Hi, this is April Maza and this is Christy Shoman. Fair. And this podcast is overdue. We're friends and colleagues. Librarians. Librarians. And on this podcast we talk about books and other stuff we're loving. Good morning, April. Good morning, Christy. Nice to see you. Yes. So good to see you. It's been a little too long. It has been a while. Yeah. The beginning of school and everything gets in the way. Summer is. It's hard to
get together in summer, even for fun stuff. Yeah. Because there's so many other fun stuff happening, I think. Well, and I always have this like hope or expectation, like maybe a delusion that I have more time, you know, like I have more time available, but I don't. I'm thinking the same thing. It's the lazy days of summer. And then they're not really lazy. No, no. I just.
It's basically procrastination. So there were things that I should have been doing this summer and now I realize, oh, now I need to get them done because it's September. So. Yeah, it's September. It's September, isn't it? Is that a song? September. Na na na na. Yeah, September.
Yeah. Actually one. It's not my love for the episode, but one of my proudest parenting things is that my eleven year old now does that when they're in a conversation, when there's a reference to something in a song, he will just start belting out the song and the things that he knows are incredible. That's awesome. And I recently introduced them. I do that. Oh, go ahead. Yeah, I was gonna say, I recently introduced them to the welcome song for Cabaret. So that
now that every time. Because he's taking German. Wow. Yeah. And so now every time he says Vilkumen, now he has. Yes. Sorry, you were saying? No, I was just gonna say I do that too. Like there's so many words or phrases that I either like in my head or out loud, go with a song or like a movie or something, wherever where it triggers something. But with me, because I have this terrible memory, I don't even do it right. Or like if someone hears
me and they're like, what is that? And I'll be like, well, it's from, I don't know, it's a movie or something. It's from a song. Don't you know what I'm talking about? No. Usually people don't. And by people I mean my husband. I did make the mistake of conflating cabaret in Chicago together in my head. See that? And I think it's because of Alan Cumming, like, entirely. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see that. Totally. Yeah. And my kids were the ones who called me out on it.
Yeah. It was because they're smart. They're your kids. So what have you been reading these days? Well, that's what I was gonna say. The thing about summer, too, is I always think, like, ooh, so much time for reading. Like, I'm gonna read a ton. And the whole idea of summer reading. I totally missed my library's adult summer reading
contest. I think it ends in, like, early August. And I was so ready to join it this year, like, I've never joined before because I'm just so bad at this, uh, keeping track and joining things. But this year, I was like, oh, they have good prizes, and it's easy to do. And then I was like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna log in and, you know, submit my reading. And it was like, bee bong. Like, you're a day late. Oh, no, I know. Next year. Next year, I'll give it another try.
But yes. So this was hard because I have read quite a few good things that I do want to talk about on the show, but I decided to go with the God of the woods by Liz Moore because it just came out, and I almost never read a book like, that's new. Usually I end up having to wait for a hold or whatever. But do you know this one? I heard of it. I don't really know a lot about it, though. It's definitely got, like, a lot of buzz this summer. It just came out, I want to
say, in June, and it's. I think it ended up being the Jimmy Fallon book club this summer. Yeah. And what drew me in was that the premise, the part of the premise that drew me in was that there's a camper that goes missing from a sleepaway camp, but years before, her brother had gone missing from that same area. So I was like, ooh, this is intriguing. Like, that's different. Why are you laughing at me? The reason I'm laughing is because you said camper goes missing. I didn't think person camper.
I thought, like, the thing that you trail behind your car, and I was like, oh, that's an interesting. For a book, an adorable picture book of, like, a little anthropomorphic camper that goes missing. The children's version of the God of the woods. Yes. No. Camp. Well, I felt like I had to say, like, a sleepaway camp because a camper could also just be someone who's camping? Yeah, like, I go camping, but. Yes. No, it's a sleepaway camp. It's up in the Adirondacks. And. Yeah, so this,
like, I think she's like, 13. She goes missing. Yeah, but like I said, like, years before, her brother had gone missing from the same area before she was even born. So it's really creepy. Yeah, but it's not a horror novel. I kind of associate sleepaway camp with horror. Right. Like, all the movies and other books. But this is more of, like, a mystery, and it's a real slow burn. It's told from these different points of view
and different time periods. So it kind of goes back and forth from when the brother, um, it goes missing and from when the. The girl goes missing. And I must say, it's like, maybe like 15 years apart. And. But the way the author does it, it's, like, actually pretty easy to follow. I think that's, like, quite a skill because sometimes with the back and forth with time or different character voices, it can get confusing. Yeah, definitely.
