Books with Betsy

Books with Betsy is a podcast that celebrates the reading life of all readers. Each week, Betsy interviews a different person about their reading life. Listen for book recommendations, reading tips, and to join in the joy that reading brings. And remember, anyone who reads is a reader.

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Episodes

2 days ago

On this episode, Trevor Dykes, a fantasy reader who has written his own fantasy saga, and I discuss how he fits in reading as a father of two young kiddos, what piques his interest in a fantasy, and how much of a commitment some of the long series are. We also get into the difference between the second in a trilogy versus the second in a series - there’s a difference!
 
Get Trevor’s Book, Titan’s Garden Crimson Wolf here! 
Support my Open Books fundraiser
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Anita De Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez 
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
 
Books Highlighted by Trevor:
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson 
Thrawn (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn
The Boyfriend by Frieda McFadden 
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 
The Passengers by John Marrs
Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue by Neale Donald Walsch
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown 
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony SNicket 
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi 
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin 
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 
Jade City by Fonda Lee 
Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Monday Mar 24, 2025

On this episode, Maggie Brennan, a loyal member of the Off Color Book Club, and I discuss the retellings she will always read, how being an oldest sister impacted her reading life, and the way that her Irish family has impacted her reading life. She also talks about her favorite fantasy and sci-fi and how these genres can tell stories that reflect our reality. 
 
Support my Open Books fundraiser
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat 
Before the Mango Ripens by Afabwaje Kurian
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis 
 
Books Highlighted by Maggie:
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas 
The Daughters of Temperance Hobbes by Katherine Howe
Bride of the Tornado by James Kennedy 
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez 
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins 
Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang 
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan 
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford 
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Kindred by Octavia Butler 
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler 
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler 
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
Trust by Hernan Diaz 
White Tears by Hari Kunzru 
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins 

Monday Mar 17, 2025

On this episode, Deedi Brown, who runs The Booker of the Month book club, and I discuss the crossover love of literary fiction and genre, getting sucked in by award lists, and how being more involved in books turns into a snowball! 
 
Follow Deedi on Instagram 
Find Deedi’s Substack here 
Get more information about Booker of the Month Club
 
Support my Open Books fundraiser
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 
Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat 
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis 
 
Books Highlighted by Deedi:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Crescent City Series by Sarah J. Maas
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo 
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 
The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez 
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Fed is Best: The Unintended Harms of the “Breast is Best” Message and How to Find the Right Approach for You and Your Baby by Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, B. Jody Segrave-Daly, & Lynnette Hafken 
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Wisdom of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Choosing to Run by Des Linden, Bonnie D. Ford 
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann 
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 
Lenny by Max Porter 
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead 
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 
Disappearing Earth by Julia Philips 
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi 
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange 
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud 
Playground by Richard Powers 
Bel Canto by Ann Pachett 
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht 
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros 
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros 
Circe by Madeline Miller 
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Monday Mar 10, 2025

On this episode, Meredith Turits, debut novelist, and I discuss the process of making her book come to life, how amazing her editor is, and the best ways to support friends who are writers. We also discuss her book, Just Want You Here, which I encourage anyone to go pick up!
 
Order Just Want You Here!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
 
Books Highlighted by Meredith:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 
The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan
Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm by Emmeline Cline
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Watership Down by Richard Adams 
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis 
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis 
Anthropology of the American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann 
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer 
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer 
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore 
The Wayside by Caroline Wolff 
Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake 
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

Monday Mar 03, 2025

On this episode, Rebecca Schinsky and Jeff O’Neal of Book Riot sit down and talk to me about their reading lives. We talk about their professional work in the world of books, how Oliver Burkeman would feel about my bad bookish habit, and how any book can be interesting if you’re curious enough. 
 
Listen to the Book Riot Podcast 
Listen to First Edition
Better Living Through Books Newsletter (and the rest of the Book Riot Newsletters!) 
Jeff and Rebecca Live at Powells!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found by Christie Tate 
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker
 
Books Highlighted by Rebecca & Jeff:
Sula by Toni Morrison 
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt 
Lab Girl: A Memoir by Hope Jahren 
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes 
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
The Street by Ann Petry
How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
The Orchard: A Memoir by Adele Crockett Robertson
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams 
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott 
Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values by Fred Kofman 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson 
House of Cotton by Monica Brashears 
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy 
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros 
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson 
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchinson 
Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life by Shigehiro Oishi 
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman 
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card 
The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien 
The Shining by Stephen King 
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante 
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover 
All Fours by Miranda July 
Passing by Nella Larsen

Monday Feb 24, 2025

On this episode, Betsy Kipnis, a multi-hyphenate who loves a wide variety of authors, and I discuss some shared favorites, great Chicago bookstores, and she has some great stories. She discusses books that are multi-sensory and we get spicy about a beloved author. 
 
