Your Favorite Book Malavika Praseed

For this, our last formal interview episode for Your Favorite Book, I'm delving back into nonfiction and into some serious topics. THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS deserves all its accolades, not only for its extensive research on the Great Migration in Jim Crow era America, but on the attention to narrative detail and approachable, readable tone. My guest, Keenan Norris, touches on specific migrations and how the city of Chicago impacted several important Black historical figures, including Barack Obama and Richard Wright. Together, the two of us touch on the surprising results of research, what it means to learn something that should've been taught in schools, and so much more.

Find Keenan at his website: https://www.keenannorris.com/

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After a couple weeks off, I'm bringing you an episode on one of the most hyped memoirs of the year, and it was an absolute joy to talk about. We're of course talking about I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy, a searing memoir of Hollywood, abuse, eating disorders, and coming into one's own identity. This book is straightforward and not for the faint of heart, but certainly rewarding. My guest is young adult author Deeba Zargarpur, whose YA novel HOUSE OF YESTERDAY combines elements of her Afghan-Uzbek heritage with ghost story elements, complex family dynamics, and a relatable female lead. Deeba and I chat all things families large and small, memoir styles, watching too much TV, and so much more.

Find Deeba at https://www.deebazargarpur.com/

Follow the podcast on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

Our guest this week is Ethan Chatagnier, whose debut novel SINGER DISTANCE effortlessly combines the space age paranoia of the 1960s, theoretical math, and the high stakes of a love unfulfilled. The book challenges the idea of what it would mean to communicate with another planet, presenting an alternate history where this contact has been made and scientists believe they've cracked the latest Martian math challenge set for Earthlings to understand.

Ethan chose a book that also blurs the lines between literary and science fiction, Kazuo Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO. This seminal work by the Nobel Laureate defies most summaries, with its slowly unfolding plot and piecemeal storytelling. This is one of few YFB episodes that dives headfirst into spoilers, so for those who have not read NEVER LET ME GO, it's highly recommended before listening, and a highly recommended book in general.

We're back with an author who's rapidly becoming one of my twentieth century favorites, Edith Wharton. In this early novel of hers, The House of Mirth, we follow the tragic demise of socialite Lily Bart and how her decline represents the decline of an era itself, and also shows us how precarious it is to be a woman of reputation. Somehow, Sara and I find plenty of laughs. Sara is a YA novelist whose most recent novel, Grave Things Like Love, is a contemporary romance with a ghost hunting twist, and is perfect for the Halloween season. 

Buy Sara's book: https://bookshop.org/books/grave-things-like-love-9780593703557/9780593703557

Follow the podcast on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

Our guest this week is Saeed Jones, the acclaimed memoirist and poet, whose recent collection ALIVE AT THE END OF THE WORLD takes on both individual and collective grief in the midst of a nation in crisis. Spanning topics from the legacy of Black artists and entertainers to visions of the end of the world as a chaotic rave, Saeed brings every feeling to the forefront and never turns his back to the hard questions.

Saeed chose a book stemming from his adolescence and one that continues to generate deeper meaning for him, Toni Morrison's SULA. This book, hardly two hundred pages in length, delves deep into what it means to be a Black girl, and to be both in and out of a community, and the complicated social dynamics it takes to perpetuate said community. The book is luminous at a prose level and never ceases to shock at every turn. There are some spoilers for this episode, but none that take away from the integrity of the novel.

Together we chat about all things crafting a poetry collection, why the United States struggles with creating a grief culture, the triumphs and pitfalls of high school literary opinions, and so much more.

Books discussed: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel Moniz, Magical Negro by Morgan Parker

Buy Saeed's book: https://bookshop.org/books/alive-at-the-end-of-the-world/9781566896511

Follow the show on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast

Our guest is Joe Meno, author of eleven books and most recently, BOOK OF EXTRAORDINARY TRAGEDIES, a family saga taking place in Chicago's south side. Told by twenty year old Aleks, former musical prodigy turned patriarch of his young family, we are shown the limits of human endurance as the family deals with medical crises, desperate poverty, and one heartbreak after another. At the same time there is a real tenderness and creativity underlining these characters, buoying everything with a sense of hope.

Joe chose Jesmyn Ward's landmark novel SALVAGE THE BONES for his episode. Like his own novel, Ward's book shows a young family in peril and the means they take to survive, but the setting differs entirely. We are taken to rural Mississippi in the days before Hurricane Katrina, as Esch and her brothers live their lives and prepare for the oncoming storm. It's a haunting, brutal read and one that proves unforgettable for us both.

Buy Joe's book: http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/book-of-extraordinary-tragedies/

Follow the show on instagram and twitter @yfbpodcast