Blind Date With a Book

On this episode, we're setting up Sterling Melcher. Sterling is an multidisciplinary artist who lives in Philly. His work investigates the connections between performance, absurd philosophy, hard sciences, and the political landscape. He also manages a restaurant, so his weekends and nights are usually busy. Sterling’s favorite season is fall, for its mood lighting and perfect wardrobe options, and his dream vacation would be backpacking in Scandinavia, then skipping over to St. Petersburg before flying back to the US. He’s a self proclaimed movie snob, especially in that he believes movies should be experienced in a theater with others, and his perfect double feature is watching the slasher film Mandy, starring Nicholas Cage, leading into the 2019 film version of Cats. The picks Open Me by Lisa Locasio The Seventh Mansion by Maryse Meijer Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Rachel chats with Emi Nietfeld, author of the debut memoir, ACCEPTANCE. ACCEPTANCE comes out on August 2, 2022, and follows Emi during her young adulthood, through the foster care system, mental health facilities, residence at an arts high school, temporary homelessness, and more on her way to college and beyond. Emi talks about the process of writing a memoir, plus recommendations for books she's loved recently. Find Emi on Twitter, Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter. The Books We Talked About: Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld Blueprint your Bestseller by Stuart Horwitz Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford  NSFW by Isabel Kaplan  Post Traumatic by Chantal B Johnson  Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen  Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (audiobook)  Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress

Bonus episode with the fabulous, and hilarious, Ginny Hogan (who is always on Twitter). Rachel and Ginny talk about her new book, I'm More Dateable than a Plate of Refried Beans, out May 3rd, plus discuss dating while funny, writing humor, and some book recommendations. Books talked about on this episode include: A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Excellent Women by Barbara Pym Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan Cheat Day by Liv Stratman

In this special bonus episode, Kristen talks with Adrienne Celt, a novelist and cartoonist. Celt is the author of the novels End of the World House, Invitation to a Bonfire, and The Daughters, which won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR. She has also published a collection of comics, Apocalypse How? An Existential Bestiary and publishes weekly comics at Love Among the Lampreys. We go deep on writing a book about friendship, Adrienne's writing inspirations, Silicon Valley, the importance of art, and translating Russian classics just for the heck of it. Adrienne also shares the books she's loved reading recently and answers questions from our dating app-inspired questionnaire in a lightning round.   Works Discussed End of the World House by Adrienne Celt The Daughters by Adrienne Celt Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin, translated by Sophie R. Lewis War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy Severance (Apple TV+) Yellowjackets (Showtime) Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max) Adrienne's Local Indie Bookstore Antigone Books (Tucson, AZ) Where to Find Adrienne www.adriennecelt.com Love Among the Lampreys Twitter Where to Find Us Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Episode 5: Show notes A senior TV writer at Refinery29, Ariana Romero should be your your go-to person for enthusiastic show recommendations and thoughtful takes on TV's latest on and off-screen drama. She specializes in streaming TV, reality shows like The Bachelor, and Latinx-led entertainment. She loves brunch, does not love classic books, and could give an on-the-spot TED talk about how everything, yes everything, is actually a soap opera. In the show, we talk books like The Bachelor, telenovelas, and why romance novels might induce jealousy (it's a thing). The guest: Ariana Romero The picks: You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria Sea Monster by Chloe Aridjis How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun This episode’s featured bookstores: A Room of One’s Own Bookstore in Madison, WI. Words Bookstore in Maplewood, NJ Ebenezer Books in Johnson, VT Where to find us: Twitter Instagram For More Information

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.  The guest: Chris Gonzalez, author of the forthcoming collection I'm Not Hungry but I Could Eat The picks: The End by Fernanda Torres Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade Cars on Fire by Monica Ramon Rios  We Eat Our Own by Kea Wilson You can order all of these by contacting Two Dollar Radio HQ directly! https://twodollarradiohq.com/contact/ They also have a book subscription service for “blind date” style books! https://twodollarradiohq.com/memberships/ Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Apologies for the editing weirdness in the first few minutes! I promise, the juice is worth the squeeze.  Rachel talks with Julia Fine about her new novel, The Upstairs House, writing about two historical literary figures, tattoos, and more.  The books recommended in this episode: Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened By the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus Who Tells Me True by Michael Strange Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Find Julia Fine on her website or on Twitter. Catch up with Blind Date with a Book on Twitter, Instagram, or our website. Until next time, keep reading!

