So Many Damn Books

Halle Butler joins Christopher and Drew in the Damn Library to discuss her new novel, The New Me, and how she thought of domestic thrillers while she wrote it, and tried to create comedy out of millennial burnout and not having the clearest picture of yourself. Plus, she brings in Samuel Beckett's Molloy, and there's a robust discussion of voice and sucking stones, amongst other subjects. Also, what's that song she's talking about?contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Hotel HiouchiTwitter/Insta/Facebook: @HotelHiouchiSoundcloud: Hotel Hiouchi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tournament of Books 2019 continues apace! We talk about the zigs and the zags of the opening round, and where we think that the zigs and zags will come next week. Zigs and zags!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's tournament of books time again, so here's a recap of what went down this week, along with the expected wild speculation.A caw-caw to all of you.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After reading Ian Parker's "A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions" piece from the New Yorker, Christopher and Drew get into unreliable narrators and what they hold (or are purported to hold). Drew talks about his love of midlist thrillers, and Christopher supposes that every narrator is an unreliable narrator. There's a fair amount of love for Robin Sloan and his love of silly URLs, too. Plus, ya know. More.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Hotel HiouchiTwitter/Insta/Facebook: @HotelHiouchiSoundcloud: Hotel Hiouchi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlie Jane Anders teleports into the Damn Library for a very sci-fi episode around her new novel, The City in the Middle of the Night. Anders talks tidally locked planets, the gargantuan effort it took to write her new novel, being accurate vs. writing a good story, and things to buy when you're about to go on book tour. Plus, she brought an Ursula K. Le Guin novel, Five Ways to Forgiveness, and everyone gets to talking about the seductive world of writing sci-fi, and how Le Guin is a master. Also, there's more than that!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Hotel HiouchiTwitter/Insta/Facebook: @HotelHiouchiSoundcloud: Hotel Hiouchi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karen Thompson Walker drops in to dream a little dream with Christopher and Drew in the dreamy Damn Library to discuss her new novel, The Dreamers. They discuss outbreak fiction, writing about college, and what-if scenarios, as well as Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which prompts a discussion of writing about sci-fi premises through non sci-fi means. And so much more!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Hotel HiouchiTwitter/Insta/Facebook: @HotelHiouchiSoundcloud: Hotel Hiouchi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew decide on their shared 4 favorite reads of the year, and add in one personal pick. But they don't stop there! They mention a couple 2018 reads that are next up on their lists, a favorite read in 2018 but not published in 2018, and ya know, more of those silly types of list categories. It's good to be back.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Hotel HiouchiTwitter/Insta/Facebook: @HotelHiouchiSoundcloud: Hotel Hiouchi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew give gifts, and then talk about the gifts that So Many Damn Books is giving to non-profits, and finish up with some good gift books to get other people in these last few shopping days. Merry merry!contribute to the patreon: patreon.com/smdbmusic: Dan Lerch - O TannenbaumChris Hayes - Deck the Halls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMz1ukOyyo8Millstones - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Electrohouse Remix) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan Lethem drops into the Damn Library and the guys are damn excited to have him. They talk about Lethem's new one, The Feral Detective, of course, but they also talk about his work as a whole, and how his books are in conversation with each other, along with a tangent into timeliness and how lucky he feels. Then they get into Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book, a classic unclassifiable Japanese work, began in the year 990. Translation conversation, and what a "pillow book" is, ensues. One for the ages!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a celebration of stories in translation (both linguistically and narratively), indie bookstores, and bourbon on the latest SMDB when Preti Taneja joins the guys in the Damn Library. Her debut novel, We That Are Young, provokes conversation about India and King Lear while her book-club-pick Frankenstein in Baghdad gets the room talking about translation. Plus, Drew mentions spooky reading! Again!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.