Ep 18: Drunk Booksellers LIVE
Epigraph
Welcome to Episode 18, our first ever LIVE show, recorded on September 28th at King's Books in Tacoma, WA. We rapid-fire interviewed three booksellers and two authors. Surprisingly, the audio is better than episodes recorded in the comfort of our homes.
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This episode is sponsored by Soft Skull, Counterpoint, and Catapult. Special thanks to Joe and Stephanie Douglas, Big Hair Studios, Allen Watke, Phil Heaven and the Midnight Mystery Players, and George Kaas for the equipment loan that made this recording possible. And of course thanks to Sam Kaas (who longtime listeners may recognize from Episode 7) our production manager without whom this whole episode would not have been amplified, recorded, nor kept on track.
Chapter I: [2:51]
In Which We Order a Mistress, Discuss Female Rage, and Are Def Profesh at This Whole Live Show Thing
Kim's Drinking: Hop Valley Citrus Mistress
Emma's Drinking: Elysian Men's Room
Kim's Reading:
The Book of Dust 1: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
Emma's Reading & Excited About:
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney C Cooper
Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister
Emma is really into female rage right now, nbd.
Kim's Excited About:
Vanishing Twins: A Marriage by Leah Dieterich
also mentioned, And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O'Connell because (spoiler alert) we interview both authors later in the episode!
Chapter II: [7:25]
In Which We Talk About Big Books and Definitely Lie, Kim Gushes Over Leah Dieterich, and We Suggest People Stop Listening to Us and Buy Books Instead
sweet pea Flaherty, owner of King's Books in Tacoma, WA
For the record, A Room of One's Own is still a feminist bookstore
King's Books has fourteen book clubs, including one that only reads books about cults and one that only reads books about medical issues. They also have such unconventional events as virtual reality film showings and 80s workout nights (#Cher).
sweet pea's Reading:
Before She Sleeps by Bina Shah
sweet pea's Excited About:
Training School for Negro Girls by Camille Acker
Nanny Helen Burroughs (she's a person, not a book—but sweet pea wishes there was a book about her)
sweet pea's Desert Island Pick:
a book large enough to act as a sun hat
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
sweet pea's Bookseller Confession:
"being a bookstore owner and event planner and bookkeeper and etc... that I don't have a lot of time to read"
Uh, can all the booksellers whose "confession" this is raise their hands?
sweet pea's Favorite Bookstore:
a bookstore in the back of an antique store in Knoxville, TN (if you know what bookstore this is, tweet us!)
Dixon Street Bookshop in Fayetteville, AR
Find sweet pea On the Internets:
King's Books
Facebook doesn't let you have "queer" in your name and challenged sweet pea's legal name twice
Our first guest author, Leah Dieterich, is the author of Vanishing Twins (Soft Skull)
Leah's Reading:
Amateur: A True Story about What Makes a Man by Thomas Page McBee
This is an artistic rendition of Kim's reaction to Leah's "what are you reading" answer:
The back covers of Soft Skull's galleys are on point:
Leah's Favorite Bookstore(s):
Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CA
Powell's in Portland, OR
Find Leah on the Internets:
Chapter III: [22:03]
In Which We Discuss Sex With Frog Men, Realize America Is Doing Bookstores Wrong, and We Make the Audience Curse In Unison
Ariana Paliobagis, owner of Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, MT
Ariana's Reading:
Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls
"a woman falls in love with a frog man; [he] shows up at her door... and she takes him in, in all the ways"
Ariana's Excited About:
Trinity by Louisa Hall (also mentioned, Speak by Louisa Hall)
Ariana's Station Eleven Pick:
What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J Sandel
We are impressed by Ariana's practicality and thus let her, and the audience, in on our secret post-apocalypse library.
Ariana's Impossible Handsell:
English, August: An Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee (also mentioned, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh)
Ariana's Favorite Bookstore:
Librairie Actes Sud (it's in France, be jealous)
Find Ariana On the Internets:
Country Bookshelf
Our second guest author is Meaghan O'Connell, author of And Now We Have Everything (Little, Brown and Company)
Photo by Kelly Searle
Meaghan's Reading:
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Meaghan's Favorite Bookstore:
WORD (a bookstore that brings true love [Meaghan and Dustin, Emma and Kim] together)
Find Meaghan On the Internets
Chapter IV: [38:38]
In Which We Save Quarters to Buy Bookstores, Discuss Tricky Toddlers Who Sit On Toilets for Books, and Wrap This Shit Up
Jenny Cohen, co-owner of Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River, OR
Jenny's Reading:
Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right by Jamie Glowacki
Jenny's Excited About:
Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family by Mitchell Jackson (out March 5, 2019)
Jenny's Wild Pick:
Juliet by Anne Fortier
Fun fact, Waucoma Bookstore is only about 20 miles away from the Pacific Crest Trail where Cheryl Strayed ended her Wild trip.
Quick plug for Books & Whatnot, a newsletter by the wonderful Beth Golay
Jenny's Book for Booksellers:
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
Jenny's Favorite Bookstore:
Burnside Powell's in Portland, OR (but before the remodel)
Find Jenny on the Internets:
Waucoma Bookstore
Epilogue
In which You See Us Shop for Booze and We Tell You Where to Find Us on the Internets
Twitter: @drunkbookseller
Litsy: @drunkbooksellers
Newsletter
Website
Emma tweets from @thebibliot and is working on a newsletter where she writes about books. Kim occasionally tweets from @finaleofseem, but not enough to justify you bothering to follow her.
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