This episode we’re reading Family Sagas! Do they have to be incredibly long? Do they have to be boring? Plus: We talk about diversity, reading books from earlier time periods, and we say farewell (for now) to a host.

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In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi

Books We Read This Month

• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Moonglow by Michael Chabon
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
• • Fried Green Tomatoes (movie)
• The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin
• • Wikipedia article

Books and Other Media We Discuss

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
• Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• • Note: Matthew has never read these and has no idea what he’s talking about.
• Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan
• Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Beowulf
• Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
• The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
• Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
• McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales edited by Michael Chabon
• McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories edited by Michael Chabon
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Total Recall

Links, Articles, and Things

• Inside North Korea’s bubble in Japan
• Liberty Osaka (Osaka Human Rights Museum)
• Michael Chabon Returns With a Searching Family Saga (The New York Times)
• Fried Green Tomatoes (the food)
• Magical Negro (Wikipedia)
• Magical Negro (TV Tropes)

Questions

• Send us questions for our 50th episode!
• Ask us for reading suggestions!
• Do you like family sagas? Why?

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Join us again on Tuesday, February 6th for our episode on our 2018 Reading Resolutions!

Then come back on on Tuesday, February 20th for our episode about Non-fiction Creative Writing Books!