Shows
Live from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP95: Shepherds, Guards, and MurderersThis 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 al...2025-06-2539 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP94: Lesbian Vampires and Pencil-Heart ReadersThis week, Sam and Hannah are back from a heavy Memorial Day Weekend of reading, and Hannah's books, in particular, are once again well-coordinated. Even if they're a little hard to describe. Also, this is a solid Pride episode, sort of by mistake. Here's what's on tap: - "The Book of Records," by Madeleine Thien, which is as meaty a read as we've had in a while, full of philosophical truths and a building made of time. This is great stuff. - "Erasure," by Percival Everett, who is legitimately among the most important writers working t...2025-06-1543 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP93: Careless People and the Snarling TrumpetThis 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 m...2025-06-0235 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP92: Sense of an EndlingOh, was the sound crappy last week? Well, we've fixed that. New mic! Holy smokes! You're really going to like this. It's so much better. And now that we're done with Newburyport Literary Festival and Independent Bookstore Day, it's all systems go heading into summer, and we've got lots of books to talk about, including: - "The Lion Women of Tehran," by Marjan Kamali, who was the star at Newburyport, and who really captured the audience. - "Endling," by Maria Reva, a meta sort of novel set in Ukraine and grappling with the Russian invasion and how...2025-05-1535 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP91: John Green, Emily Henry, and all things real and imaginedBack to normal! No guests this week, just a bunch of books to talk about, including some big names. Is Sam's mic kind of wonky early? Yes. Just get by that. It doesn't last long. And you really want to hear about: - "Great Big Beautiful Life," by Emily Henry, which is just enough different from her previous beach reads to make a great beach read. It's a ridiculous biography contest set in Georgia. - "The Name of this Band is R.E.M.," by Peter Ames Carlin, which Sam found a little boring, but it's har...2025-04-2843 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP90: Poetry & Prose with Nina MacLaughlinOkay, 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...2025-04-1543 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP89: Cyndle's Debut!Hannah's been busy grinding out elementary school book fairs (drug-dealer mentality for the win), so the John Updike's Ghost podcast has put in a call to the bullpen, and out walks ... Cyndle Plaisted Rials! Cyndle is a writer and creative writing teacher who teamed with Sam on a book earlier this year, as well as the Beer & Weed project, so you know she's ready to go. She has not, however, read "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Of Mice and Men," so weird stuff is on the way. Here's what she and Sam had to chat about this w...2025-04-0156 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP88: Parables, Memoirs, and ChordsIt's Daylight Savings and we are alternately miserable and happy about it. Which is a good reflection of the books we've read this week. We love them and not! Here's what's on the agenda: - "Wild Dark Shore," by Charlotte McConaghy — if you like one of her books, you're going to like this one. Hannah's a big fan. Nevermind the sleeping with the seals. - "A Thousand Splendid Suns," by Khaled Hosseini — also, like "The Kite Runner," not a memoir. Sam was confused. Kinda miserable. Hope the U.S. doesn't wind up like this. - "Lion,"...2025-03-1742 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP87: Reading Banned Books with PEN AmericaIt's a very special episode this week, as we're joined by Sabrina Baeta, senior program manager on the Freedom to Read team at PEN America, an organization founded by authors more than 100 years ago to protect the freedom to write and read whatever you want. Sabrina's here to talk about book bans, which are a priori uncool, and which she works to defeat. There have been more than 10,000 efforts in the past year alone to ban individual books in school settings across the United States, and efforts to ban books are increasing rapidly, particulary books for younger kids. That's...2025-02-2759 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP86: Murakami and the Fourth WingDid you get your photo taken with Rabbit the Bookstore Cat Cutout? If not, you probably missed our 5th Birthday Party. Too bad. But not worries: There will be more parties. This week, Sam is caught up in the new Haruki Murakami, but Hannah luckily has three books to talk about, so it's not a disaster. Here's the lineup: - "Fourth Wing," by Rebecca Yarros — Hannah's been saving it and it reminds her of the time we discovered Philip Pullman (but, no, it's not that good). Perfect vacation reading. - "The City and Its Uncertain Walls," by...2025-02-1640 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP85: Is Cozy Horror Next?It's another episode of "John Updike's Ghost After Dark," a wild and crazy recording that finds Sam with a blanket on his lap and Hannah reading books infused with the number three (and using the word "tome"). We move from Anne Tyler (don't worry, she's a little bit funny) to weird French YA and cover a lot of ground in between, including: - "Three Days in June," by Anne Tyler (Sam thinks he read "The Accidental Tourist") - "Infinite Jest," by David Foster Wallace (just touching on it, really) - "Beta Vulgaris," by Margie S...2025-02-0145 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP84: Adichie and the Good GirlIt's the post-holiday lull, which luckily gives us plenty of time to plan our 5th Birthday party! Hannah's buying the cake, Sam is DJing. Don't miss it. You have to listen to find out when it is. When you arrive, we can talk about these books (and others): - "Dream Count," by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Hannah is a little perplexed by this much-awaited big deal, with its women being idiots about men; the marketeers are struggling) - "Good Girl," by Aria Aber (this book is going to be hot; maybe even as good as Morgan Talty's cover b...2025-01-1645 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP83: New Year, Old Books, New IdeasSam's had himself a little skiing accident, but powers through a mild concussion to lead us thorugh a discussion of Christmas gift-giving (with a deviation into the Icelandic Christmas Book Flood) and the joys of reading books written quite a while ago. But don't worry! We're reading stuff from 2024 and 2025, too. It's a wiiiide-ranging chit-chat here in the New Year, with some deep philosophical stuff, and a focus on: - "Anti-Semite and Jew," by John-Paul Sartre (which is in print, thanks Knopf) - "Playground," by Richard Powers - "Superbloom," by Nicholas Carr (who posits Martin Luther...2025-01-0357 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP82: The Age of Innocent ChickensThe Shop is bursting at the seams here at Christmas-time, but Hannah and Sam haven't stopped reading! With their favorites of the year behind them, they look to the past and future for new things to consume (such as "Minority Report" and "The Dream Hotel"). But you'll have to wait for the full discussion on that. On the full agenda this episode is: - "Age of Innocence," by Edith Wharton - "The Quiet American," by Graham Greene (from 1955, NOT the 1970s, Sam) - "Rental House," by Weike Wang - "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," by...2024-12-1256 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP81: Our Favorite Books of 2024Did we get this out in time for Thanksgiving travel? We did not. But we did get this out in plenty of time for you to grab one of these bangers as a present — or for yourself to read and be a part of the big community discussion. This week it's simple stuff: Our favorite books of the year. No, not the "best" books (since we only read about 75 books each this year), but the ones we liked the most. Here's the list, in no particular order. Listen up to hear why: HANNAH'S