From the Front Porch

327 || June Reading Recap

This week Annie recaps her June reads.

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

• The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson (listed on Libro.fm)

• The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle

• Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

• Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight

• Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

• Cheat Day by Liv Stratman

• Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

• The Layover by Lacie Waldon

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

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 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 Hola Papi by John Paul Brammer.

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.

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.

326 || Best Books of the Year... So Far

This week Annie is joined by friend, Bookstagrammer and frequent co-host, Hunter McLendon to chat about their favoirte books of the year... so far.

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

Annie’s list:

• Revival Season by Monica West

• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

• With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

• Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

• Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

• Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny

• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heather

• The Guncle by Steven Rowley

• Brood by Jackie Polzin

• Olympus Texas by Stacey Swann

Hunter’s List:

• The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcolm Belc

• With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

• Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz

• Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

• Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

• My Year Abroad by Chang-Rae Lee

• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Sarahland by Sam Cohen

• Yes Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

• Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome

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 Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. Hunter is reading The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin. Thank you again to our sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia: www.thomasvillega.com

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.

 

325 || Reading to Understand with Sharon Says So

This week, Annie is joined by America’s government teacher, Sharon McMahon. Sharon is the mastermind behind the Instagram account Sharon Says So. She and Annie tackle how best to read to understand, how fiction helps cultivate empathy, and why becoming a lifelong learner is so important..

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

• Sea Biscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

• American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson

• Dead Wake by Erik Larson

• You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

• Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Sharon’s favorite podcasts:

• Office Ladies

• Sharon Says So (coming soon!)

Sharon’s suggested press reading:

• Reuters

• Associated Press

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 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 Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney and Sharon is reading Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.

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.

324 || The Kids‘ Table: Summer

Listen in this week as Annie and guest, cousin and Bookshelf Community Manager, Ashley Sherlock chat about their Summer reading, listening, watching and buying lists.

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

Reading:

• The Guncle by Steven Rowley

• Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

• Klara & the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson

• Jo Rodgers’ column in House & Garden UK

Watching:

• Mare of Easttown

• Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

• Law and Order: SVU

• Friends: The Reunion

Listening:

• Phoebe Reads a Mystery

• Sour by Olivia Rodrigo

• The Wreckage of my Presence (Libro.fm) by Casey Wilson

• That Summer (Libro.fm) by Jennifer Weiner

• Mergers & Acquisitions (Libro.fm) by Cate Doty

You can join The Bookshelf on Libro.fm!

Buying:

• Iced chai latte with vanilla sweet cream cold foam and cinnamon dolce syrup from Starbucks

• The Common Room Shop

• Pickleball set

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 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 Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford and Ashley is reading Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford.

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.

323 || Nostalgia Reading

This week the co-hosts of The Bookshelf’s I Want It That YA book club, Lucy Stoltzfus, also The Bookshelf's online sales coordinator and Olivia Schaffer, shop manager, join Annie to discuss nostalgia reading.

The books mentioned in today’s episode are available for purchase at The Bookshelf:

• Thwonk by Joan Bauer

• 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers

• Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

• Finding My Voice by Marie Myung-Ok Lee

• All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

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

• The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

• Anastasia's Chosen Career by Lois Lowry

• DRAT! We're Rats by Jahnna N. Malcolm

• The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin

• Bloomability by Sharon Creech

• Baby-Stitting Is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts

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 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 Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. Olivia is reading Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger, and Lucy is reading Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. 

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.

322 || May Reading Recap

This week Annie recaps her May reads.

The books mentioned on today’s episode are available at The Bookshelf:

• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton 

• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller 

• Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson 

• The Best Babysitters Ever by Caroline Cala 

• Home Stretch by Graham Norton 

• Palm Beach by Mary Adkins 

• Seven Days in June by Tia Williams 

• Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby 

• All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running by Elias Rodriques 

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling 

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 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 Finding Freedom by Erin French.

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.

321 || Literary Therapy, Vol. 7

This week Annie is answering listeners' literary conundrums in this episode of Literary Therapy.

The books mentioned on today’s episode are available at The Bookshelf:

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Ramona and Beezus by Beverly Cleary
• A Deadly Education
• The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
• House on the Cerulean Sea
• Once and Future Witches
• The Night Circus
• Cinder
• The Scorpio Races
• The Caraval series
• Devil and the Dark Water
• Piranesi
• House on Vesper Sands
• Sorrow & Bliss
• Brood
• Early Morning Riser
• Crying in H Mart
• Take Me Home Tonight
• The Best Babysitters Ever series
• Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann
• Competitive Grieving by Nora Zelavansky
• Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
• Good Company 
• Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
• Somebody's Daughter by Ashley Ford
• The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
• A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
• With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Rules for Visiting
• The Other’s Gold
• Young Jane Young
• Savage News
• Hello, Sunshine
• Rise & Shine
• The Dutch House
• Low Country
• Late Migrations
• Ruby & Roland
• A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
• Fresh Water for Flowers
• Five Tuesdays in Winter
• The Harpy
• Milk Blood Heat
• The Dragons, the Giant, the Women
• All the Water I've Seen Is Running
• Britt-Marie Was Here
• Olive, Again
• This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance
• The Ride of Her Life
• City of Girls
• Hannah Coulter
• State of Wonder
• Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
• Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

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 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 Home Stretch by Graham Norton.

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.

320 || Faith Books, Part Deux

This week Annie is joined by friend and bookstagrammer (@shelfbyshelf) Hunter McLendon to discuss faith books.

The books mentioned on today’s episode are available at The Bookshelf:

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

• Home by Marilynne Robinson

• Lila by Marilynne Robinson

• Jack by Marilynne Robinson

• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

• A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

• The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel

• The Mothers by Brit Bennett

• Here For It by R. Eric Thomas

• Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood

• Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle

• The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

• Lit by Mary Karr

• The Liars Club by Mary Karr

• Boy Erased by Garrard Conley

• Middlemarch by George Eliot

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

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 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 Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead and Hunter is reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

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.

319 || April Reading Recap

This week Annie recaps and reviews her April reads.

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

• 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers

• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Competitive Grieving by Nora Zelevansky

• Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

• Revival Season by Monica West

• The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

• Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

• When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

• The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel

• What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

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 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 The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton.

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.

318 || Casting Call, Vol. 4

Annie is joined by her casting experts, Courtney Kinsey, FTFP royals correspondent and co-host of the podcast I Do Declare; and Julie Anna Helms, @julieannareads on Instagram and creator of Who Would You Cast? polls. The three are casting One to Watch this week.

One to Watch is available for purchase at The Bookshelf, and you can cast your votes on our castings on Julie Anna’s Instagram stories on Sunday.

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 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 Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian. Julie Anna is reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and Courtney Kinsey is reading Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.

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.