It’s Tuesday, which means a new episode of What Should I Read Next!
Today’s guest is Andrea Griffith. Andrea is a former medical librarian, mom of two daughters, and independent bookstore owner, and she came to me with a plea: she misses reading at whim, is craving depth, and wants help finding great books that aren’t relentlessly new, new, new. As you can imagine, I resonated so much with this request and was more than happy to help.
Connect with Andrea on instagram and at the Browsers Bookshop website.
Books discussed in this episode:
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• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
• My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
• Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
• LaRose: A Novel by Louise Erdrich
• Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
• The Girls by Emma Cline
• The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Women’s Work by Kathleen Norris
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
• In Short Measures: Three Novellas by Michael Ruhlman
• The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America by Michael Ruhlman
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
• Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Also mentioned:
• Ep 13: Memoir, creativity, talent, and more memoir with Ed Cyzewski
• Talking about books I don’t like
24 comments
What a great topic! I can’t wait to listen.
This was a great one — I love hearing someone who goes toe-to-toe with you on her author and book knowledge. Really made me want to visit Olympia to see her quaint store. Cannot wait to follow her on Instagram.
I loved that you included Wallace Stegner and Wendell Berry in the same list. Stegner was Berry’s teacher at Stanford.
Also love Wendell Berry & Marilynne Robinson. Would like to suggest Plainsong & Eventide by Kent Haruf and Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.
Sandra
Totally agree! I was going to suggest these also
I did read ALL OF OF Kent Haruf this winter and just about died. Absolutely sublime. I have NOT read Peace Like A River. Thanks for suggestion – adding to tbr list immediately! Andrea
I very much enjoyed Peace Like a River, and heard about it on the podcast. It is a bit like To Kill a Mockingbird, with some outstanding writing all the way through.
Your suggestions are three of my all time favorites. I saw Kent Haruf at Vroman’s in Pasadena a few years ago and I just loved him even more.
I would like to suggest My Antonia by Willa Cather. It’s a classic but doesn’t feel old. It’s fiction but it is historical.
I am interested in reading Berry because I just ordered a non-fiction book about farming and food by him. I have not read any of his fiction. We are “kind of” neighbors, too, so I should. The prompt to read his farming books was spurred by this article (https://www.circeinstitute.org/2012/01/what-happens-when-a-city-girl-reads-wendell-berry) and “Garden and Gun” magazine recommended his books. ( http://gardenandgun.com/gallery/wendell-berry-reader#slide-0 )
These interviews are so interesting!
Anne, I feel like you met your soulmate on this one. You and Andrea seemed so equally excited about talking all things bookstore, books, and authors. Loved this episode!!
Olympia, Washington??!! That’s the place I was born and raised!!! How neat. We are visiting in August and I will HAVE to visit Browser’s. And geek out about MMD and WSIRN.
Lucky!!!!
What do you think about Like Water for Chocolate? I’m not much for food related books, but I really loved this book. We read in our book club over 20 years ago and it was loved by all. I think you would both like it.
I highly recommend The Crosswicks Journals by Madeleine L’Engle. They are four memoirs that discuss her life through the years, her marriage, her mother, the seasons of life, her faith. I just finished Two-Part Invention and I plan to just start all over again right away, it’s that good.
I loved this episode – it was amazing to hear her describe A Little Life – that’s EXACTLY how I felt about it and couldn’t articulate it. I wish I could read it again for the first time, and to me that’s the highest praise I have for a book.
This was my favorite episode yet. I loved hearing about how Andrea came to own a bookstore. We seem to like a lot of the same books. I, too, love literary fiction but am more of a backlist type of reader. I’ve only read Stegner’s Angle of Repose and MUST read Crossing to Safety soon! And I’ve never read Wendell Berry either, something I need to rectify soon.
This was SUCH a great episode!!! One of the best in a while (and not to say the last ten haven’t been awesome as well). I think I may have missed my calling as a medical librarian though. I was a Chemistry major in college and lived in the library. The rapport with y’all was wonderful; I feel like I may listen again. 🙂 Cannot wait to start following Andrea on Instagram!
This is absolutely, positively one of my most FAVORITE podcasts ever! (The whole shebang–not just this weeks! 😀 ) I look forward to it every week!!!
Keep ’em coming!
* week’s… 😉
I love the podcasts! This one had so many titles in it that I actually did have to come to the website to get them all. Every podcast inspires more reflection on my ‘reading life.’
Thank you, Anne!
Lynnette in Colorado
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Great episode! I’m growing my TBR list at my overdrive library since discovering your podcast! Love it!
I loved this episode! I am a huge fan of the podcast, but particularly enjoyed this one for 2 reasons: (1) I was so happy Andrea had “A Little Life” as one of her favorites (it’s amazing!) and (2) my dream job is to own an independent bookstore, so it was great to hear about Andrea’s career path. Every week, I keep adding books to my list after listening (and love it). Thanks Anne!