Summer is still in full swing central Ohio.
As temps remain high, the weather (at times) can be unpredictable like the plot in a fantastic book.
Now is the perfect time to embark on your next literary adventure.
On This edition of All Sides Weekend, Host Christopher Purdy and his guests will share some titles that you may want to add to your list of must reads.
Host:
- Christopher Purdy, Classical 101 Morning Host
Guests:
- Kassie Rose, WOSU book critic
- Kris Hickey, youth services manager, Whetstone Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library
- Thao Thai, author, The Seekers of Deer Creek
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Transcript
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Christopher Purdy: Good morning. I'm Christopher Purdy. Thank you for joining us. This is All Sides Weekend. This is the book show. This the time of the month where our panel comes to the microphone to tell us what they have been reading and tell us all about their recommendations for what they think you might like to read. And our panelists are Cassie Rose, who is WOSU's book critic. Her blog, very important to anyone who likes to read, is thelongestchapter.com. Chris Hickey is the Youth Services Manager at the Whetstone branch of the Columbus Library. And Chris comes to us every month with quick picks. Those are the books that the library has put aside because they're so popular and everybody wants to read them. And I am delighted to welcome a locally-based author who has an international reach. Her name is Tao Tai. It's been too long since she has been on the show. So we're remedying that today. She was here last time to talk about her novel, "The Banyan Tree," which is a beauty. And she's here to talk about her brand new novel, which is also a beauty, called "The Seekers of Deer Creek." So welcome, panel. Welcome, Thao Thai. You've been busy. You have a brand new novel. You probably got one or two in the works as we sit here. The Seekers of Deer Creek follows a pair of sisters of Vietnamese ancestry as they really seek to answer a lot of questions. Uh... Tell us a little bit about this novel and uh... It's genesis
Thao Thai: Absolutely. So I always call this a art mystery wrapped inside of a family saga because these two sisters could not be more different. We've got Vivi who is uptight. She's an art conservator. She thinks that there is one right way to do things. And then you have Kala, her complete opposite. She is tempestuous. She's artists, capricious, charismatic, all the things. She shows up on Vivi's birthday, of course, as estranged sisters do, and places a manila folder full of their recently deceased father's belongings. And in this folder is a sketch of a painting that has arrived at Vivi Museum that very week. And inside of all these documents and all this archival material is this family mystery. They're trying to figure out why this painting and this painter surrealist French Vietnamese painter from the 1920s. They're trying to figure out why this person is so important to their history and so this search takes them on a whirlwind journey.
Christopher Purdy: Don't give a lot away.
Thao Thai: I won't give anything else away, but they find a lot within all of this travel.
Christopher Purdy: And you have set it up in such a way that people always say, well, I couldn't put it down, but I really couldn't put it out. I mean, I really wanted to find out who this person was, who the person was to the sisters, etc. And the father, we were talking about the father who is deceased. So we don't really meet him, but we hear all about him.
And the way he's described one knows him pretty well if you're reading the book and likes or dislikes him but that's probably up to the reader. The book is called "The Seekers of Deer Creek" is a new novel by Tao Thai the author of "Banyan Moon" which is a wonderful book as well. Another kind of a family saga. It is. And we will talk more about your recommendations of other books to read and where people can go to meet you because you are making appearances to promote the book.
Thao Thai: I am and many local too, so I hope to see some of you out there.
Christopher Purdy: Now we will talk about that as the show goes on. Kassie Rose is WOSU's book critic. What do you have for us to read?
