used to treat wounds and skin issues, which is how it got the common name "Skin Flower."  In 1825, when Joel Poinsett sent clippings back home to South Carolina, botanists had new common names for the plant: "the Mexican Fire Plant" or "the Painted Leaf." The botanist Karl Wilenow ("Vill-ah-no") named the Poinsettia the Euphorbia pulcherrima. Pulcherrima means "very beautiful." By 1836, English newspapers were reporting on the Poinsettia in great detail: Poinsettia Pulcherrima.. are of the most brilliant rosy-crimson color, the splendor of which is quite dazzling.  Few, if any of the most highly valued beauties of our gardens, can vie with this. Every year, we celebrate National Poinsettia Day on December 12th, the day Joel Poinsett died.   1859 Birth of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem ("Sholl-em A-LEK-em") (books about this person), Yiddish author and playwright. The musical Fiddler on the Roof (1964), was based on his stories. Sholom Aleichem wrote, It's as my mother says: If you want to learn how to grow cabbages, ask the gardener, not the goat.   1905 Birth of Geoffrey Grigson ("Jeffrey") (books about this person), British poet, and naturalist. Before publishing his own poems, Geoffrey edited a poetry magazine called New Verse. He once wrote: We do not feel, as Humphry Repton, the landscape gardener, felt in his epitaph, that our dust is going to turn into roses.  Dust we believe simply to be dust.   1905 Birth of Alice O'Connor, Russian-American writer, and philosopher. Her pen name was Ayn Rand ("Eye-n Rand") (books about this person). She developed a philosophy called Objectivism. Her work The Fountainhead brought fame, but her 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged is considered her magnum opus. Ayn supported laissez-faire capitalism, and when she died in 1982, a 6-foot-tall dollar-sign floral arrangement was placed by her casket.   1887 On this day, Charles E. Bessey (books about this person), an American botanist and University of Nebraska botany professor. He helped pass the Hatch Act. The Act provides $15,000 for state land-grant colleges and universities in every state to establish experiment stations.  Named for Congressman William Hatch, the experiment stations were the forerunner to state Cooperative Extension Services. Today, Hatch Act funding accounts for roughly ten percent of total funds for each experiment station. Nearly all Master Gardener programs in America offer training through a state land-grant university and its Cooperative Extension Service. Charles is remembered as America's greatest developer of botany education. His motto was, Science with Practice. Charles enjoyed plant science, but he never intended to become a botanist. He wanted to be a civil engineer and surveyor. But he agreed to pursue botany at the urging of his professors, and when he told the President of his school about his decision, he commented,   Well, Bessey, I am glad of it, but you'll never be rich.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation By Any Other Name by Simon Morley This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is A Cultural History of the Rose. Simon Morley is a British artist and art historian. He's now Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Dankook University, Republic of Korea. He is also a keen rose gardener. I've watched a number of interviews with Simon. He does a wonderful job of helping us understand the significance of the rose in our world - socially, politically, and religiously - and how we celebrate the rose in our writing and art. Originating in the middle east and Asia, roses were associated with Venus or Aphrodite, the goddess of love in ancient times. This early association with love is why roses are the flower of Valentine's day. In Western society, roses were bred in the early 1800s in France and then in the late 1800s in England. Both countries have a long and royal history with the rose. Today, the rose is the national flower for many countries, including America, Iran, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Iraq, Maldives, Romania, Slovakia, and England. Simon Morley's quest for a deeper understanding of the rose lead him to appreciate the duality in the meaning and symbolism of the rose. The rose offers incredible beauty and fragrance, but the prickles or thorns mean the rose can bring pain. This complexity of pleasure and pain gives the rose enhanced significance throughout history. This book is 304 pages of an examination and a celebration of the rose. You can get a copy of By Any Other Name by Simon Morley and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $21.   Botanic Spark 1942 Birth of John Winslow Irving (books about this person), American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. John wrote The World According to Garp (1978). Since then, he has continued to write best-sellers like The Cider House Rules (1985), A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), and A Widow for One Year (1998). Here's an excerpt from A Prayer For Owen Meany: And if she wore cocktail dresses when she labored in her rose garden, they were cocktail dresses that she no longer intended to wear to cocktail parties. Even in her rose garden, she did not want to be seen underdressed.  If the dresses got too dirty from gardening, she threw them out.  When my mother suggested to her that she might have them cleaned, my grandmother said,  ‘What? And have those people at the cleaners wonder what I was doing in a dress to make it that dirty?'  From my grandmother, I learned that logic is relative.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

