Ep 54: Best Books Lately with Jessica Turner + A Conversation about American Dirt with Stephanie Newman-Smith
/This episode is for you if you love to read (and follow literary controversies).
Book episodes are the best episodes! We spend the first half hour talking about the best books we've read lately with Jessica Turner, and we take a brief detour to talk about #Bookstagram and our current reading habits (including a new hobby Jessica picked up and the #ReadYourBooks challenge she's hosting online).
Find Jessica Turner here.
Follow Jessica on IG
Follow Jessica on FB
Follow Jessica's Book Snobbery IG account
Books mentioned in the conversation with Jessica:
The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting by Brene Brown (audible only)
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
Laura’s picks in conversation with Jessica:
The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Buy Yourself the F**king Lilies by Tara Schuster
This episode is sponsored by Glossier. Click here for 10% off your first order.
This episode is sponsored by Bombas. Click here to get 20% off your first purchase.
In the second half of this extra long episode, I'm joined by my real-life book club friend Stephanie Newman-Smith to talk through the layers of controversy around the novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. We talk about who can tell what stories, how the publishing industry is complicit in silencing non-white voices, and the bizarre marketing missteps around the novel that Oprah picked for her book club.
You might remember my guest Stephanie from Ep 46: Book Club 2019: The Best, Worst, and Buzziest Books of the Year
Articles referenced in this conversation:
American Dirt book controversy, explained (Vulture)
Who gave you the right to tell that story? (Vulture)
Lauren Groff’s review of American Dirt in the NYT
Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck by Myriam Gurba (Tropics of Meta)
The American Dirt Controversy is Painfully Intramural (The Atlantic)
Will the American Dirt Fiasco Change American Publishing? (Slate)
American Dirt Isn’t Just Bad, Its Best Parts Are Cribbed From Latino Writers (Huffington Post)
Roxane Gay, other writers discuss American Dirt (LA Times)
There’s Nothing Thrilling About Trauma (The Cut)