Kassie Rose: I have a novel that came out this summer. It's called "Drayton and Mackenzie" by Alexander Starrett. And essentially this book is about a startup company that is the two young men who graduate from Oxford established. And that is to harness tidal energy in the North Atlantic to provide clean energy to Britain. But For me, what the soul of the book is, is about the friendship between these two young men, which is James Drayton and Roland McKenzie. They're complete opposites. Roland is sort of a fly-by-night kind of guy. He graduated bottom of his class. He makes friends with everyone, but he also self-sabotages. James Draton is a genius, and he graduates top of his glass. And he's the one that wants that. Generates this idea for the turbine. And how that happens is they both, they briefly meet in Oxford, they then reconnect in a pub a couple years later, and then they're both working together at McKinsey, which is that global elite consulting firm that you might, I mean, that's a real consulting firm that's out there. It grooms Fortune 500 CEOs. So there they are working on the spreadsheets. The thing about them is they want to do something that matters in the world, that's really at their heart, and they feel like they're just sort of wasting their time. And the author doesn't over-promote that, but you get that between the two of them. And so what happens then is the crisis of 2008 happens. So this is very much a 21st century book, and when that happens, they find themselves with a client who is in the oil industry in Scotland. And they're laying off people. And there is an inventor there who has this turbine. And so they then ask him to come on board with them. And I'm simplifying everything. But very quickly to sort of showcase the friendship. For me, the moment where I really heard it was, James is, he's brilliant, but he can't make small talk. He doesn't warm up to people. Roland, of course, it makes a friend with everyone. So here they're trying to get this guy and he's got a family and he said, I got, you know, I don't know. James leaves the room by chance and Roland turns to him and he says, let me tell you, yeah, this guy's really weird. And yeah, he's not gonna chat you up. And he said but let me you because he can't do that. He's completely trustworthy because he says exactly what he's thinking and what's in his heart. And what we find throughout the book, then, is after that is the ups and downs of the funding and things like that. But another big part of the book is how realistic it is. Because I'll tell you, the 2008 crash, when he writes about it, you feel like you're on the edge of your seat. At least I did. I mean, because there was a Brinksmanship about it. And he brings in Bernanke, he brings in Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, all of this. So it's very intense when you realize what could have happened in the world. And then going forward, these two guys really have ups and downs, not just for funding, but also to see how the world affects them. Brexit, you know, the Paris climate change. It's a 500 page book. So you do have to be patient with it, but it's one of those books that if you do, if you give it your patience, that the payoff is, you feel it. You know, you've. It's not that you've earned it, but I'll tell you what gutted me when I got to the end of the book. And I think the difference like with this kind of book where you do pay attention to them or give them time. And when I think of that, I think like "The Transit of Venus" by Shirley Hazard, or I think even "The Mountain Lion" by Gene Stafford. These are the books that you aren't gonna get the twist and turns. You aren't going to get that, or I've got to keep turning the page. I love those books. These books too I love because when you remember them, you don't remember the twist and turns. What you remember is something that this book has told you about life, about people, about interactions, and you leave it and you think, I just love this book. Is what for me is this book is, and it's "Drayton and Mackenzie" by Alexander Starrett. And I'll say one more thing too, this is his third book, his second book, "We the Germans," is phenomenal too. So with this plotline doesn't intrigue you, consider "We the" which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2021?
Christopher Purdy: A recommendation from Kassie Rose, WOSU's book critic. I'm Christopher Purdy. This is All Sides Weekend Books. Our guests are author Thao Thai, Kassie Rose, and Kris Hickey from the Columbus Library brings us Quick Picks. What are we standing in line for to read with the Quick Picks? I'm thrilled.
Kris Hickey: So lots of new thrillers for August. So Riley Sager, who is a king of thrillers, has a new book out and it's very creepy, secluded island story. So this takes place on the fictional island of New Avalon, which is in a lake in Vermont. And this place in the 1920s was home to a commune of spiritualists. And then they disappeared. And the only evidence that they were there are five dresses that are hanging in a very creepy oak tree in the center of the island. So our story begins in current times and there is an actress named Marin and she is desperate, desperate to make it. And so she takes this role as one of the women. So there are different theories about what happened. So some people thought they just left, some people though they were murdered, but the most popular theory is that a seance went wrong and unleashed this supernatural entity that took them one by one. And that was explained in a diary by one of them named Daisy. So Marin is going to play Daisy in this film. And the deal is all of the cast and the crew have to spend a week on this island before filming for research. So they find themselves on this Island. And they start disappearing one by one. So it's very creepy. It's very atmospheric. I love this cover. It is, it's red and it has this tree and it's, I think this is an excellent cover. There is some humor in here because you have various kinds of actors. You have a Meryl Streep type. You have the bratty former Disney star. So there is some humor in there, but it is just very spooky. It's a good spooky novel.
Christopher Purdy: A ghost story, a ghost story. A quick pick from the Columbus Library by Riley Sager. It's called "The Unknown" by Riley Seger. The Unknown, by Riley Seger, recommended by our own Kris Hickey. Thao Thai, do you read, are you able to read for pleasure with all you're doing?
Thao Thai: I do, yes, I am a reader before I'm a writer. And so I always have at least one book, sometimes three or four, which can be a confusing but exciting experience. So yes, I do have a recommendation for everyone. It is a backlist title, which I love. Sometimes the new and most recent is really fun, but lately I've been feeling like, going into the archives just a little bit. So this book that I'm bringing to you is called "Red Dog Farm," and it is by Nathaniel Ian Miller. It came out two years ago and it recently came out in paperback in the spring and his first novel was called "The Memoirs of Stockholm's Ven." I don't know if any of you have read it, but it was also excellent. So this book, I feel like is a perfect transition into the cooler weather. I have my roster of summer reading and a lot of it is light, exciting. But this book is wintry, it is atmospheric, it pulls you in and it brings you into more contemplative state of mind. So it is essentially a year in the life of an Icelandic cattle farmer, which in and of itself is a very interesting premise, right, but Nathaniel himself, who is a friend of mine, is a farmer himself. And so he knows the rigors of this lifestyle and he is hell bent. On taking away any picturesque pre-assumptions about what this life looks like. So it's pretty, it's rich, and he is a poet. It's beautifully written. It's a book about the love of land and family, the inheritance of these duties, and also the preservation of a lifestyle that is quickly dying. And in this book, you see a lot of what it means to grapple with nature as a force, the beauty of it, the terror of it. And you walk away with a real understanding of what it means to be human in a world of quickly disappearing natural beauty. It's a book that I think you all will really love and I hope you pick it up.
