The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

Our guest this week, Kara Evans, is a transplant to Louisville by way of New Jersey and Atlanta and was looking for a fun way to meet new people. She is a healthcare consultant specializing in technology but her hobbies have always included reading and movies. So she decided to create a book and movie club called Books Going to the Big Screen which can be found on the platform Meetup.com, a site w...

Our guest today is a history buff who has taken his interest in the past to a whole new level. Mick Sullivan is a history educator at the Frazier History Museum and is in charge of their youth and family programs. But he is also the creator of the children’s history podcast, The Past and the Curious, which Common Sense Media lists as one of the best podcasts for kids. His quirky combo of humor and...

We are now just a few days before Black Friday and the start of the crazy holiday shopping season. We are all book lovers here which means chances are high we will all probably buy a book or related gift for at least 1 person on our shopping lists. Carrie and I plus our guest today, Bri Esposito, are here to help. Bri has been the marketing coordinator for Carmichael Books, Louisville’s oldest ind...

Do you remember when a library was just a library? A building with books and periodicals; maybe a few DVDS. Today’s library, though, is in flux; transforming beyond a static brick and mortar facility to become a movement with social events, digital interfaces, and futuristic technologies. While reading is still a huge part of that movement, it is just one of many unique ways in which people can in...

Carrie and I have a very special guest today. Alix Harrow is a Hugo award-winning writer of historical fantasy fiction who also happens to be a fellow Kentuckian. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, has been called by Kirkus Reviews a ‘A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word,’ and NPR books says it is one that should go on your Favorites Shelf. It has been on the...

Reading and writing just go together. Like salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, Simon and Garfunkle. Well that last pair broke up but you know what I mean. The two are undeniably linked. Readers need writers and writers need readers so it makes sense that one of the perks of shared words would be a festival all about the writing process. The Writer’s Block Festival is being held November 16 a...

Do you love a good Broadway show? So does Michael Drury, the producing artistic director of Pandora Productions, a theater company solely dedicated to telling the stories of the LGBTQ Plus community. And this passion made him tenacious in pursuing the rights to produce Fun Home, a Broadway musical based on the critically acclaimed 2007 graphic memoir of the same name by Alison Bechdel, who is best...

As a book lover, there are two things I’ve often fantasized about doing. Being a bookseller and writing my own novel would be at the tippy top of the list. Our guest today, Kim Colette Ballard, has hit the booknerd jackpot. She is a book buyer for Riot Book Cellar, a new independent bookstore and wine bar in the small town of Bardstown Kentucky, a place known for its bourbon distilleries and being...

Amy and Carrie talk about some bookish events they have attended lately such as a storytelling festival, Southern Festival of the Book, author talks, and private bookstore recommendations. Sam Miller The Bookseller's Recommendations Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams - Western Opiod, Indiana by Brian Carr - Gritty Lit New Boy by Tracy Chevalier - Shakespeare retelling Thanks for the Trouble by To...

Tony Dingman is an actor, historical educator, playwright, and creator of the Frazier History Museum’s annual event An Evening with Poe, which is a celebration of everything dark and macabre about this great American author. For 10 years he and the other actors at the Frazier have been adapting and creatively performing such classics as The Raven, The Bells, and the Tell-Tale Heart but they also i...

It's October, it finally feels like fall, and it's time for everything creepy, scary, spooky, and things that go bump in the night.  And if you are local, it means it's time to book your theater tickets for Dracula which is performed every fall season by the Actor's Theater of Louisville. Actor's Theater is one of the top regional theater in the nation.  It's won Tony Awards and many notable perfo...

Do you remember hearing a spooky story around the campfire when you were a kid? If there was a talented storyteller, you may have laughed, cried, or screamed, convinced a ghost was right behind you, sending shivers down your spine. Before printed books were widespread, storytellers were the keepers of all the local history and lore. Today’s guest Bob Thompson, professionally known as Colonel Bob,...

Today’s guest has an multi-faceted story to tell. Fadhia Mohamud is a member of a women of color bookclub that meets monthly to discuss a wide range of books; from romantic comedies to thrillers. But she is also a Somali immigrant herself who has taken her experience growing up in multiple countries feeling a little bit out of place and using that knowledge to help her students face many of those...