PICKS James, by Per...2024-12-0345 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP80: Big Books for Holiday ShoppingThe front window has been well decorated by mom and dad, the Polar Expresses have been ordered, and it is officially Holiday Season. So, what books are you going to buy for your friends and families? Well, let us tell you: - "James," by Percival Everett, Hannah's pick for book of the year (even if it didn't win the Booker). - "Orbital," by Samantha Harvey, which Sam somehow hasn't read yet, but is about astronauts and what it's like to be human (also, it's "James S A Corey," the fake name of two guys who wrote the...2024-11-1741 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP79: Blood, Vampires, and Moral PhilosophyIt's getting cold, the election season has been busy, and we're reading books all over the map. Sam's on a philosophical bent and just saw "The Wild Robot"; Hannah's mildly unprepared, but rallies. All told, we tackle: - "The Other Valley," by Scott Alexander Howard, which explores regret, but has some weird world-building. - "Blood Test," by Charles Baxter, who you should know, and has penned a story about a blood test for propensity for murder. - "Interview with the Vampire," by Anne Rice, which holds up great and is not an easy book and engages wi...2024-11-0341 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP78: Deep Cuts from the Boozy Book FairHigh on the success of the Boozy Book Fair (it was, according to Sam, "really banging"), a great in-shop reading and signing, and a couple days off for Indigenous Peoples Day, Sam and Hannah are in a mood, with nothing to complain about. Also, no dudes allowed, this week, with a shout out to the guy who really likes Rachel Kushner. - "The Time Keepers," by Alyson Richman, which, sorry, is rather maudlin and bad. It's not a time travel book. - "The Plot," by Jean Hanff Korelitz, which Hannah read mostly because "The Sequel" just cam...2024-10-2052 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP77: Ski Romances and Outdoor TragedyThe road in front of the Book Shop is freshly paved and Sam and Hannah are all sorts of amped up about it. No, you didn't screw up and set it to 1.5x. We're just talking really fast about: - "Factory Summers," by Guy Delisle. Sam's daughter gave him this graphic novel and it is properly obscure and entertaining. It doesn't smell bad, even though it's about papermaking. - "Full Speed to a Crash Landing," by Beth Revis. It's sorta like the Murderbot series, but without the body count, and the first in a trilogy. ...2024-10-0431 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP76: National Book Award Longlist Reactions (We're So Smart!)Have we read all of the NBA fiction longlist books? We have not. Do we have thoughts on the ones we have read? We do! Jessica Anthony! Amazing! But we also read a bunch of other books for this episode, even if Sam has trouble remembering which ones (much as he could not remember the word "seersucker"). Here's what's on tap: - All of the National Book Award Longlist for Fiction. Find it here. A lot of great choices; a few headscratchers! - "The Life Impossible," by Matt Haig. It's uplifting! About grief and getting past...2024-09-1939 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP75: Sally Rooney, Nick Sparks, and ServiceberriesSam is well outside his comfort zone this week, with a read of his first Nicholas Sparks book (it's not terrible!), and a GMA Book Club pick. Hannah's got an early line on the new Sally Rooney. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Here's what's on tap: - "Counting Miracles," by Nicholas Sparks (lots of Bible stuff!) - "Intermezzo," by Sally Rooney (it's "very excellent," if imperfect — everyone thinks the same) - "The Light Pirate," by Lily Brooks-Dalton (a strong climate disaster novel) - "Burn," by Peter Heller (it's a Maine book, turn...2024-09-0647 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP74: A Literary Groundhog DayThe Emotional Support Chicken has been named — Page Turner won out — and Hannah and Sam are satisfied with the results. Can the same be said for the books they've read this week? Yes and no. Here's what's on tap: - "Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout (shoutout, Emma Straub) - "Shift," by Hugh Howey (with some Common commentary) - "Long Island Compromise," by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Hannah "frickin' loves this book") - "Caliban's War," by James S. A. Corey (audiobook, specifically) - "On the Calculation of Volume, 1," by Solvej Balle (spoiler alerts on this one...2024-08-2350 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP73: Hannah Discovers Only FansHannah's been on vacation, where she read her pants off. She's got books. And she and Sam have a bet as to whether any of you will take advantage of the big discount code embedded in this episode. We'll see what happens. As for books, we tackle: - "Margo's Got Money Troubles," by Rufi Thorpe - "The Most," by Jessica Anthony - "Death at the Sanitorium," by Ragnar Jónasson - "Creation Lake," by Rachel Kushner - "You Are Here," by David Nicholls Then we finish up with a thought experiment o...2024-08-0844 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP72: Feminists and Wedding PeopleWe may not be winning the SEO battle, but we're reading some cool books this summer, including the latest from Laura Dave, who has a standard cover treatment for a reason. People are looking for the next one! Then it's on to ultra-feminist badass Kathleen Hanna (Carrie Brownstein was in Sleater-Kinney, sorry Sam couldn't remember), whose "Riot Girl" is a must read for music fans and feminists alike. Kurt Cobain stories! Next up is a "speculative" novel "Hum," by Helen Phillips, which pulls a switcheroo on you, opening with some future tech, but finishing with a story that's just an...2024-07-2639 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP71: Having a Laugh or Two on the DockDock sitting for the July 4 extended weekend means we've got books to talk about! Hannah pulled Peter Heller's "The Guide" off the camp shelves and found herself thinking, "the writing is so insanely beautiful." Pretty high praise. Heller even makes fly-fishing enthralling — she read it in a day. Meanwhile, Sam was consumed for multiple days with Lev Grossman's brand-new "The Bright Sword," a new take on the Arthurian legend that runs a thousand pages or so, but still reads quick. If you're a "Magicians" fan, you'll love this — even if things are getting more and more earnest nowadays. ...2024-07-1152 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP70: The Mayflower, Blood Quantum, and Great SandwichesSam has been doing research into the family tree, which is largely irrelevent, but does have him fired up to talk books. Hannah's right there with him, with brand-new reads hot off the presses. But we're not quite done with "Fire Exit" yet and start things out with some closing thoughts and a great deal more context (the Press Herald reviewer that we mention is named Genanne Walsh). With that sorted, we've got a quick overview of some summer reads by North Shore authors, a look at the brand-new "Choice" from Booker-nominated Neel Mukherjee (who skewers the well-meaning liberal...2024-06-2838 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP69: Keanu Reeves, Elin Hilderbrand, and the Book of the Year?It's summer for real now, and we're hyped for our upcoming event at Hastings House in Beverly Farms, featuring four summer-read authors. This is a legit literary genre at this point, folks. So we fire things up with Elin Hilderbrand's final (maybe) summer novel, fittingly titled "Swan Song." What makes this new literary tradition so attractive? Sam and Hannah both have thoughts, comparing her to Edith Wharton and Jane Austen. She's incredibly efficient in setting a scene and establishing character, and even created a collective first person that's incredibly effective. It leads to a discussion on voice, especially in "...2024-06-1447 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP68: Summer Reading Kicks Off!Hannah and Sam are at Clearwater Pond on Memorial Day Weekend and they are ready to rock and roll for