Christopher Purdy: Repeat the title and author.
Thao Thai: It's "Red Dog Farm" by Nathaniel Ian Miller.
Christopher Purdy: That's a recommendation from writer, Thai, whose new book is "The Seekers of Deer Creek." We will talk a little bit about that as we go on. I'm going to give Christopher's recommendation real fast. You've got to read "John of John" by Douglas Stewart. Oh, I'm getting a nod here. That's the quick pick. I know I kept it like two weeks late. That's OK. But I read the whole thing. "John of Jam," which is set in one of these Hebrides Islands in Scotland, a very remote. Austere place where a lot goes on and there's a lot of confusion, there's a lot heartache, and there is a lot, in a way, of redemption. But it's a longish book, it's well worth every page. Douglas Stewart, I think, is a fantastic writer. "Shuggy Bane" was- That's what I thought, was he the writer of "Shugy Bane." Shugly Bane, which is set really in the gritty city of Aberdeen. Now he's way out in the islands, but. Uh... Strong recommendation "John of John" by Douglas Stewart we're going to take a break and come right back in a little bit uh... Don't go away this is all side weekend books on 89.7 NPR News.
Christopher Purdy: We are back! This is All Sides Weekend Books, the book show. I'm Christopher Purdy with Kassie Rose, who was WOS's book critic, with Kris Hickey from the Columbus Library, and from author Thao Thai. Thao's new novel is called "The Seekers of Deer Creek." It's a wonderful, wonderful page turner. It's that family saga in a way rooted in art history. So you learn something wonderful ad read about these characters. Taotai, your previous novel, I think it was just the previous one, it was "Banyan Moon," which was another kind of family saga, also warmly recommended. Tell us, how did you get to Ohio and where can people, because I know you're promoting the book, where can people come and meet you?
Thao Thai: Yeah, so I came to Ohio. You know, I've been in and out of Ohio for a good part of my adult life, I realize. And so I think that counts me as an honorary Midwestern-er. But I came here to the Ohio State University and I studied with a lot of your co-hosts who you've had on the show as well. And now I'm doing events all over Ohio. You can find the book in any local bookstore. I love all my local bookstores. And tonight, in fact, I will be at Beanbag Books in Delaware, Ohio, in conversation with OSU Professor Lee Martin. And we're gonna have a good time. It's gonna be tonight. And I hope you stop by and sample all that Delaware has to offer. And then later on in November, Christopher and I will in conversation at the main branch of the Columbus Library.
Christopher Purdy: Columbus Library, that's going to be fun. I look forward to that. By then you'll have written your next book and we'll talk about that too. That'll be published as well. That's only three months away. "The Seekers of Deer Creek," a wonderful novel by Thao Thai. Let's have some more recommendations from our own Kassie Rose.
Kassie Rose: Well, you had mentioned "John of John," Douglas Stewart. Well, that's on the long list for the Booker Prize. And I wanted to bring up about the Bookers Prize, which I did write about on the blog, because it's such a, well, it's a groundbreaking. It's always been in terms of awards because it comes to the one novel, so it's not like the National Book Award here in the States. Whereby you get fiction, non-fiction, biography, whatever. This is, The United Kingdom chooses the one best book of the year.
Christopher Purdy: Not one.
