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WSIRN Ep 61: When the plot comes full circle…

Hello readers, time for a brand-new episode of What Should I Read Next! And what a special episode it is…

Today we’re talking to the very first guest of What Should I Read Next! Even if you’re a longtime listener, you still might not recognize his voice… and that’s because the first time we recorded this show, it was on my iPhone, in a moving vehicle, in the middle of nowhere, and the guest? My husband, Will Bogel. That episode never aired, and the file got trashed a loooong time ago. But today Will is back to celebrate the anniversary of the show he test-drove with me a year ago! It’s been a fun journey so far, and I’m so glad you’ve all joined me on the ride.Here’s to the next year of WSIRN, readers! Enjoy the episode.

What Should I Read Next #61: When the plot comes full circle...

You can say hi to Will on his Twitter.

Books mentioned in this episode:

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• The Firm, by John Grisham
• The Nest, by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
• Everyone Brave Is Forgiven, by Chris Cleave
• All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
• Flight of Dreams, by Ariel Lawhon
• Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch
• The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown
• Every Anxious Wave, by Mo Daviau
• Where is Joe Merchant?, by Jimmy Buffet
• The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber:  A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts, by Julian Rubinstein
• Robbing Banks: An American History, by  Lawrence R. Kirchner
• Worm: The First Digital World War, by by Mark Bowden
• Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell
• Deep Work, by  Cal Newport
• So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport
• 11.22.63, by Stephen King
• Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art, by Virginia Heffernan
• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing
• The One in a Million Boy, by Monica Wood
• No One is Coming to Save Us, by Stephanie Powell Watts

Also mentioned:

• Modern Mrs. Darcy Bullet Journaling class
• Jamie Golden’s episode of WSIRN
Making time to read: supply vs demand by Laura Vanderkam

21 comments

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  1. Enjoyed listening to your talk! I had one boyfriend before my husband, and after we broke up I made my boyfriend qualifications. One of them was that this man MUST read for fun. My husband did fit that bill, although we have vastly different tastes!

  2. Michelle says:

    Great podcast! I really enjoyed listening, and already ordered two books mentioned for my son who has a goal to read more this year. Your husband may enjoy The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore.

  3. Melisa says:

    Nice pod cast. I read and liked Ballad of the whiskey robber after hearing about in on WSIRN episode 37. I have recommended it to others since then. It’s smartly written and truly reads like a fiction.

  4. Daicia L. Lahmeyer says:

    Such a fun podcast!! Can you share the source where you got the supply reader/demand reader concept? Want to share that with my high school English teacher friend. Thanks!!!

  5. Jacelyn says:

    Thanks for this podcast. My husband recently started reading books. Previously, he only read newspapers. He’s only reading non-fiction books at this time, but maybe I can push his boundaries into fiction this year.
    Interestingly, my husband and I just finished Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. We had mixed feelings about it. He absolutely loved it. I thought it was fine. I mean, of course, it is an incredible story, but I missed more personal connections that I like in my books. When Will was talking about Lone Survivor his feelings about that book reflected my feelings about Endurance. I thought it was a great story, but I wish it were written by a different person. I often felt that the author just copied from primary sources or diary entries. I never felt like I knew the crew, or especially Shackleton. Lansing wrote this book when much of the crew still should have been alive (Not Shackleton, though. I had to follow up Endurance with quite a lot of Wikipedia reading.), I believe, so I expected more personal connections you get when interviewing the real people involved (I’m thinking about what the authors of Boys on the Boat and Unbroken were able to accomplish.). I also was so disappointed in the Epilogue. I wanted more! I would have loved to get updates about each person on the voyage, and a list of people on the boat would have made a great appendix. Overall, my husband and I thought it was a compelling book, but I wanted more. I guess that’s why I prefer fiction (although I love narrative nonfiction)and he prefers nonfiction.

  6. Susan says:

    Ann, I loved hearing Will’s thoughts on reading, what he likes/hates and your recommendations. Also, your discussion! I hope you’ll have him on again! My husband and I have very different reading tastes, but partly due to your influence, we read several of the same books in 2016: Being Mortal, One-in-a-Million Boy, Light Between Oceans, and The Book Thief! The first two were on your recommendation and Light Between Oceans was because there was a great review of the movie in the Wall Street Journal. We planned to both read it, then go to the movie, but by the time we’d finished the book, the movie was GONE from the theaters, only a month after it came out! We’ll catch it on Netflix in a few weeks! And our daughter and her husband wanted us to read The Book Thief, which we did, but we haven’t watched the movie yet.

  7. Jamie says:

    You guys are so fun together. Loved hearing you chat back and forth about books and life. Two recommendations for William, one I’ve read and one waiting for me at the library to pick up. 🙂
    1. Extreme Ownership: How US Navy Seals Lead and Win. Stories from actual combat and leadership lessons for real life.
    2. How We Got to Now – Six Innovations that Made the Modern World. I haven’t read this one (soon as we cross the border I’ll pick it up from the library!) but it sounds really intriguing. A blurb from the byline: “…explore the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences.”

  8. Susan says:

    What a great podcast!!! I didn’t even realize Lone Survivor was poorly written because I loved for the story that it was (and because my husband knew personally some of the guys who lost their lives – so it was a ‘close to home’ book); and I just read Endurance and it was amazing!

  9. Gretchen S says:

    If the Jimmy Buffett book is a favorite, has William tried reading one of Carl Hiassen’s mysteries? Similar Florida setting, with wild characters and situations — good beach or poolside reading.

    • LoriAngela says:

      I was going to suggest Carl Hussein! Start with Stormy Weather? Plus I love listening to Dick Hill read the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. Totally. Or my usual lit but speaks to my early like in the Medical Corps

  10. William Higgins says:

    Anne, I’m very impressed that you married a guy named William. Good choice.
    Will, I have a couple suggestions. I recently found “Lost in Shangri-la” by Mitchell Zuckoff. Amazing story. Another you might like is “Devotion:” by Adam Makos. And since you mentioned Eric Blehm, since I’m an outdoor guy as well as an IT guy, I really enjoyed the mystery of “The Last Season” as well as “Legend”. (I’m also currently reading and just about finished “11/22/63”. I plan on giving it 4 stars on Goodreads).

  11. Kelli says:

    I love hearing from your husband, Will! My husband read far more before he owned a smart phone. I suspect many of us did! My husband’s favorite book of all time was the Firm. Next for him is Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson, which tells the true story of several divers investigating a sunk u-boat off the coast of New Jersey. I think it reads very similarly to Into Thin Air, in that there is a sense of tension and adventure when a group of elite divers get together to explore, discover, and separate truth from myth in the depths off of Jersey Shore. Your husband may enjoy it as well.

  12. Christy says:

    I just finished the episode. I had never heard of the Jimmy Buffet book. I may give it a try. It sounds very similar to I book I enjoyed based in Florida and the Bahamas. It is a Carl Hiaasen novel as well, “Bad Monkey”. Quirky, witty and a quick read.

  13. Sean Durity says:

    I loved the obvious chemistry in this one. At least 3 books mentioned here are on my TBR list: One-in-a-Million Boy, Everyone Brave is Forgiven, and 11/22/63. I think a few more probably could get added, but I don’t want my list to get too long.
    Here’s a challenge recommendation for you together – C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces – a powerful retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth that provides a wealth of interesting discussion points (but is a great story on its own).

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