summer's many hours of lazy water-side reading. First up is Ann Hood, pride of Rhode Island, and her "The Stolen Child," which features travels to France and Italy with a pair of mis-matched travelers who develop a deep and abiding friendship and is quite charming. This leads to the really-quite-feminist 1939 novel "The Damned Don't Cry," by Harry Hervey, which you can only really get in Savannah. Sorry. But it's awesome. Sam loves it. Like a pre-WW2 Kristin Hannah. In...2024-05-3033 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP67: Late Night from NEIBAHannah is at the New England Independent Booksellers Association Spring Fling (or something like that), and it's a late-night recording to beat the band. Mostly, both Hannah and Sam are fired up about the release of "Ministry of Time," which they've been wanting to talk about since they read it as an advanced-reading copy. Yes, it's a time travel book, but we never really leave this time, so don't get scared. We promise: It's not sci-fi! (Or, of course it is, if you like that sort of thing.) But we've also got thoughts on "Real Americans," an obscure...2024-05-1845 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP66: Live from Newburyport, with Jami Attenberg and Steve AlmondIt's a special edition of "John Updike's Ghost," recorded live from the Newburyport Literary Festival, with special guests Jami Attenberg and Steve Almond, veteran authors who have both penned great new books about writing. Steve's "Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow," is an instruction manual that allows for failure along the way; Jami's "1000 Words," an outgrowth of the writing community Jami has built largely on Twitter, offers encouragement and advice on moving forward. But how does being in the writing community affect how you read? Jami and Steve both have great thoughts about how that works and tons...2024-05-021h 02Live from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP65: Big Questions, K-Pop, and Pre-Internet NostalgiaHannah has absconded to New York City, but no one will go to the Beatrix Potter exhibit with her. Such a shame. No matter! We're fired up about the Newburyport Literary Festival, and ready to talk books, starting with a recap of Leigh Bardugo's brand-new "The Familiar," which Sam has decided he likes quite a bit. Maybe not quite as much as both of us like "The Secret Commonwealth," but not everyone can be Philip Pullman. Dude is just unparalleled in his ability to ask giant questions (religion! fascism!) with effortless storytelling. Not sure Sam would say the s...2024-04-1741 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP64: Sex and SatanismJust off a big night out on the town in Beverly, Hannah and Sam are focused on brand-new releases, of a wide variety, plus an older book that is very much NOT related to the website it shares a name with. That book is "Storm Front," the first in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, an older book (2000) recommended to Hannah by a customer, which has a great combination of noir and magic, but also some tawdry sex, which is mildly offputting. Orgies! Which provides a transition to "A Short Walk Through a Wide World," the debut novel from librarian...2024-04-0542 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP63: Jamaica, Southie, and Points in BetweenIt's a late-night edition of John Updike's Ghost and Hannah and Sam are ready to rock and roll. First up is Tana French's new thriller, "The Hunter," a follow up to "The Searcher," which Hannah hasn't read, but she wasn't bothered by this. Brilliant audiobook experience. Sticking with violent acts, Sam talks about how seeing the new Bob Marley movie (awesome) got him reading Marlon James' "A Brief History of Seven Killings" (also awesome), and how they make an amazing one-two punch. Also involving people getting shot and not dying, but a little closer to home, Hannah has read "A...2024-03-2141 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP62: Supercommunicating, Interviewing, and MythmakingIs March Fourth a "declarative sentence"? No, Sam, it's an imperative sentence. But it's Hannah's birthday and at least he remembered that, if not his grammar lessons. Not to worry, though, this episode is chock full of weighty discussion, starting with "Women and Children First," the biography of the pioneering Dr. Susan Dimock (with a side bar on the enshittification of Google), and the subject of our first Sunday Salon on March 10 in Beverly Farms. From there, we head into discussion of a cool little collection of Jonathan Lethem essays, interviews, and short stories from PM Press, which got...2024-03-0853 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP61: Time-Travelers, Survivors, Fascists, and CrooksHannah is back from Winter Institute and she has all sorts of thoughts on the state of the bookselling industry (900 booksellers in the same place is NOT illegal, it turns out). She's not sure she's a hero, exactly, but not every bookseller is in tony Beverly Farms. Also, it turns out she didn't learn all that much about what's coming down the pipeline, but she did get a little jazzed about "Our Hidden Conversations," by Michele Norris, and she's really jazzed about "The Other Valley," the debut novel from Scott Alexander Howard (it's "speculative," which is apparently "all the...2024-02-2236 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP60: Comfort Books and Badass WomenSam has covid, but it's been a good four-year run of not getting it, and it's an easy way to remember it's our fourth anniversary of buying the Book Shop. We start off this week with a little look back on things we didn't expect when we got into this mess (why are publishers so mean? How do you stock all the books that people want?), and then launch into a book discussion proper. First up is Lois Lowry's classic, "The Giver," which is an absolute banger that you need to read right now if you haven't already. And...2024-02-0847 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP59: Kelly Link and the Magic of Books about MagicSam is just back from Dallas, where he visited Interabang Books and learned of Dallas writer Ben Fountain, and so has his brand-new "Devil Makes Three," instead of a Larry McMurtry book. In the meantime, Hannah has read the new Kelly Link, "The Book of Love," which she is big-time into ("It was so. good."), which leads into a discussion of why we like books about magic, including magic and dragons, like the new "Murtagh," after a quick sidebar on Hannah's twisted ankle. That leads to talk about books on airplanes, books that 17-year-old boys like, the N...2024-01-2537 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP58: Nyx, Mercury, Murderbots, and Other GodsAfter a quick treatise on the Murderbot Diaries, Sam's all jazzed up about the new release coming in February from Kirsten Bakis, who has taken 25 years to release a second novel after the revelatory "Lives of the Monster Dogs." A classic gothic tale, "King Nyx" is a creepy feminist text you need to read ASAP. Unfortunately, Hannah is less jazzed about the new Alex Michaelides, "The Fury," which Hannah found at times "unacceptable." Just how much unreliable narrator can one book have? And just how many islands are there in the world? Seems like every novel is set on...2024-01-1134 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP57: Our favorites from 2023!Christmas is over and we've got some time to relax (especially since no one gave Hannah any books for Christmas, though she bought herself "Mistletoe Malice," not "Mistletoe Mayhem," as she says on the pod, as a present to herself). That means, we've got our lists ready — 12 books each, and maybe some more — of favorite books of the past year! We start with literary novels (we're not going to list them all here in the description; see the pod home page for the full list) and then move into sort-of genre books, which can be literary (is "Chain Gang All-Stars" dyst...2023-12-2853 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP56: Magic, Poetry, and the Frozen RiverThis week, we're in the thick of it, busy with all the things the holiday season brings to little retail shops like ours. It's a