Kassie Rose: The one, yes. And they come out with a long list, a short list, and then there is the one that wins. Now it has to have been published in English and in the United Kingdom and in Ireland, which was a change because in 20, and they made the change in 2014 because it can be any book of English published in the united kingdom. Whereas prior, it used to have to be. Not just in the United Kingdom, but from the United kingdom. And that also included the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe and Ireland. So now they opened it up essentially to the American market. Anyway, there's a book that's also on the list called "Switzy" by Emma Klein that has got a lot of attention and it's got my attention, comes out in September. It's about a 70 year old executive that's on a private plane with his assistant and he's on his way to Zurich And what's happening is that. He has, his mind is unraveling, and he remembers more of his past than his present. He's going to Europe to meet with his daughter, meet with friends. Again, I haven't read it, but this is what I've read about it. And it's also about, you know, your life accomplishments, what they mean to you. I don't know what happens to him in Zurich, but I get the sense that he's facing his mortality, and it's Well, I can't see anything more because it would just be my assumptions, but I'd keep my eye out for that. I will say that I have looked up some of the long-listed books on the library site. And as to be expected, I'm not surprised. Many of them are there, and many of them already have holds beyond what the system has ordered. So that's why I want to give you a heads up about this if any of the the long listed books are interesting to you. There's another one called... Oh gosh, I think I'm, it's the house, "Helen of Nowhere," that's what it is, "Helen Of Nowhere" which is already out which sounds really interesting to me. Whereas a man is in the country and he's looking, he's a disgraced professor and this is in England, he's look at a country house to buy and he is thinking maybe my life, a simpler life will make me happier. And the presence of Helen, the former owner though, is very much there. And becomes very disturbing to him. I don't get a sense that it's a mystery or that it is a thriller, but there is something that he faces about himself. And I'll say another one, and these three books I have brought out onto the blog, so if you want to follow them there. Another one is called, "May We Feed the King" by Rebecca Perry, which is about a woman who does. How she's a decorator for medieval dwellings in England. So like a castle or something, she'll go in and put the proper furniture there. Well, she gets into one and this gets caught up in the mystery of the king that used to live there. That one also is coming out, I believe, in September. So take a look at the long list, the Booker long list. It really can give you some good books. I personally might wait for the short list to decide what I want to read, but... If they sound interesting, you might want to get onto the library and put your hold in now.
Christopher Purdy: And Kassie Rose's blog that she mentioned is thelongestchapter.com. You know, the New York Times comes out with these lists every so often of the 50 best books. They just had the 100 best thrillers, going back to the, and my wife is a fan of that, so she's printing it out, and she's looking through it, and I don't even remember some of the titles, but she's working her way down through the Columbus Library and everything else. Speaking of the library Kris Hickey was going is going to give us another quick pic.
Kris Hickey: Here's another twisty thriller. So this is Jessica Knoll. Jessica Knoll wrote "A Bright Young Woman" and this is her new one called "Helpless." And so this book is what happens when a failed relationship, you use that for art and then you come face to face with that person again. So Faye is a television actress and writer and she immortalizes her breakup with a man named Henry and that puts her into the stratosphere. She wins an Emmy and now she's a big deal. So it's been 12 years since she's seen Henry and she goes back to New York for her mentor's funeral and he happens to be Henry's uncle and she's terrified to see him because remember this is a thriller not a romance. And she's married to another big Hollywood A-lister so she has a lot to lose. She's big out there. Her reunion with Henry goes south very quickly. He drugs and kidnaps her and takes her to an isolated cabin.
Christopher Purdy: I'll show you.
Kris Hickey: Well, yes. And what happens there is very dark and involves, you know, domination and things like that. And Noel wanted to kind of take that force proximity trope and kick it up a notch. And she did. It was very spicy. And
Christopher Purdy: Here we go.
Kris Hickey: No, since she's very curious about the pop culture trend, a very passionate, but very toxic relationships and why are people drawn to these dangerous situations. And that's what this book explores. So there's power dynamic shifts and Faye herself is not a reliable narrator. So you need a lot of twists and turns in this one, but it is it is dark.
Christopher Purdy: If there aren't 800 holds for this book before, there will be in about five minutes.
Kris Hickey: Again, people love this, and so it's going to be a high circle for sure, it's "Helpless."
Christopher Purdy: It's "Helpless." "Helpless."
Kris Hickey: "Helpless" by Jessica Knoll
Christopher Purdy: by Jessica Knoll. Is she helpless? We'll find out from Kris Hickey at the Columbus Library. If you want a spicy book, go to what's done and ask for Kris Hickey. I've got a list of spicy books for you.
Kassie Rose: Well, I was going to say these kinds of books, though, they are because they take you away from them. I mean, they're wonderful. Wonderful escape. And that's always a good thing.
Kris Hickey: And a page turner. It just .
Kassie Rose: Yes, kind of leave me alone. Just leave me along with my book.
Christopher Purdy: Yes. And Thao Thai's novel, "The Secrets of Deer Creek," wanted me, I wanted to go to a museum after I read this book and really sort of immerse myself in art and something beautiful, even though there are some very complicated people and complicated relationships going off. These two sisters make their way to Vietnam, which is where their father was born, to get some answers, and boy do they, they get some answer. What is your process? I always like to write, Ask writers what you're probably Okay, I get up in the morning, and I understand you have a child, and you're... I get out in the mornin', I throw the kid out of the house, and... Then what?
