Podcasts about your life book club

Will Schwalbe joins the show today with some of these thoughts and more: It's better to say something than nothing. Make the hard phone call. Donate to the cause. Let friends help you. Ask questions. Look past what you think you know about people. Assume the best. These are all keys to long-term friendship I discussed with Will, author of We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship.The first part of the episode is a natural continuation of last week's episode about the benefit of having friends with different points of view and backgrounds. I inadvertently made a series! And in the second half, Will and I talked about the real work of maintaining a decades long, sometimes challenging friendship and why we should bother. Will and I discussed the quote he chose for the book's epigraph by British poet, David Whyte: "All friendships of any length are based on a continued mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy, all friendships die." We Should Not Be Friends will challenge your assumptions about friendship. Two of Will's previous books include Books for Living and The End of Your Life Book Club, which I know many people out there have loved. Will has worked in book publishing (currently as an editor at Macmillan); in digital media; and as a journalist, writing for various publications, including The New York Times and the South China Morning Post. He lives in New York.Show notes are HERE.Let's connect over all things friendship! Here's my Substack newsletter about friendship & more Instagram Twitter JOIN the Dear Nina Facebook group Ask an anonymous question Next Virtual Book Club Meetings

“How do you spot a ‘we should not be friends' friendship? It's when someone shows you who they are, and you like it.” Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club, tells us how an unexpected friendship with a polar-opposite grew into a lifelong journey through love, losses and triumphs. Schwalbe and Chris Maxey, former Navy SEAL and founder of the Island School, join us to talk about Schwalbe's new book, We Should Not Be Friends: A Story of a Friendship, meeting through a Yale secret society, the importance of vulnerability, what they learned about themselves and each other through telling this story and more live at Barnes & Noble Union Square with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer.     Featured Books (episode):  We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe  The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe  The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone  The Rediscovery of North America by Barry Lopez    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

We discuss several ways we can tap in to our five senses to boost productivity and focus, and we share a listener's idea for a new way to celebrate a birthday. Author Will Schwalbe (“The End of Your Life Book Club”) talks about his new memoir, “We Should Not Be Friends,” and what he learned about how to make and sustain friendships  Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.com Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Get the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/419 Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors Want to be happier in 2023? Get Gretchen Rubin's newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available for pre-order. Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. If you liked this episode, please follow, rate or review, and tell your friends! Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,' a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pop them bottles! It's another very special bonus episode with Rachel and Tracy to celebrate their first year (give or take a few months) of hosting the Isn't it Lovely? Podcast! Rachel reflects on the origin story of the podcast, while Tracy proclaims their shared respect for author and teacher Jennie Allen before unveiling the announcement of the very first Isn't it Lovely? Book Club, featuring Jennie Allen's latest book, Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World (Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!). Tracy and Rachel express gratitude for their incredible community of listeners and look toward a future that continues to highlight Sioux Falls-based stories, while also expanding to new cities. And it wouldn't be an episode of Isn't it Lovely? without a What Are You Loving? segment featuring books, empowering quotes, and, of course, food. Jennie Allen Website: https://www.jennieallen.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jennieallen/ Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World by Jennie Allen What Are You Loving? Rachel: Breadico Sourdough Bread Company Tracy: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe “It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have. What we are, and where we are, is God's providential arrangement, - God's doing, though it may be man's misdoing; and the manly and the wise way is to look your disadvantages in the face, and see what can be made out of them.” - F.W. Robertson

Get ready for Earth Day by hearing about "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World" by Katharine Hayhoe, with some tips for talking about climate change in ways that inspire action. Stephanie Dudek, Adult Services and Reference Librarian at Troy Public Library, is talking about books with Hudson Mohawk Magazine producer Brea Barthel. Another item discussed: "The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe. Also find out about April adult activities at Troy Public Library, including book clubs, Haiku Highway, and more. For details, see thetroylibrary.org. To find other libraries in New York state, visit https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/libs/#Find.