Yeah. And I did listen to this on audio, mostly through Libro FM, which you told me about. Yes, I love Libro FM, and we've talked about it, I think, before on the podcast. But if our listeners, if you don't know about it, go look it up, because if you're an ALA member, you can get free audiobooks each month. So that's how I originally found out about this book, and I. And I got it from there. But then also, somehow I was able to borrow
the ebook. Like I said, I don't know how because it's been so popular, but. So I kind of went back and forth listening, but I like both experiences. So, anyway, so this isn't just about the mystery. And I think, like, the mystery, definitely the premise pulled me in, but it was the characters that kept me there and, like, kind of kept me going. And I think that's what I've kind of been learning about myself as a reader. Like, that's what
I really go for. You know, I don't really care as much about genre as long as I'm invested in the characters and, like, moved by their stories. And that's how this is really, it's like these different people's stories and how they relate to that, that main kind of problem of the girl going missing. And then there's this one character in particular I love. She's like one of the first female investigators in that area at the time. So it's like the mid seventies, and so
she has to deal with all this shit. Oh, yeah. But she's, like, really smart and really good at what she does. So I felt like, oh, there could totally be a sequel. Just follow series. Yeah. With her. Follow her. Follow her career, you know? And, like, because, you know, she's gonna go far, even though they're. She has all these obstacles. Oh, and then there are all these rich people. And so it's like, also a story about class. Yeah. Oh, and the rich people are just terrible.
Are they like, summering in the ground acts? Yeah, of course. And it's just like. It's just especially for, like, that first part of the story when the brother is missing because that's more like the late fifties and. Or early sixties. And it's just like terrible misogyny and class stuff. And, I mean, it doesn't get much better in 75, but it's just terrible. It's really kind of like that love to hate kind of thing. Like, you just love to hate these characters. There are a lot of
strong female characters, and I could. I don't have the book anymore, but I. I'm pretty sure each point of view, because, again, it goes back and forth, different characters and different time periods, but I think all the perspectives are female characters, which I don't think I realized at the time. But. But anyway, I loved it. It's like I said, it's like a slow burn. It's suspenseful, but it takes time to build up. And it's very thought provoking. Do you ever find out what
happened? Yes. You find out what happened to both. So it's not. It's not like a. Like an unsatisfying. No, dissatisfying ending. It's very satisfying, actually. But there is some darkness there, too. Yeah, obviously. Yeah, there's, like, a lot of stuff with the family dynamics that can get kind of dark. And, you know, these crimes that happen because there's really more than one. And then those, again, the power dynamics.
Because it's like power dynamics between the rich and poor, but also like law enforcement and children and adults. Yeah. It's really intricate. So when you get a chance to pick it up, I highly recommend it. Sounds awesome. Yeah, it was really good. It sounds like a type of documentary series that I would want. Oh, yeah. Like a true crime, you know, like true crime documentary or something. Definitely. Right up my alley. Yeah. Yeah. So what about you? So my
book is very different. We'll have to see if we can figure out the connection. But I originally. So I did read quite a bit. I went on vacation I read two whole novels while on vacation. I am not going to be talking about the two of them, but I did want to put a plug in for the new Maureen Johnson murder at morning house because it was fantastic and it was worth the wait. But the book that I'm going to talk about this time, actually, the connection to it kind of spans the whole summer.
