We appreciate all the support and the enthusiasm we’ve been receiving from listeners of the Feeling Bookish Podcast. It’s a blast to meet and chat with people who are as passionate about books and reading as we are.
When doing the podcast, we assume listeners have not read the particular book we’re discussing. But if you can read the book beforehand, that makes for a really fun experience. We love the feedback we get on Twitter.
We know everyone is busy, so we included a list of our upcoming books, if you want to choose one or two and read along with us. We usually publish a podcast every four-to-five weeks. Here’s the list:
- The Shelter Sky by Paul Bowles (1949) – What happens when you stop being a tourist and really become a traveler–really go deep into foreign lands, both internally and externally? This is one of the best American novels of the 20th century that nobody remembers. Bowles considered himself primarily a classical composer. He lived in Tangiers in the 1940s and ’50s and got inspiration for the novel when traveling in the Algerian Sahara. The book was turned into a fine movie in 1990 with John Malkovich. We plan to publish this the week of July 15.
- A Fan’s Note by Frederick Exley (1968) – We turn to a classic American novel that has been sorely under-looked. “A Strong, beautiful, American, one of a kind,” according to Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a “sports,” book like none other. Read this appreciation in Grantland.
- The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin (2016) – What if, we made contact with distant, advanced aliens–who hadn’t known about us–and they then decided it was best to eliminate us? That’s the proposition in this Chinese sci-fi novel that was famously praised by President Obama.
- The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt (2000) – Two things seem to be certain, DeWitt is one of the great American writers working today and this novel is considered to be one of the best U.S. novels (so far) of the 21st Century. Read more in The Paris Review.
- Dark Constellations by Pola Oloixarac (2015) – LitHub described the book as being about a “transformation in human life and civilization brought about by distributed networks, mass surveillance, anarcho-capitalists, and a ‘Ministry of Genetics.’” We’re excited to read this important Argentinian writer.