First Draft Episode #322: Jennifer Niven Jennifer Niven is the Emmy Award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author of ten books, including YA novels All the Bright Places, Holding up the Universe, Breathless, and Take Me With You When You Go (with David Levithan). This episode is brought to you by Laura Sibson's Edie in Between, a modern-day Practical Magic about love, loss, and embracing the mystical, available now. And by The Splendor by Breeana Shields, out from Page Street Publishing now. Links to Topics Mentioned In This Episode: Penelope Niven, biographer and author of Carl Sandburg: A Biography and Carl Sandburg: Adventures of a Poet, Thornton Wilder: A Life, Steichen: A Biography, memoirist (Swimming Lessons: Life Lessons From the Pool, From Diving In to Treading Water) and co-author of James Earl Jones's autobiography, Voices and Silences. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, Missoula, and more Carl Sandburg, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (for Cornhuskers and Complete Poems) and biographer (for his four-book series, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years). Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club and Books For Living: Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting, and Embracing Life, and co-author of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better with Dave Shipley Jennifer's original agent, John A. Ware, who passed away in 2013. Read his obituary in Publisher's Weekly. Jennifer's current agent, Kerry Sparks at the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency David Levithan, editorial director at Scholastic and the author of many young adult novels, including Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, and co-author with Rachel Cohn of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. Ava Dellaira, author of Love Letters to the Dead and In Search of Us. Listen to her First Draft interviews here and here.

Will Schwalbe has spent most of his life in publishing: at William Morrow, and then at Hyperion, where he was Editor in Chief. In January 2008 he left Hyperion to found a startup called Cookstr.com and ran that for six years. It's now part of Macmillan Publishers, where he has worked since 2014. His books include Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do it Better with his friend David Shipley. The End of Your Life Book Club, about the books he read with his mother when she was dying. And Books For Living, about the role books can play in our lives and how they can show us how to live each day more fully and with more meaning. He lives in New York City with his husband David Cheng In addition to Books for Living, we talk about Faber, Sonny Mehta, Rohinton Mistry, reasons for reading, adults reading to children - and their conversations, greater powers, book clubs, cook books, Christopher Isherwood, giving and sharing conversations about books for birthdays, tyranny, and my new venture, Literary Retreats.

“I think there's going to be a much higher primacy placed on trust. Trusting brands. That should inform the way that we in turn respond to our customers. We need to respond more transparently; what happens behind the scenes has to come to the front of the house now.” Charles McKee    Connect with Charles McKee & Selected Links & People Mentioned LinkedIn Instagram Markey International Arts Ice Academy of Montreal The Thin Book of Trust Richard Branson & Virgin Atlantic The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe If by Rudyard Kipling Lovely Day by Bill Withers Rake Connect with REIN Canada REIN Canada CEO@reincanada.com Facebook Instagram Twitter Show Notes [02:08] Patrick introduces his next guest, Charles McKee. [03:56] Charlie and Patrick dive right in to discuss the strange times we find ourselves in amid COVID-19. [05:13] Charlie gives us his elevator pitch! What he does, who he works with and now reaching beyond his 30-year career pursuits into new passion projects. [08:06] In the space of marketing and taking on new brand challenges, Charlie takes us through his process of identifying the conundrum, the problem to solve, and the underlying curiosity and confidence to address solutions from less obvious angles. Intuition plays a part, always backed by data. [10:05] Charlie talks about Air Canada and the challenges they faced with a new merger, followed by SARS and 9-11 as an illustration of how an airline company, or any business, can adapt and retool to rise to the challenge and find a way through to emerge stronger. [14:22] Reflecting on the COVID-19 reality now, while considering what a “new world” may look like going forward, Charlie describes the focused response areas and the relevant streams of understanding all businesses will need to contemplate in the context of market demand and client appetite. Patrick and Charlie agree, there is no going back. Transparency and trust will be the fundamental factors. [19:48] Patrick and Charlie discuss the Four Dimensions of Trust as the core components of any relationship. Truth. Reliability. Competence. Care. Together they create an outcome. An outcome of trust that can only be earned. [22:55] Markers of trust between a rental housing provider and a client: being of service, aligning values as part of the screening process and creating a values-based relationship. [26:50] Charlie takes us back to high school and time spent living with a family in Japan, followed by continued East Asian studies at Brown and Harvard, which indirectly lead to an encounter with Richard Branson and an opportunity with a little company called Virgin. [29:58] Charlie shares a lesson he learned while working with Richard Branson. [31:30] From a family of achievers (including his Great Grandmother who was the first president of the Girl Scouts of America and a good friend of Eleanor Roosevelt) and a world of possibility provided by a supportive family, Charlie was encouraged to embrace independent thinking and make the most of the gifts they had been given. [38:30] Charlie gives his perspective of nature and nurture as the underlying drivers of our life path. [39:53] Initially driven by curiosity, interests in sociology, psychology and how it manifests through commerce, Charlie takes us along his early journey and the pivot point that led to a broad unfolding of his capabilities and talents. [42:32] Vulnerability. Through trial and error, and simply getting out and doing it, Charlie came to realize that owning and authentically exhibiting this quality was the most significant part of being a good leader. [45:55] Charlie gives thanks for the great mentors he has had along his journey and the important lessons he learned from each of them. He now finds himself in a position to give back. [47:25] The paradigm of servant leadership aligns with Charlie's style of empowering his teams to achieve great success.