When you think about taking English classes in college, do you envision heavy dusty textbooks written by old dead guys, like Thoreau, Chaucer, and Dickens? Well perhaps that was true 20 years ago, but colleges now have changed a bit and we have a real live English professor with us today to talk about how teaching university English has changed and what things have stayed the same. Dr. Jon Blandfo...

I discovered the bookclub we will talk about today purely by accident. I was looking at the website of my local art museum, the Speed Art Museum, because I was buying tickets for the Toni Morrison documentary that aired this summer, The Pieces I Am, at the Speed’s attached cinema. While on the website I saw a listing for the Speed Reading Club, a funny play on words title for their bookclub sponso...

Most avid readers at some time or another have dreamed of working in a small neighborhood bookstore. Our guest today, Sam Miller, has done just that for over 20 years in different parts of the country, from Alaska to Philadelphia. She has now set roots at Carmichael’s Books in Louisville KY. This year she championed a 20-year-old book she loves, Jim the Boy by Tony Earley, and has been a superwoma...

Today we talk with guest, Amanda Ciejko, the creator behind the book blog, The Lexington Bookie. She works with horses as part of her day job but being a voracious reader is her hobby. . She even has the horses listening to her audiobooks. Amanda shares with us how a New Year's resolution helped her create her blog, why sometimes she needs a recovery period after finishing a particularly wonderful...

Today Carrie and I speak to Holly McArthur, a former news producer now local high school teacher who specializes in media studies including tv, radio, and yearbook. She also happens to be a mother of 4 children and belongs to two different book clubs. We talk about how a personal tragedy nudged her into joining her first group 10 years ago. She explains to us what need each club fills in her life,...

We are so excited to introduce you to our guest today, Rheonna Nicole, a spoken word artist and poet. 4 years ago she started an all female poetry slam In Louisville KY called Lipstick Wars. She started in a small theater that holds 600. That filled up and the next year she filled another theater that held 1200. This year Lipstick Wars is being held in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the A...

Today we welcome Brandon Vigliarolo, a freelance writer who shares his love and books and reading by giving a slice of history. He is a historical reenactor at Locust Grove, a 55 acre estate and mansion from the late 1700s. He felt he needed authentically made books to enhance his performance as an 18th century gentleman. So, he decided to make them himself. Thus began his bookbindery Strano Books...

Today on the show, we talk with Sherry Howard, a Kirkus starred children's book author who refuses to be defined by what society expects of someone with a spinal injury or of a more mature woman. Her creative mind knows no limitations. She talks with us about how writing has become a family affair, how her work with special needs children influenced her newest book, Rock and Roll Woods, and why yo...

Our guest today is Minda Honey, a woman who is talented and busy with lots of irons in the fire. She is a local writer, the new director of Spalding University's Creative Writing program, as well as the creator of LEO Weekly's advice column, Ask Minda Honey, where she gives her answers to all those relationship questions you've been dying to ask. She is currently busy writing a memoir that sounds...

In this week's episode: This week in the studio we welcome our guest, Kim Vidrine, a freelance editor and high school English teacher in Austin TX. We talk about the parallels and differences between her bookclub and her high school students, why some of the classics of American literature have become problematic for her bookclub, and why she loves the "fun" in dysfunctional family fiction. Last b...

Our guest today, Kim Esposito, knows a little something about bookclubs. She is a pianist who owns and teaches music lessons to young children at The Children's Music Academy. She also has been with the same bookclub, the Ya- Yas for almost 20 years. She tells us how sharing books can help you form strong lifelong friendships, why finding your voice and rediscovering your identity is so so importa...

In this week's episode we talk to Erin Nevitt, a children's librarian with the local library system. She tells us why summer reading is the busiest time of the year, how you can explore some of the city's bet kept secrets with the Cultural Pass, and what makes a book tantalizing for young readers.   Keep up with us and share your reading lives on Facebook, Instagram @ perksofbeingabooloverpod or v...