Four Books a Fortnight

This week, Hannah is just back from a super-cool fellowship that sent her to Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair and she's got some takeaways, inspired by the scale that the publishing industry operates on and talking with people from all around the world. Coincidentally, Sam read some Gertrude Stein set in Paris for this week, along with Lois Lowry's thought-piece on what a world without books mi...

This week, Hannah and Sam are doing just a little bit of self-promotion. You'll have to forgive us. Because we really do believe Six Stories a Semester's first issue is incredible, and full of really strong stories, and we'd be remiss if we didn't use this podcast to tell you about it. But we've still got three other great books to talk about, including the newest from madcap-adventure-writer Kate...

This week, Hannah and Sam have read four books mostly at random, as if to make up for all the best-sellers we've been trotting out lately. We've got one book out of the dump pile, another from the library, and a couple of advance-reader copies that are pretty dang niche. Things we discovered: Hannah is not into grisly death! Sam is not riveted by quilting-based storylines. Sam likes cats! Hannah l...

This week, Hannah and Sam are reading books for all sorts of reasons, whether because of recommendations or because they were available in the dump box. A book narrated by a dog? We'll let you know if Paul Yoon pulls it off. Another coming-of-age story? You know R. F. Kuang likes a challenge and, well, she's an absolute genius. At least she didn't come of age in the country-club Massachusetts that...

This week, Hannah and Sam have read four books that legitimately kickass. If you're looking for four of the best writers working today, this is your episode. Naomi Alderman? Cool-ass autofiction with a side of magical realism. Emma Cline? Young talent coming into the height of her powers. Emily St. John Mandel? Absolutely crushes it. Téa Obreht? She's crafted a Russian nesting doll of a story. No...

This week, Hannah and Sam are reading at camp, the weather is great, and the books are all highly enjoyable. We open with a new historical mystery, move to an old mystery, then revel in the death of many wizards, before finishing up with one of the most-awaited follow-up novels we can remember. Does it deliver? You might have to read it twice to figure it out. This fortnight, we read: "Oxford Guid...

This week, Sam has returned to the VERY POPULAR Dungeon Crawler Carl series — does he regret that decision? Not exactly. But not to worry: Hannah read a Booker longlister that asks some really interesting questions to balance things out. Then, we've got a couple of creepy numbers, from an anonymous Japanese YouTuber and a YA author making her "adult" debut, which might be more appropriate for Hall...

This week, our sensational title is triggered by our first read, which definitely asks that question and, luckily for men, seems to come to the conclusion that we do, in fact, need men. Your results may vary. Maybe you need men like Raphael Bob-Waksberg, whose short story collection is a hilarious work that often probes the absurdity of relationships. Maybe you need men like Richard Russo, who's g...

This week, we travel far and wide, from the unpopulated reaches of Siberia to the very deepest parts of the galaxy, and then return to our North Shore roots. Yes, there's another WW2 story in the offing, but, yet again, you haven't read one just like this. And, sure, we're doing the Russian thing again, but there aren't any gentlemen involved this week, we promise. The big question, of course, is:...

This week, Sam is back from Minneapolis, which just so happens to be the home turf for our first author (they didn't meet up, sadly), who never gave up on his dreams and made a hell of a book happen — is he the Ted Lasso of sportswriters?!? Hannah thinks so. Meanwhile, Sam cranked through a couple backlist titles, trying to get further into the Peter Heller and Amor Towles oeuvres and knock off so...

This week, Sam is well-rested and well-read, having just returned from all sorts of nature-loving and unplugging from the rest of the world. Which left him ready to really love "Station Eleven," which checks all the boxes — and eager for Emily St. John Mandel's upcoming novel this fall. Similarly, Hannah was enamored by Milo Todd's debut, a WW2 novel that is not your average WW2 novel. "Voidverse"...

This episode we've got a lot of things on our minds! We open with a preamble that involves a little navel-gazing, which we hope you'll indulge. We know we are not always 100% on point, but that's sort of the point! Trust us that it's germane to the books we've read these past two weeks, including the absolute truth manifesto that Mac Barnett has released (see if you can figure out the sound effect...

This episode we come to you live from the Newburyport Literary Festival, which is a truly kick-ass event. But, don't worry: It's still just us talking about four books! They just happen to come from authors speaking at the Fest — including two poets! Hey, it only took us 14 episodes to get a couple books of poetry on this thing. But we've got a couple of great novels, too — People are dying in Joh...