Kaytee is recording with a guest host this week as Meredith is traveling, and I think you’ll really enjoy hearing from her! You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each of us: an author event with a tiny sidekick, and a special bookish gift from a friend. Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. This week’s choices have romance, non-fiction, and historical fiction novels! We’ll move on to a short Slow But Steady update from each of us, as well as a couple listener updates For our deep dive this week, we are taking a peek at Lori Lynn’s reading life, and the ways she uses reading to balance her mental health. It’s a really interesting conversation about how reading looks different for each of us. Finally, this week, we are Pressing Books Into Your Hands. We’ve both brought a non-fiction pick this week, and they are certain to spark conversations! 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! *Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon 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. Thanks for your support!*   . . . . . 2:10 - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 3:01 - Episode 17 with Delia Owens interview! 3:28 - Glennon Doyle Meton (on tour for Love Warrior) 3:30 - Anthony Doerr (on tour for All the Light We Cannot See) 4:10 - A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer 4:54 - Currently Reading Bookish Friends on Patreon 6:11 - The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren 8:30 - Anna Hithersay on Episode 22 10:10 - The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang 10:36 - The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez 10:49 - The Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez 11:04 - Viral social media post about ExLax from Abby Jimenez 12:11 - The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory 14:38 - The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon 17:56 - Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon 18:03 - Audiobook Sync program (not happening now, but you can sign up for the email list so you know when it comes around next summer) 18:34 - Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens 19:48 - A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas 20:54 - The Parasol Protectorate (series) by Gail Carriager 21:51 - Fair Play by Eve Rodsky 22:13 - Mary Heim on episode 24 and episode 36 28:09 - Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud 29:29 - Lunch Lady (series) by Jarrett Krosoczka 30:14 - Another Bookish Friend (Patron) Shout Out! 30:18 - Currently Reading 2019 Reading Challenge 30:54 - Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery 30:59 - Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery 31:06 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 31:59 - The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor 32:39 - Book People in Austin, TX 33:41 - Harry Potter (series) by JK Rowling 34:00 - Middlemarch by George Eliot 34:21 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 34:51 - Serial Reader App 35:54 - The Post Party Podcast 43:59 - Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski 44:55 - Jessie Bear books by Nancy White Carlstrom 45:13 - Little Bear books by Elsie Holmlund Minarik 45:36 - Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman 45:55 - Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery 48:18 - Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey 50:19 - Miracles and Other Reasonable Things by Sarah Bessey 51:09 - Being Mortal by Atul Gwande 51:12 - The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe 52:32 - But That’s Another Story podcast with Will Schwalbe 52:51 - What Should I Read Next podcast 54:16 - Connect with Lori Lynn: @lorilynn_tucker or @lorilynntucker_doula 54:25 - The Post Party Podcast

Will Schwalbe is the New York Times best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club and Books for Living: Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting, and Embracing Life. He is also the host of Macmillan Publisher's podcast, "But That's Another Story with Will Schwalbe." Will and I share an intense love of books! Hear how certain books have helped him through emotional challenges like loss and why Will says "I'm not the same reader when I finish a book as I am when I started." Hear about his crusade to rebrand reading, how one influential book recommender can save your life, and why he loves naps.

