Episode 2 - Top Ten Reads of 2016 and Holiday Gift Ideas

Chris and Emily discuss their top ten reads of 2016 and make some holiday gift suggestions.

Top 10 of 2016
Emily
The Nix – Nathan Hill
The Door – Magda Szabo
Felicity – Mary Oliver
Keeping the Feast – Paula Butturini // When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
Gift From the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Dirty Love – Andre Dubus III
Jerusalem: A Cookbook – Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf
Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person – Shonda Rhimes

Chris
Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue – Kathryn J. Atwood
Laura – Very Caspary
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
Shelter – Jung Yun
The Mirror Thief – Martin Seay
Black Deutschland – Darryl Pinckney
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith
The Bill Hodges Trilogy [Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch] – Stephen King
A Great Reckoning – Louise Penny

Holiday Gift Ideas
Emily
Still Life – Louise Penny or some other book that begins a series
A combo buy: The Door and Iza’s Ballad by Magda Szabo
Cookbooks: Jerusalem, Ottolenghi, Plenty and Plenty More - Yotem Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
How To Cook Everything – Mark Bittman
YA Novel : The Thing About Jellyfish – Ali Benjamin
Semikolon office supplies – particularly the A4/Letter Size Envelope Files in various bright colors
Chris
Literary Magazine Subscriptions: Bookmarks, World Literature Today, Mystery Scene Magazine
Membership to an author organization: examples include
Willa Cather Foundation, Mark Twain House, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and many more
Fountain Pen:
Pilot Metropolitan
Lamy Safari
Visit
Goulet Pens for a wide pen selection

Episode One!

Listen to the Prequel of Episode One and Episode One all wrapped up into one!

Episode One Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

The author event/book that started it all! Chris and Emily traveled to Northshire Books in Manchester, VT.
On the 7 hour drive we decided to start a book podcast.
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life – Ruth Franklin (NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2016)

Just Read
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg  (CW)
Martin Luther’s Travel Guide – Cornelia Doemer (CW)
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (CW)
Small Great Things – Jodi Picoult (EF)

Currently Reading/Listening
I’ll Take You There – Wally Lamb (EF)
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz (EF) audiobook
She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb (CW)

Biblio Adventures
Emily went to see Alice Hoffman in NYC – her new book is Faithful
Chris explored Herman Melville’s house – Arrowhead – in Pittsfield, MA
Read her blogpost

Upcoming Jaunts
Chris and Emily will see Wally Lamb on December 14, 2016 at RJ Julia Bookseller's in Madison, CT.
Emily is heading to a Speak Up Storytelling event in New Haven on December 15, 2016

Upcoming Reads
Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940’s – Sarah Weinman (CW)
Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall – St. Sukie de la Croix (CW)
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls – Robert M. Thorson (CW)
Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer (EF)
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert (EF)
Seventh Heaven – Alice Hoffman (EF)

Authors Mentioned
Matthew Dicks
Roxane Gay
Noah Hawley – Before the Fall
Ann Patchett
Nathaniel Philbrick – In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Gretchen Rubin