Books with Betsy

Episode 23 - Genre Promiscuous with Nina Li Coomes

On this episode, Nina Li Coomes, who was once described as genre promiscuous by a professor, discusses her traumatic early reading experiences, and how her identity as a writer has developed. We also discuss some shared favorites, how much she loves a hate-read, and why it can be good to read books you might not like. 
 
Click here to support Eman Alhaj Ali, the writer in Palestine that Nina has been working to support. 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliot
Trust by Hernan Diaz 
My Friends by Hisham Matar 
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, trans. Heather Cleary
 
Books Highlighted by Nina:
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee 
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
A Play for the Living in the Time of Extinction by Miranda Rose Hall
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 
Grimm’s Fairytales by Grimm Jacob and Wilhelm 
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee 
The Searcher by Tana French
In the Woods by Tana French 
The Best Possible Experience: Stories by Nishanth Injam 
The Aeneid by Virgil 
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka 
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka 
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 
Homeland: Dungeons & Dragons: Book 1 by R. A. Salvatore 
The Magicians by Lev Grossman 
The Duke and I: Bridgerton by Julia Quinn 
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple 
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Episode 22 - A Little Bit of Everything with Leah @DishingonBooks

On this episode, Leah, @Dishingonbooks on Instagram, and I discuss our shared love of intense reads, how to find more books that open up the world, and her love for the Women’s Prize. We also give a lot of recommendations for books that are not for everyone but hit both of us in just the right spot. 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliot
Trust by Hernan Diaz 
 
Books Highlighted by Leah:
The Street by Ann Petry 
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, trans. Sarah Moses 
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagahara 
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie 
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. 
The Color Purple by Alice Walker 
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagahara 
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 
Men we Reaped by Jesmyn Ward 
Girls Burn Brighter by Shoba Rao 
The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood 
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson 
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode:
The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin 
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews  
Little Girl Lost by Drew Berrymore 
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach 
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi 
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi 
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi 
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, trans. Megan McDowell 
Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken 
Entitlement by Rumaan Alam 
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam 
White Tears by Hari Kunzru 
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata 
Yr Dead by Sam Sax
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen 
The 1618 Project: A New Origin Story by Caitlin Roper, Irena Silverman, et al
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Keisha N. Blain & Ibram X. Kendi 
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Iasbel Wilkerson

Episode 21 - The Story Sits in Your Bones with Sam Luchsinger

On this episode, Sam Luchsinger, an eclectic reader and artist, talks about their love of picking up whatever strikes their interest, beautiful book covers, and the joy of reading children’s books into adulthood. They also discuss their love of graphic novels and some tips on how to get into the format that might feel a little overwhelming. 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
If you want to get ahead and join us at Off Color Book Club: 
October 15 - Trust by Hernan Diaz 
November 19 - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 
January 21 - The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe 
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliot
 
Books Highlighted by Sam: 
Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock 
Moby Dick by Herman Melville 
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe 
The Brendan Voyage: Sailing to America in a Leather Boat to Prove the Legend of the Irish Sailor Saints by Tim Severin
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews 
Swing Low: A Life by Miriam Toews
Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen 
Brazen: Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu 
The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa 
The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode: 
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 
Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
Bimwili and the Zimwi by 
The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 
The Bells of London by Ashley Wolff
Sloth’s Birthday Party by Diane Redfield Massie 
The Brave Brushtail Possum by Diane Redfield Massie 
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki 
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin 
Clever Girl: Jurassic Park by Hannah McGregor 
Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond Productivity Culture by Jenny Odell 
The Forgetting Room by Nick Bantock
If We Were Villans by M.L. Rio 
The Secret History by Donna Tartt 
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo 
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 
The Magicians by Lev Grossman 
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate 
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert MacFarlane
Runes of the North by Sigurd F. Olson 
Twists of Fate by Paco Roca 
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel 
Wrinkle inTime: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson and Madeleine L’Engle 
Perpetua’s Journey: Faith, Gender, and Power in the Roman Empire by Jennifer A. Rea and Liza Clarke 
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, et al. 
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home by Nora Krug 

Episode 20 - Based in Reality with Jordan Cross

On this episode, Jordan Cross, a resource librarian for a large interior design firm, discusses her love of audiobooks, books that are based on something true, and how memoirs about hard topics are important and meaningful. She also brings a topic to the show that I hadn’t thought to ask about!
 
