024: Do You Even Fantasy, Bro?

Magic! Friendship! Gratitude! Tom Petty! We may have thought fantasy wasn't our thing, but it turns out... we were wrong. (First time for everything!) 

Bookish News:

• Dietland is being made into a TV series on AMC. Kirkus describes it as “Part Fight Club, part feminist manifesto, an offbeat and genre-bending novel that aims high—and delivers.”
• Great list of literary adaptions that are on Netflix: Startdust, The Iron Giant, Revolutionary Road, Carole, Sherlock, Carol, The Magicians, Cruel Intentions, Alias Grace… SO MANY
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Andrew Sean Greer's, Less.

Two Book Minimum:

• Human Acts by Han Kang
• No Time To Spare by Ursula K. LeGuin ("The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is 'escapism' an accusation of?")
• Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut ("If this isn't nice, what is?")
• You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein

She Said/She Said: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

If you miss the magical feeling you got from fairy tales as a kid,this book is for you! Agnieshka lives in a idyllic village. Her country is at war with its neighbor, and between them lies a corrupted Wood, filled with malice that occasionally breaks through. Every 10 years, The Dragon, the local wizard who keeps The Wood at bay, demands his payment of the most exceptional young women from the village, who comes live in his tower as a servant. Everyone knows this time the Dragon will take Nieshka’s lovely best friend, Kasia. She’s desperate to save Kasia, but to everyone’s surprise (and the Dragon’s reluctance) he finds magic in Nieshka, and is forced to take her for training. But Nieshka’s magic is very different than The Dragons, and that, friends, is the start of our tale!

What's Happening in Lawrence/LPL:

• The Circulating Board Game Collection is here!! Modern and classic board games that appeal to a broad range of ages, including adults, teens and families. We'll have strategy games, role playing games, card games, and popular classics. Limit one board game per library card at a time, two-week checkout, can be renewed if no holds.
• J. Drew Lanham - Thursday, May 24th at 7pm at Liberty Hall!

Twice a month, the librarians are in, with their favorite recommendations in Two Book Minimum, a toe-to-toe discussion on a book or topic, as well as news from the book world, updates from Lawrence Public Library, and beyond.

This episode was produced by Jim Barnes in the Sound & Vision studio. Our theme song is by Heidi Lynne Gluck. You can find the Book Squad Podcast on iTunes, opens a new window, Stitcher, opens a new window, or SoundCloud, opens a new window. Please subscribe and leave us comments – we’d love to know what you think, and your comments make it easier for other people to find our podcast. Happy reading and listening! xo, Polli & Kate