So in June, I went to California. I first saw my family, and then I went to the American Library association conference, which was in San Diego. And the first day that I was going to the convention center, I decided to walk along the water and then cut across into the convention center. And the convention center is like this weird
thing and like multi levels and stuff. And I got completely lost. I basically was, like, walking, climbing upstairs on the outside of the building and couldn't figure out how to get in and finally, like, found these other, these two women who also were lost. And so we, the three of us, kind of tried to figure out where we were going together and had this long walk around the whole convention
center to find the opening. And through that process, I discovered that the women were from a publisher and the other was an author, and her name is Mariana Llanos. She gave me her card and I wished her luck at the conference. And then she emailed me after Ala, and it was a really good reminder that I was like, oh, I want to go get her book. So what's really fantastic about her, aside from great sense of direction, is that so she is originally from Peru and she writes mostly
picture books, although she has a chapter book series coming out. And she originally started as a translator from English to Spanish, in Spanish to English. And she now writes her books both in English and Spanish. And so the book that I requested and then I had come to me is Benita y las creaturas nocturnas in Spanish. I'm going to show it to you. But is this lovely cover. It's a black cover with bright colors. And the main character, the illustration style is kind
of blocky. It's illustrated by Coco Reto, who is, I think it's a husband and wife illustration team. Looks like kind of, I don't know, like it's digital, but it looks like it's block print kind of style. But the story is about Benita, who is this little girl who's sitting on her bed of reading a green book, and she has these lovely red glasses. So as the story goes along, Benita is reading and all of these night creatures come and try
to scare her. The first one tries to boo at her, and she's kind of like a ghost type creature. She just tells them that she's busy and she's trying to read. She throws candy at them. And then the next night is Aliento de Tunche, and he's kind of a mayan monster. The next one is another mayan or aztec monster comes out. And over the course of the story, they keep trying to scare her, and she is like, look, I am trying to read. Can you be quiet?
And so ultimately, she teaches them about books and how amazing books are and that they can enter these stories and have fun adventures. And they become huge fans of books because they had never heard of them before. The illustrations shift from this, like, black background to a white background as they go on their adventures together, and it is just adorable. And Bonita is really, like, fiery and funny. And the creatures are not scary at all, even though night creatures
tend to be a little bit scary. And the. The best part, April, is there's back matter. There's back matter, which is explaining who these creatures are. They're actual monsters in peruvian, bolivian, and chilean culture. And so Janos explains who they are and what their stories are. And then there's a little bit also about Peru. And I read this all in Spanish. Nice job.
Thank you. Thank you. I did have to look up a few verses, verbs, because there were things, I mean, I didn't know the verb for hoot before. You know, like, I got most of it, but occasionally the vocabulary was a little beyond what I already knew, but which is fantastic. And it's actually, like, what happens with kids, right? We're reading a picture book to them, and they don't know what a particular
verb is. We might explain it to them. And that's one of the great things about picture books, is exposure to vocabulary that is beyond what we might be using in our day to day language. But I just. I loved it. It was a pour belpre honor book last year. Oh, no. 2024. So this year. And it was also chosen as a library guild, junior library guild book, and also one of the best books in Spanish by the New York Public Library. It is
available in English. So it's in English, it's Bonita and the Night creatures. And the publisher is barefoot books, which I also just love that smaller, smaller, independent publisher. So, yeah, I had so much fun with this, and it was so lovely to get to meet her and talk to her and also kind of nice to not know she was an author when I first met her, you know, and then to be exposed to her books and see how amazing they are.
So that was my book. So I guess maybe, like, that it could have been horror, but it wasn't as the connection. Girls in danger. Girls in danger. Yeah, potential danger. Christy was showing me the pictures as she talked about the book, and they are wonderful. That black background with the bright colors on top is really cool looking. And, yeah, the creatures are definitely unique looking as well. They could kind of tell that they
weren't, like, your typical creature. And so I think the back matter is very cool. I should have translated this for my notes. I wasn't as prepared as I probably should have been, but. So, like, one of the creatures is a feline. Feline. A feline like, cat like monster from the Amazon. Another is like a spirit that lives in the tops of the mountains and the tops of the forest. Another is like another peruvian monster. He's kind of like ice monster.