Thao Thai: You know, it is the most boring thing in the world. Every time I get this question, I wish I had some ritual. I wish had candles or, you know, a secret chant or something, but I sit at the desk, I open the document and I just start doing the thing and sometimes it works well. Sometimes it works horribly, but try to make myself stay for two to three hours and sometimes more if it's going really well because afternoon my brain turns off and I'm only good for reality TV. So all the good stuff happens before noon, that's what I say. But yeah, before I was a full-time writer, though, I would write in the most random places. I would in the bathtub. I would right in car pickup lines. You know, I could write anywhere.
Christopher Purdy: But I imagine when you're working at a certain pitch, particularly maybe if you have a contract or a deadline, two or three hours might be a lot, but if you do it all the time, it adds up. Exactly. And you end up with a book. What else are you reading these days?
Thao Thai: Well, since Cassie brought something from September, I will also forecast a little bit. This book is called "Understory" by Chloe Benjamin. It comes out September 1st, so right around the corner, and it's going to be big. So if you have not heard of this yet, you might wanna hop to the library, put yourself a hold on, or pre-order from your favorite local bookstore. Chloe Benjamin wrote "The Immortalist." About almost a decade ago now, which was an extremely popular book. And this book is even more epic in scope. It's science fiction, but it's science-fiction for the literary crowd, for people who might not be well-versed in all of the moors of time travel, all of the conventions. And it's a wonderful introduction, but if you are a science fiction writer, you will also love this. It is about two scientists, a physicist and a mycologist, which is a mushroom guy. And these two scientists were formerly married and they reunite again in the Arctic. And while there, they discover, I won't give too much away, but they discover a kind of pocket of the universe that allows them to travel back in time and reverse some of their earliest mistakes, what led to the downfall of their marriage, the most heart-shattering moment that they have been through together. It takes you from the Arctic to the Wisconsin apple farms. And it is just the most gorgeous meditation about love and the things that tear us apart and the ways we can heal or not heal. It's truly a book that will stay with you. Beautiful writing, memorable characters, the most gorgeous settings. You'll really love this one. September 1st, "The Understory" by Chloe Benjamin. That's on my list.
Kris Hickey: To read. I'm excited about that.
Kassie Rose: And you know, I love that how you said that it's for people who may not be hardcore science fiction because I'm one of those people and I've made forays into that, like Connie Willis's books, "Blackout" and "All Clear." I did, you know I love, and it was time travel too. But some like the Ursula Gwynn books and stuff, I just think, I can't do it, my brain isn't there. So I love hearing about books like this that sound like I can read science fiction and not get lost in. Too much of the geeky stuff.
Thao Thai: Yes, you can if you want to there's a lot of science in there But there's also so much story that you even if you're not into the science portion. You'll keep turning the pages. That's great
Christopher Purdy: What is your background in art history, given your novel?
Thao Thai: Yes. So one of the things I say is the best part of being a writer is that you get to vicariously live the lives you wish you'd had. And if I wasn't a writer, I would have loved to be an art historian. I studied art history at Florida State University. It was my undergraduate minor. And then after that, I began working in galleries and museums, including the Wexner Center for the Arts just down the road. And so I was editing catalog copy. I was looking at wall placards and exhibition catalogs. And so I got really immersed in the language of art and how we talk about artists and also the importance of context, what it says about us as a people, as a society, and our projection forward and backwards. So I always knew I wanted to write a book that centered on art.
Christopher Purdy: And you have. I have. And it's called "The Secrets of Deer Creek" by Thao Thai. This is All Sides Weekend Book, the book show. I'm Christopher Purdy and a quick pick me.
Kris Hickey: Um, can I share something that's not a quick pick, but I finished it a few days ago and I just want to talk about it. You know, earlier, Cassie said, you said that, um, you know, there are books, you don't remember the twists and turns, but you remember what it has given you. And that is what this book is. It is called "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurts" by Ben Reeves. And of course that is the famous line from "Slaughterhouse-Five." This is about a man who is deaf. His name is Travis. And Usually he's very impartial to the humans that he helps to cross over. He's very gentle with them. He takes his job seriously. And then he becomes attached to a family that lives across the hall, a single woman and her children. And then, he decides, maybe I'm not going to be so impartial. So. A lot of this book is, we follow him on his visits, his job of helping people cross over. So lots of vignettes of different kinds of people and his observation of them. There is an older man close to the beginning of the book who he helps to cross over, but we learn about his loneliness, this man's loneliness, and the way he writes about loneliness is just, it just, my chest, it tightened. And it was just so beautiful and so... Emotional and sad, and this man will go to the corner store and buy things he doesn't need just so he, someone's forced to speak with him. So the cashier has to interact with him, but what happens when he looks at humanity a little different, and it's not just human, so there's nature in here that crosses over, and it just beautifully explores that and. It's not, it's a hopeful book. I mean, it is not a feel-good book, but I just really, it made me feel. If you want something that's gonna make you feel, I had to put it down and cry. But it is, this book is getting a lot of buzz and it's well-earned. And it's less than 250 pages. So not a long read, but an impactful read. And just, there's something about me like, Oh, he's the Grim Reaper. Oh, then I must read it. So this book, it's gorgeous and I highly recommend it.
