Reading Women

26/01/2022

29/12/2021

In one of our last interviews, Kendra () interviewed Myriam J.A. Chancy about her novel WHAT STORM WHAT THUNDER. In the interview, Myriam discusses why she writes fiction:

Myriam: "I enjoy writing novels because I think it allows you to really center the human experience in history. Right? I mean, we have our historians. We have excellent historians who can do that kind of work. Or we have people who are in some way, not quite journalists, but who are able to do the conversations on the ground and and frame those for a wider readership.

"But I think that fiction does something that those works cannot do, which is to allow the reader to enter a world, you know, on its own ground and to really feel what it might be like to have been in that particular historical moment or historical historical experience. So I think, like Ward, my intent was to make you travel with the characters as opposed to feeling like you were outside of it and reading a report about the events—you know, that you would really want to see the outcome for the characters and want to be led by them, whatever those outcomes might be. I think that’s what fiction can do that no other genre can do quite as well.

"I mean, certainly, I think memoir can do a great deal of that. But memoir is very particular to usually, you know, one individual’s experience or in the case of the Danticat memoir that I mentioned earlier, you know, it only can cover a few lives. I think with fiction, you can do. . . . It’s much more pliable, right? Because even though memoir utilizes some aspects of fiction to tell the story of a period or of a person, fiction really allows you to go into so many places that . . . that, you know, that you can’t really render with as much flexibility when you’re doing memoir or journalism."

You can listen to the entire interview wherever you get your podcasts!

[Image Description: A photo of the book WHAT STORM, WHAT THUNDER Myriam J.A. Chancy. The book is sitting a stone shelf.]

15/12/2021

Today is Reading Women’s last podcast episode, and it features a very special team member… my mom!

My mom likes to keep a low profile online, but she agreed to come on the show in honor of the occasion. My mom has volunteered for Reading Women almost since the beginning, proofing newsletters, web pages, and blog posts.

I have always appreciated her support through the years, and since she’s been here since the beginning, I thought I’d ask her to walk through memory lane with me. So today we talk about RW’s six seasons and what this whole wild journey has been like.

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/2021/12/15/ep-122-farewell-dear-listeners

- Kendra

[Image Description: A photo of Kendra and her mom, both white women with brunette hair, dressed up for a Christmas service. The photo was taken in 2008. They obviously need to make more photos together because this was one of the only ones Kendra could find of the two of them.]

07/12/2021

Reading Women Newsletter - RuthAnn shares essay collections for ! - https://mailchi.mp/939d8b7fb63a/ruthann-shares-essay-collections-for-nonfictionnovember

27/11/2021

Today we’ve partnered with to promote shopping at your local indie for small business Saturday!
And if you can’t get out to a brick-and-mortar store for , Bookshop.org and Libro.fm is here for you! When you buy books online from Bookshop.org and , you support your local community and benefit independent bookstores. Plus, bookshop.org is running free shipping all weekend. ✨

Bookshop.org has some merch to celebrate the occasion! You can head over to their website to learn more.

Looking for a book rec for this weekend? Check out THE BEADWORKERS: STORIES by Beth Piatote from ! I picked up this collection for the 2022 .

Happy Shopping!

[Image Description: A photo of A black t-shirt and a mug that feature a special design for small business Saturday. A copy of the book The Beadworkers sits to the side of the t-shirt and mug.]

24/11/2021

Happy U.S. pub day to THE SISTER WHO ATE HER BROTHERS by !

Jen’s new book features retellings from fairytales from around the the world with gorgeous illustrations from Adam de Souza.

A few weeks ago on the podcast, talked to Jen about THE SISTER WHO ATE HER BROTHERS, and Jen gave listener all sorts of behind-the-scenes info about how the book came to be. Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts!

[Image Description: A photo of The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers sitting on a stone shelf. The cover of the book shows a half-human, half-fox wrapped around the title, their eyes shine in the dark, the forest and moon behind them, and vines reaching out from the edge of the page.]

19/11/2021

Miami Book Fair returns Downtown and Online, November 14-21. Tune in to my presentation on MiamiBookFairOnline.com.

Kendra talks to Jung Yun about her latest novel O BEAUTIFUL, out now from St. Martin's Press.



https://www.miamibookfaironline.com/event/in-conversation-on-o-beautiful-a-novel/

06/11/2021

Happy Weekend! Gwen is shaping up to be a fabulous library corg in training. 📚

[Image Description: A photo of Gwen, the black and white Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy, sitting in front of stacks and stack of books.]

05/11/2021

In 2016, Reading Women started when two friends decided they wanted to talk about books “by or about women.” During its six seasons, Reading Women has developed and grown into something that we never imagined. We at Reading Women are so proud of the content we have produced and of the growth, both of the podcast and of ourselves, that we have experienced.

As announced in our most recent episode, Reading Women will be wrapping up its final season at the end of this year. In addition to several author interviews, we will have two retrospective episodes to look back on the content we’ve created through the years, with our final episode airing on December 15, 2021.

We are so honored to have had this audience and opportunity. Our content will remain online, and we are looking forward to the episodes we will add between now and the end of the year.

Thank you, dear listeners, for the support you have shown Reading Women. We love you. And we hope that you will continue to “Reclaim the Bookshelf” in your future reading.