stressful time. So, Sam's been reading the Magicians, along with the Magician King and the Magician's Land, as a bit of comfort reading. He's discovered he's not being mocked by them. But don't worry! Hannah's been reading more substantive fare, including "We Must Not Think of Ourselves," which left her "really seriously crying, in a way that I love." Author Lauren Grodstein is her former writing teacher from Brooklyn, too. Then we get into a...2023-12-1330 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP55: Books for Everyone on Your ListThis week, it's nothing but naked capitalism, as Sam and Hannah challenge each other to suggest the ideal book-gifts for all your potential giftees. Of course, Hannah's in the mobbed bookstore, so a little stressed and nervous for this challenge. The mail is even being delivered as we record. Crazy stuff. Seriously, though, we've got great ideas for: Your teenaged niece or nephew (Sam really did tear up during this read; but he misremembered and someone does, in fact, die). Your voraciously reading mom/teacher/hostess (Clarie Keegan!). The sports-loving dude in your life. The chef in your life who's a...2023-11-2943 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP54: Hannah's Happy, Sam Did Not FinishThis week, Hannah and Sam are just back from the New England Crime Bake, where crime-fiction authors gather, along with murder consultants and the like — don't miss people like Elly Griffiths, Deborah Crombie (the new one was "A Killing of Innocents"), and Chris Fabricant, who calls into question the way prosecutors use evidence in "Junk Science." Then we move into Hannah's love for "The Unmaking of June Farrow," by Adrienne Young, which has strong "Time Traveler's Wife" vibes, with time travel, romance, and mystery. Don't worry: It's not like "The Girl on the Train." Sam isn't quite as enamored wi...2023-11-1647 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP53: Stars Abound with Britney! The Future! Tommy Orange!For the first time recording in the ... afternoon ... Hannah and Sam are perhaps more lucid than normal and have a lot of books to chat about after a brief sidebar on Reddit posting (Sam's getting tooled on). First up is "The Future," from Naomi Alderman, which is an important novel that people really need to read, a commentary on where we are and where we're going that Sam highly recommends. Why are we still using social media, again? Next up is "Starling House," by Alix Harrow, a piece of "horror-light" that took Hannah a bit to warm up to...2023-11-0256 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP52: Two Trips to Vietnam, Murder, and RomanceAfter embarrassing himself by trying and failing to give Mark Zuckerberg money, Sam describes his first experience with reading Kristin Hannah, in particular her upcoming "The Women," which is about nurses in Vietnam, and shares some qualities with "A Little Life," for good and ill. If you don't have a great feel for post-Vietnam U.S. culture, this is a solid read. And guess what? Hannah's reading the new Alice McDermott book, "Absolution," which is ALSO set in Vietnam. And is maybe a little more literary. Are there truly any selfless acts? Maybe see what Kurt Vonnegut thinks; the...2023-10-2041 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP51: Three Deaths and a Deal with the DevilBig things are afoot in the Book Shop — new shelving! With that highly engaging development discussed, we move on to chat about the newest from Melissa Broder ("Death Valley" is very meta, a treatise on grief, but we've had similar journeys) and Keigo Higashino ("A Death in Tokyo"; if you like procedurals, this is the Japanese master of the form). Plus, Hannah has picked up last year's "The Twyford Code," which doesn't involve magicians, but does involve the death of a children's author during WW2 and lots of transcribed audio recordings. And it's "mind tingling." The book Sam is re...2023-10-0439 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP50: Dubus, Dudes, and a Racy AudiobookIndeed, it's our 50th episode, which is a wicked big deal, and Sam and Hannah are high on the successful Andre Dubus III event they have just completed, and so you get a recaap of that and some behind-the-scenes stuff (he is very charming; throws out Ezra Pound quotes off the top of his head), but no worries, we quickly move into talk of similar dude-lit writer Richard Ford's "Be Mine," the third Frank Bascombe book. It touches off a discussion of the "shitty dad" trope and the relative rarity of father-son stories in contemporary lit. Just because you're...2023-09-2242 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP49: Labor Day with the Governor of Maine and Zadie SmithOkay, so we don't actually, like, have Governor Janet Mills on the pod, but Sam's reading the book that just came out with her letters and journal from the first year of the pandemic, "In Other Words, Leadership," and she hangs out near us in the summer, so that's close enough. Is she the biggest hippy of any governor in the U.S.? Also, we've got our hands on the new Zadie Smith and it's ... something. Meanwhile, Hannah's a little grumpy about the coffee situation (black tea is not cutting it), but has been reading the new story of...2023-09-0627 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP48: Book Shop After Dark: Bad cars, great books (and not so great)With car issues in the rearview mirror, it's JUG After Dark and Hannah and Sam are feeling frisky even though it's Bad Car Summer, even providing a little primer on not paying Jeff Bezos money. After that, Sam loves "The Impossible Fortress," an ode to 1980s nerd culture (and Vanna White), and it turns out it's actually been released by a U.S. publisher. Then Hannah really likes "The House of Doors," recently long-listed for the Booker Prize, and out on October 17, which features Somerset Maugham in Malaysia. Sam is less than thrilled with the Martha McPhee memoir, though...2023-08-2344 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP47: Dissing Dennis Lehane, Praising Ann PatchettThis week, after a rumination on whether there's a bookstore-owner Barbie, Sam and Hannah go in on some big brands in literature: Dennis Lehane (Sam finds the many racial slurs a little much and the "strong female lead" a cartoon), Ann Patchett (Hannah is charmed, but perhaps influenced by audiobook narrator Meryl Streep), Dave Eggers (his new middle-readers book is a delight), Helen Macdonald (she does sci-fi now!), and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ("Friday Black" is way more nuanced than the coverage it got, we think). Finally, things wrap up with some brand-new literary horror ("Looking Glass Sound," which is s...2023-08-0935 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP46: Violence in Aruba and Literary RomanceThis week, Sam's in Aruba, and despite trying to bring fun and light fare on vacation, he has been unable to break his string of very violent reads, starting with "Recursion," by Blake Crouch, where everyone dies a lot, and which is a lot like "Edge of Tomorrow," a Tom Cruise movie Sam and Hannah both like. Somehow, this triggers a discussion of Sam's in-development sci-fi novel. Then Hannah starts talking about Emma Cline's "The Guest" for no good reason; Cline's a hot new writer and Hannah liked "The Girls," her last novel. Nothing really happens, but it's good...2023-07-2735 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP45: Violence on the shores of Clearwater PondHannah and Sam are once again at Camp, by the magical healing waters of Clearwater Pond, and there has been a lot of reading going on (plus, the sound quality of this episode is amazing). We start with "Leviathan Wakes," the first book of the Expanse series (perhaps an addiction in the making for Sam), which leads us to wonder what exactly a "space opera" is. Like all the books Sam read this week, it's very violent. But Hannah's reading "Hello, Beautiful," which is not violent, and is rather a retelling (of sorts) of "Little Women," and is a b...2023-07-1240 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP44: Cockroaches, Art Thieves, and J.M. CoetzeeHannah has returned from driving Aunt Janet to