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenny, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation. This week’s show also features a discussion of Moby Dick in quarantine and what it’s like to be in tech today. The guest: Carrie Tian The picks: Elena Pick One: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802129628) Kristen Pick One: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9781328764522) Rachel Pick One: Weird but Normal by Mia Mercado (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780062942807) Elena Pick Two: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780358380887) Kristen Pick Two: The Heavens by Sandra Newman (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780802147974) Rachel Pick Two: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (https://www.bookculture.com/book/9780525541349) Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with.  Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet, Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena Carrie Tian: Twitter @carrietian, Website https://carrietian.com/

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions. In each episode, hosts Kristen Evans, Rachel Mans McKenney, and Elena Nicolaou go head-to-head to give the best recommendation.  The guest: Alexa Nicolaou The picks: The Mercies by Kiran Milwood Hargrave. (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316529259) And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9781631498688) Circe by Madeline Miller (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316556323) The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780316229296) We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525565437) The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (https://www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9780525534976) Where to find us: Kristen Evans: Twitter @paperalphabet,   Rachel Mans McKenney: Twitter @rmmckenny, Instagram @rachelmansmckenney Elena Nicolaou: Twitter @elenawonders, Instagram @booksandelena

This is Blind Date With a Book, the podcast that matches guests up with their literary soulmates using dating app questions.

Looking to cozy down with a book this winter? In this episode, we discuss the definition of a "winter read" (and if there is one), and share our picks for books to read this season. Books Mentioned The Secret History by Donna Tartt Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin Babel by R.F. Kuang St. Sebastian's Abyss by Mark Haber The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins The Method by Isaac Butler The Women in the Library by Sullari Gentill The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin Books of Anthony Horowitz (The Word is Murder and The Magpie Murders) The Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch

On this special bonus episode of Blind Date With a Book, we sit down with Meghan Phillips to discuss our favorite boarding school novels. Meghan is the author of the upcoming flash fiction chapbook Abstinence Only. Titles mentioned include: The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik The Lightness by Emily Temple Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones Skippy Dies by Paul Murray Bonus picks At Briarwood School for Girls by Michael Knight Plain Bad Heroines by emily m danforth True Biz by Sara Novic The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Today, we're setting up Nicole Brinkley, Bookseller and Manager at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY (and host of the Misshelved podcast). Nicole read and recently loved Year of the Witching and A Spindle Splintered, and she’s Oblong’s resident specialist for kids and SciFi Fantasy books. She loves autumn, and is impressed by other people’s generosity with their friends. She could give an on-the-spot TED talk about why frontline booksellers should make more money (we agree), or how Slenderman has big arms for big hugs. She’s looking to expand her reading list outside of her usual genres, and we’re more than happy to help. The picks Shop from the Lit.Bar Neon Gods by Katee Robert My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales Well Matched by Jen DeLuca The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

This episode, we're setting up Chelsey Hill, chorus manager and New York City-based illustrator. Chelsey’s work is often inspired by eccentric New Yorkers, as well as legendary musicians and performers. Her work has been featured as part of the LinkNYC Urban Haiku program, the Women Conductor’s Series, and clients include the Met Opera Chorus, Broadway Roulette and more. She recently read and loved Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and she’s a total fan of sweater weather and awesome coats. She adores iced coffee, doesn’t believe in horoscopes, and wouldn’t consider herself a romantic. Her dream vacation would be to Scotland, and she loved Somebody Somewhere on HBO’s nice nod to Midwestern life. The picks Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett Pop Song by Larissa Pham Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub Bel Canto by Ann Patchett Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

On this week's show, we're setting up Bria Schirripa. Bria is a product manager by day and a writer and creator by night. She documents the latest happenings in New York’s charming West Village neighborhood on her page, the Bleecker Street Beat. Naturally, her dream Saturday consists of a walk in the neighborhood, in addition to drinking an overpriced latte and hoping for a Timothee Chalamet sighting.  Bria is an avid reader, and recently loved the novels The Boys Club by Erica Katz, Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews, and Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner, but generally doesn’t love fantasy novels. A self-proclaimed snob about pasta, her dream vacation would be in Florence. She thinks she would have thrived in the late ‘70s and ‘80s thanks to big hair and disco. The guest: Bria Schirripa The picks: Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Beauty Queens by Libba Bray Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter Malibu Rising by Taylor Reid Jenkins Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

