That Book

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Arts
**That Book**

That Book is about those books you’ve always heard of but have no idea what their deal is. Hosted by Hannah Weaver and Michael Goldsmith, readers with high expectations and low standards.

Latest Episodes:

TBC: Ina Caro, You're Doing Amazing, Sweetie Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

Hannah owns Michael so hard he writes this from beyond the grave. Plus, catching up with old friends and old enemies.

Resources:

NYT Profile, Robert Caro
The Goldfinch tanks
Susan Orlean on The Real Real
Jia Tolentino on Outdoor Voices and The New Me by Hallie Butler
Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian on Jack Reacher

Books mentioned:

Robert (and Ina!) Caro, The Power Broker; The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror
Madeline Miller, Circe; The Song of Achilles
Anita Diamant, The Red Tent
Homer, The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation)
Dan Simmons, Ilium
Hallie Butler, The New Me
Sheila Heti, How Should a Person Be? A Novel From Life; Motherhood
Ben Lerner, The Topeka School
Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

TBC: Meryl-ly We Roll Along Sep 03, 2019

Show notes

A TBC stuffed full of treats: NYT Bestseller List grifting, a "book curator" to the rich and Goopy, and a roundup of our epic Meryl Season™ including a shocking confession from Hannah.

Resources:

NYT on Dave Pelzer
Thatcher Wine, book curator to the *stahs*
Meryl as star signs.

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Big Little Lies (Meryl Season, Episode 10) Aug 27, 2019

Show notes

In our final full ep of the Meryl Season™ we follow Our Lady of the Pod to Monterey, CA, where she's doing the most on Big Little Lies. But before we get there we discuss "Chick Lit" (or should we say "beach reads"?) and do a quick stopover in Australia to visit the works and (extremely boring) life of Liane Moriarty.

Books mentioned:

Liane Moriarty: Nine Perfect Strangers, Truly Madly Guilty, Big Little Lies; Judith Krantz, Scruples; Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary; Catherine Alliott, The Old Girl Network.

Resources:

Judith Krantz obituary
Jennifer Weiner profile in the New Yorker.
James Wood's takedown of The Goldfinch
Liane Moriarty interview here
Indiewire on Season two of BLL
An example of one of Meryl's wild choices in BLL2

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Kid Lit (Meryl Season, Episode 9) Aug 20, 2019

Show notes

Michael and Hannah take on Hollywood's cash cow: kid lit! Plus, they take a look at what to do with problematic faves and a deep dive on "boarding" Hollywood stars into movies.

Books Mentioned:

Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox; Matilda; The Witches; Boy
Lois Lowry, The Giver; Chasing Blue
Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events

Resources:

On Roald Dahl: New Yorker, BBC.
On Fantastic Mr Fox
On The Giver: Lowis Lowry 1, Lois Lowry 2, on T Swift.
On boarding.

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Carrie Fisher's Postcards from the Edge (Meryl Season, Episode 8) Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

This week we take a ride through the glorious brain of Carrie Fisher: princess of Hollywood, funny person, crank. Meryl played a Carrie-ish person an adaptation of her novel, Postcards from the Edge.

Resources for this episode:

Carrie's interviews: on Good Morning America, Fresh Air.
Carrie's house.
Clip of Meryl being a genius.
Postcard From the Edge trailer.

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The Orchid Thief/Adaptation (Meryl Season, Episode 7) Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Into the swamp with Meryl we go to discuss Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and its wild adaptation, um, Adaptation. We talk Florida Lit, Florida Men, and authors with money.

Books/Authors Mentioned: Susan Orlean, The Orchid Thief; Rin Tin Tin, The Library Book; Carl Hiassen; Karen Russell, Swamplandia; Jeff Van Der Meer, Area X Trilogy

Movies: Charlie Kaufmann/Spike Jonze: Adaptation

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Lurlene McDaniel's Sick Lit (Meryl Season, Episode 6) Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

Inspired by the 1998 Meryl Streep weepie, One True Thing, Hannah and Michael cough gently into their handkerchiefs and discuss the "Sick Lit" phenomenon, spearheaded by Lurlene McDaniel and her 70+ books about children dying.

Books mentioned: Lurlene McDaniel, Six Months to Live, Don't Die, My Love, Somewhere Between Life and Death; Dave Pelzer, A Child Called It; John Green, The Fault in Our Stars; Jodi Picoult (Judy Picaloo), My Sister's Keeper.

Resources:

Lurlene Youtube Channel, inc. the iconic Apple video.
Lurlene answers Q's on Goodreads
TV movie Shattered Hearts
Making of One True Thing
Articles on Sick Lit here and here.

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

TBC: Are You There Goodreads? It's Me, Bill Gates. Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

Hannah and Michael talk about the UK's answer to Thomas Kinkade, moving with books, and hot takes on literature.

Resources:

Jack Vettriano Profile in the Independent (2010)
NYPL List of New York Books
Hot Takes Thread

Books mentioned:

Robert Caro, The Power Broker
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
Ben Lerner, 10:04
Jennifer Egan, Manhattan Beach
Edith Wharton, House of Mirth; Age of Innocence; Custom of the Country
John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
Shakespeare, Richard II
Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow
Casey Cep, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreads and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The French Lieutenant's Woman (Meryl Season, Episode 5) Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

Michael and Hannah hang with Meryl in Lyme Regis in the 1981 adaptation of John Fowles's 1969 The French Lieutenant's Woman. We are remarkable people!

Books mentioned: John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Collector, The Maggot; Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea; A.S. Byatt, Possession; Michael Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White

Resources:

Nora Ephron's Heartburn (Meryl Season, Episode 4) Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

Michael and Hannah dive into Nora Ephron's Heartburn and learn that Nora knows what to do. Also: Lillian Hellman remains the worst, Mandy Patinkin gets screwed, and Carly Simon goes wild.

Nora on her apartment and her cookbook crushes.
Heartburn Clips here and here.
The cover of Michael's copy of Heartburn.

Books mentioned: Heartburn, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections, Nora Ephron; How to be a Jewish Mother, Dan Greenburg.

Email us at thatbookpod@gmail.com. Friend us on Goodreadsand follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected