Episode · The Book Review · 2022-02-04
Ruta Sepetys on The Book Review: books mentioned
Ruta Sepetys Talks About 'I Must Betray You'
Pamela Paul recommended The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys and others, Death be not proud by John Gunther, and The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and discussed Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, and Goodnight Moon 60th Anniversary Edition by Margaret Wise Brown. John Williams recommended The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, and discussed The Bell by Iris Murdoch. Greg Cowles recommended Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Between Shades of Gray
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is a historical young adult novel that follows a young Lithuanian girl deported to a Soviet labor camp in Siberia during World War II.
Discussed“so Ruda I have been reading your work since your first book as you know Between Shades of Gray which I encountered when I was the children's books editor of the New York Times book review”
Where to get it
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I Must Betray You
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys is a historical fiction novel set in 1989 communist Romania under the oppressive regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, following a young boy coerced into becoming an informant.
Discussed“let's talk about I must betray you because it's a different country different subject different time period”
Where to get it
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Salt to the Sea
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a historical young adult novel that interweaves the perspectives of four refugees fleeing the advancing Soviet army in East Prussia during the closing months of World War II, culminating in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
Discussed“which book was he talking about was it salt to the Sea it was salt to the Sea exactly”
Where to get it
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The Fountains of Silence
The Fountains of Silence is a historical novel by Ruta Sepetys set in Madrid during the Franco regime, exploring secrets, danger, and the scars of the Spanish Civil War.
Recommended“and for our listeners rud's books are most recently I must betray you but also her first book Between Shades of Gray as well as Fountains of Silence salt to the Sea”
Where to get it
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Out of the Easy
Out of the Easy is a historical fiction novel by Ruta Sepetys that follows a young woman in 1950s New Orleans navigating family secrets, crime, and personal ambition.
Recommended“and out of the easy”
Where to get it
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Goodnight Moon 60th Anniversary Edition
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is a beloved, timeless children's picture book that follows a young bunny bidding a gentle goodnight to every object in the great green room.
Discussed“and apparently good night Moon which she deemed unbearably sentimental did not appear in City libraries until 1972 11 years after Moore's death”
Where to get it
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The Black Prince
The Black Prince is a 1973 novel by Iris Murdoch that examines art, truth, and obsessive love through the complex framing of multiple conflicting narrative perspectives.
Recommended“I cheated on George this last time with another I think pretty giant not maybe quite as giant writer Iris Murdoch and I read her 1973 novel the black prince”
Where to get it
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The Bell
Discussed“and in fact the Bell another novel of hers is one of my favorite books but it's the Bell is very very serious and in fact I wouldn't say that it's humorless”
Where to get it
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Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk is a darkly humorous, subversive eco-thriller and philosophical mystery set in a remote Polish village where an eccentric older woman investigates a series of mysterious local deaths.
Recommended“so what I'm reading now is The Novel Drive your plow over the bones of the Dead by the Polish writer Olga tokaruk”
Where to get it
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Death be not proud
Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther is a deeply moving memoir chronicling the author's young son's courageous battle against a brain tumor.
Recommended“but I'm going to talk about the book that I read right before this which is a memoir Called Death be not proud by John Gunther and this is a book that is really so deeply sad”
Where to get it
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The Emperor of All Maladies
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of cancer that traces the disease from its earliest historical mentions through modern scientific efforts to cure it.
Recommended“it made me want to go back and reread sidarta mukerji's incredible the Emperor of all maladies a biography of cancer”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (12) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and her latest I must betray you can writing actually save your life”
“really the inspiration for I must betray you came when I was on tour in Romania for my first novel Between Shades of Gray”
“one of the interesting things about this book is that it deals with similar themes that you had in Salt of the sea in the fountain of Silence in Between Shades of Gray”
“one of the interesting things about this book is that it deals with similar themes that you had in Salt of the sea in the fountain of Silence in Between Shades of Gray”
“one of the interesting things about this book is that it deals with similar themes that you had in Salt of the sea in the fountain of Silence in Between Shades of Gray”
“it could be they're concerned about a book being sexually explicit or maybe they're concerned about the treatment of race in Of Mice and Men”
“all I'll say about 2666 I'm still not up to the femicide part and I'll talk about it once I finally do reach there”
“her thousand page novel The Books of Jacob is newly out in English and it was Dwight Garner's review of that book that reminded me”
“what I'm reading right now in all honesty is our mutual Friend by Charles Dickens of course and things are really picking up”
“and that's because it's a memoir by John Gunther who is known primarily for his bestselling books inside USA and inside Asia inside Europe”
“and that's because it's a memoir by John Gunther who is known primarily for his bestselling books inside USA and inside Asia inside Europe”
“and that's because it's a memoir by John Gunther who is known primarily for his bestselling books inside USA and inside Asia inside Europe”