Author, editor and entrepreneur Will Schwalbe loves to talk about the books that have changed his life. He's written two books to the subject, The End of Your Life Book Club, which was about the books he read with his mother while she was dying, and Books for Living, about the role books can play in our lives and how they can show us how to live each day more fully and with more meaning. In this podcast he talks about a few gems: The Importance of Living, Giovanni's Room, A Little Life, and Why I Wake Early among others.   

Emily Akins is an Editorial Director at Hallmark Cards, Inc. She is also the host of a podcast called The Beginning of Your Life Book Club, which explores the transformative power of children's literature and the magic of picture books. She loves books, coffee, local vegetables, crossword puzzles, and real mail with interesting postage stamps. She lives in Kansas City, MO with her partner, Sergio, and their daughters, Julia and Clara. TO check out the infographic discussed during this interview you can find it at  https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/picture-this-reflecting-diversity-in-childrens-book-publishing/

In the book End of Your Life Book Club, author Will Schwalbe recounts the final days of his mother's life, and sharing books with her. This was the inspiration for Emily Akins' new podcast Beginning of Your Life Book Club. What Will was able to have with his mother through books at the end of her life is what Emily wants as a mother for her kids at the beginning of theirs. There may be no one adding more to the kids book podcasting community right now than Emily. Emily is the editorial director at Hallmark, and recipient of the Barbara Marshall Award, which grants one member of the creative community a 6-month sabbatical to pursue personal work. Emily' project: her podcast which is now up to 6 episodes and has interviewed Will Schwalbe, Kelly Baker, and Daniel Miyares. In this episode, I talk with Emily about her move from Hallmark into kid lit, the goals she has for her show, and how it's bringing value to the creative community. Beginning of Your Life BookClub, which you should definitely subscribe to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-beginning-of-your-life-book-club/id1438003627?mt=2 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode you will meet the people in my book club(s), learn the inspiration for this podcast's name, and find out the correct way to sing “Caps! Caps for Sale! 50 cents a cap!”   GUESTS Judy and Winford Akins Damon Akins Will Schwalbe and, of course, Julia and Clara   REFERENCES: Fisher Price My Little People Busy Town The Three Pigs by David Wiesner Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Moser, illustrated by Blair Lent Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe   For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Amanda and Jenn discuss books set in New Mexico, horror with cars, political machinations, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by Timothy Top Book 1: The Green Pig by Gud and Good Me Bad Me, now in paperback by Ali Land. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via Apple Podcasts here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here.   Feedback Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata Crossfire by Miyuki Miyabe Out by Natsuo Kirino   Questions   1. I love the podcast and have actually read some of the books that have been recommended and have loved them. I am taking a trip to Portland, Oregon and will go visit Powell’s City of Books (my first time ). I noticed as I was making my wish list of books I want to buy and looked at the list of books I’ve read this year and realized I have read too many books that are emotionally heavy. I’m not trying to say those books are unimportant they are! I just need an escape every now and then. I recently read Alan Bennett’s, “The Uncommon Reader,” and loved it so much. I need recommendations for books like that : easy to read in one sitting, grossly absorbing, and don’t leave me feeling emotionally and mentally exhausted. I have also read the Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor and “The Bookshop,” by Penelope Fitzgerald. I am not a fan of romance novels. Would like some recommendations by women, people of color, or LGBTQ. Thanks and again love the podcast. --Rebekah   2. Hi - I send a request for book suggestions on your website (using the form I can no longer find...?) but forgot to mention that since I'm leaving for my trip in about a month, I'd really really appreciate some suggestions as soon as possible...I'm thinking you might have answered a similar question in past shows, too, since it's pretty simple. As I said before, I'm going to be travelling to Santa Fe, NM to live for a while, but know virtually nothing about the place! I'd love book suggestions - either modern fiction (preferred) or non-fiction / travel - that give a sense of the history & atmosphere & cultures & climate of New Mexico. I recently read Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagan, and thought it was great, although New Mexico is only a backdrop in that one. I'm not a big fan of cowboy / frontier type stuff, though. Thank you so much! Your podcast was recommended by my local librarian and I'm so grateful she let me know about it! All the best, --Tracey   3. Hi Ladies, My friend is looking for recommendations and I just do not feel equipped to suggest based on our differing reading interests, so I thought I would consult the experts! He