Connecticut with new furniture that is perhaps exciting only for us, but it's now much less likely you'll stumble into the non-fiction table and knock a lot of books to the ground. Also, lots of books this week, including "Infested," by Angel Luis Colón, the first book from MTV Fear (which is a real thing and Sam liked it); and "The Puzzle Master," which Hannah doesn't remember ordering, but is an enjoyable combo package of traumatic brain injury and Jewish mysticism and creepy dolls. How do we sell these books t...2023-06-2850 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP43: Trans Men, Perimenopausal Women, and "Sally Rooney, but Funny"The customers are cranking through the Shop at 9 a.m. on Monday morning as Hannah is literally live from the Book Shop (yay, mute button) and we are ready to crank through some books, starting first with "TransElectric," the revelatory musician memoir from Cidny Bullens, who used to be Cindy Bullens (and we talk about that), back-up singer to Elton John (we talk about "Me," as well) and so much more. Then comes a bunch of stuff about books that come out in September, including "Amazing Grace Adams" (let's hear it for perimenopausal women!) and the new Lauren Groff...2023-06-1446 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP42: 'Yellowface,' Pet Birds, and Gay Mountain LionsReturn to Clearwater Pond! Hannah and Sam are spending Memorial Day trying to read while being interrupted by their father. Luckily, Hannah had already finished "Yellowface" before arriving and so we can have a good chat about the industry's hottest novel and why it's supposed to make us uncomfortable (and succeeded: "I wouldn't do that!"). This leads to a long discussion on the worry of having someone steal your work (Sam is not worried). Maybe it all depends on perspective, which is at the core of "Apeirogon," which you really need to read, just like our Book Club did...2023-05-3130 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP41: Events Season, Dead Mainers, and the Firekeeper's Daughter's NieceSam is feeling good about himself, having made some customers happy with recommendations in the Shop this past weekend, and maybe even fueled some important TikToks. Unfortunately, he mistakes Vice and Vox, and thinks Vulture is going out of business, but isn't. Regardless, check out Bookshop.org. And our Events page. Oh, and Elliot Bostwick Davis was at the Met, in addition to the MFA, where Sam dropped a bunch of acid. You should come see her speak at Hastings House on May 25 in the Farms. Nevermind about the history of "Labor-in-Vain" as an Ipswich street — it's old. Also, he...2023-05-1846 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP40: Bookstore Day recap, Emily Henry, and getting eaten by a sperm whaleIndependent Bookstore Day is over, and we have thoughts. It was great, but it could have been better (this leads to a long conversation on why we need new art, if we do, and a discussion of Hannah's new favorite book "Chain-Gang All-Stars," which is better than "The Hunger Games," for lots of reasons). Then we talk about Hannah's coming-of-age-novel panel from the Newburyport Literary Festival (sex! Going through trials!), before moving into the books we've read: "Whalefall," by Daniel Kraus (out in August, not as good as the Mario movie); Peter Orner's "Still No Word from You" (headliner...2023-05-0457 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP39: Altruism, cynicism, TC Boyle, 'You Are Here,' and Roxanne GayHannah is in the Berkshires (or someplace) digging for ramps and concerned about her to-be-read list, but she made some time to talk books, including "Rough Sleepers" (the next Book Club book), which leads to a big discussion of why people do good works. Sam thinks it's anger. Heavy cynicism ensues. As a palate-cleanser, we then engage in a discussion of note-taking — Hannah won't write in her hardcovers — and the use of notes at Book Club and the preciousness of books. (Note: Maine and Massachusetts are NOT the only states that celebrate Patriots Day). Oh, yeah, the books we read...2023-04-2053 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP38: Tom Hanks, Workplace Novels, and the Bleakness of MarsHannah is back from a three-day weekend up at Sugarloaf, thanks to the efforts of our friendly booksellers, and ready to talk books, such as "Rough Sleepers," next month's book club pick — because book club is back! Three people showed up to talk "Noor" (it's not just for employees!). But we quickly transition to a discussion of workplace novels like "Homebodies" (you're late! It's 9:02) and "Everything's Fine," which have Hannah remembering her most-recent mean boss and Sam regretting his life choices in general. To that end, Tom Hanks' workplace is the movie set, and his new book is for su...2023-04-0544 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP37: Stories, from Hannah to Kelly LinkStill a bit high on her PBS debut, Hannah gives us some backstory on her "Stories from the Stage" experience before we dive into what we're reading. From there it's "wearing books like clothes," Elmore Leonard, an extended bit on Rebecca Makkai (it's "Jackal" Sam is thinking of, which also isn't about a podcaster), and a brief aside about our general dislike of epistolary novels, before we launch into how great Kelly Link is. Seriously, her new book of short stories is GREAT (is she the most famous short story-only writer going today?). What's not great? Slack. But there's...2023-03-2244 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP36: Ooo-La-La: Is Hannah going to buy this French bookstore?Hannah is in Paris and the bookstore owners are just going right ahead and asking her to take over their shops. Not happening! But she did buy three books from the Red Wheelbarrow, with a train theme of sorts that she didn't plan, a couple of which aren't available yet here in the States. We then chat briefly about "Saxophone Colossus" (don't miss the special episode Sam recorded, EP35), and a book Hannah probably won't finish even though she sorta likes it (yes, Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell were married in Beverly Farms), but then we move into a...2023-03-1037 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP35: 'Saxophone Colossus'In this special episode, Hannah is away in France, so of course Sam decides to interview Aidan Levy, author of the brand-new "Saxophone Colossus," a definitive biography of the great jazz musician Sonny Rollins. In addition, we're joined by Carl Smith, a fellow Mainer and the authoritative archivist of Rollins' live recordings. Even if you're not a huge jazz fan, take a listen to hear about putting together a 750-page biography over the course of seven years and about the passion Rollins inspired. Also, don't miss Aidan and Carl at Print, in Portland, ME, March 10, 2023, at 7 p.m.2023-03-0735 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP34: We have Roald Dahl thoughts, tooThis episode, we come out firing, dicussing the editing of Roald Dahl texts, which we are very much troubled by. So, you die and then they change your texts? That seems dangerous and a search for fool's gold. Children are not some delicate class that needs to be protected from all potential language harms. This leads seamlessly into a discussion of Tom Crewe's "The New Life," an important new piece of fiction exploring gay life in the late 1800s, and the language choices Crewe makes, which leads to "After Sappho," which Hannah was ensorceled by, and explores the lives...2023-02-2437 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP33: Arguing with the CriticsIt was the morning after the Grammys, so we were thinking about literary awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Awards, which have nominated friend-of-the-pod Morgan Talty's debut book of short stories for their John Leonard Prize. Have we read any of the other nominees? A few, but we have thoughts, in general. How is it we've never even heard of at least one of these (Lewis Mumford was an American historian who died in 1990, apparently)? Is "The Rabbit Hutch" actually amazing? Hannah's not sure. Then we move onto "The Magic Kingdom," and why it makes Sam like