Episode 29
Shelf Motivated
Come for the Summer Reads, stay for a chat about college kids and if they’ve ever actually read books, and more talk of The Meg! This time on the podcast the crew tackles “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books,” an article from the Atlantic by Rose Horowitch, as well as our usual book chat. Eric takes credit for a worldwide resurgence of popularity in short stories citing the Shelf Motivate bump (a thing he made up that minute), Sharon reads a book translated from Catalan, and a perfect summer read set in Cumbria! Eric talks about his quest to read Ulysses (this time guided...
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Episode 28
Shelf Motivated
It’s Summer Reading season! You know what that means…beach reads, sunshine, and good times! So of course, on this episode of Shelf Motivated you’ll hear about: Late capitalism and the Potemkin City Limits of the Ikea apartment, books about the Supreme Court, supermarkets, Multi-Level Marketing, a collection of poetry by a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant and Pulitzer Prize winner, and tales of Sarah’s missed opportunities as a grocery store manager! Add a wildly expensive horror novel hardcover edition, and of course… Proust. Throw in a cozy mystery about a Hungarian Tea House for...
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Episode 27
Shelf Motivated
Summer 2025: KEEP READING FUN! This episode, join us as we talk reading with MLPL Children’s Librarian Elizabeth! We talk about what we read as kids and discuss our childhood public libraries. We also chat about current, classic, and local children’s books, audio books, Summer Reading, and more. And in a bit of personal librarian anthropology, we track Eric’s love of the Cozy Mystery, and Sarah’s love of Horror. Come for the book chat, stay for the mantra – Summer 2025: KEEP READING FUN! Books discussed: All Ears - Stewart Gibbs Ferris - Kate DiCamillo Boy 2.0 - Tracey Baptiste The...
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Episode 26
Shelf Motivated
Come for the second-ever GUEST on Shelf Motivated and stay for the poetry! In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Shelf Motivated crew invited local poet and force behind Mt Lebanon Public Library’s own poetry writing group, The Nebby Poetry Society, Angela Petsis to sit down and chat about poetry with us. We share some of our favorites, read a few poems, and share some notable to-be-reads. Happy National Poetry Month! Books discussed: Mary Olver - Devotions Maja Haderlap – Distant Transit Katrina Porteous – Rhizodont Peter Gizzi – In Defense of Nothing Louise Gluck – The Wild...
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Episode 25
Shelf Motivated
Celebrate Small Press Month with us on Shelf Motivated! Come for the strange coming of age stories, stay for the 500-page Icelandic translation that features a gravestone with a Kierkegard quote, and a playlist! Sarah talks about Teethmarks on my Tongue by Eileen Battersby from Dalkey Archive Press, Eric talks about some of his favorite small presses in general, and Sharon talks about Your Absence Is Darkness by Jon Kalman Stefansson from Biblioasis. TBR Killoyle: An Irish Farce by Roger Boylan Appalachian Spring by Marcia Bonta
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Episode 24
Shelf Motivated
Come for the discussion of romance as a genre, stick around for our first ever guest of the podcast, Flannery! We discuss romance, whatever it was that Sharon read that is arguably romance adjacent, hockey romance, jobs dealing with the genre, and much more! Books discussed: The Mystery Guest: A True Story by Grégoire Bouillier Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman Affinity by Sarah Waters TBR: Cozy: The Trouble with Magic by Madelyn Alt The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt In Search of Lost Time: Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers Cuddy...
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Episode 23
Shelf Motivated
Come for the 2024 reading review, stay for what we’re looking forward to in 2025! We navigate the vicissitudes of Good Reads vs a paper journal vs some kind of voice recorder that Sharon wants to utilize. Hear what Sarah calls “a Sharon book, through and through,” what the elder millennials are reading, and what historical fiction that Eric loved. All this, and more as we kick off 2025! Books discussed: The Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte Passage West by Rishi Reddi Books we’re excited about in 2025: Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata We Pretty Pieces...
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Episode 22
Shelf Motivated
Come for the comfort reads, stay for uncomfortable to-be-reads! This time on the podcast Sarah dives into a kids’ book from the 1930s, and a book about bookshops, Eric slows down with a local writer, and a master of 20th century literary fiction, and Sharon continues her love of Laurie Lee, and books about trips, among other things. Books about libraries, a 15th century mystery, and more! Books discussed this episode: The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee The Bookshop by Evan Friss The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey A Thousand...
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Episode 21
Shelf Motivated
Come for the local color, stay for the HORROR! It’s our annual spooky season episode, and this time around we discuss everything from classics of American lit that have a horror/gothic angle, to contemporary horror in translation, to pulp horror from the 80s care of the Paperbacks from Hell! We have a basic fall cozy, Sarah’s take on one of the most anticipated books of the year (our one non-horror diversion), and plenty of to-be-reads (some horror and some not!). Break out a bag of candy and dig in! Happy Halloween! Books discussed: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson...
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Episode 20
Shelf Motivated
Come for memories via Istanbul, stay for satire via Norway! This time around on the show we get into the subject of re-reading, Sharon’s inability to picture anyone other than David Mitchell as Proust, Eric reading a proto-cozy-thriller (and a weird book about Shakespeare for good measure), and Sarah’s dawning realization that satire in 2024 reads more like… well, a regular novel. All this, the cozy corner, our ever-growing pile of To-Be-Reads, and more on Episode 20! Books discussed: Ghostwriter: Shakespeare, Literary Landmines, and an Eccentric Patron’s Royal Obsession by Lawrence...
info_outlineEric, Sarah and Sharon discuss the eternal reader's dilemma "to finish or not to finish" a book once begun. Sarah discusses a recent Joyce Carol Oates selection as a comfort read and questions Sharon's gift of a book about a woman on the eve of her wedding having second thoughts as she is approaching her big day. Sharon reviews books from her month of reading Booker International Prize nominations, and Eric has some "deep" revelations from the world of cozies.
Sharon:
- The Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi, translated by Jeremy Tiang
- While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer, translated by Katie Derbyshire
- Stillborn by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
- Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches
- TBR: Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim; The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin Becker
Sarah:
- Frontlist: 48 Clues Into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates
- Backlist: Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax King
- TBR: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey
Eric:
- Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
- Slow Horses - Mick Herron
- Dead Lions - Mick Herron
- The Deep Dish Mysteries by Mindy Quigley
- TBR: Middlemarch by George Eliot