From the Front Porch

Episode 342 || Pandemic Reading

In this week’s episode, Annie and her friend Hunter are talking about “pandemic brain” and how their literary tastes have changed since March of 2020.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Matrix by Lauren Groff

• Real Life by Brandon Taylor

• Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

• Most Likely by Sarah Watson

• Millennial Nuns by the Daughters of St. Paul

• Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (currently unavailable)

• Middlemarch by George Eliot (currently unavailable)

• My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead

• Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz

• The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

• A Burning by Megha Majumdar

• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

• Luster by Raven Leilani

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

Thank you again to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia: www.thomasvillega.com.

This week, Annie is reading Groundskeeping by Lee Cole. Hunter is reading The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Libro.FM:

Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (Like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you’ll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app.

Right now, if you sign up for a new membership, you will get 2 audiobooks for the price of one. All you have to do is enter FRONTPORCH at checkout or follow this link:

libro.fm/redeem/FRONTPORCH

Flodesk:

Do you receive a weekly or monthly newsletter from one of your favorite brands? Like maybe From the Front Porch (Or The Bookshelf)... Did you ever wonder, ‘how do they make such gorgeous emails?’ 

Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that's built for creators, by creators, and it’s easy to use. We’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and I personally love it. And right now you can get 50% off your Flodesk subscription by going to:

flodesk.com/c/THEFRONTPORCH

Episode 341 || October New Release Rundown

In this week’s episode, Annie talks with Olivia and Lucy about the new releases you don’t want to miss this month!

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

• Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey

• Hill House Living by Paula Sutton

• Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

• On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library, edited by Glory Edim

• The Deep Places by Ross Douthat

• The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

• Our Table by Peter H Reynolds

• Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird, illustrated by David Small

• Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman

• Clarice the Brave by Lisa McMann

• Murder at Mallowan Hall by Collen Cambridge

• Bookshop of Dust and Dreams by Mindy Thompson

• Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

• A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris

• Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

• Smile: The Story of a Face by Sarah Ruhl

• The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness by Gregory Boyle

• The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams

• The Taking of Jemima Boone: The True Story of the Kidnap and Rescue That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

Thank you again to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia: www.thomasvillega.com.

This week, Annie is reading Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King. Olivia is reading Thursday’s Child by Noel Streatfield. Lucy is reading These Precious Days by Ann Patchett.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Libro.FM:

Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (Like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you’ll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app.

Right now, if you sign up for a new membership, you will get 2 audiobooks for the price of one. All you have to do is enter FRONTPORCH at checkout or follow this link:

libro.fm/redeem/FRONTPORCH

Flodesk:

Do you receive a weekly or monthly newsletter from one of your favorite brands? Like maybe From the Front Porch (Or The Bookshelf)... Did you ever wonder, ‘how do they make such gorgeous emails?’ 

Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that's built for creators, by creators, and it’s easy to use. We’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and I personally love it. And right now you can get 50% off your Flodesk subscription by going to:

flodesk.com/c/THEFRONTPORCH

Episode 340 || September Reading Recap

In this week’s episode, Annie talks about all the books she read in September.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• • Matrix by Lauren Groff

  • The Power by Naomi Alderman

  • We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

  • Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

  • Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

  • The Survivors by Alex Schulman

  • The Dinner by Herman Koch

  • Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

  • A Place for Us by Fatima Fahreen Mirza

  • A Burning by Megha Majumdar

  • The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

  • Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

  • Graceland, At Last by Margaret Renkl

  • Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl

  • Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer

  • Interview with Hilma and Meg Wolitzer

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.

This week, Annie is reading Bewilderment by Richard Powers.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to www.patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. 

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 339 || Casting Call, Vol. 5

Annie is joined by her friends and casting experts, Courtney Kinsey and Julie Anna Helms. Every few months, Julie Anna, Courtney, and Annie brainstorm their dream cast for a recent book they loved. Julie Anna then allows readers to vote for their favorites on her Instagram @julieannareads. This week, they’re casting Finlay Donovan Is Killing It.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It is available for purchase at The Bookshelf, and you can cast your votes on our castings on Julie Anna’s Instagram stories on Sunday.

You can click this link to purchase Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano from us.