The stress of working through a pandemic is getting to Phoebe. Meanwhile, Jillian gets some rough news. Like, reading A Prayer for Owen Meany rough.

For the twenty-fourth episode of The Literary Edit podcast, I was joined by Namibia-based author, writer and all-round legend, Femi Kayode. You can read his list of Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in the episode are:   A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt A Son of the Circus by John Irving We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Razorblade Tears by S. A. Crosby Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra The Tradition by Jericho Brown   Other books we spoke about included A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Great Gatsby, Beloved and Harlem Shuffle.   If you'd like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you're based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.   Facebook The Literary Edit   Instagram @the_litedit   Twitter @thelitedit @FemiKay_Author

The fourth in our podcast's regular series of "deep dives" into books that, for whatever reason, have the popularity, subject matter or complexity to justify an extended discussion. This time we tackle one of the more popular novels in the past several decades, a book that has struck a nerve with a great many American readers in particular, and was loudly championed by none other than Mr. Stephen King: John Irving's 1989 bestseller 'A Prayer for Owen Meany.' It's a book that certainly manages to cram quite a lot into its hefty 600-page length, and certainly has its admirers as well as its detractors. On which side will your twin hosts ultimately find themselves in this debate; how did the diminutive, prophetic titular character strike them; and what are some of the enduring merits and/or flaws of this widely read novel? Episode 34 leaves no stone unturned to try and wring some meaning out of the enigmatic seventh novel by Mr. Irving, previously best known for titles such as 'The World According to Garp' and 'The Cider House Rules.' BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next: 'The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science,' John Tresch - 'The Abstainer,' Ian McGuire - What John is currently reading/plans to read next: 'The Book of Margery Kempe,' Margery Kempe - 'Time O'Clock,' Foster Mullins - Books/Writers discussed in this episode: 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast: "Go Big or Go Home" - in our next discussion we will talk about "big books" - books that aren't afraid to go to great lengths (literally) to entertain, inform and risk possibly infuriating their readers. Why do some books decide to "go big," is it true that weighty tomes aren't quite as popular now as they once used to be, and of course... what are some of our favorites, and why?

In this episode Cally talks to crime writer Mark Billingham, about writing, fans, zoom life, reviews, crowd-pleasing, Elvis Costello, showing off, personality types, writing, reading, poker, luck vs hard work, midlife crises and John Irving. TWITTER: @MarkBillingham Find out more about Mark Billingham A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving John Cleese on creativity in management For more about Cally go to Callybeaton.com Twitter: @callybeaton Instagram: @callybeatoncomedian Produced by Mike Hanson and Koroush Adhamy for Pod People Productions Music by Jake Yapp Cover art by Jaijo Sales & advertising: advertising@audioboom.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No matter where you're from, no matter what your race, culture, creed or ancestry is – your life has been touched and shaped by music in some form or fashion. Musical expression is part of what makes us human, and the mysterious joy and emotion we experience when listening to and making music is an endlessly fascinating subject. The Book XChange brothers list and discuss their favorite books about music in Episode 34 - they might be novels, musicians' memoirs, biographies, appreciations or short stories... there's something for everyone in this jamboree of a show. Glad to have each and every one of our listeners along for the ride! BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE What John is currently reading/plans to read next: 'A Prayer for Owen Meany,' John Irving - TBD - What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next: 'A Prayer for Owen Meany,' John Irving - The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science,' John Tresch - Books/Writers discussed in this episode: 'The Land Where the Blues Began,' Alan Lomax - 'Chronicles: Volume 1,' Bob Dylan - '33 1/3 Series: Master of Reality,' John Darnielle - 'Amsterdam,' Ian McEwan - 'How Music Works,' David Byrne - 'Born to Run,' Bruce Springsteen - 'The Commitments,' Roddy Doyle - 'Sonny's Blues' (short story), James Baldwin - 'Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta,' Chuck Klosterman - 'Random Samples: Demystifying the Magic Music of Rush,' Jude Joseph Lovell - Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast: Episode 34 will be our first "BXC Review" episode since March, this time taking on the polarizing late 80's John Irving novel, 'A Prayer for Owen Meany.' Join us for a deep dive into a novel that has been both lauded and derided with equal vehemence over the years...