Florida...2023-02-0735 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP32: The books you love with all your heartsIt's a jam-packed episode this week, as Hannah is knee-deep in sticky (sorry, POST-IT) notes full of the books we and you love with all your hearts. It's a bit of Valentine's Day fun that has taken on a life of its own in the Book Shop windows, thanks to Twitter (a friendly wasteland), and offers up some great suggestions for books to check out that you might love, too. Can you believe Hannah has never read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"? That done, we get into a long discussion of works in translation and whether translators get enough...2023-01-2644 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP 31: What Makes Allegra Goodman's 'SAM' so Compelling?It might be the hottest book going right now: "SAM," by Allegra Goodman, set in Beverly, and telling the coming-of-age story of a young girl from age 6 to 19. We've both read it now and so spend a lot of time talking about why it's so good. But we've had a lot of time to read lately! So, we also run through a bunch more titles, something like 24 in all, including thoughts about Bret Easton Ellis, why we're struggling to read hard books right now, coffee table books that are actually good, why Reddit hates Murakami, and much more!2023-01-1154 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP30: Our favorite books of 2022It doesn't get any more straightforward than this. We each share five of our favorite books from the past 12 months (maybe Hannah cheated and snuck in six?), and then we spin through the top-20 bestsellers of the past year in the Shop. It's wild. It's crazy. It's the last podcast of the year! Find them all right on our bookstore homepage if you're not finding them on our podcast landing page. Oh, and here's where to find the HarperCollins Union Solidarity Fund. You should donate to it. 2022-12-2142 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP29: Unpacking the NYT Top 10 Books of the YearWhy and how do books make it to the top of the "New York Times" best books of the year list? We have no idea, but we go through the top 10 and give our thoughts as to why these books are so big and what we think about them. We love Jennifer Egan! The rest of these? Well. You'll see. For some of them, we're not sure about the hullabaloo. We also get into why and how we bring books like these into the Shop and how we make our buying decisions. Should we have ordered more of these...2022-12-0748 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP28: Introducing Shoebert — and the moral quandaries of our timeWe're decorated, stocked up, and ready to enter the holiday season — with "Shoebert the Traveling Seal." Hear all about Industry Books, our micropublishing house, and our latest project, a children's book that details the travels of the real-life Shoebert, a seal who arrived in a Beverly pond in an industrial park and promptly became a social media star and beloved mascot. It's fun. But we've also been reading, and you can hear our thoughts on RF Kuang's "Babel" (one of the more important books of the last decade? What is the moral culpability of the person who inveted the "li...2022-11-2245 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP27: Veronica Roth is still awesome, but social media is notThis week, we're legitimately live from the Book Shop, where we've already got the Christmas crackers out — even Thanksgiving crackers! — and things are heating up. But don't worry: This is just a regular discussion of the books we're reading, including the new Veronica Roth (chased off Twitter, but Hannah remains a fan), the discussion of which reminds Sam of "Andor" and "Station Eleven" and leads to a social media diatribe; a Greek mythology rehash Sam doesn't like much; more on why "The Golden Enclaves" is awesome; the genius behind the brand-new "Babel"; the new Claire Keegan, which is not a Ch...2022-11-0836 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP26.2: Bonus! Hannah recounts her epic storytelling performanceAs teased in Episode 26, Hannah recounts her experience with "Stories from the Stage," a television show on WGBH, the public broadcasting show where people tell live stories on a theme, hosted by Wes Hazard. For Hannah, the theme was "turning the page," which is obviously relevant to her experience leaving corporate publishing and endeavoring to run a real-live bookstore — in the middle of a global pandemic. How could it have possibly taken seven hours for this to take place? In this special episdoe of "John Updike's Ghost," you find out! We don't seem to talk about books, but this is...2022-11-0223 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP26: Strategies for raising reading kids, with Cousin RickOh ho! For our 26th episode we bring on a very special guest: Our cousin Rick Pfeifle! Apparently, he goes by Eric in his professional lawyer life, but we have always known him as Rick. Or Ricky. Whatever you call him, he's from Dallas and he's got an active-reading household. How has he raised voracious readers (8 and 10 years old)? What do he and Kate do to keep them reading and not playing video games? There's been some friction! "They don't like that sometimes!" How does he manage the guilt he feels when he watches sports instead of reading Dick...2022-10-2629 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP25: Liberty reads 700-and-how-many books a year?It's a recording from Indigenous People's Day, so everyone's a little groggy, including Liberty Hardy (@FranzenComesAlive), senior contributing writer for Book Riot and host of the "All the Books!" podcast — which has, like, 600 episodes, which is a lot more than us — and a person who reads 700+ books a year! She's never done a podcast like THIS, though, where we're the ones asking the questions. How does she find time to read so much? Does she read on her laptop? Has she read the books we're reading right now? Does she watch TV? Does she agree that the Internet is evil...2022-10-1143 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP24: Cannabis and Conferences, Rivers and 'The Bloater'Hannah and Sam are both back from conferences — Hannah hit the New England Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference (NEIBA!), Sam was talking cannabis. Hear what the booksellers are buzzing about (succession planning! Kelly Link!), how we really nailed the Morgan Talty book (Episode 18!), and how Maine and Massachusetts are really different cultures but seem to work together a lot. Oh, and Hannah saw Tracy Kidder at NEIBA, too. Plus, Sam's reading more Afrofuturism (Rivers Solomon!), and Hannah is reading old '60s-era fiction ("The Bloater"! Rosemary Tonks died in 2014) where people get angry about soup. Then we move into "Bl...2022-09-2738 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP23: Which book is it that Hannah doesn't like? Also, 'Fire & Blood,' inspiration for 'House of Dragons,' and why it's a lot like the new Maggie O'FarrellAfter a not very productive discussion of whether September is the best month, Hannah can't quite bring herself to name the ARC she has read and decided she doesn't like (she "hate read" at points). Can you guess what it is? There are plenty of clues. It's a Christmas book (with no ugly sweaters). Maybe they should have killed the kid. It's unclear. Hannah didn't feel the characters, regardless. Then we get into "Fire & Blood," the source material for big HBO hit "House of Dragons," and why it's maybe bad for the world that something so brutal is popular...2022-09-1448 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP22: Hope Punk, the Women Who Run the Bestseller List Now, and Why David Mitchell is Better after HallucinogensHannah has found some Hope Punk: "A Psalm for the Wild Built"! It is not actually dystopian fiction, but we don't let that stop us from talking about dystopian fiction as well (which doesn't just mean set in the future!). Why is dystopian fiction attractive? Are we writing it for the same reason? How is it a response to utopian fiction (the HG Wells book Sam was thinking of is "Men Like Gods")? This leads in to a talk about "Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" and how reading habits might be changing with the different ways people are consuming...2022-08-3140 min
