From the Front Porch

Episode 231 || June Reading Recap

Annie and Chris are traveling through time to bring you a list and discussion of the books they read in June.  You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. Annie read: + Burnout by Emily an Amelia Nagoski  + Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston + The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren + Heartburn by Nora Ephron + Recursion by Blake Crouch + Furious Hours by Casey Cep + Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid + The Body Lies by Jo Baker + My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan + 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff Chris read: + A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin + Family of Origin by CJ Hauser 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.

Episode 230 || Seasonal Reads: America

As the heat settles and the mosquitos start biting and we all converge in the back of a pickup truck in an antique store parking lot to watch the fireworks, we hope you'll take the time to join us for a conversation on books about what our nation is, has been, and could be. Happy Independence Day. https://www.raicestexas.org/donate/ You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville + Signing Their Lives Away and Signing Their Rights Away by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D'Agnese + I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth A. Shivers + A Sin By Any Other Name by Robert W. Lee + We Were 8 Years in Powerby Ta-Nehisi Coates + The Soul of America by Jon Meacham + Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + Rise and Fall by Mitchell Zuckoff + Impeachment: An American History by Jeffrey A. Engel, Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, and Peter Baker + Parkland by Dave Cullen + Dissent and the Supreme Court by Melvin Urofsky + Songs of America by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 229 || Reader Retreat Live!

In this very special episode, Chris and Annie were finally able to sit down together for their first ever tandem live show! The occasion was the very first Bookshelf Reader Retreat, and good news: We’ll be doing this again. 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 228 || #TackleSomeTomes

Listen. We've all seen the summer reading guides. We here at FtFP have even given you one. Beach, breezy, light, and fun. But what if I told you there was another option? You know, for those of you who don't live anywhere near a beach. You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert + Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace + The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert + Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver + The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky + The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor + Little Women by Louisa May Alcott + The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt + The Campus Trilogy by David Lodge + Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke + A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara + The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach + Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow + The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco + The Witch Elm by Tana French + Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 227 || Backlist Book Club, Vol. 3

Join Annie and frequent contributors Hunter and Emily for a discussion of Zora Neale Hurston’s classic Their Eyes Were Watching God. 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 226 || Seasonal Reads: Summer

Suuummertiiiiiime, and the front doors are swoooollen. Join Chris and Annie for a preview of the summer's hottest releases and a look back to some of our favorite backlist beach reads. Some other "best of" lists we mentioned: + Good Housekeeping+ Modern Mrs. Darcy  You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. New in 2019: + City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert + Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane + The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead + Family of Origin by CJ Hauser + Stars of Alabama by Shawn Dietrich + The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal + The Queen by Josh Levin Backlist: + Dark Matter by Blake Crouch + Recursion by Blake Crouch + Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel + You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein + Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford + Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng + The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor + The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer + Limelight by Amy Poppel + Tomorrow There Will Be Sun by Dana Reinhardt + Girl in the Water by Paula Hawkins + Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende + Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave + Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid + My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 225 || May Reading Recap

May came and went like a bullet train, but Annie and Chris are here to talk about what they read this month and/or are still reading. You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. Annie read: + City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (on sale June 4) + The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal + State of the Union by Nick Hornby + The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley + Fall and Rise by Mitchell Zuckoff + Miracle Creek by Angie Kim + Prayer: Forty Days of Practice by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson Chris is reading: + The Thebaid by Statius, translated by Charles Stanley Ross + A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.  

Episode 224 || Quick Reads

Sometimes you need to build some momentum between your hefty tomes, and sometimes you're sitting in an airport and just want a book you can finish before the plane lands. In any case, Chris and Annie are here for you to recommend some one- or two-sitting reads. Ben Dolnick's New York Times article on the Binge Read is here. + We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson + If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin + The Pearl by John Steinbeck + The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway + The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald + State of the Union by Nick Hornby + The End We Start From by Megan Hunter + Waiting for Eden by Elliot Ackerman + My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout + Our Souls at Night by Kent Harouf + We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill + Shopgirl by Steve Martin + The Vanderbeekersof 141st Street by Karina Glaser + The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall + The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley + Bloomability by Sharon Creech + Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli + Holes by Louis Sachar + Wonder by R. J. Palacio 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here. 

Episode 223 || Our Favorite Classics

We consulted with the rest of the Bookshelf staff and rounded up a list of our favorite "classic" books--whatever that means. Olivia + Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte + The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte + Villette by Charlotte Bronte Nancy + Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte + Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte + The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Lucy + Middlemarch by George Eliot + East of Eden by John Steinbeck + A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Chris + Brave New World by Aldous Huxley + The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger + The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald + The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Annie + To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee + Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger + Little Women by Louisa May Alcott + Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here. 

Episode 222 || Seasonal Reads: Wedding Season

It's wedding season, y'all, and Annie and Chris are here to guide you through the most relevant reads of the season. You can find all of the following books for sale (or preorder) in The Bookshelf's online store. + Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead + Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen + Save the Date by Morgan Matson + Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld + The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory + Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give by Ada Calhoun + The Gown by Jennifer Robson + Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close + Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner + Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry + The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn + Standard Deviation by Katharine Heiny + Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert 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 Chris and Annie's Unpopular Opinions, consider supporting us on Patreon here.