Recorded one day after the United States of America's 245th birthday, the latest episode of the Book XChange podcast takes advantage of the Independence Day vibes to consider the gifts and responsibilities of FREEDOM. And not just American freedom either, but "freedom" as it pertains to all members of the human family. We discuss and recommend books that have something to teach, say, remind, provoke, or inspire about the ideal of freedom. From classic autobiographies and political treatises, to novels, to philosophical ruminations on art and individual expression – this episode looks at what it means to consider, value, protect and fight for freedom. We hope listeners will appreciate whatever freedoms they are blessed to enjoy, and maybe hear some interesting reading recommendations along the way. Happy 4th of July to our American listeners, and a huge thank you as always to all of you, no matter where you're from! BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next: 'Borstal Boy,' Brendan Behan - 'A Prayer for Owen Meany,' John Irving - What John is currently reading/plans to read next: 'Fragments of an Infinite Memory: My Life with the Internet,' Maël Renouard - TBD - Books/Writers discussed in this episode: 'Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,' James M. McPherson - 'Long Walk to Freedom,' Nelson Mandela - 'The Underground Railroad,' Colson Whitehead - It Can't Happen Here,' Sinclair Lewis - 'Les Misérables,' Victor Hugo - 'Parting the Waters' (and the 'America in the King Years' trilogy), Taylor Branch - 'You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto,' Jaron Lanier - 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself,' Frederick Douglass - 'A Star Called Henry,' Roddy Doyle - 'Common Sense,' Thomas Paine Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast: Episode 33 1/3 (get it?) will cover... books that are somehow about music! Join us next time for a symphony of recommendations of great books either written by musicians, or about the magic and mystery of music in some way.

Calling this a Thursday Three would just be lying to you. It is 38 minutes of pure book loving bliss. If you can't find a book you enjoy reading from this list of picks from these two, well, you shouldn't be listening to a podcast about books. So, for this week's "Thursday 33" we have the incomparable Sparky Reardon, a legend from the Ole Miss family and as voracious a reader as our inimitable host. Without further ado, here are the picks listed for your convenience: Rachel's Picks: Seeing Serena by Gerald Marzorati Brat: An '80s Story by Andrew McCarthy Fearless: The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success by Rebecca Minkoff The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel by Rebecca Wells Sparky's Picks: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr When Evil Lived in Laurel: The "White Knights" and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie The Inspector Montalbano Series by Andrea Camilleri (Producer's note: There are 28 books in the series and a BBC television series.) Seeds Of Greatness by Denis Waitley Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving A Separate Peace by John Knowles Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams Beach Music: A Novel by Pat Conroy Red Dragon by Thomas Harris The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America by Nicholas Lemann Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America by John Barry Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta by Richard Grant Also, we would be remiss if we didn't share with our readers a bookstore that both host and guest recommend if you are visiting Oxford, Mississippi: Square Books Enjoy!

