Front Porch Book Club Front Porch Book Club

We're leaning into Mother's Day month with Stories for My Kids: Learning to Yodel and Other Life Lessons, by first time author Ileen Dunivent. This charming and warm memoir tracks Ileen's life from a mischievous Rocky Mountain tomboy to a crazy in love teenager to a mom and grandma in Missouri. Ileen has a gift for storytelling and she manages to find humor and joy, as well as convey deep wisdom, throughout the episodes of her life. Reading this book is like sitting down with your favorite grandma and laughing with her until your stomach hurts, and maybe shedding a few tears, too. Born in 1934, Ileen's life has spanned much of the 20th century's incredible challenges and innovations. Oh, and she even shares some of her favorite recipes in the book, too.


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We learn about mental skills athletes use to compete at the highest levels. Dr. Jennifer Cumming, former competitive athlete and now sports psychologist and professor, describes techniques for building mental skills. She trains professional and recreational athletes, and applies her work in other fields such as medicine, law enforcement, and the military, as well as working with youth who are experiencing homelessness. She shares how mental skills training could have helped our April book protagonist, Carrie Soto, in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Carrie Soto is Back.


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Carrie Soto is Back, by best-selling novelist Taylor Jenkins Reid, plunges us into the world of professional tennis. We meet retired phenom, Carrie, who decides to return to the circuit to defend her Grand Slam titles record. Carrie's singular focus on her tennis legacy has Linny and Nancy talking legacy, what it means, and why it matters.


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We take an incredible journey through Spain's 20th century, the setting of this month's book, The Shadow of the Wind, with our guest Sara Brenneis, an Amherst professor specializing in this era. Delving more deeply into Spain's social, political, religious, and economic context opened up this book in ways we never expected. Linny has a new admiration for the women in the book. Nancy is amazed by the authorial restraint of not explaining everything shown by the author, Carlos Ruiz Zafon. And yes, we also have some great laughs, too!




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In post-civil war Spain, young Daniel is cast into danger when he refuses to sell his rare copy of a Julian Carax novel to a mysterious cloaked man intent on destroying all copies of the author's books. Over a ten-year period, Daniel uncovers old resentments, past loves, deadly lies, and true love as he learns the secrets of the mysterious man and of the author who has disappeared. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon sets this unforgettable novel in Barcelona, a city teeming with secrets of its own.


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Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, has become a word-of-mouth bestseller. No surprise, since this warm and generous novel introduces three very different characters all facing their own "stuckness": a grieving widow, an aquarium-confined octopus, and a struggling young man. Shelby joins us on the front porch to talk about her journey as a first-time author, these remarkable characters, Community Reads programs, and so much more. Yes, we also laugh!


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