Yeah. I'm trying to translate as I read it. This is. It also gives me, like, a new appreciation for people who translate as they go, which is very hard. And a lot of kids have to do end up doing that for their parents, and it is an amazing skill. Yeah. I can't even imagine. I was reading part of the book to my kids, and I'd read it in Spanish and then try to translate it in my head in English without looking up the words. Yeah, it was
good practice, too. That's great. I'm proud of you. I couldn't do that. Thanks. I'm trying to read more in Spanish. I also recently read a biography of Mary Shelley. It was a graphic novel biography of Mary Shelley. It was originally written in Italian, but then translated to Spanish. Wild. Yeah. And it was in Spain. Spanish. Castilian Spanish, not the Spanish that I know. Oh. And that actually is related.
So one of the great things about this book and Mariana Llanos is that because she's Peru, she's from Peru is because she's Peru, because she's a lot of responsibility. She's the whole country because she's from Peru and she's writing Spanish that is more accessible to people who know latin american Spanish. Yeah, yeah. I was thinking about that when you mentioned I. Her books were in Spanish like that. There are different. Would you call them variations
or dialects? I mean, it's kind of like reading a book that was written in the UK or written in Australia. There may be terms that are not as familiar or spellings that are not as familiar. And then when that's happening in a language that isn't your first language. Right, right. There's an extra layer of, like, I have no idea what this means. Well, very cool. I'll definitely check that out because it looks like something
I would like. Yeah. And I love the idea of, like, her just being annoyed because I'm reading totally relatable co workers. When you're in the group or children. Leave, you take public transportation and you're reading like that. Annoying, too. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. That's awesome. Well, do you
want to talk about what you love next? Sure. So I had been going back and forth about what to pick for this episode, and what I landed on is kind of a bigger topic of greek mythology and pop culture or greek mythology retellings. I have always, always loved greek mythology. I was one of those kids who got the Dallaires greek mythology book. Remember in middle school, my friends and I did a class project.
I think it had to be about something that greek mythology related, but we wrote a newspaper as if it was the newspaper for Mount Olympus. Oh, that's so cute. Yeah. It's just really been part of kind of the fabric of my brain for a long time. And I think that's true for a lot of people because it shows up in a lot of pop culture, in music. I know that there's a song by Bastille that
references Icarus. You know, lots of examples of greek mythology showing up in literature, but recently I've noticed it in some of the pop culture and media that my family has been experiencing. So we recently, in the last year, watched the new Percy Jackson series on Disney and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a book series written by Rick Riordan that reimagines greek mythology and the demigods who
exist in the story. So Perseus was Perseus. And this book series has been around for a very long time. But the tv series on Disney is new and extraordinarily well done. So if anybody is into it, it was really fun to watch. We're anxiously awaiting the next season. They did a fantastic job with casting, and just every detail is there. And I think part of it is because Rick Riordan Washington on
the set and working on it. So there's that. And then we also, my family fairly recently went to go see Hadestown, which is an award winning musical that was on Broadway. It started off as kind of a project of the creator. It's the telling of Orpheus and Eurydice as they're this couple. Orpheus is in the. In the musical and in some other places, he writes music, and he's a creative person. And he and Eurydice have this once in a lifetime love, and Eurydice ends up going
to Hades. And it's a tragic love story. It does not have a good ending. But the musical was so well done, and I chose to get tickets for the kids because they have been very into greek mythology in the last few years. And so it was really fun to see that interpretation. The musical kind of sets the story in New Orleans, Zydago kind of feel the turn of the century into the early 20th century. Really great music. And I think ani DiFranco is playing Persephone on Broadway right now, or just.
Oh, cool. Yeah. So it's been really big, and it has a touring cast right now and then most recently. And, yes, I did do realize I'm cheating a little bit. So many things you're talking about. But this is the thing that actually tipped the scale for me last night, was thinking, this is what I want to talk about is my husband and I just started watching chaos, which I. Think I was going to ask about chaos because I saw the preview.
Yeah. So it's on Netflix. It is a tv series, and it stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, which, oh, my God, he is so good. But it also includes people playing Orpheus and Eurydice. So it kind of is looking at that story from a different lens and then is really kind of focused on the Prometheus trying to take down the gods. So we're not very far into the series, but it is really
fun to watch. The music is fantastic. The casting is amazing, but it really just got me thinking about how greek mythology is thousands of years old, but still really speaks to some of these core themes in humanity and how we keep coming back to those stories and pulling on them and looking at them in different ways and that we're still compelled to absorb media that is telling these stories. Right.