gave me his 2 favorite books: "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch and "Dragon Teeth" by Michael Crichton. I suggested "N0S4A2" by Joe Hill based on one of your previous shows, and he loved it. But he actually moved it to the top of his TBR because of the Rolls-Royce! He absolutely loves cars - it is his passion personally and professionally. Do you have any suggestions for what he calls "adventure" and "darker" books? HUGE plus if you can throw in a sweet car! I am trying to keep his reading flame alive. Thank you, --Andrea   4. Apparently I have an unpopular opinion. After watching the tv adaptations of her work, I decided to try reading one of Philippa Gregory's books but don't seem to be enjoying it very much. I'm confused by this since I know she is well regarded in this genre and that I enjoy these sorts of books (The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart is one of my favorites and of course A Song of Ice and Fire) but I'm not finding the environment or characters very immersive. Could you recommend a political machinations, inspired by history, power weddings, and rising king novel by another author? Ideally it would be realistic with a few witchy superstitions, but full fantasy is good too. Wolf Hall is on my TBR and I know I've heard you mention an "inclusive GoT" - was it Promise of Blood? Thank you! --Kelly   5. My grandfather was diagnosed with dementia several years ago, but his condition has escalated recently, and he's just moved into a nursing home. Since my family has fairly spread out, the majority of the care for him has fallen on my mother, who lives closest to the home. She loves to laugh, and hasn't let any of this get her down, but I know it's tough on her. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for books that deal with aging parents in a positive or humorous tone, either a memoir or a novel of some sort. Thanks! --Amanda   6. Hello! I was pretty convinced that I don't like romance, but you ladies are always talking about great romance books. For the Read Harder challenge of a romance novel by or about a person of color, I chose Whiskey and Ribbons, by Leesa Cross-Smith. I think Amanda may have mentioned it on this podcast or on All the Books. This book is so good! It just made me feel like love is so amazing and wonderful, and the writing is beautiful. I feel like I have been missing out by avoiding the genre, and now I need more books to feel all of the feels. I admit that I haven't given romance much of a chance, but the little bit I have read has annoyed me with either the characters having amazing sex immediately after meeting on page two, or just plain bad writing. What are some good romances for people new to the genre? I usually read literary fiction and nonfiction. --Kara   7. Hi, can you recommend any books based around tattoos and fantasy elements connected to or about them? I love fantasy, historical fiction. Favorite books are Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, Station Eleven, Discovery of Witches. --Angela   Books Discussed An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie Passing Strange by Ellen Klages River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey Fire Season by Philip Connors Night at the Fiestas by Kirstin Valdez Quade Christine by Stephen King Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin (Inheritance Trilogy) Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev Inked by Eric Smith Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (tw: rape, suicidal ideation)

The Beginning of Your Life Book Club will launch in November - National Picture Book Month! Subscribe now so you won't miss Episode 1!

Please Support The Show with a DonationWill Schwalbe is an author, entrepreneur, and journalist. He is also perhaps the most delightful, interesting and thoughtful person you've come across in a while. His love of books is infectious and as you know, Eric is a bibliophile himself so when the two talk about books and reading as they do in this episode, the result is one blissful experience. Do you love reading? Did you used to love reading but it's moved out of the spotlight of your life? Have you wanted to cultivate a love of reading? Are you looking for some really wonderful books to read? Are you alive and breathing? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then this interview is for you.He is the author of Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing Life, The End of Your Life Book Club and SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better Omax3 Ultrapure go to www.tryomax.com/wolf and try a box for freeIn This Interview, Will Schwalbe and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHis book, Books for Living, Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing LifeThe importance of readingThat reading isn't binaryThat every time we read, we become better at readingHow reading can promote empathyHow we connect through booksThe practice of "visiting your books"How he chooses which book to read nextThe way books can be a bio of your lifeThe primary emotion he has at the beginning of reading a bookLive to work vs work to liveThe freedom to quitThe freedom of mediocrityGood being the enemy of greatYou write the books you needThat our devices allow us to rob ourselves of silenceHow reading is an artThe "can't you tell I'm reading" faceHis favorite books that he's read recently that were written recentlyWill Schwalbe LinksHomepageTwitterFacebook Please Support The Show with a Donation

