Four Books a Fortnight

This week, Sam is well-rested and well-read, having just returned from all sorts of nature-loving and unplugging from the rest of the world. Which left him ready to really love "Station Eleven," which checks all the boxes — and eager for Emily St. John Mandel's upcoming novel this fall. Similarly, Hannah was enamored by Milo Todd's debut, a WW2 novel that is not your average WW2 novel. "Voidverse"? It's a weird one. "These Heathens"? Way less weird. You're really going to have to listen for the sound effects to interpret how they really hit. This fortnight, we read: "Station Eleven," by Emily St. John Mandel "The Lilac People," by Milo Todd "Voidverse," by Damien Ober "These Heathens," by Mia McKenzie What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

This episode we come to you live from the Newburyport Literary Festival, which is a truly kick-ass event. But, don't worry: It's still just us talking about four books! They just happen to come from authors speaking at the Fest — including two poets! Hey, it only took us 14 episodes to get a couple books of poetry on this thing. But we've got a couple of great novels, too — People are dying in John Irving ways! And winning awards in John Irving ways! — so we're not too far outside our norms. And you may notice that we're slightly more prepared than normal. This fortnight, we read: "Good Monster," by Diannelly Antigua "The Road to Tender Hearts," by Annie Hartnett "The Diaspora Sonnets," by Oliver de la Paz "The Award," by Matthew Pearl What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

We open this week with a book that might not be for Sam, who is not a middle-aged woman, it turns out. Hannah is, but didn't really like it either. However, Hannah did love the trad-wife tale that is "Yesteryear," where 1855 isn't all it's cracked up to be. And Sam liked the new TC Boyle just as much — is there a better writer of people who make bad decisions. But then things finish up with a belly-flop. Oh well. Maybe Hannah should have read "Butter," instead. Also, there is a Sarah J. Maas discussion in this episode for no good reason. This fortnight, we read: "American Fantasy," by Emma Straub "Yesteryear," by Caro Claire Burke "No Way Home," by TC Boyle "Hooked," by Asako Yuzuki What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

How do you know we're not just trying to sell books with this pod? Well, we fire up with a Carolyn Chute novel that's ... out of print. That's some business savvy! But Sam claims she's the Faulkner of the north (an important Mainer!) and you should really find a copy if you can. And, not to worry, the rest of these books are widely available. We've trotted out the Alarm Clock sound effect again, too, which means one of these books is seriously important. This fortnight, we read: "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts," by Carolyn Chute "The Fountain," by Casey Scieszka "Leviathan Falls," by James SA Corey "London Falling," by Patrick Radden Keefe What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

Do we sometimes read books because they have a hot-pink cover? We do. But we're glad we did! Kathy Acker is a crazy badass and her cult classic gets us started on a white-hot episode full of machine smashing and sea scraping. This is about as wide-ranging as an episode gets. This fortnight, we read: "Blood and Guts in High School," by Kathy Acker "The Infamous Gilberts," by Angela Tomaski "Against the Machine," by Paul Kingsnorth "Seascraper," by Benjamin Wood What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

We've got some great variety this week, from a Japanese novel exploring the nature of comedy to literary fiction set in Bristol, England, that explores the boredom of being a housewife in a really beautiful way. Also, big kudos to Sam for banging out a 700-page brick in two weeks and to Hannah for reading a book about, like, British royalty, that she rated with a vacuum cleaner's whine. This fortnight, we read: "Spark," by Naoki Matayoshi "The Land in Winter," by Andrew Miller "The Will of the Many," by James Islington "The Heir Apparent," by Rebecca Armitage What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

It's all fiction all the time this episode and we mostly liked these books. Mostly. See which one gets the bellyflop splash! This fortnight, we read: "Television," by Lauren Rothery "The Listeners," by Maggie Stiefvater "House of Day, House of Night," by Olga Tokarczuk "Emergency," by George Packer What sound effects did we give each of these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

Are you a cryer? Hannah is. But for some reason Ann Packer's brand-new tear-jerker didn't get the waterworks flowing. And, yes, Sam has another music book for you, but he swears it won't be every week! Also, we've got some sci-fi for you (and even some workplace sci-fi). This fortnight, we read: "Some Bright Nowhere," by Ann Packer "Tonight in Jungleland," by Peter Ames Carlin "The Memory Police," by Yoko Ogawa "The Employees," by Olga Ravn What sound effects did we give these books? You'll just have to listen and find out!

That's right, folks. This is the last episode of "John Updike's Ghost"! But not to worry! We'll be launching a new podcast very soon! What's the name? What will it be about? When will it launch? We're not telling you yet! Until that amazing day comes, you'll just have to listen to us talk about the books we've read recently, such as: - "Sisters in the Wind," by Angeline Boulley, which is in the same universe as "Firekeeper's Daughter" and "Warrior Girl Unearthed," and it is just as good. Angeline just keeps cranking them out. - "The Guide," by Peter Heller, which is the follow-on to "The River," and features much of the same brilliant nature writing, if maybe a little less "realistic." It's not as good as "The River," but that's not saying it's not great. - "The Frozen People," by Elly Griffiths, which starts a brand-new series and has time travel, but not the sci-fi sort of time travel, just the plot-device kind of time travel. If you like Elly's mysteries, you'll love this. - "So Far Gone," by Jess Walter, which is very much a novel of our moment, exploring what happens when your daughter marries a hardcore Christian nationalist. But it's also really funny and not too politically heavy. - "Help Wanted," by Adelle Waldman, which is a working-class novel about employees in a box-store warehouse and the pecking order that becomes clear when the boss announces he's leaving. Hannah liked it. And then we thank everyone and say goodbye. We'll be back, but ta-ta for now.