It never gets old. Right. I mean, it must have been why they were so powerful at the time, too, although there were, you know, they're kind of the first stories, or at least the first ones we know about. And, yeah. That they've sort of maintained over time and get reinterpreted and more so than maybe others. Like, you do see a little bit with, like, you know, egyptian mythology and a little bit here and there, but I think the greek mythology. Yeah. Just so powerful.
Well, it does make me think also about, like, different, you know, mythology stories and how greek ones got lifted up. Is that because of western society and, you know, and colonialism. But I think that that may be a whole issue for a whole podcast. Right. Well, I bet there's like, probably scholars out there
that that. Why is it this mythology that has really woven through all of our media and there are references everywhere to it instead of trickster tales from Africa or native american creation stories? I just am fascinated by it. Yeah. And I have seen the preview for chaos, so I did think when you mentioned greek mythology, I'm like, is she going to talk about that? We haven't seen it yet, but I watched
the preview and I was like, ooh, that looks interesting. And, yeah, Jeff Goldblum, like, just such an intriguing character. Not a character. He's a person. He's a person, although sometimes he plays. Himself, so it's hard to necessarily, like, separate those. Yeah, no, I'm very much enjoying it, and I think it might be the first, maybe it's the second episode. The actor who plays Orpheus actually sings and he's very good. And I thought that was really fun, too.
I'm like, oh, I like this song. Well, and the good news about your love is that it is never ending. That's true. Continue to find, hopefully good things. And it's good to know about the Percy Jackson series, too, because. Did they do a movie? Yeah, there was a movie. It was not fantastic. Yeah, I kind of vaguely remember that. So I'm glad to hear the series. Yeah, no, the series is really great. So what do you love? So. I love, it's kind of a work related thing. Oh, yeah.
So I know. I fancy that. So we at novelist, we put on these crash course genre webinars. Cool. Yeah, we do them twice a year, and they're devoted to, like, a single genre, and it's targeted to adult readers and they're free for anyone who wants to attend. So I'll put a link in the show notes so that people can go register if they want, but they're put on by a novelist and then library reads. Do you know library
reads? Yeah. So for people who don't know, it's a monthly library staff picks list for adult fiction and non fiction books. And it's based on, like, current books. And you vote. So any library staff can vote. It's not considered like a best of list or there's no, like, judging committee or anything like that right now. Yeah, it's a popularity vote. Yeah. And it's kind of like, I think on the website they call it a collective of favorites.
And I think that's pretty cool. So should definitely check it out. If you work in a library, you can. Or if you're just a book lover, because it's a great way to find new books. Yeah, check it out if you love to read. But if you want to vote and you work in a library, definitely go check that out. I'll put that link in the notes too. So they co sponsor the crash courses with us and they're just really cool. Cause they cover all this info. Like you get like a history of the genre.
You get foundational books. The panelists will talk about popular subgenres and themes, how to help readers who like that genre or want to try it. So, like, it's good. Like, even if you love the genre that's being talked about or you know, nothing about it, I feel like there's something for you. And then the best part, tons of book recommendations. Awesome. But what I especially love about them, like, we're gearing up for one and that's why I wanted to
talk about it today. But what I especially love about it is all the chatter that happens during the webinar, like once I have attended. Yeah, it just blows up because everyone is so excited about books and people that attend recommend even more books or just talk about the ones being mentioned and bring up authors. And it's like so much fun. And I think part of it for me is like, I miss that connection. You know, I don't work in a library anymore. I work from home.
I'm like by myself a lot of the time. So like, to be sort of quote, in a room with a bunch of people who are excited about books and talking about books is really fun. And it doesn't even matter what the genre is like. We had one last year that was romance. I don't usually read romance, but I like, totally walked away with all these books I wanted to read because that excitement got me excited. So, yeah, the next one coming up is on October 1. So I am going to make sure we
get this. My husband out. Oh, well, very good day indeed. And it's going to be horror. So it'll give you time to put together displays and yeah, reading lists for people and even maybe order things depending on whether it's for yourself or your library. But yeah. So horror coming up October 1. It's at 02:00 p.m. eastern. This is not my go to genre. I've only read a handful of horror. I love horror in my life. Do you? I do. I do. I was in a big horror phase in high school. And college.
