Episode · The Book Review · 2023-12-22
Books mentioned on Book Club: 'The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store'
Gilbert Cruz read The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride for a book club. Joumana Khatib recommended Happy all the time by Laurie Colwin, Home cooking by Laurie Colwin, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, and discussed The Good Lord Bird by James McBride and The color of water by James McBride. MJ Franklin recommended Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, and discussed Ulysses by James Joyce. Elisabeth Egan recommended The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez, The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) by Abraham Verghese, Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng and others, and Day by Michael Cunningham.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is a rich, character-driven novel that explores community, race, and humanity within a tight-knit Pennsylvania neighborhood during the mid-twentieth century.
Book club“before then however we have a wonderful conversation about one of the year's big books James McBride's the Heaven and Earth grocery store”
Where to get it
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The Good Lord Bird
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride is a celebrated historical fiction novel that won the National Book Award for Fiction, blending humor and drama in a tale set against the backdrop of the American Civil War era.
Discussed“so you might know James McBride who's the author he won the national book award for the good Lord bird which has been turned into a really great miniseries”
Where to get it
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The color of water
James McBride's memoir The Color of Water tells the remarkable true story of growing up in Red Hook as one of twelve children born to a white mother who grew up Jewish, converted, and ultimately started a church with her first husband.
Discussed“I love his Memoir called the color of water which is about growing up in Red Hook as one of 12 born to a black father a white mother who grew up Jewish and converted and literally started a church with her first husband a wild story”
Where to get it
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Ulysses
James Joyce's landmark modernist novel Ulysses chronicles an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mapping human consciousness and daily existence through a revolutionary stream-of-consciousness technique.
Discussed“there was a certain point where I had a teacher um in college who told me we were you're reading ulyses and she was like you're not going to get everything cut your losses”
Where to get it
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Happy all the time
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin is a witty and charming 1978 novel that explores the complexities of urban romance, marriage, and friendship among a circle of New Yorkers.
Recommended“I'm going to recommend happy all the time which is you got to read it MJ I haven't read it oh my God I know Liz you like her too and especially home cooking even though I don't cook”
Where to get it
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Home cooking
Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin is a beloved collection of essays and culinary reflections by a celebrated novelist who found deep meaning in the kitchen and the act of feeding others.
Recommended“and especially home cooking even though I don't cook that is an endorsement”
Where to get it
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The Vulnerables
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez is a contemporary novel that follows an unnamed narrator during times of uncertainty, exploring themes of connection, isolation, and empathy.
Recommended“but it's the vulnerables by sigd Nunes oh interesting”
Where to get it
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Tom Lake
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett is a contemporary novel that follows a mother recounting her past romance with a famous actor to her daughters while the family isolates together on a Michigan cherry farm during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended“which brings me to my book which is Tom Lake by Anne patchet which is a pandemic novel”
Where to get it
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The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is a critically acclaimed French philosophical novel that follows the secret inner lives of an intellectual Parisian concierge and a precocious, disillusioned young girl.
Recommended“she reminded me of the Elegance of the Hedgehog which is French cannon at this point I don't know”
Where to get it
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The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club)
Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water is a sweeping, big-hearted epic novel set in Kerala, India, following a family over three generations that suffers from a peculiar affliction where at least one person dies by drowning in every generation.
Recommended“one is the Covenant of Water by Abraham vazi”
Where to get it
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Our Missing Hearts
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng is a dystopian novel set in a United States where state-sanctioned censorship destroys specific books, Asian Americans face pervasive violence, and children are forcibly separated from parents who openly criticize the government.
Recommended“it's all our missing Hearts by Celeste in which I know I've spoken about before on this podcast but I really love that book”
Where to get it
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Day
Day by Michael Cunningham is a poignant novel that unfolds across three successive Aprils—2019, 2020, and 2021—capturing the profound shifts in a family's life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended“and the third one is another pandemic novel and it's called Day by Michael Cunningham”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“that was MJ Franklin Elizabeth Egan and jum ctib talking about James McBride's the Heaven and Earth grocery store”