This week, Hannah is on vacation, Sam is working hard, but both have two books to talk about and we mostly like them. Yes, there's some embarrassing stuff where Sam has no idea about major biographical elements of the authors he's praising profusely, but let's pretend it's not happening in the moment. On the agenda this week: "A Marriage at Sea," by Sophie Elmhirst, which is a real-life story about a couple who decided to just drop out of society and "live a more interesting life." So, they bought a boat, then crashed it against a whale, and then somehow survived for months in a life raft. It's wild. But ultimately a treatise on fame. "Death of the Author," by Nnedi Okorafor, which Sam thinks is the best book he's read this year so far and criminally under-talked-about. It's sci-fi, family drama, social commentary, and so much more. Also, Sam was wrong. Nnedi is 51. Older than him. He's dumb. "A Dog in Georgia," by Lauren Grodstein, which Hannah likes a lot, and not just because she was in a writing class with Lauren a while back. It's lighter than "We Must Not Think of Ourselves," which is more to her skillset. And, yes, it's about looking for a lost dog in the country of Georgia, but, yes, everyone agrees that's weird. "The Third Rule of Time Travel," by Philip Fracassi, which Sam mostly enjoyed, but was sort of a "Netflix original" of a time-travel novel. Very readable! Entertaining! But maybe doesn't stick the landing. And it's a dude writing a woman, but it's a fine.

This week, Sam is back from Iceland, where he read some Scandinavian literature and visited a bookstore, though mostly just looked at volcanoes, waterfalls, and icebergs. But, have no fear, we have plenty of books to talk about this week. On the agenda this week: - "The Salt Stones," by Helen Whybrow, which is a memoir about leaving publishing to become a shepherdess in Vermont. Sheep! Hannah loves it. - "Blood Ties," by Jo Nesbo, which is not a Harry Hole novel, but is rather a standalone about brothers who love each other, but also are trying to kill each other. Sam's not sure about the "moral dilemmas" it presents. - "Kill Your Darlings," by Peter Swanson, which tells the story of a marriage in reverse, starting with a wife who'd really like to kill her husband. But why? Peter's a local and does great work here. - "Until Alison," by Kate Russo, which is set at Colby College, where Kate went, and deals with a murder of a Colby student, which happened by Kate was at Colby, but is otherwise totally fiction. It's a little cartoonish. - "Mohawk," by Richard Russo, which is actually more similar than Sam was expecting. It's ALSO a little cartoonish while trying to do "small-town life." Sam doesn't believe it. But lots of stories are more lively than boring real life. - "All the Beauty in the World," by Patrick Bringley, which is another memoir, but gives you a ton of cool info about working at the Met in New York City and fits nicely in the pantheon of museum guard books. Also, this gets Sam talking about "The Clock," a piece of art by Christian Marclay that is completely amazing and you need to see.

This week, as Sam preps to go to Iceland, we've got some of our favorite books of the year so far, with Gatsby references all over the place, general indictments of people with more money than they need, and a call back to the Beat era. Here's what we've got on tap: - "Mansion Beach," by Meg Mitchell Moore, a retelling of Gatsby with a gender reversal and a good reminder that Fitzgerald, himself, was a bit of a "beach read" writer. - "Atavists," by Lydia Millet, a story collection that works a bit like a multi-perspective novel and succeeds as both a realistic look at the suburbs and a send-up of modern life. - "Careless People," by Sarah Wynn-Williams, which offers an inside look at some of the most ethically and morally bankrupt people the world has ever known: the creators of Facebook. - "The Silver Snarling Trumpet," by Robert Hunter, which is a must-read for anyone who likes Jerry Garcia or wants to harken back to a simpler time and get a glimpse of life before the hippies.

Okay, Hannah's back, but that doesn't mean we're done with guest hosts! This week we're joined by author Nina MacLaughlin, editor of the brand-new New England Literary News newsletter, and we've got the Newburyport Literary Festival on the brain (oh, and sorry, Nina, about putting you on the spot various times, but we did enjoy, "there's just so much garbage being published"). And Indie Bookstore Day, too! But we talked about lots of books, as well, including: - "Jailbreak of Sparrows," by Martin Espada - a poet who will be a Newburyport, where we are selling books, BTW. - "Little Great Island," by Kate Woodworth - which has "Road to Dalton" vibes and a great cover (another Maine book, yes). - "Lobster," by Guillaume Lacasble - easily the weirdest book Sam has read in a while, with, yes, lobster sex. - "On the Calculation of Volume (Book II)," by Solvej Balle - a continuation of Book I, still awesome, but could have moved forward more. - "Sad Tiger," by Neige Sinno - a very heavy memoir that manages to still be quite beautiful. And make sure to stay to the very end for some great New England poet recommendations!