On this week's show, we're setting up John-Paul Gurnett, a multidisciplinary artist. JP is the co-founder of Queer Nite and serves as communications director for BFF Omaha, both now long-running queer institutions in Nebraska. When not building community through arts engagement, he taught English as a Second Language in a high school.  JP recently read and loved A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt and Go Home, Ricky! by Gene Kwak, but sometimes struggles with reading fiction since he often reads with a priority to learn. He absolutely believes in astrology, and is a aries sun, sag moon, and gemini rising. He can be a snob about music and art, and he recently adored Yellowjackets. The guest: JP Gurnett The picks: Head over to Montana  Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service by Tajja Isen Bath Haus by PJ Vernon Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

On this week's show, we're setting up Shalita Grant, actress and founder of the company Four Naturals Hair. Shalita is a Tony-award nominated actress whose career on the stage has included runs at The Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater, including originating the role of Cassandra in Christopher Durang's comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Grant is well known for her recurring character on NCIS: New Orleans, Search Party, the Santa Clarita Diet, and the most recent season of YOU. She recently read and loved Octavia Butler’s  Bloodchild and other short stories and Brene Brown’s Power of Vulnerability, and says that she loves fall (especially because of the cozy socks) and could spend a whole autumn season in Barcelona. Her perfect day includes a hike with her girlfriend and a cuddle with her dogs, and she’s a snob about pizza. The guest: Shalita Grant The picks: In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado The Verifiers by Jane Pek Trust Exercise by Susan Choi The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Today, we're setting up Celia Aniskovich, New York City-based director and producer, well known for her co-production of How to Fix a Drug Scandal and her production of Surviving Jefferey Epstein. In 2021, she released a six-part podcast series for Wondery called the Spy Affair about Maria Butina and is working on a feature length film about disability rights. She recently read and loved How to Stop Time by Matt Haig and A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest Gaines. She considers herself a romantic, and her dream Saturday is a loungey morning with pastries and a long walk. If tattoos only lasted one year, she’d get the line “Do it for the Fat Lady” from her favorite book, Franny and Zooey, though she says she doesn’t love classics. She thinks everyone should watch One Tree Hill and she is a snob about snobby people. The Guest: Celia Aniskovitch The Picks Plain Bad Heroines by emily m danforth End of the World House by Adrienne Celt Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez Go Home, Ricky by Gene Kwak Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

Today, we're setting up Molly Armstrong, a social justice analyst who focuses on child welfare issues. She has received the prestigious Kathryn A McDonald Award in Service in the NYC Family Court and was a Root-Tilden Scholar at NYU School of Law. She enjoys relaxing with a long walk, good book, and a delicious meal– but you probably won’t watch her enjoying reality TV, which she thinks is too cringey. She recently loved Michael Lewis’s The Premonition and Louise Penny’s All the Devils are Here. Her favorite season is fall, and if tattoos only lasted one year, she would get a tattoo of Our Lady of Guadalupe because of Our Lady’s strong feminine energy. The Guest: Molly Armstrong The Picks:  Judas by Astrid Holleeder When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel Matrix by Lauren Groff Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.

This episode, our guest is Aparna Shewakramani. Aparna is a lawyer from Houston, who was a cast member of the Netflix show Indian Matchmaking. Her book, “She’s Unlikeable and Other Lies that Bring Women Down” came out in Spring 2022, and she’s also the founder of the travel company, My Golden Balloon. She recently read and loved Homegoing and The Vanishing Half and has a tattoo that she got during a study abroad in Japan. Her dream vacation would include adventures, with luxury hotels at each stop. She always picks Britney songs for karaoke, and is impressed by other people who are entrepreneurs and can believe in their vision. The guest: Aparna Shewakramani The picks:  Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge 50 Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen Or order directly from our winning bookstore here Where to find us: Find our show online at blinddatewithabookpod.com and @bookmeetcute on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow and tell us all the books you've fallen in love with recently.