The big list of books from NPR - best of the year since 2013!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe 
Mister Magic by Kiersten White 
The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu
 
Books Highlighted by Jordan: 
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
The Shining by Stephen King
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley 
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 
I’m Glad my Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy 
Know my Name by Chanel Miller 
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage 
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller 
Work in Progress by Leanne Ford & Steve Ford
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Other books mentioned in this episode: 
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner and L. Kate Deal 
Kristy’s Great Idea (the Baby-Sitter’s Club #1) by Ann M. Martin
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 
Left Behind the Kids by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and Brett Helquist 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
1984 by George Orwell 
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Tom Lake by Ann Patchet 
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King 
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King 
The Push by Ashley Audrain 
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls 
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover 
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn 
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty 
The Green Mile by Stephen King 
Misery by Stephen King 
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple 

Episode 19 - I Can't Put it Down with Kathy Donofrio

On this episode, Kathy Donofrio, an artist from the Chicagoland area, discusses how she came to enjoy reading later in life. She provides some amazing, fun book recommendations, including an impressive laundry list of favorite authors. Also, I finally get to hear the Pope Book story that my mom has been telling me about!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer by Joseph Earl Thomas
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear by Mathhew Hongolz-Hetling
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet 
 
Books Highlighted by Kathy: 
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross 
Step on a Crack (Michael Bennet) by James Patterson 
Relic (Pendergast Series) by Preston & Child
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 
The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn
Louisiana Longshot (Fortune Series) by Jana DeLeon
 
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Kathy’s List of Favorite Authors: 
Louise Penny
Ann B. Ross 
Annie Hansen 
C.J. Harris
Caleb Carr 
Catherine Coulter 
Craig Johnson
Daniel Silva 
David Baldacci 
David Ellis 
Donna Leon
Harlan Coben
J.D. Robb
James Patterson 
Janet Evanovich 
Jeffrey Archer 
Kate Quinn 
Lee Childs 
Michael Connelly 
Preston & Child
Mitch Albom 
Robert Dugoni 
John Grisham

Episode 18 - I'm a Terrible Reader with Stacy Jeziorowski

On this episode, Stacy Jeziorowski, who is not a terrible reader, discusses her resurgence as a reader after grad school and how thrillers that have kept her on the edge of her seat motivate her to read more. We also discuss our shared favorite, which we both collect, and how amazing the library is as a resource for our lives. 
 
The AI generated holiday romance movie
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty 
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore 
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet 
 
Books Highlighted by Stacy: 
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune 
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Nora Goes off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Still House Lake by Rachel Caine
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
 
Other Books Mentioned in the Episode:
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish and Fritz Siebel 
Dollface: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties by Renée Rosen 
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears 
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner 
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover 
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls 
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell 
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 
Send for Me: A Novel by Lauren Fox

Episode 17 - Book Clubs will Save the World with Allison Yates and Fernanda Wetzel

On this episode, Allison Yates and Fernanda Wetzel come on to talk about their organization, Read and Run Chicago, a book and run club that features specific books with coordinated runs in Chicago. They describe how accessible their organization is, open to anyone who might be interested in participating, and we get to talk about some incredible books that feature information and stories that open and affirm experiences that have been historically ignored. 
 