Bookstore ExplorerEpisode 4: The Bookshop of Beverly Farms, Beverly, MAOn this episode, Matt talks with Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle – siblings, avid readers, and co-owners of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms – about taking over a well-established indie shop and hosting their own book podcast.2022-08-1638 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP21: Garage sale success! Watch out Penguin Random House! Molly Tanzer update!Hannah's tuckered out! The Tax Holiday Weekend Extravaganza was a big success, raising $650 for the Eastern MA Abortion Fund and selling all kinds of used books out of the Garage (which we're now capitalizing), but also rather exhausting. Plus, Sam had to part with some books from the personal collection he was a little sad to see go, but that led to a discussion of which books Sam actually reads more than once (Hannah basically never re-reads), inspired by the new Duran Duran book. This leads to a discussion of "perfectly fine" books and why we don't really need...2022-08-1635 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP20: The meanness of the '90s, bookstore events, and finger insertionsHey hey! It's our 20th episode and we're celebrating by just doing the stuff we normally do: Talk about the books we're currently reading and wherever that takes us. And, yeah, we're at camp again, so it's a bit of old and a bit of new, with more reflections on the meanness of the 1990s (Sarah Vowell is apparently a voice actor now, in addition to being a writer), the brand-new "Calling for a Blanket Dance" (there's hope!), and Emily St. John Mandel (who can write like hell) and just how much authors hate doing book tour events. This...2022-08-0333 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP19: Euro bookstores and reading, wimpy YA heroines, and the problems with time travelThis week, Hannah is back from Europe and ready to talk about a month's worth of bookstore visiting and reading — including books like "Delphi," about working from home and being a mom in academia (not "The Latinist," the book Sam couldn't remember), and "Class Trip," a book that isn't as much about skiing as you'd think from the cover, but does inspire an aside on the trend in ski books. Travelogue and discussions of how European bookstores (Fernando Passoa! "Fortune Men"! "Consent"!) seem to work out of the way, with a sidebar on the publing industry, Sam then engages in...2022-07-1941 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP18: Morgan Talty joins to talk his debut, 'Night of the Living Rez'This week, we're joined by Morgan Talty, whose debut short story collection, "Night of the Living Rez," is maybe the hottest thing going right now, with glowing reviews in the Times, NPR, Electric Literature, The Portland Press Herald, and so many more. We talk to him about writing short stories vs. a novel, how his Penobscot heritage works its way into his collection, what the difference is between writing about Mainers and Penobscots (he's not going to make them dance for a white audience) and where they come together, how the book almost got called "The Little Yellow House,"...2022-07-0429 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP17: A New Strategy for Books at Camp and Why the Internet is TerribleWhoa! Hannah and Sam are at Camp, prepping for next episode's visit with Morgan Talty, author of "Night of the Living Rez." In the meantime, they discuss what's going on with short-story collections (do people read them?), Sam's new strategy for books at Camp (he's not bringing any; he's got plenty to choose from), whether people are too transactional with books and plots, how Robert Heinlein nailed 2022 America, and why the Internet is bad for new good books, but is probably responsible for the '90s revival. Is the spectrum of books smaller now, even though there are more...2022-06-2130 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP16: How 'Time Traveler's Wife' came to be! Plus Boston's YA treasure Kristin Cashore, and moreThis week, special guest and Hannah's former boss Patty Berg (now at Penguin Random House, she does not really go on 4CHAN, we're pretty sure) joins us to reminisce about the origins of the smash-hit "The Time Traveler's Wife," by Audrey Niffenegger, now a brand-new HBO Max show Sam can't bring himself to watch. Along the way, we seque into the horrors of virtual tradeshows, secret insider stuff about how the publishing biz works (some companies don't do paperbacks?!?), Reddit, and the various books we're reading, including "Winterkeep," by Boston's Kristin Cashore, who writes the best sexy YA novels...2022-06-0945 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP15: Updike slammed, the rules for bookselling and beach reads, and much more!This week it's back to just talking about the books we're reading, including "Bloomsbury Girls" and its written and unwritten rules about bookselling (at the Book Shop, the rules are only unwritten). Oh, and we've got an Updike reading! The Ipswich book club did NOT like "Couples" (mid-career, 1996 release it turns out). Kind of a bummer for John who "treats women terribly. They are just bodies," says Hannah. Then we move in to discussions of "They Called Me Number One" (must read, even if it's hard on the soul), "Vacationland" (beach read; we talk about the rules for this, t...2022-05-2542 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP 14: Authors Shonna Humphrey and Tanya Whiton Join To Dish About 'Breaking Bread'In a special two-guest episode, Hannah and Sam talk with Shonna and Tanya about the fantastic new "Breaking Bread" publication, a collection of essays by New England writers that benefits Blue Angel, an organization that provides fresh-farm food to hungry families across Maine and beyond. Unsuprisingly, there is a lot of talk about food writing - Shonna was once told she was "straight out of Rumford with the tastebuds of a sloth" - how much Sam hates food, and which essays just knock it out of the park. We especially love those that talk about the people behind the food...2022-05-1238 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP13: Stories of Grief and Dogs, Hyperbolic Book Blubs, and the Glory of Blackwing PencilsHigh on the success of our first-ever off-site, in-person event, Hannah and Sam talk about the really excellent "Paradise Falls" and how good Keith O'Brien was at hyping his book up at Channel Marker Brewing, then quickly move into Hannah's panel discussion at the Newbury Literary Festival on grief ("The Guncle!"). Then follows a stirring look at great basketball books for the NBA playoffs, Hannah's like of the "Lessons in Chemistry" audiobook (author Bonnie Garmus is, in fact, the narrator), why Sam can't handle hyperbolic blurbs on books ("The City in the Middle of the Night"), and whether the...2022-04-2730 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP 12: Special Guest! Christopher Clarey, New York Times tennis writer, talks about 'The Master,' Roger FedererThis week, we're joined by local Christopher Clarey, who will be talking about his book about tennis great Roger Federer, "The Master," at the upcoming Newburyport Literary Festival. Hear about how he decided to write the book, what it's like covering sports in the age of social media, what Roger Federer is really like ("the most interesting thing about him is that he's interested"), and what he thinks about "King Richard," having such an up-close view of the Williams sisters and their father. Along the way, we talk about other great sports books ("Barbarian Days"!) and how you organize a...2022-04-1335 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP11: Authorial Intent and How We Think Critically About BooksFresh off a Thoreau-down with the Frugal Chariot, spring is in the air for Hannah and Sam, even as they struggle with how to think about authorial intent. Thanks to a prison book group obsessed with the genius of Octavia Butler, Sam is second-guessing his dedication to the text. Has he been missing out? With Twitter and video interviews