The Bookstore - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

The Bookstore — Arts
The Bookstore

It’s like a book club, but we actually read the book. Join hosts Becca and Corinne as they recreate their days working and hanging out at their local independent book store.

Latest Episodes:

17 - The Perfect Nanny Mar 13, 2018

Show notes

Ripped right from the headlines, we've read and are discussing The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani. If you're looking to read the book and some how have not had the very first line, or premise "spoiled," you might want to read the book first.

Will Corinne go to jail for missing jury duty? Will Becca ever order her contact lenses? Subscribe to find out!

Our next discussion is After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry. Find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us!

Notes: The Killer-Nanny Novel That Conquered France by Lauren Collins for The New Yorker, January 2018

16.5 - Cheating On Our Taxes Mar 06, 2018

Show notes

Because of a bit of a vacation we didn't have a lot of time to prepare a typical topic episode for this mini. So we're going to brag about the fact that we've actually been reading some extracurricular stuff! And we've really really liked some of it! Here's what we've been up to and what we're recommending.

Next up for discussion is The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani.

Recommended in this episode:

The work of Joy Williams, specifically The Changeling which is being released in an anniversary edition on April 10 from Tin House. Also the story Stuff which was read recently on an episode of The New Yorker Fiction podcast.

The Red Clocks by Leni Zuma.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

Blood Child: Stories by Octavia E. Butler.

The longreads.com newsletter and specifically The Worst Roommate Ever by William Brennan for New York Magazine.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

16 - An American Marriage Feb 27, 2018

Show notes

We've got a spoiler free discussion and review of Tayari Jones's An American Marriage for our newest episode. It's a beautiful novel that changes every time we think about it. We picked this before Oprah announced it, so we'll be owning knowing that it was really good before anyone else, ok?

Our next discussion is going to be The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani, so pick it up locally and read along with us.

Related Reading from the episode:

The Root, In American Marriage, Tayari Jones Gets to the Heart of Our Matter

Bitch Media, Personal Political "An American Marriage" Shows How Black Love Survives Injustice

15.5 - Ursula K. Le Guin Feb 20, 2018

Show notes

Corinne and Becca discuss two short stories by the late Ursula K. Le Guin and fall in love.

The stories read for this episode: She Unnamed Them and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Our next discussion will be about An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, get it from Oprah and read it with us!

15 - A Week To Be Wicked Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

Becca and Corinne make good on their promise from Episode 8.5 to read a romance novel. This week they discuss how the literature world at large has often maligned romance and they talk about the book they chose, A Week To Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. Becca pitches her perfect romance novel and the ladies pick out their pen names. Does this podcast have an HEA? You'll have to listen to find out.

Our next discussion is going to be An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.

CALL US! Leave us a voicemail at 616-730-1656.

Referenced Articles:

Roundup of the Season's Romance Novels by Robert Gottlieb for the NYT Book Review September 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/books/review/macomber-steel-james-romance.html

Here's How Not to Critique Romance Novels - Kelly Faircloth for Jezebel https://jezebel.com/heres-how-not-to-critique-romance-novels-1819188174

For the Love of Independence: Romance Authors are Literature's Unsung Heroes by S.E. Smith for Bitch Media https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/the-case-for-romance-authors

14.5 - BFFs (Book Friends 4-Ever!) Feb 06, 2018

Show notes

This week we're celebrating gal pals in real life and in book life with the help of Kayleen Schaefer's Text Me When You Get Home. You'll find a review, some great suggestions for books about friends, and some friends from books.

Books mentioned: The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Our next discussion is going to be about A Week To Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. You can get it at the library or your local bookstore and read along with us.

14 - The Best We Could Do Jan 30, 2018

Show notes

This week Becca and Corinne talk about graphic memoirs and specifically about Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do. Corinne also remembers the name for the pages of the book that are immediately after the cover. It felt like a big deal at the time. More importantly, they make some great points about how literature makes us human. Which is harder to make jokes about.

Next discussion: A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare, you know what to do with that information. ;)

13.5 - The Canon Can Do Better Jan 23, 2018

Show notes

In this episode Becca and Corinne discuss what bums them out about the Canon of Western Literature and how it could be improved. They shoot the Canon out of a cannon. I've been trying to make that joke in one way or another since we recorded this thing, and honestly, it's not even a good joke and I kind of regret it now. Also! An offer for a bad-sexy Valentine's Day postcard.

Next week we discuss Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do. Read it and listen!

13 - Future Home of the Living God Jan 16, 2018

Show notes

Get prepared to hear us use our English degrees when we say "textual support" 1,000 times, friends. This week we discuss Louise Erdrich's misguided foray into the world of speculative fertility fiction with Future Home of the Living God. We gave it a go and did not get it! As always remember this is a book club like discussion: SPOILERS ABOUND.

Our next discussion will be about Thi Bui's 2017 graphic memoir The Best We Could Do. So go read it!

We love you and we're in love with you.

12.5 - Feuds - Please Don't Ruin Marlon James For Us Jan 09, 2018

Show notes

Since scandals were so much fun, we thought we'd try our hand at talking literary feuds! It's sort of like an episode of Ryan Murphy's Feud, but in a podcast and about people who write books instead of a TV show about glamorous actresses.

Next week we will be discussing Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich.

Citing sources:

Seeing Mary Plain. The New York Times.

Cavett, Dick. Lillian Hellman, Mary McCarthy, and Me. The New Yorker.

Armistead, Claire. Richard Ford should swallow his pride over Colson Whitehead's bad review. The Guardian.

Massara, Kathleen. 10 Notorious Literary Spats. Flavorwire.

Related Podcasts