Episode 40 - Character Studies with Jocelyn Aspa

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. 

 

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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