So Many Damn Books

Christopher chooses some favorites from the reading year that just passed, and answers some questions from the Patreon patrons. Join the Patreon and hang out in the monthly book club, listen to exclusive episodes, and get access to the SMDB virtual book stoop a couple times a year! https://patreon.com/smdb For the drink recipe, every book and link mentioned, and more, visit: https://www.somanydamn...

Emily Habeck swims on in to chat the book Christopher can’t stop recommending to anyone and everyone, Shark Heart: A Love Story. Thrill to this episode where we get into the long and winding road from theater to novel writing, and the pleasures of re-reading Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation , 10 years on. Join the Patreon and hang out in the monthly book club, listen to exclusive episodes, and...

If you do something two years in a row, that makes it a yearly tradition right? With that in mind, here’s the very traditional Holiday Gift Guide episode. I’m joined by Sarah in our Damn Library and we talk some books and get down to the business of gift giving this season. It’s a present, open it up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rosalind Brown makes her airwaves debut in this one, talking about her debut novel Practice , which means talking about Shakespeare, and using white space on the page, and the various intimacies of point of view. Plus, she brought along The Baudelaire Fractal by Lisa Robertson, a jubilant novel of thoughts that feels perfectly aligned with Practice. Pick up your pens and your pencils and your list...

Our old pal Drew drops into the Damn Library, in Brooklyn, in person, for the first time since February 2020, to celebrate 10 years of So Many Damn Books. The show gets done like it usually does, only with a lot of trips down memory lanes and nostalgia avenues. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic (https://so...

Lena Valencia drops by the Damn Library, physically, and it’s a real nice time complete with a flashing drink you can’t see, because this is a podcast. Lena and I discuss her blockbuster, nearly a decade in the making, short story collection debut, Mystery Lights , and she brings along Muriel Spark’s Driver’s Seat , which is just as good as it gets. Read on! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb fo...

Lev Grossman returns to the podcast after a nine year break. That’s a long time! Since he was here last, he wrote his Arthurian magnum opus, The Bright Sword , and he chats about it, along with a good name for a cocktail sword, God, Merlin, and how he likes to be in conversation with someone else’s work. Plus, he brings along Phillip K. Dick’s UBIK , a bizarre sci-fi classic that’s on the verge of...

Holly Gramazio drops by via the magic of Zoom to talk her magical summer blockbuster of a book, The Husbands . She gets into its origin as a computer game, a lack of supernatural solutions, and why it used to have the moon falling apart. Plus, she brings along the surreal-but-still-relatable Zito Madu’s The Minotaur at Calle Lanza , and reveals she’s just been to Venice. Read on, compadres! contri...

Kate Slotover, host of The Book Club Review podcast, joins me in the Damn Library all the way from London! Drinks are had, New York is discussed, along with two different worlds of New York reportage, Helene Hanff’s Letter from New York , and Joseph Mitchell’s Up in the Old Hotel. Such a joy! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com m...

Melissa Mogollon zooms in to talk her debut Oye, and all the fun she had writing it. That means we talk how her friends are like her sisters, the unusual structure that always felt like it could fail, and how she might write a sequel from the sister’s perspective. Plus, she brings along Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing , a book that was great to revisit, and is informing her on how to connect digit...

Our old pal Drew (of Voyage into Genre ) is back! We talk about how the internet used to be, how Drew broke his slump, some literal tea discussion, RPG and video games, and general book chatter. The usual, served up just how you like it, in podcast form. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic (https://soundclou...

Fiona Warnick, author of the charming novel The Skunks , drops by to talk animals and metaphor, how her creative writing program helped her with this book, writing smooth, and more than that, because we also get into Sheila Heti’s Alphabetical Diaries , which inspires a deeper dive into the work of Heti and her influence. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more...

Christopher goes through some stuff he read and some stuff he wants to read. Got any modern pirate book recommendations? contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic (https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexandra Tanner shares the Damn Library physical space, sitting in the chair across from me and everything. She discusses her sibling’s influence on Worry, writing for an audience of one, money, moms, and more. Plus, she brings Kathryn Scanlan’s Aug 9 - Fog for book club. Listen closely and you’ll hear books mentioned now and again. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lis...

Damn Library co-owner Sarah sits to chat about all the things that makes one pick up a book only to put it back down again. A list of reading pet peeves that touches on everything from subject matter, to stylizations, tropes, design choices, and more. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic (https://soundcloud.c...

Rachel Lyon returns to talk about her new novel, Fruit of the Dead , and how it wasn’t always a Persephone myth retelling, she found that along the way. Plus, we get into the “generative fill” of reading, and I pontificate on dust mote fiction, inspired by the fetid summer heat within the pages of Tessa Hadley’s The Past . Read along! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book li...

GennaRose Nethercott returns to talk about her brand new story collection Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart , stealing details from her friends, telling stories from the periphery, and how each tale in the book is about yearning. Also, thanks to Sabrina Orah Marks’ Happily , we discuss all form of fairy tales, and how they can tubocharge your selling power, you just have to ask us how. Real good li...

Kirsten Bakis makes her podcast airwave debut to discuss her brand new novel, King Nyx. And it’s a doozy. Kirsten reflects on sideways stories and how she first “met” the real life inspiration for her main character, and some reflections on how things have changed in publishing since she first debuted 27 years ago with her modern classic, Lives of the Monster Dogs . Listen up and listen good! cont...

Marie-Helene Bertino returns to the Damn Library to discuss her latest triumph, Beautyland . Marie-Helene goes into how she creates some of the book's indelible, otherworldly moments, and why the book's writing process was charmed. Plus, she brought along The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a book that is much more powerful when you're not translating it for french class. Books are back...

Into the Damn Library Sarah and Christopher go again, to review their respective years on reading, pull out the highlights, and make plans for the year to come. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for the full gift list, every drink recipe, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Deck The Halls Chris Hayes Music Remix Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah joins Christopher in the Damn Library she co-owns to drink martinis and talk about good ideas for holiday gifting, from books to subscriptions to games to cocktail accoutrements and more. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for the full gift list, every drink recipe, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) Hosted on Ac...

Drew Broussard, Hudson valley author, Golden Notebook bookseller, host of Voyage Into Genre , and former host of this show, jumps into his old chair in the Damn Library and it’s like he never left. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

Amy Kurzweil stops into the Damn Library, physically, to talk about the physical object of her new graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, which largely concerns AI. We discuss capturing the details of her screens, the open question of the future, and what we keep from the past to get there. Plus, we delve into the many joys of Jason Lutes’ Berlin, a modern masterpiece. contribute! https://patre...

Edan Lepucki visits the virtual Damn Library by the power of the internet to discuss her intergenerational time travel novel, Time’s Mouth . We get into all the fun stuff, like time travel mechanics, Reichian therapy, making fortresses, Santa Cruz, and how she’s seeing her career at this point. Plus, we talk about The Possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love, a book that Edan helped name. contribute!...

Jennifer Baker steps into the physical reality of the Damn Library and thankfully brings along her infectious laugh and passion for books. We chat all about the long road of writing her new novel Forgive Me Not , her hopes for how it’s received, and how curiosity drives her fiction while anger can drive her nonfiction. Plus, she brought along Akwaeke Emezi’s incredible Pet . A perfect visit! contr...