Betsy’s Blog - Bookisshh
Barbara Kingsolver’s Recovery Center 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
The Road to the Salt Sea by Samuel Kọláwọlé
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis  
 
Books Highlighted by Betsy:
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris 
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 
Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak 
The Vegetarian by Han Kang 
Human Acts by Han Kang 
Native Son by Richard Wright 
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Chocolat by Joanne Harris 
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer 
Hum by Helen Phillips 
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
We Do Not Part by Han Kang 
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews 
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 
Rouge by Mona Awad 
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind 
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang 
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu 
Breasts and Eggs by Meiko Kwakami 
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka 
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance 
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy 
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover 
The Guest by Emma Cline
The Girls by Emma Cline 
Luster by Raven Leilani 
The Bean Trees by Barabara Kingsolver 
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 
There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America by Alex Kotlowitz 
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles 
There are Rivers in the Sky by Eilf Shafak 
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann 
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee 
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Monday Feb 17, 2025

On this episode, Jordan Hernandez, who organizes the book community Completely Booked and I discuss what diverse books means to her, how to curate a feed that provides diverse options, and so many amazing book recommendations. If you want to join Completely Booked, you can send Jordan a DM on Instagram to get added to the email list!
 
Follow Completely Booked on Instagram
Double Dough 
HobokenGirl
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Less by Andrew Sean Greer 
The Road to the Salt Sea by Samuel Kọláwọlé
 
Books Highlighted by Jordan:
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams 
James by Percival Everett
Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson
Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson 
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell 
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero 
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen 
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 
This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan 
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan 
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan 
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour 
Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black 
Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black 
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese 
Finding Me by Viola Davis 
Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Tunde Oyeneyin
More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth 
You Are a Badass(r): How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero 
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding 
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin

Monday Feb 10, 2025

On this episode, bookstagrammer and journalist Jocelyn Aspa and I discuss books with extensive character development, how everything makes us cry, and why we gravitate towards books with low ratings on Goodreads. We also discuss how we determine books to pack on a trip which can be a little extra. 
 
Follow Jocelyn on Instagram
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Devil is Fine by John Vercher 
Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing 
 
Books Highlighted by Jocelyn:
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster 
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, trans. Sarah Moses
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 
Same as it Ever Was by Clarie Lombardo 
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels 
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
There’s a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer 
Normal People by Sally Rooney 
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Secret History by Donna Tartt 
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh 
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler 
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo 
The Wedding People by Alison Espach 
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach 
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty 
Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty 
Orbital by Samantha Harvey 
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

Monday Feb 03, 2025

On this episode, indie author David Jay Collins and I discuss his work writing books in and about Chicago, how he keeps going by honoring his characters, and the unique ways that he connects with his readers. We also discuss his reading life, including a current fast from horror content which blows my mind!
 
Follow David on Instagram 
Order any of David’s books from his website 
Where you can see David in 2025!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Lilith by Eric Rickstad 
A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Just Want You Here by Meredith Turtis 
 
Books Highlighted by David:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 
Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and We Work by Reeves Wiedeman 
Dry. A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs 
The Death of the Artist: How Creators are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech by William Deresiewicz 
The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
John Adams by David McCullough 
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Monday Jan 27, 2025

On this episode, Ree @Read_withree on instagram, discusses her love for thrillers and mysteries. We also talk about a shared favorite author, the joy that book people can bring, and how to make bookstagram a place of enjoyment.
 
Follow Ree on Instagram
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
There is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes, Jr. 
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
 
Books Highlighted by Ree:
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
The Passengers by John Marrs 
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan 
Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole 
The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden 
Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps #1) by R.L. Stine 
Holes by Louis Sachar 
Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots by Marcia Thornton Jones
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby 
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby 
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn 
Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup 
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 
The Only One Left by Riley Sager

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