The Bookstore

This week for our Beach Read June prompt we read Beach Read by Emily Henry. Which is fitting! Coincidentally the book take place in a fictional Lake Michigan town that happens to exist exactly on top of the town that Corinne's partner is from - so we've got thoughts about how it represents Michigan aside from general banter about romance tropes and feel good reading. Next month the prompt is to re...

Content warning for sexual assault on this episode. We read  Diadem From the Stars by Jo Clayton as Becca's pick for June's prompt, Genre: Romance, Fantasy, or Beach Read. It's a pulpy 70s space fantasy that left us confused and maybe even a little irate. Next time we will be discussing  Beach Read by Emily Henry. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library. Get two months for...

We discuss a publishing scandal that at this point feels very cliché. Next time we will be discussing  Diadem from the Stars  by Jo Clayton. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent Bookstore Day details  here . Website  |  Patreon

This week we read Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe. It's a book full of politics and yet we choose to focus (at least a little) on the sex writing. Next time we will be discussing Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton. You might have to find this one used, or from your local library.   Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the Independent B...

Our May prompt was to read a book published the year you were born, so we chat about big book news that happened in our respective birth years, as well as some pop culture tidbits. Let us know what exciting things happened the year you were born! Next time we will be discussing Becca's May prompt pick, Anthills of the Savannah  by Chinua Achebe . You can find it at your local bookstore or library...

Content warnings abound because we read Katherine Dunn's 1989 novel about an abusive carnival family turned cult carnival turned ??? Geek Love . Next time we will be discussing Becca's May prompt pick (read a book published the year you were born) Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe . You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two months for the price of o...

We read National Book Award winner Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Do we understand how screenplays work? Not really! But we do think this is a very interesting concept. Next week we will be discussing Geek Love by Katherine Dunn . Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

We revisit our dear old friend, Norman Mailer. But before that, we find out the truth about the storied literary feud between Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Next time we will be reading  Interior Chinatown  by Charles Yu . You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. See the I...

Discussion and review of  The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree  by Shokoofeh Azar for the April challenge prompt: a book that won or was shortlisted for a literary award in 2020. Next time we will be reading  Interior Chinatown  by Charles Yu . You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at ch...

We're starting April off with a Between the Books episode featuring recommendations based on our April Prompt, read a book that won an award in 2020. We talk about all the books we've read in previous episodes that won or were on shortlists, and we add a few more of our personal recommendations. Next time we will be reading  The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree  by Shokoofeh Azar  for the April...

This week we read the our final book for the March prompt (read a book you already own). Because it is a 3 book episode month, we turned to Patreon to pick between our respective choices. Becca's pick won and so we read A Question of Power by Bessie Head. The book itself is a little hard to get a hold of, though it seems plenty of fairly priced used options exist . Either way, we hope you'll join...

Our March prompt for our 21 Month Challenge is to read a book you already own. We're here to talk about how great libraries are, why we buy books, why we don't always buy books, how we store books, you know, that kind of thing.  Our next book discussion will be  A Question of Power  by Bessie Head,  you may have to search some less common avenues to find that one. Get two months for the price of o...

First - apologies for Corinne's sub par audio this week, but there were some issues on her end. It'll be back to normal next week. In this episode we discuss  The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi and question our Western viewpoints on gender. Our next book discussion will be A Question of Power by Bessie Head, you may have to search some less common avenues to find that one. Get two months for...

Inspired by this Reddit thread , we talk about the different things that are distracting or take us out of the book. Not necessarily pet peeves, but also maybe a little bit. This brings us to the conclusion that writing is hard! Next time we will be discussing  The Death of Vivek Oji  by Akwaeke Emezi. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. Website  | ...

Review and discussion of The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor for our first pick for the March book prompt: Read a book you already own. Next time we will be discussing The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. ____ Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. Website  |  Patreon  

To close out the February prompt for our Bookstore Podcast 12 Month Challenge, we each have some recommendations for indie publishers and books published by those indie publishers. We will list all the books mentioned on our website. Next time we will be reading our first March Prompt book (something we already own):  The Women of Brewster Place  by Gloria Naylor. You can find it at your local boo...

Our second book published by an independent publisher for the February prompt is Frontier by Can Xue. We don't actually know how to explain it or talk about it, but we try! Next time we will be reading our first March Prompt book (something we already own): The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two months for th...

Our February reading prompt is to read books published by an Independent Publisher. Because we've received so many questions from people interested in how to find more independent presses, we have decided to rerelease an episode we did a couple of years back introducing you the wonderful world of Indies. Next week we will be reading and discussing Frontier by Can Xue, published by Open Letter at t...

Our first pick for February's prompt is  Temporary by Hilary Leichter, published by Coffee House Press . It gets us talking about the mundanity of office life and the strangeness of life under capitalism.   Next week we are reading  Frontier by Can Xue. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us! Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at chec...

Alternate title: TRUST NO ONE! A list of sources for this episode can be found here . Next week we will be discussing Temporary by Hilary Leichter. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. Website  |  Patreon

Our January prompt for The Bookstore's 12 Month Challenge is "a book you think you really should have read by now." Becca's pick for that prompt is  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.  February is indie publisher month, if you have a favorite indie pub book, we'd love to hear about it! Our first book for February is  Temporary by Hilary Leichter. Find it at your local bookstore or li...

This week we have a bit of news, Corinne explores a new GoodReads (and Amazon) book tracking contender called The StoryGraph, and we consider some interpretations for the January challenge prompt: a book you feel you should have read by now. Becca is beckyramone and Corinne is corinnekeener on The StoryGraph. Add us and we will follow back! Next week we will be discussing I Know Why the Caged Bird...

If you are a die-hard Jane Austen fan, you may want to skip this one. We read Corinne's pick for our January prompt, "A book you think you really should have read by now." P&P is embedded in our cultural consciousness and it was time for us to see what the fuss is all about. Note: Even though Austen is G-rated, this episode contains swearing. Next up is Becca's pick, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing...

We look back on our reading in 2020, pick some favorites, and make plans (lol, sure) for 2021. Next week we will be reading and discussing  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two months for the price of one at  Libro.fm  with code 'bookstore' at checkout. Website  |  Patreon

This week we read Samanta Schweblin's  Little Eyes , a very Black Mirror-type story featuring, you guessed it, some little eyes. We have a conversation about if a kentuki is more like a drone or a phone app, and talk about why exactly someone would want to have a stranger staring at them all the time.  We are off next week, returning December 29th with our Year in Review episode! Get two months fo...