Author Will Schwalbe is one of the funniest serious readers you'll ever hear.  In our conversation, before a packed house at The Nantucket Book Festival, Will and I talk about his latest work, Books for Living, in which he treats us to a tour of books we might love to read – but may have missed – and shares his perspective-changing takeaways for how to live a more meaningful life.  Imagine: the hero Odysseus taught Schwalbe about the importance of mediocrity, exemplified by his story of getting a C on a high school paper and the unusually clever response from his teacher when Will objected; and the book Wonder taught him about how to increase his kindness quotient.  Schwalbe also shares his unique insight on resilience, based on his conversations about books with his mother when she was dying of cancer, which led to his NY Times Bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club.  He recommends a book that made it impossible for him to feel sorry for himself when he was at his worst, and explains why he's “the last gay man in America who does not want children.”  Finally, after touring the country, he has a special message about why the “tribe of readers” may help heal the divisions in our nation.

Author Will Schwalbe is one of the funniest serious readers you’ll ever hear.  In our conversation, before a packed house at The Nantucket Book Festival, Will and I talk about his latest work, Books for Living, in which he treats us to a tour of books we might love to read – but may have missed – and shares his perspective-changing takeaways for how to live a more meaningful life.  Imagine: the hero Odysseus taught Schwalbe about the importance of mediocrity, exemplified by his story of getting a C on a high school paper and the unusually clever response from his teacher when Will objected; and the book Wonder taught him about how to increase his kindness quotient.  Schwalbe also shares his unique insight on resilience, based on his conversations about books with his mother when she was dying of cancer, which led to his NY Times Bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club.  He recommends a book that made it impossible for him to feel sorry for himself when he was at his worst, and explains why he’s “the last gay man in America who does not want children.”  Finally, after touring the country, he has a special message about why the “tribe of readers” may help heal the divisions in our nation.

Who doesn't love a book about books? (Possibly Ann.) Listen to our picks for the ultimate reading angle for book-lovers. We'll end with what we're reading this week and some news. Magpie Murders by Anthony HorowitzThe End of Your Life Book Club by Will SchwalbeHow to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry (releases August 15) Ann's picks: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë- Books by Isak Dinesen The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman- Voynich Manuscript- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life by Andy Miller- Andy Miller's blog- Moby Dick, or, The Whale by Herman Melville- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Halle's picks: My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul- The New York Review of Books- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley- The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley What We're Reading This Week: Ann: The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera- Episode 51 - Summer Reads Halle: Caraval by Stephanie Garber- The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern- Episode 28 - Our All-Time Favorites