“If you are really going to be the best version of yourself, you have to be present” - Jane GeraghtyIn this week's episode host Portia Mount sits down with Jane Geraghty, group global CEO of branding powerhouse Landor & Fitch. They talk about the beginnings of her extraordinary career in advertising, dig into her philosophy on leadership and the choices and tradeoffs she's made to lead one of the world's most renowned branding firms. And they explore the habits and routines she has adopted to help her manage her energy and her busy life not only as a CEO but as a mother. The future is female. Let's get started. Have a question or comment? Email us at themanifista@gmail.com.Resources Mentioned Landor & FitchA Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 

http://polaroid41.com/singing-in-the-dark/ Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021 - 10:51am. I've had some Big Things happen to me in my lifetime. My parents got divorced and remarried other people, we moved from suburban Minneapolis to rural Minnesota, I left for college out of state, I moved to Spain for a year, then I moved to France where I learned a new language, a new culture and made a life for myself from scratch. In France, I fell in love and after six years together, I very nearly had that love snatched away. After his long hospital stay and the hardest months of our lives, when it was clear he would make it, we said: let's have a baby! It was a way of turning the page, embracing life and starting a new chapter. Other friends our age were having babies and some confided how hard it was...we would smile sympathetically, but then give each other a knowing look: Hard? We know about hard. And having a baby isn't hard. During my pregnancy I read John Irving's “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” There's a passage describing new parents: A few houses down Front Street lived a young couple with a new baby, Front Street was not much a street for young couples, and the street had only one new baby. The couple cruised the neighborhood with the air of an entirely novel species -- as if they were the first couple in New Hampshire to have given birth. Owen shrieked so loudly when we played football that the young father or mother from down the street would fretfully appear, popping up over a hedge to ask us if we would keep our voices down “...because of the baby.” I remember chuckling at that part and then reading on from my picnic blanket in the sun in Les Buttes Chaumont park. Six months later we welcomed our little boy. We sent out an SMS to our circle of friends announcing his name, weight and the exact time of his birth. It's a funny tradition, but I understand the desire: Elliot was born at 5:29am on February 3rd, 2013, that is the exact instant he joined the world. Included in the recipients of that SMS was my yoga teacher at the time...she'd recently given birth to her second child, and we'd done prenatal yoga and birth preparation together. She replied to me: Welcome to the parenting conspiracy. Welcome to the parenting conspiracy…? What did that mean? As the weeks and months went by, Bruno and I came up with multiple interpretations. We noticed that baby Elliot was incredibly cute whenever we were with childless friends. He'd spend the entire afternoon crying, fussing, refusing to nap, and then a friend without kids would stop by and he'd start cooing and batting his eyelashes. Our friend would say: ‘Oh my God he is the cutest baby ever!' Bruno and I would look at each other and mouth: parenting conspiracy! ... The complete 'polaroid' (image, text and minicast) available at: http://polaroid41.com/singing-in-the-dark/

Racism is real. Its devastating historical effects can still be felt today, and the misguided and harmful beliefs that we've inherited from previous generations can have a profound impact on how we see and treat one another. The anti-racist movement is a response to these injustices, and anti-racism training has sprung up across private and public businesses. But is there only one way to do anti-racism training, or to be anti-racist? Theory of Enchantment founder Chloé Valdary has spent the last several years developing a compassionate alternative.Theory of EnchantmentTED: How Love Can Help Repair Social Inequality, with Chloé ValdaryThe True and Only Heaven, by Christopher LaschThe Omni-Americans: Some Alternatives to the Folklore of White Supremacy, by Albert MurrayJames Baldwin & Nikki Giovanni, a conversationSaudadeShadow and Act, by Ralph EllisonA Prayer for Owen Meany, by John IrvingOn the Shortness of Life, by Seneca@cvaldary----------Email: newliberalspodcast@gmail.comTwitter: @NewLiberalsPod