[A graphic of an alternative version of Reading Women's logo. The middle say "Reclaim the Bookshelf"]

03/11/2021

Joce here! Today on the podcast, I’m talking to Jung Yun!

When I read Jung Yun's debut novel SHELTER in 2016, I was instantly fascinated. There was something about the propulsion and the interpersonal dynamics that she writes with that drew me in, and I finished the book incredibly quickly.

I was so happy to hear that her sophomore novel, O BEAUTIFUL, is releasing this year on November 9th. There are definitely some similar topics comparing the two books, such as intergenerational trauma, the Korean American experience, and the danger of enforced gender roles. But they are explored in a completely different setting in O BEAUTIFUL.

Our protagonist, Elinor, is a Korean American biracial woman. And she's returning to her home state of North Dakota to pursue a story surrounding the Bakken oil boom. Over the course of the book, she also confronts parts of her identity and her past, as well as how the townspeople treat her as a woman of color. One pervasive theme is the concept of being a newcomer to the town versus an old timer, and we see this come up a lot in many different scenarios.

You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts!

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/interview-with-jung-yun-pt-2

[Image Description: A photo of O Beautiful sitting on a stone shelf. The cover is white and features an illustration of a North Dakota landscape, dotted by oil drills.]

01/11/2021

Have you read a romance by Alexis Daria yet?

Joce recently interviewed Alexis Daria about her latest novel A LOT LIKE ADIÓS. When introducing the interview, Joce said:

"This is a conversation that I have been wanting to have since 2017, which is when I most ardently, in the words of Mr. Darcy, fell in love with the Dance Off series by Alexis Daria, which is a romance series that takes place on the set of a TV show inspired by "Dancing With the Stars." I said to myself, "One day I will talk 'Dancing with the Stars' with Alexis."

And I am happy to say that the day is here. Her newest book, A LOT LIKE ADIOS, was just released in September. And it is the second book and the Primas of Power series. A LOT LIKE ADIOS is about our heroine Michelle, who is Puerto Rican and Italian, and her love interest Gabe, who was her childhood best friend / perhaps something a little bit more. He unfortunately decided to leave New York—which is where they're from—for L.A. And despite her numerous attempts to reach out, their connection was severed. And they never spoke for years. That is until Gabe's gym, Agility, wants to hire Michelle to hop on board their new marketing campaign.

They navigate getting acquainted with one another again, their tension and a really spicy chemistry. They navigate getting acquainted with one another again, their tension and chemistry and complicated family dynamics. There are also some extremely fun at fan fiction interstitials from when Gabe and Michelle were in high school and they wrote fanfic together."

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/interview-with-alexis-daria

[Image Description: A photo of YOU HAD ME AT HOLA and A LOT LIKE ADIÓS sitting on a stone shelf.]

27/10/2021

✨NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW✨

Today I’m talking to Jen Campbell about her latest book THE SISTER WHO ATE HER BROTHERS!

As many of you already know, I am a huge fan of Jen's. Autumn and I talked to her a couple . . . few years ago, actually, now. What is time? And we talked to her about her short story collection, THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Now Jen is back with another book. This one is THE SISTER WHO ATE HER BROTHERS, which is a retelling of fairytales but in this fabulous, creepy sort of way, which is perfect for spooky season.

I loved her book and how creepy and delightful it was and full of wonderful fairytale goodness, as only Jen Campbell can give us. We also talked about how disability and disfigurement are portrayed in the media. That is a huge area that Jen Campbell has spoken out about a lot. And I really appreciate her advocacy for disability rights. And as a disabled person myself, I just really appreciate the perspective that she brings to conversations.

I just love chatting with her. It was definitely the bright spot of my week. And Jen is such a wonderful person to talk to.

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/interview-with-jen-campbell-pt-2

[Image Description: A photo of The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers sitting on a stone shelf. The cover of the book shows a half-human, half-fox wrapped around the title, their eyes blinking in the dark, the forest and moon behind them, and vines reaching out from the edge of the page.]

25/10/2021

Have you listened to our discussion episode for the theme She Writes Crime?

It’s Sumaiyya and this month on the podcast you’ll hear me gushing about THE UNQUIET DEAD by Ausma Zehanat Khan, my discussion pick for the theme. I absolutely loved this first book in a police procedural series and had a great time discussing it with Kendra.

The novel follows officers Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty who are part of the Community Policing Section, which looks at cases related to the minority communities in their part of Canada. Unusually, Esa and Rachel are assigned the case to investigate the death of a wealthy white man. It’s quite a brilliant novel that reveals details one step at a time, and offers a in-depth look at the Srebrenica massacres and ethnic tensions in Bosnia.

I’d highly recommend checking out this novel as Ausma Zehanat Khan has done intensive research on the subject, so you not only get a compelling mystery & police procedural, but also a lesson in recent history. Ultimately, the novel poses some important questions about justice in situations where the crimes are committed not just against one person but against an entire community.

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/2021/10/20-ep-120-quicksand-and-the-unquiet-dead

[Image Description: A photo go THE UNQUIET DEAD by Ausma Zehanat Khan sitting on top of a copy of QUICKSAND. They both sit on a white dresser]