Folks, it's just all bangers this week, with four books we really enjoyed, all brand-new and ready to be given to your mom. We've got a love letter to Earth, a love letter to bad guys, a love letter to Brooklyn, and a love letter to Monica Lewinsky. And we loved the books. That doesn't happen all that often. The big revelation is that Hannah hasn't read Emily St. John Mandel; and, yes, we know tha...

We open this week with a book that might not be for Sam, who is not a middle-aged woman, it turns out. Hannah is, but didn't really like it either. However, Hannah did love the trad-wife tale that is "Yesteryear," where 1855 isn't all it's cracked up to be. And Sam liked the new TC Boyle just as much — is there a better writer of people who make bad decisions. But then things finish up with a bell...

If you're going to do a retelling of Cinderella, you gotta include some slippers, right? Apparently not! Liberties have been taken. And that's just the start of an episode that takes you from Shakespeare's England to the International Space Station — with a quick stop at Joan Didion's NYC apartment for a smoke. Man, can she write. We have some thoughts on what makes her so good and why some of tha...

How do you know we're not just trying to sell books with this pod? Well, we fire up with a Carolyn Chute novel that's ... out of print. That's some business savvy! But Sam claims she's the Faulkner of the north (an important Mainer!) and you should really find a copy if you can. And, not to worry, the rest of these books are widely available. We've trotted out the Alarm Clock sound effect again, t...

This episode includes, among other things, "the most French thing editor Chris could find on the Internet." Can you guess which book that might be for? If not, you better listen, because we've got four very different books, despite two of them being written by women named Rebecca. Maybe we should do an episode in the future where all the books are written by someone with the same first name! Or on...

Do we sometimes read books because they have a hot-pink cover? We do. But we're glad we did! Kathy Acker is a crazy badass and her cult classic gets us started on a white-hot episode full of machine smashing and sea scraping. This is about as wide-ranging as an episode gets. This fortnight, we read: "Blood and Guts in High School," by Kathy Acker "The Infamous Gilberts," by Angela Tomaski "Against...

Firing up with some craft talk, we quickly dive into the final installment in Philip Pullman's Golden Compass universe, which is, well, sad. For lots of reasons. But also incredibly powerful and full of love. Oh, and we've got a couple less weighty things, too, including a comic book and time travel novel with some "funny torture." Oh, and some "Heated Rivalry" chit-chat. This fortnight, we read:...

We've got some great variety this week, from a Japanese novel exploring the nature of comedy to literary fiction set in Bristol, England, that explores the boredom of being a housewife in a really beautiful way. Also, big kudos to Sam for banging out a 700-page brick in two weeks and to Hannah for reading a book about, like, British royalty, that she rated with a vacuum cleaner's whine. This fortn...

We shake it up this week with a philosophical text and some YA, plus a favorite backlist title of Hannah's that Sam experiences for the first time! Also, we get a treatise on the difference between a romance and a love story. This fortnight, we read: "The Rest of our Lives," by Ben Markovits "On Drugs," by Justin Smith-Ruiu "Red as Royal Blood," by Elizabeth Hart "Migrations," by Charlotte McConag...

It's all fiction all the time this episode and we mostly liked these books. Mostly. See which one gets the bellyflop splash! This fortnight, we read: "Television," by Lauren Rothery "The Listeners," by Maggie Stiefvater "House of Day, House of Night," by Olga Tokarczuk "Emergency," by George Packer What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

We've got some biggies this week, from one of the leading Dad-gift books of the season to the latest from from a few literary powerhouses. See which one gets the whoopie cushion! This fortnight, we read: "American Kings," by Seth Wickersham "What We Can Know," by Ian McEwan "A Guardian and a Thief," by Megha Majumdar "The Four Spent the Day Together," by Chris Kraus What sound effects did we give...

Are you a cryer? Hannah is. But for some reason Ann Packer's brand-new tear-jerker didn't get the waterworks flowing. And, yes, Sam has another music book for you, but he swears it won't be every week! Also, we've got some sci-fi for you (and even some workplace sci-fi). This fortnight, we read: "Some Bright Nowhere," by Ann Packer "Tonight in Jungleland," by Peter Ames Carlin "The Memory Police,"...