Christopher Purdy: You get to a certain age and you're not there yet but some of us are. Well a book like this might be especially meaningful. "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt" by Ben Reaves. This is his first novel. It's a recommendation from Kris Hickey. I forgot to ask you at the beginning, I'm sure people have figured it out, but Quick Pick is what?
Kris Hickey: Quick pick the most popular books, the ones that have long hold lists. So you can come into any of our buildings. We all get the same copies. And the idea is that you can see the book that you have on the hold list on the shelf. You can check it out and you can skip the line.
Christopher Purdy: By the way, kudos to the Columbus Public Library during the last couple of days when so many people were without power. I walked into Whetstone and it was crowded and mobbed with people who were able to power their devices, to work, to function. To sit and maybe some air conditioning because they had no power and I saw your colleagues and you going out of your way to make sure everybody was comfortable so really that's terrific and I'm sure that was true in every branch of the Columbus Library so kudos to the library for really being good neighbors.
Kris Hickey: It was, and people were so kind and it was just, it was lovely to hear people say you're a beacon in the community, you're light for us. And helping us out there. Seeing my coworkers moving all the tables to find open outlets. Yeah. And it was nice to be around people who maybe don't normally come into the library.
Christopher Purdy: And I asked you off mic I said did you make did you just like say all right? You've been here an hour get lost and you did not did not.
Kris Hickey: We did not. We do not have time limits at the library.
Christopher Purdy: Yeah, do what you need to do. This is all sides we can book. One more break and we'll be right back. Don't go away. We are back, this is All Sides Weekend Books. I'm Christopher Purdy with Kassie Rose, Thao Thai, and Kris Hickey, and I want to do a shout out to Michelle Herman, who is a good friend of the show. She is a writer, she's been a panelist on the show, Professor Emerita of Creative Writing at The Ohio State University. Michelle is awaiting the birth of her first grandchild, who may have arrived, I don't know, but a big shout out to Michelle. Whose new book, by the way, is "All the Time in the World," which is a novel for kids, and it's an absolute delight. So if you want something for the younger person in your life, or for yourself, and you want to just read something lovely, this is "All The Time in The World" by our own Michelle, potential grandmother, soon-to-be-grandmother, Michelle Herman, which is disconcerting, because I remember very clearly when her daughter, the mother of this child, was born. But okay, I'm Christopher Purdy, We are talking with, uh... Authors and writers and librarians and Kassie Rose, we're talking to you.
Kassie Rose: Yes. Hello. I have a new recommendation, which is "Discord" by Jeremy Cooper. And this is, I love Jeremy Cooper, I've talked about him before his, I talked about his book "Brian and Ash Before Oak," I think was another one. This new book that came out this summer is about a composer named Rebecca Rosen, and she's in her 50s, and a punkish saxophone player. Who, the two of them are collaborating on a composition that is going to be played at what's called the Proms, which in, yes, in London, a big, big deal. So the agent has brought them together. So the composer, they've never met, so composer and Evie, and they're very different because Evie as I said is punkish and Rebecca is in her 50s, she's married to a sheep farmer, and she's very, she doesn't have much self-confidence. So when the two them meet, Rebecca is thinking, oh, this is going to work out, and Evie's riding away on her bicycle, saxophone in her backpack, and thinking this isn't gonna work, this woman has no self-confidence. But eventually they do come together to do this composition. And the chapters interchange between the two of them, and what's so interesting about Rebecca is that, and the book opens with this, she is going a horticultural entity farm or garden place to study diaries that she has found about a woman who has. Written about her life in the garden during World War II, but what Rebecca is interested in is that she looks for sound and rhythm and that come from the gardens and that comes from the sounds of nature. So on the sheep farm, the way that what she hears from the sheep or the trees or whatever, all of those rhythms, the tones, the, you know, come into her compositions. So she's very studious about this and thinking about it and working on it. Evie is like, come on, let's get to work together. And, you know, Rebecca doesn't share anything with her, which becomes very disconcerting to Rebecca. They take a trip to Amsterdam, and at that point, they're stuck in the airport, and Evie says to her, we've got to start talking about this, you've got share this with me, which she does. And at that you see that Rebecca wants kind of an emotional relationship. Now she's in her 50s and here's Evie in 29 and she's 29 years old and she really just sees a professional relationship. So you see some of the tension that is there. But what it comes down to is you see the development of the composition, their different lives on the sheep farm or in London on Evie on her bicycle and how the two do come together in the end with the composition. I won't give anything away about it other than to say that it is Typical to Jeremy Cooper, it's a dive into the music because the names that he mentions of the composers or of the musicians that Evie meets with are real. And I knew that that would probably be true with the Jeremy Cooper. So of course I was getting online with Wikipedia or whatever and looking up and say, yep, this is a composer who lived during this time or is alive now. Because Jeremy Cooper does that kind of research. So he really knows his subject. Which he did with "Brian," which was about movies that he really had researched, particularly Japanese movies. And so you can trust him in that what he's writing about, he really knows and has the understanding of it. Jeremy Cooper might be a taste that you grow into. I don't know if everybody's gonna love his books right off the bat.