giving us more and more perspective from the author, how do we change our reading experiences? What happens when authors, like JK Rowling, tell you things about their characters that you can't glean from their writing? Really, though, it's about...2022-03-2941 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP10: Dolly Parton, 'The Tender Bar,' 1996, and why publishers matter — or don'tDoes anyone know which publisher publishes which book? Sam is doubtful, but Hannah provides a good bit of insight from her days in publishing about why the houses — especially the indies — matter. For instance, how else would we get "The Red Zone," a great book about menstruation, without Soft Skull Press? Also: Sam reads "The Tender Bar" and does not believe it, Hannah listens to "Run Rose Run" and falls in love all over again with Dolly Parton, and there is a long discussion on whether 1996 is actually the best year of all time, spurred on by Emma Straub's bran...2022-03-1538 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP9: Sarai Walker ("Dietland") talks about her new "Cherry Robbers," plus much more!Sarai Walker ("Dietland") joins us as our second-ever guest to talk about her upcoming release, "The Cherry Robbers," which comes out May 17, and plays on goth themes inspired by the story of Sarah Winchester and Emily Dickinson's creepy poems. Plus, hear thoughts about "The Unwritten Book," by Samantha Hunt, to be released in April, Dan Chaon's "Sleepwalk," which comes out in May, "Murder on Hollywood Beach," released later this month, and a bunch of stuff about the Maine Bookhouse, where Sam found a book from 1939 about Lucky Strike cigarettes, the Newburyport Literary Festival, and much more. Also, Sam accuses...2022-03-0229 min
The Bookshop PodcastHannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle, Co-Owners of The Book Shop of Beverly FarmsSend us a textToday I'm chatting with sister and brother, Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle, co-owners of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms about how publishers can better support indie bookshop owners, writing, the perils of driving in Massachusetts, and of course, books!The Book Shop of Beverly Farms Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan What Strange Paradise, Omar El Akkad Powder Days, Heather Hansman The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid A Lie someone Told You About Yourself, Peter Ho Davies Firekeeper’s Daugh...2022-02-2149 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP 8: Stories of saving lives, space books, Hannah's literary agent, great super-hero stories, and why Hannah doesn't like graphic novelsHannah gives us the behind-the-scene details of getting a literary agent (aka "book pimp"), after 14 years of working on it, and chats up her "Nora and Wes Save the Summer" (not to be confused with "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"), looking to normalize social and emotional learning for younger kids. Plus, Sam's reading of "Hench" leads to an extended discussion on behind-the-scenes superhero novels, which leads eventually into why Hannah doesn't like graphic novels, why no one seems to care that Jimmy Page was regularly bedding underage girls in Los Angeles, space books where "going to look for a new...2022-02-1537 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP7: Behind the scenes with Big Papi and Pedro, plus ski culture, Jennifer Egan, and the torture of "A Little Life"Following up on the big Nor'easter, Sam and Hannah chat about "Powder Days," a new look at the future of ski culture, then talk about Hannah's exploits with newly minted Hall of Famer Big Papi, who's cool, but not as cool as Pedro. After that, we hit Jennifer Egan (her first book is actually called "A Visit from the Goon Squad" not "Welcome to the Goon Squad"), "The Last White Man" and comma usage, how Hanya Yanagihara has pushed the boundaries of just how miserable you can make your fictional characters, and much, much more. Also, we looked it...2022-02-0134 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP6: Top Shop sellers of 2021, Led Zeppelin and Duran Duran, memoirs, and moreRecording during a snowy MLK Day, Hannah and Sam are in a loquacious mood, covering a lot of ground with many asides. However, we open with the 2021 Shop bestsellers, talking about how Hannah's tastes influence what gets sold, how we see local authors with great success in the Shop, and how Sam's tastes don't necessarily align. Then we move into Led Zeppelin and Duran Duran (shoutout to Ryan Abernathy), Joan Didion (RIP) and memoirs in general, the practice of guilt reading, the YA title "Elatsoe" (actually pronounced "ell-at-so-ay," we have since discovered), Sam's joy at discovering a Jane Austen...2022-01-1940 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP5: What we got for Christmas, plus a detour into feminism for boys!It's inventory day in the Shop, but that doesn't stop Hannah and Sam from talking about the new books they've crushed since the big holiday. We're talking Colson Whitehead, Lauren Groff, Joe Posnanski, Meg Mason, and Emma Brown's "To Raise a Boy," which leads to a little detour into the University of Vermont's gender studies program. Don't worry, it'll all make sense. 2022-01-0318 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP4: Our Favorite Books We Read in 2021!After a general discussion of John Updike's ability to crank out aphorisms, Hannah and Sam quickly get into their favorite books of 2021. Well, not all that quickly. They first talk about Mark Prins, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and "The Latinist." Obviously, we didn't read all the books last year, so this is just us talking about books we liked a lot. Hannah finished 70 books, Sam thinks he finished about 50, both sampled about 100 total. That's a good go of things, we think. Hannah gets animated about "The Martian." You'll like it. Sam admits to thinking of Richard Powers as "Dick Powers"...2021-12-2238 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP3: Alena Dillon on the pod! Her new memoir, Lauren Groff, small press offerings, kids' books, and more!This episode, we welcome our first-ever guest on the "John Updike's Ghost" podcast: Alena Dillon! The author of "The Happiest Girl in the World" and "Mercy House," and resident of Beverly, MA, has a brand-new memoir, "My Body Is a Big Fat Temple," about her experience of pregnancy and birth, which we manage to compare to hiking Mt. Everest and a car crash. She talks about why she wrote the book, what the barriers were to getting it published, and then joins Hannah and Sam in talking about weird stories, why it's hard to find small-press books but we...2021-12-0829 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostEP2: New mysteries, re-visiting Amor Towles, romance novels in the Indian diaspora - and why are there no Thanksgiving books?In this episdoe, just back from the New England Crime Bake, Hannah and Sam discuss the mysteries they're reading (not "sexy mysteries"), Sam's dip into "The Lincoln Highway," the new Louise Erdrich (Hannah's first!), romance novels set in the Indian Diaspora (with a segue into "Never Have I Ever"), the new Ann Patchett, and then a bunch of stuff about why there aren't any big Thanksgiving books or really any cultural artifacts. Oh, and Ursula Le Guin's book is called "No Time to Spare" and Louise Erdich's is called "Future Home of the Living God" (which Sam w...2021-11-2233 minLive from the Book Shop: John Updike's GhostDebut Episode! Including Lots of Discussion of What the Name Is All AboutSam and Hannah kick things of with an extensive discussion of why John Updike is the patron saint of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms, then move into thoughts about intimidating big books, Christmas books, authors you discover way after they were popular, and just which kind of weird is appreciated. Note: Hannah and Sam for sure know the book is called "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell," but Hannah was apparently having a stroke and Sam was stoned. Also: Sam doesn't really hate "A Peculiar Peril" as much as it sounds. He DID read the whole th...2021-11-1025 min