Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on The Great Alaska Quake of 1964
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Our Town
Our Town is a famous American play by Thornton Wilder that explores ordinary daily life, mortality, and the human condition in a small New Hampshire town.
Discussed“you use the Thorton Wilder play our town as a a kind of framework can you explain how you did that why you made that decision a big thread of the story is this community theater group in Anchorage who was doing our town and was interrupted by the the Quake that weekend”
Where to get it
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition by Charlie Mackesy is a heartwarming, beautifully illustrated modern fable that explores themes of kindness, friendship, and vulnerability for readers of all ages.
Recommended“this is a beautiful book I should say it's a an oversized picture book it's really nicely produced and so it's one that even should you go ahead and read the electronic version of now I hope that you will turn to when you can get your hands on what I still like to think of as a real copy”
Where to get it
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Griffin & Sabine
Discussed“there was Griffin and Sabine as you point out in your column those kind of books that could sit around in the living room and anyone could pick up and get something out of it and they've kind of Fallen by the wayside”
Where to get it
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The Giving Tree
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a famous and emotionally complex children's picture book that explores the profound dynamics of self-sacrifice, unconditional love, and generosity through the evolving relationship between a devoted tree and a human boy.
Discussed“I compared it to The Giving Tree but the message of it is very different from the giving tree where the giving tree is all about somebody taking”
Where to get it
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The End of October
Lawrence Wright’s novel The End of October explores a catastrophic global pandemic and its profound societal consequences.
Recommended“I guess the big lesson of the pandemic is no one can predict the future except perhaps Lawrence Wright yes let's talk a little bit about some of the books coming out next week including wri's book his book and I read it on a net Galley is remarkably preent to a frightening degree and it is about a global”
Where to get it
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Discussed“I'm very curious to see how people react to is a prequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I'm always interested to see what happens when Blockbuster authors try to continue their franchises kind of beyond the lifespan of the story that initially took off particularly when there is a huge movie adaptation and things like that”
Where to get it
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Little Eyes
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin is a contemporary novel exploring a chilling global obsession with small, robotic surveillance pets that connect people across the world.
Recommended“little eyes by Samantha schweblin she is an Argentinian author who writes these sort of Fantastical stories and novels but they're kind of real they're more realistic than not they're sort of uncannily between the two and so this novel is about a world in which people have become obsessed with these little toys that are operated by people in”
Where to get it
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Stray
Stray by Stephanie Danler is a deeply personal, fully autobiographical memoir that explores the author's turbulent upbringing, her complicated relationship with her family, and the lingering impacts of trauma and addiction.
Recommended“two other titles that people are really looking forward to are Stephanie danler stray her first novel Sweet Bitter was a huge hit... and her new book is fully autobiographical it's a memoir and it's titled stray and it looks at her relationship with the people in her life who have shaped her”
Where to get it
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Rodham
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld is an imaginative alternative history novel that explores what might have happened to Hillary Clinton's life and career had she declined a marriage proposal from Bill Clinton.
Recommended“and another book people are really looking forward to is Curtis sfi's new novel rodom which is an alternative history of Hillary Clinton's life how it might have turned out if she had not accepted Bill Clinton's marriage proposal so she's done the first lady or former first lady Laura Bush now she's doing an almost president or would be”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I mean this was you know 1964 was when the The Feminine Mystique came out it was it was a time when you know people and Anchorage were not talking about feminism right”
“well there was the way things work of course the David mol book”
“of the story in exhalation Ted Chang's most recent collection called the life cycle of software objects where you have these people creating these kind of sentient avatars”
“two other titles that people are really looking forward to are Stephanie danler stray her first novel Sweet Bitter was a huge hit and it was the semi-autobiographical tale about a waitress in New York City and it was about the restaurant scene and it people called it a Kitchen Confidential of our time that was in our New York”