From the Front Porch

255 || We‘re Still Not Over Little Women

Happy New Year! We are so excited to bring you the first episode of 2020! Annie and Hunter Mclendon, a regular From the Front Porch contributor and bookstagrammer at @shelfbyshelf, honor Greta Gerwig and Louisa May Alcott, by diving into the genius that is Little Women.

Find Kevin Porter’s review of Little Women can be found here.

What is Hunter reading this week? He is reading -- and loving -- Real Life by Brandon Taylor (pre-order here!) and Annie is reading Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin, which is out on February 18 and can be pre-ordered here.

A special thanks to Dylan Garven and his team at Studio D Productions for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the prefect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.

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 shipping on all your online orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

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

254 || Favorite Books of 2019

In our final episode of 2019 (and the decade as a whole!), Annie and Bookshelf staffers Olivia and Lucy sit down to talk through their favorite titles of the year. These are the books that meant the most over the last 12 months:

Annie's List:

1. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

2. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

3. The Dearly Beloved by Carla Wall

4. Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

5. Family of Origin by CJ Hauser

6. Normal People by Sally Rooney

7. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

8. Miracles and Other Reasonable Things by Sarah Bessey

9. The Current by Tim Johnston

10. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Olivia's List

1. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

2. A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher

3. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

4. All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker

5. The Line Tender by Kate Allen

6. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

7. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

8. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

9. This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews

10. The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

Lucy's List:

1. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

2. Furious Hours by Casey Cep

3. The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey

4. Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich

5. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

6. The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan

7. The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

8. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

9. The Innocents by Michael Crummey

10. The Organs of Sense by Adam Ehrlich Sachs

--

As we close out 2019, we're so grateful to our listeners for playing such a large role The Bookshelf's success. Every purchase, every like, every comment, every email means the world.

Special thanks to Chris Jensen for his work on From the Front Porch over the years. We're so grateful for his contribution to The Bookshelf and the podcast, and we wish him nothing but the best in his next endeavor.

This episode of From the Front Porch was produced by Dylan Garven at Studio D Productions. Our new theme music -- a hint of what's to come in 2020 -- is by Simeon Church.

Annie's got some fun things in the work for Patreon; support us there for more bonus Bookshelf content coming in 2020.

From the Front Porch is going on a brief hiatus; new episodes will launch Thursday, January 30.

Episode 253 || Seasonal Reads: Christmas

In our final Seasonal Reads of 2019, Chris and Annie run through some reads (and movies) for the Christmas season and chat about the Christian season of Advent.  + A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens + A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote + A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas + Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris + Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle + One Day in December by Josie Silver + Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory + The Meaning is in the Waiting by Paula Gooder + Miracle on 10th Street by Madeleine L'Engle Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalog of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

This was unexpectedly Chris's last episode, but please know he appreciates your support over the years.

Episode 252 || November Reading Recap

A new month means a new look at what books Annie and Chris were able to read in the last one. And folks, it was pretty light. Annie read: + Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodeser-Akner + Born a Crime by Trevor Noah + Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout Chris read: + The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges + The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 251 || Backlist Book Club, Vol. 6: Born a Crime

Hunter joins Annie once again for the fifth installment of Backlist Book Club. On the docket this week: Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. Follow Hunter and his own Backlist Book Club here. Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like our Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 250 || Mailbag, Vol. 6

On this milestone episode of From the Front Porch, Annie and Chris answer YOUR questions--from what we're getting our parents for Christmas to what to read your kids at bedtime to how we track our reading! Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 249 || Who Are We Really?

Chris and Annie take a personal deep-dive into a few literary characters they may or may not resemble, and what that ultimately means to them. You can read CJ Hauser's "Just (Un)Like Me" at The Millions.

Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 248 || Seasonal Reads: Feast

We’re moving some things around in our traditional Thanksgiving-season episode calendar to bring our our food and cookbook episode at the BEGINNING of the month so that you can prepare for the holiday with some of our new favorite recipes. You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt + Dining In by Allison Roman + Nothing Fancy by Allison Roman + Cravings: Hungry for More by Chrissy Teigen + Let Me Feed You by Rosie Daykin + Indian-ish by Priya Krishna + Eat Joy by various authors + South by Sean Brock + Son of a Southern Chef by Lazarus Lynch + The Saltwater Table by Whitney Otawka Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 247 || October Reading Recap

Happy Halloween! Spooky Season will soon be over, but Chris and Annie are here to walk you through what they read in October. You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman + Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra + Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow + East of Eden by John Steinbeck + Miracles (And Other Reasonable Things) by Sarah Bessey + 21 Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks + Do You Mind if I Cancel? by Gary Janetti + The Preacher's Wife by Kate Bowler Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 246 || Seasonal Reads: Spooky Season

It's officially Spooky Season, if you can believe it, and Annie and Chris sound absolutely manic this week as they record their third episode in a row to bring you some of their favorite books of the season! You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman + A House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan + The Secret Place by Tana French + The Witch Elm by Tana French + Dare Me by Megan Abbott + The Fever by Megan Abbott + The Crucible by Arthur Miller + Final Girls by Riley Sager + The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager + The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz + The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Robert Hack + The Winters by Lisa Gabriele + The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry + Melmoth by Sarah Perry + Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse + We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson + The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Thanks, as always, to Forlorn Strangers for the use of our theme music. Learn and listen more here. Listen to a full back catalogue of our show here, and, if you're interested in some exclusive content like Annie's author interviews, consider supporting us on Patreon here.