Christopher Purdy: What else has he written?
Kassie Rose: Well again, "Brian," which is about a young man who is lonely and decides that he's going to join this group of, join an institute for specialized movies. I forget what the name is in Britain. And he finds a group of friends there. So he finds like a group that they had the same mutual interest. "The Ash Before Oak" is more, I would say I would start with that book with him. Because it's about a man who's in the country and has tried to, he needed to get away from his life as an antique seller. And he just, he had a breakdown and it's beautiful diary entries that don't read like diary entries that take you through his interior life but also with his life out in the county. I would start with that one. Or if, you know, if you're like, you know jazz music, you wanna hear about, you know a saxophone player who is into classical music and working with a composer, then I'd choose "Discord."
Christopher Purdy: "Discord," I was going to say music by Jeremy Cooper, writing novels by Jeremy Cooper, recommended by Kassie Rose, WOSU's book critic, whose blog is thelongestchapter.com. Thao Thai, what are you reading?
Thao Thai: Kassie and I are on the same page because I'm also coming with a musical book recommendation. It's called "Wait for Me" by Amy Jo Burns. It came out earlier this year and it is about three different female Appalachian country music singers and I myself, I'm not big into country music so I wasn't sure how I would receive this book, but I was immediately wrapped. Because the scene, especially in the time she was writing about being a female country music singer, it was an anomaly. And so the two of them, two of the three start out as good friends, but then ambition sort of tears them apart and they go on some very different paths and then one of them disappears. And so it is about friendship and female friendship. It's about music and there are actually lyrics throughout the book. And if you're an audio book listener slash reader, then you have to check out the audio book because her publisher actually had the songs recorded. And so you are getting a multi-level experience, a lot of layers there. And it's a fierce book, but it's also very tender. It's this insider look at the Nashville music industry, which can be quite cutthroat. But in the music that talks about Appalachia in place, I found myself thinking that I was sitting on a porch in the evening at desk watching a sunset and it was so rich with the sense of atmosphere. I think you'll really love this book, especially if you're a person who loves music.
Christopher Purdy: That's a recommendation from Author Thao Thai, whose new novel is "The Seekers of Deer Creek," whose previous novel, also lovely, is "Banyan Moon," both warmly recommended by this reader. I'm Christopher Purdy, I'm the host of All Sides Weekend Books, and we talk about new books, we talk award-winning books, books that are old friends, and quick picks.
Kris Hickey: Here's a quick pick, and this one is a romance. So Christina Lauren, who is the pen name for a duo, so Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. And so this is a twist on a second chance romance with a little bit of Frankenstein mixed in. So, it's a- I'm not gonna say it, I just had a lot, no. It's a romance, but a little bit of a science thriller thrown in there. So fast paced, don't think about the science. That is not what's important here. So it's part of it, but don't worry about it. So Dr. Emory Martin is very much in love with her husband, Luca, and she wishes she could spend more time with him, but she is a brilliant scientist. And everyone thinks that she's working on medical lasers, but that is a cover because she really works for a super secret lab that is creating a compound that can bring mammals back from the dead. So her husband Luca gets hit by a car. She happens to have this compound with her. It has not been tried on humans before. He's the first. And he survives, but he's lost his memory. And so instead of falling back in love, they are somewhat starting over and he doesn't remember her or their marriage, but they have intense chemistry. It's not terribly spicy.
Christopher Purdy: He probably didn't have the chemistry when they were married when he got his mind.
Kassie Rose: And now she has a chance to remake him, is this what's going to go on?
Kris Hickey: She has a chance to fix what she thinks are her mistakes. So she's like, oh, I could try again. She's not gonna try and fix him? Well, she wants to have like, oh, I want to spend more time with him and maybe do this how she thinks is a little bit better. This is one of those women in STEM romances. They're called STEMitist romances
Christopher Purdy: What is that?
Kris Hickey: So women in STEM are the main character. So women who are scientists, and it's a romance where they are scientists. Ali Hazelwood writes a lot of STEM in his romance. So if you're an Ali Hazalwood fan, isn't that fun? If you like Ali Hazlewood, this one's for you.
Christopher Purdy: Okay that's a quick pic that's the quick pic romance about stem it is stem in s feminists who've women in stem women in STEM science technology engineering and math yes okay.
Kassie Rose: I never heard of that before. Isn't that fun? It is. So where I go to is I think, you know, there are, um, romantic bookshops that are, that are, so I'm now envisioning there are sections for stamina. There could be, absolutely.
Kris Hickey: Absolutely. And what's, what's nice, so that her husband, he's a landscape landscaper and he's unbothered by the fact that she
Christopher Purdy: So you don't mean flower stems, him being a landscaper?
Kris Hickey: No, he works, yeah, he does landscaping in the garden. So he, you know, he's unbothered by her success. So it's, that's another lovely aspect of some of these is the men are like, yeah that's great. Top that Cassie Rose. Oh, it's called the romance revival. I don't think I said that. Oh.
Kassie Rose: Okay. I'm reading a book now. It's called "The Death of the Heart" and it's by Elizabeth Bowen. It is a vintage classic that I have reached back toward. Sometimes, well, a friend of mine said to me that my fantasy reading is going back to 20th century classics, which when she said it I thought, you know what, I think she's spot on about this because for me, it's that going back a time where, I mean, I feel safe because I know. What is happening, I like also the, I don't know, the in-depth reads, and it just, it's comforting to me. So anyway, Elizabeth Bowen is someone that I wanted to read more of. And so, "The Death of the Heart" is about a 16-year-old girl who is, goes to live with her half-brother and his wife in London. You get the backstory about how she, about how, she came to be the half-sister in that. Thomas, who is her half-brother, his father had a fling one summer with a woman named Irene. And he confesses to his wife. He feels horrible about it. And he doesn't think that his wife is going to say, oh, well, OK. Well, the right thing to do is we're going to get a divorce and you're going marry Irene so that this child has a father. And so that happens. And it's sort of matter of fact. And now, when... Portia is born, you know, her father and her mother are just going around hotels in France. They don't have much money. Long story short, she becomes orphaned. Her father dies and there's a letter that says, I need that when Irene dies, this Portia needs to be taken care of. So please, you now, to his son. And they do take Portia in. There is, so what you get is the first part of the story is about how Portia's trying to adjust to London. And she also meets a young man named Eddie, who's sort of a cad, he works for Thomas's office. And then the Thomas and Anna, the half brother and his wife decide they're gonna go abroad. So they leave Portia and give her to a woman who takes care of her. Anyway, by the seaside. So you can tell by the way that I'm talking about this that again, this is one of those books where there's not something dramatic that I can tell you. But it's a build up to what happens to Portia in her innocence and in this under the care of this new woman and at the seaside in this CAD Eddie who is still in her life. It is just very typical classic reading from a 20th century British author. And she was among the Muriel Spark or Iris Murdoch. Group of women writers who really captured the mid-20th century. And for me, I love just delving into that world again.
Christopher Purdy: She wrote a lot of kind of countryside books too. She apparently I think she lived in Ireland. She was among sort of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy for a while there. One of these big houses that nobody could afford so it was falling down around them as she was writing these elegiac books. She's somebody worth knowing better. I'm kind of glad you brought her up.
Kassie Rose: Yes and she and she said about this novel she said she was right it's the interwar years and she said that she's capturing the individualism that was happening during that time that people were sensing that this time of being able to focus on yourself and what you wanted was going to end and you don't get that in the book there's no way that that is that comes through but when I read that that was her intention for it it made sense to me because the characters are. They're not selfish. But they're very self-involved with their lives and their feelings. And you do get that sense of it. So I thought that that really informed a lot for me about the book.
Christopher Purdy: That's a recommendation from Kassie Rose. We are winding down this edition of All Sides Weekend Books. I wonder, again, Thao Thai is appearing where tonight? I will be at Beanbag Books in conversation with Lee Martin.
Thao Thai: Tonight in Delaware.
Christopher Purdy: Tonight in Delaware, her book is "The Seekers of Deer Creek." It's warmly recommended. I'll bet it'll be a quick pick before much longer at the Columbus Library. Thao Thai's previous novel, "Banyan Moon." They're both beautiful family sagas and they are well worth your attention. And quick picks, thank you so much. Kris Hickey from the Columbus Church and thank you again to your colleagues at the library for taking care of the neighborhood during the past. Few days of power outages and bad weather the library my goodness those lights were on and you they were there So thank you tau tai very much. We look forward to hearing from more from you and uh, Your next book and your appearances and thank you Kassie Rose. Kassie Rose's blog is The Longest Chapter.com. Thank you. Chris Johnston for making it radio. Thank you Marcus Charleston who is our producer. I'm Christopher Purdy This is All Sides Weekend.