Author of Books for Living Interview starts at 19:07 and ends at 43:15 "One of the reasons I come back to Lin Yutang is a marvelous story he tells, in 1937, about being in the most famous tea house in China. And the tourists there are so busy taking photographs of themselves drinking tea that they don't enjoy the tea. And I thought to myself, ‘We blame too much on the machines.' Constant connectivity is our fault. It's not the fault of the little items we hold in our hands. And it's been a problem—distraction and impatience have been with us since the dawn of time. So my first thing is to blame myself and not the machine. News “How Alexa Won CES” (video) by Geoffrey A. Fowler at The Wall Street Journal - January 6, 2017 “Amazon's Alexa is everywhere at CES 2017” by Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge - January 6, 2017 LG press release on Smart Instaview refrigerator - January 4, 2017 “Mattel's $300 Echo clone will read your children bedtime stories” by James Vincent at The Verge - January 3, 2017 “Lynx Robot is Alexa's best disguise at CES 2017” by Andrew Gebhart at CNET - January 5, 2017 “Get Ready, Your Robotic Roomate is Moving in” by Aki Ito at Bloomberg - January 6, 2016 “Murder Suspect's Amazon Echo device could help solve the case” by Chris Graham at The Telegraph - December 28, 2016 “Bentonville PD Says Man Strangled, Drowned Former Georgia Officer” at 5News - February 23, 2016 “Police ask: “Alexa, did you witness a murder?” by Sean Gallagher at Ars Technica - December 28, 2016 Bentonville Police search warrants in Bates case Amazon Books page at Amazon.com Tech Tip ereaderiq.com Interview with Will Schwalbe Books for Living by Will Schwalbe “The Need to Read” by Will Schwalbe at The Wall Street Journal - November 25, 2016 (Behind a paywall; try Googling “The Need to Read by Will Schwalbe”) Wonder by R. J. Palacio The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang “Cabdriver's Book Club” by Ryder Ziebarth at The New York Times - March 11, 2013 The Golden Age: A Novel by Joan London Three Lives & Company bookstore in New York City Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine by Jane E. Smith (not available on Kindle) Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo “Lessons on How to Live, in 26 Books” by A. J. Jacobs at The New York Times - December 23, 2016 Next Week's Guest Paul Slavin, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!  

Pull out a cozy blanket - it's time to find out what you'll be reading this winter! As always, Ann and Halle end with what they're reading this week. Books and other media mentioned in this episode: Ann's picks: Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine by Sarah Lohman (releases December 6, 2016) The Dry by Jane Harper (releases January 10, 2017) The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (releases January 10, 2017) Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran (releases January 10, 2017)  Hey Harry Hey Matilda by Rachel Hulin (releases January 17, 2017) Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (releases January 31, 2017)- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (releases February 7, 2017)- The Jetsons (TV)- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch- Ernest Cline books Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (releases February 7, 2017)- Coraline by Neil Gaiman- Stardust by Neil Gaiman- Stardust (film)- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Halle's picks: Books for Living by Will Schwalbe (releases December 27, 2016)- The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel (releases December 27, 2016) Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia (releases January 3, 2017) The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen (releases February 7, 2017)- The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen- The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction- Episode 26 - Short Stories- In the Country by Mia Alvar Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson (releases January 10, 2017)- The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson- Episode 2 - What to Read After The Girl on the Train - Rear Window (film) The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker (releases January 31, 2017) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (releases February 28, 2017) The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky (releases February 14, 2017) What We're Reading This Week: Ann: The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney (releases January 24, 2017)- "The Gone Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the Train" (FiveThirtyEight article by Emily St. John Mandel)- The Girl Before (film) Halle: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed- Serial: Season 1 (podcast)

Kathryn interviews spoken word artist Sheri Booker, author of “Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-City Funeral Home”. What started as a seemingly simple summer job at a West Baltimore funeral home quickly turned into nine years of life changing experiences for Sheri Booker. Her memoir recounts Booker's formative years spent learning about the culture of urban funerals, the business of life and death, and the variety of responses to grief and loss. Kathryn also interviews New York Times bestselling author Will Schwalbe on his book “The End of Your Life Book Club”. To pass the time in between cancer treatments, Schwalbe and his ailing mother Mary Anne would talk about the books they were reading. Once by chance they were both reading the same book, sparking an informal book club between the two. Schwalbe is the founder and CEO of Cookstr.com and has written for the New York Times and the South China Morning Post.

Kathryn interviews spoken word artist Sheri Booker, author of “Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-City Funeral Home”. What started as a seemingly simple summer job at a West Baltimore funeral home quickly turned into nine years of life changing experiences for Sheri Booker. Her memoir recounts Booker's formative years spent learning about the culture of urban funerals, the business of life and death, and the variety of responses to grief and loss. Kathryn also interviews New York Times bestselling author Will Schwalbe on his book “The End of Your Life Book Club”. To pass the time in between cancer treatments, Schwalbe and his ailing mother Mary Anne would talk about the books they were reading. Once by chance they were both reading the same book, sparking an informal book club between the two. Schwalbe is the founder and CEO of Cookstr.com and has written for the New York Times and the South China Morning Post.