Read and Run Chicago Fall Event Calendar 
Allison’s Small Pack Camping Chair 
Italic Type book tracking 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas 
Koresh by Stephan Talty 
The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin
 
Books Highlighted by Allison and Fernanda: 
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Change by Kirsten Miller
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng 
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar 
The Push by Ashley Audrain
 
Other Books Mentioned in the Episode:
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
Temper by Layne Fargo 
The Women by Kristin Hannah 
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See 
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski
The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai 
Fieldwork: A Forager’s Memoir by Iliana Regan 
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang 
Erasure by Percival Everett 
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez 

Episode 16 - Library Superuser with Emily McClanathan

On this episode, Emily McClanathan, a Chicago Public Library superuser, discusses her love of character-driven stories and excellent prose. She also talks about how reading has helped her become a better writer, as she writes both book reviews and theater reviews in Chicago. We get into some shared loves and Emily gets to share a hot take about a book she thinks is overrated. 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore 
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay 
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle 
 
Books Highlighted by Emily:: 
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield 
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph 
Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse by Maya Phillips 
My Mess is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety by Georgia Pritchett 
Born to be Mild: Adventures for the Anxious by Rob Temple
Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire
Everybody’s Favorite: Tales From the World’s Worst Perfectionist by Lillian Stone
One in a Millenial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy 
This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something - Anything - Like Your Life Depends on It by Tabitha Carvan 
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein 
 
Other Books Mentioned in the Episode:
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray 
Better the Blood by Michael Bennett 
Return to Blood by Michael Bennett 
Any Human Heart by William Boyd 
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell 
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen 
The Eye of the World: Book One of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan 
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein 
Zorrie by Laird Hunt 
Wolf Hall by Emily Mantel 
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally 
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 

Episode 15 - Percival Everett Fan Club with Ben Ustick

On this episode, Ben Ustick, the taproom manager at Off Color Mousetrap and I discuss some of our shared favorite books, the excellence of contemporary fiction, and his goal to read Percival Everett’s entire oeuvre this year. Get ready to be shocked yourself when you hear the book that shocked Ben. If you want to visit us at Off Color Book Club, check my instagram for the information on the next meeting!
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore 
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay 
 
Books Highlighted by Ben: 
True Biz by Sara Nović
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank  
The Hustler by Walter Tevis  
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 
Less by Andrew Sean Greer 
Victim by Andrew Boryga 
 
Other Books Mentioned in the Episode:
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
The Firm by John Grisham
A Time to Kill by John Grisham 
The Client by John Grisham 
The Chamber by John Grisham 
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 
Different Seasons: Four Novellas by Stephen King 
The BFG by Roald Dahl 
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
Erasure by Percival Everett 
James by Percival Everett 
Telephone by Percival Everett 
I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett 
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 
The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey 
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 
Trust by Hernan Diaz 
The Color of Money by Walter Tevis 
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis 
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer 
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger

Episode 14 - Information is Meant to be Shared with Mawuli Grant Agbefe

On this episode, Mawuli Grant Agbefe and I discuss his love for fascinating non-fiction, including one of my absolute favorite books ever that he recommended to me in January! We also discuss our shared love of being readers in Chicago, based on the gorgeous places to read and the incredible resource the Chicago Public Library is. 
 
Books mentioned in this episode: 
 
What Betsy’s reading: 
The Nix by Nathan Hill 
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne 
 
Books Highlighted by Mawuli: 
The Official Preppy Handbook by Jonathan Roberts, Carol McD. Wallace, Mason Wiley, and Lisa Birnbach
The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy by Stephanie Kelton 
Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Tragedy and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes 
Mean Girl Feminism: How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss by Kim Hong Nguyen 
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup’s Quest to End Privacy as we Know it by Kashmir Hill
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith 
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber 
 
Other Books Mentioned in the Episode:
All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  
How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation and the Threat to Democracy by Mehrsa Baradaran 
Take Ivy by Shosuke Ishizu and Toshiyuki Kurosu
His Name is George Floyd by Toluse Olorunippa and Robert Samuels 
Columbine by Dave Cullen 
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff