From the Front Porch

Episode 114 || Poetry for Beginners

"They get frustrated when they can't figure out what's going on in the poem. And if they can't figure out what's going on, they have no entrance into the poem. If they have no entrance into the poem, they're going to stop reading." Annie and Chris sit down with poets Ruth Baumann and Will Fargason to talk about poetry: where does one even begin to read it and how can it be less intimidating? Also, Jewel setting the bar with puns and an evolving mystery involving a bedazzled human skull. + Shel Silverstein + Puff Daddy + Bob Dylan + Conor Oberst + Kaveh Akbar + Jewel's A Night Without Armor+ John Darnielle's Wolf in White Van+ Anne Sexton + Sharon Olds + Anne Carson + Richard Siken's Crush + Robert Frost + Wendell Berry + Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey + Mary Oliver + Langston Hughes's "Let America Be America Again" + Adrienne Rich's Diving into the Wreck+ Ross Gay's "A Small Needful Fact"+ Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet+ ANTHOLOGIES! Find out more about Ruth and her work (and her cats) at http://www.ruthbaumann.com/ Find out more about Will and his work at http://www.williamfargason.com/  Big thanks to Will for the use of his microphone and to Chris's cat Marge for allowing us to use her space for an hour to record. 

Episode 113 || A Literary Mixtape

Chris and Annie try to bring this weekend's Word of [South] festival to you! In miniature concept, anyway. How does one go about pairing books and music? Also, "Skeezy John Mayer," Annie feels self-conscious about her [good] taste, and Chris takes his philosophy outfits out of storage.  > Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists + Solange's A Seat at the Table> F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby + The Postal Service's Give Up> Shauna Niequist's Bittersweet + Ellie Holcomb's Red Sea Road (BONUS--or Sufjan Stevens's Seven Swans OR Vampire Weekend's Modern Vampires of the City) > Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus + Bright Eyes's The People's Key or The Decemberists's The King is Dead> J. D. ​​​​​​​Vance's Hillbilly Elegy + I'm With Her > Arcade Fire's The Suburbs + literally any coming of age novel > Aldous Huxley's Brave New World + Childish Gambino's Because the Internet> Wiley Cash + Birdtalker's Just This> Donna Tartt's The Secret History + Aronofsky's Black Swan> James McBride + Leon Bridges's Coming Home> David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas + Fleetwood Mac's Rumours> Emma Straub's Modern Lovers + John Mayer

​​​​​​​Thank you so much for all of the reviews! Keep them coming. There might be something good in it for you... If you're interested in Bookshelf-branded shirts, hats, stickers, or coffee, check out our online store at http://www.bookshelfthomasville.com/shop/

Episode 112 || March Reading Recap

Annie and Chris plan their new side business--Sweet and Savory Pizza Stones--but mostly discuss what they read this month and what they plan to finish before Friday rolls around.  Annie read: + Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor (out June 6) + Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy (out June 6) + Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders + Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give by Ada Calhoun (out May 16) + Exit West by Mohsin Hamid + The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo + The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy + Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco + We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter Chris read: + The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak + Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory (out June 27) Check out any of these titles in our online store at http://www.bookshelfthomasville.com/shop, where you can also learn how to register for an account with Libro.fm, an audiobook distribution service that partners with independent bookstores like The Bookshelf to deliver the same quality audiobooks you get elsewhere, but with the benefit of supporting a small business.

Episode 111 || Spring Cleaning (of the Mind)

Annie and Chris flip the coin on last week's episode and talk about what happens in the between times. How do you cleanse the mental palate or set up a buffer after a heavy or difficult book that needs time to process? NEW THIS WEEK: Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein The Mind Club by Daniel Wegner and Kurt Gray (new in paperback) If you're interested in any of the books we've talked about lately, you can purchase them directly from us at http://www.bookshelfthomasville.com/shop

Episode 110 || The Virtue of Occasional Sadness

Lots of people asked us why we're always raving about sad books, and they weren't satisfied when we quoted Sally Sparrow and said, "It's happy for deep people." This week, Annie and Chris explain what they call "grief literature" and recommend a bunch of their favorite sad books with justifications for why you should feel sad sometimes. + Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (really, why aren't you reading this one yet?) + A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis + The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion + "The Faery Handbag" from The Faery Reel by Kelly Link + Last Things by Marissa Moss + Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart + Fun Home by Alison Bechdel + When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi + Gilead by Marilynne Robinson + The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger + Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer + The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson + Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice NEW THIS WEEK: + The Hogwarts Library (expanded) by J. K. Rowling + The Wanderers by Meg Howry + Before the War by Fay Weldon + The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo + The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy + The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Teaches Us About Living Fullyby Frank Ostaseski

Episode 109 || March Madness 2017

Annie sits down with her husband Jordan for their annual March Madness discussion. This year's book bracket includes The Bookshelf's "sweet sixteen" -- the  16 bestselling books of the past 12 months. 

Magnolia Story

Present Over Perfect

Seven Brief Lessons in Physics

When Breath Becomes Air

Killing the Rising Sun

Alexander Hamilton

Tribal

Hillbilly Elegy

The Underground Railroad

A Gentleman in Moscow

Fates and Furies

All the Light We Cannot See

A Man Called Ove

Me Before You

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The After Party

Follow The Bookshelf on Instagram to cast votes for your favorite books during our March Madness celebration, or -- if you're a college basketball fan -- compete against friends in ESPN's bracket challenge.

Episode 108 || February Reading Recap

Annie and Chris walk you through what they read in February while several intrepid Saturday afternoon customers climb over a literal barricade outside the door to use the [closed] bathroom.  Annie read: + The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas + This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel + Last Things by Marissa Moss + Into the Water by Paula Hawkins + Difficult Women by Roxane Gay + Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Annie is currently reading: + Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Chris read (but hasn't quite finished): + Difficult Women by Roxane Gay + Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly Follow Annie's reading on Instagram at #anniereads2017.

Episode 107 || Love It or Loathe It, Vol. 6

Annie, Emily, and Hunter discuss Difficult Women by Roxane Gay and try very hard to decide what they think about it!  Also mentioned this week: + Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson + Lauren Groff's review of Fortune Smiles  + Anne Bogel's advice for sensitive readers

Episode 106 || Oscar Season Reading Recs

It's Oscar Season, so Annie and Chris are rounding up their favorite books for this year's moviegoers. Also in this episode, a new feature (!!!) and Chris continues to swallow his words. If you liked Arrival, you may like: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn How to Life Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu The Time Traveler's Almanac by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer If you liked Hell or High Water, you may like: True Grit by Charles Portis American Fire by Monica Hesse Ordinary Grace by Willian Kent Krueger All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy If you liked Hidden Figures, you may like: The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan The Radium Girls by Kate Moore Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County by Kristen Green If you liked Moonlight, you may like: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman The Whale by Mark Beauregard If you liked La La Land, you may like: I'm Glad About You by Theresa Rebeck The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer NEW TITLES OUT THIS WEEK: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter We Are Okay by Nina LaCour The Airbnb Story by Leigh Gallagher Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

Episode 105 || WWLKD?

It's Galentine's Day, so Annie and Chris are answering the question on everyone's mind: What would Leslie Knope read? Also this episode, pipe bombs--the new cooking craze sweeping America? Join us at The Bookshelf on Friday, February 10, from 6 to 8 for Galentine's Day festivities, and check out our downtown partners Mode, Smith Collective, Tallokas Road, Signature Clothing Lounge, and You're Maker. +Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik +Sisters in Law by Linda Hirshman +Daring Greatly by Brené Brown +Happy Cityby Charles Montgomery +The Localist by Carrie Rollwagen Find Brené Brown's TED Talk here. Shop with us online here.