I read a lot of horror when I was in high school, but then it kind of dropped off. But I still often think about the time that we both read the same book. Unbeknownst to each other was a horror book, the final girl. So that was just kind of funny to me. But it's not like if I read a synopsis of a horror or hear about a horror, I'm not always like, ooh, yeah, it's kind of got to be sold to me. So I think. I think, though, that's why, like,
and this is the other thing. Both the panelists for this one are my coworkers, and they're working really hard on it. I'm working on it with them. I'm like, more like production behind the scenes, but sort of, I sort of know what they're working on and I'm getting excited. And they're both, like, big horror fans, so I know it's gonna be, like, really awesome. So, like I said, I'll put the link in the show notes. I really hope people
will. Yeah, that sounds will sign up. Our listeners, they love books, so hopefully. They'Ll have an opportunity to attend free for anyone. So, yeah, you don't have to work in a library, anything like that. You can just sign up and it will be recorded. There's, like, a limited time to the recording. But honestly, this is one of those webinars that if you can watch it in the moment, it's so much better because, like I said, the chat is so lively and it's
part of the fun. I don't think you get the same, you know, you get the info from the webinar when it's recorded, but it's not that same, I think, kind of feeling and excitement. Yeah. I also just know for me, so many times if I don't watch it live, it goes on the back burner, and then I almost never end up watching recording. So if you can try to catch it live, and I think people will love it just as much as I do. And we do them twice a year. And so then you can get on our mailing list.
I think we have one just for the crash courses. Like, if you're interested in those. But also if you subscribe to our newsletter, and this is the novelist newsletter I'm talking about, we don't have one for our podcast, so don't try to subscribe. You can be connected to us on the podcast. Yes. You can email [email protected]. or you can follow us on Instagram. This pod is overdue. We post pictures of books, which reminds me, I need to take a picture of
my book. And we post connections to other things that we are loving and reading there, and we love to hear from you. Yes. And sometimes we post pictures of ourselves. Yeah. When we can get together. Yeah. And we do also have a Patreon, so if you want to support us in another way, we use that for our recording software. And. And really, that's it. Yeah. It's not, it's not. This is a nonprofit, non profit organization. And. And then we have the ko fi, which you
can send us a coffee, or. We always like to remind people just to, if you rate us, review us, subscribe, that helps the podcast or share. It with your friends. Yes, please. Yeah. Because we love doing this, and we want to make sure that we're doing things that you guys like to listen to. Yes, that's true. Yeah. Definitely write to us. We love to hear from you and. Yeah. And I think that might
be it for today. Wow. Short one. We are, my husband and I are off on an adventure today, so we recorded early today, and I'm gonna get in the car and drive far, far away. You're going to be royalty at King Richard's fair. Yeah. I don't know if we'll be royalty. But maybe you'll be peasants. I was a peasant when I used to go to the Renaissance fair. Oh, really? I was a naughty peasant. I had my own costume and a green skirt. So if, you know, you know, I don't know.
So green was not a color that was like. That was used to dye fabrics. So if a woman had a green skirt, it often happened because she was on grass somewhere. That's awesome. Yes. Which, of course, as my naive, innocent teen self did not know this until after I got the skirt. Oh, that is hilarious. So you're getting followed around? Oh, yeah. Oh, it was. The first year was. Yeah. We are not going in costume today.
I'm done with that. I've only been once, and I do think the funniest thing to me was, like, walking around and seeing people in these sort of, like, middle ages costumes, but on their cell phones or, you know, drinking out of a plastic cup. And it was just the dichotomy was funny. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I think you will have fun. We're cleaning out our attic. That sounds just as exciting. Yeah. Well, I hope, though, that we both get some reading in and also for our listeners.
Absolutely. So, yeah. Happy reading. Happy reading. Bye bye. Thanks for listening. To this podcast is overdue with Christy and April. Bye, everyone. Happy reading. September na na na naehethere.