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Smile by Sarah Ruhl. Julie Anna is reading Rabbits by Terry Miles, and Courtney is reading The Dating Plan by Sara Desai.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 338 || Kids Table Fall

Today Annie is joined by her cousin and frequent Bookshelf collaborator, Ashley Sherlock. Every season, they sit down at the metaphorical kids’ table to chat about what they’re reading, watching, listening to, and buying.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

• ”Adrift” by Mark Nepo (This is a poem from this book)

• Graceland, At Last by Margaret Renkl

• Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

• What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind by Jennifer Senior

• Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer

• J.Crew Factory jeans

• Bookshelf reusable grocery bags

• UpWest

• The Common Room

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.

This week, Annie is reading Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer and Ashley is reading Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 337 || Literary Therapy, Vol. 9

This week Annie is back to answer listeners' literary questions and dilemmas in round nine of Literary Therapy.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

• A Place for Us by Fatima Fahreen Mirza

• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Z by Therese Anne Fowler

• A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler

• Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

• Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson

• The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

• The Address by Fiona Davis

• The Doll House by Fiona Davis

• The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

• The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

• Picking Cotton by Jennifer Thompson & Ronald Cotton

• Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

• Normal People by Sally Rooney

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Matrix by Lauren Groff.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 336 || September New Release Rundown

In this week’s episode, Annie talks with Olivia and Lucy about the new releases you don’t want to miss this month

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Matrix by Lauren Groff

• Fault Lines by Emily Itami

• Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

• A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

• Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

• Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

• Egg Marks the Spot by Amy Timberlake

• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

• Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

• Pony by RJ Palacio

• Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

• Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

• Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

• Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

• Three Girls From Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by

  Dawn Turner

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

• Wildland: The Making of America's Fury by Evan Osnos

• Bewilderment by Richard Powers

• Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender, My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a

  Broken System by Jarrett Adams

• Mennonite Valley Girl: A Wayward Coming of Age by Carla Funk

• The Heroine with 1001 Faces by Maria Tatar

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.

This week, Annie reading All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. Olivia is reading Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. Lucy is reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 335 || August Reading Recap

In this week’s episode, Annie talks about the books she read in August.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax King

• Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

• Dear William by David Magee

• Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

• Finding My Voice by Marie Myung-Ok Lee

• When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough by Taylor Schaumann

• Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder

• Four Friends by William D. Cohan

• The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel

• Finding Freedom by Erin French

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode 334 || Books Kids Actually Want to Read, Vol. 2

This week Annie is talking with store manager Olivia about some favorite titles shared with her by kids in the local community, and we thought it’d be fun for you to hear directly from the kids themselves.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

• Coo by Kaela Noele

• El Deafo by CeCe Bell

• Okay Witch by Emma Steinkeller

• Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

• Unsolved Case Files: Escape at 10,000 Feet by Tom Sullivan

• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

• The Middle School Bites series by Steven Banks

• The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maude Hart Lovelace

• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

• The Unwanted series by Lisa McMann

• Camp/Click/Act by Kayla Miller

• Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder. (Published April 2022)

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Libro.FM:

Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (Like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you’ll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app.

Right now, if you sign up for a new membership, you will get 2 audiobooks for the price of one. All you have to do is enter FRONTPORCH at checkout or follow this link:

libro.fm/redeem/FRONTPORCH

Flodesk:

Do you receive a weekly or monthly newsletter from one of your favorite brands? Like maybe From the Front Porch (Or The Bookshelf)... Did you ever wonder, ‘how do they make such gorgeous emails?’ Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that's built for creators, by creators, and it’s easy to use. We’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and I personally love it.

And right now you can get 50% off your Flodesk subscription by going to:

flodesk.com/c/THEFRONTPORCH

Episode 333 || Literary Therapy, Vol. 8

This week Annie is back to answer listeners' literary conundrums in round eight of Literary Therapy.

The books mentioned in this week’s episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf:

• Falling by TJ Newman

• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

• The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson

• Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly

• Brood by Jackie Polzin

• I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird by Sue Cerulean

• Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo

• What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer

• My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

• An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

• 84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

• The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler by E.L. Konigsburg

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found here.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough by Taylor S. Schumann.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Libro.FM:

Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (Like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you’ll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app.

Right now, if you sign up for a new membership, you will get 2 audiobooks for the price of one. All you have to do is enter FRONTPORCH at checkout or follow this link:

libro.fm/redeem/FRONTPORCH

Flodesk:

Do you receive a weekly or monthly newsletter from one of your favorite brands? Like maybe From the Front Porch (Or The Bookshelf)... Did you ever wonder, ‘how do they make such gorgeous emails?’ 

Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that's built for creators, by creators, and it’s easy to use. We’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and I personally love it. And right now you can get 50% off your Flodesk subscription by going to:

flodesk.com/c/THEFRONTPORCH