Front Porch Book Club Podcast
Grab your book and iced tea and join the Front Porch Book Club, your no-commitment, casual, and eclectic podcast about books. We examine the relationship between characters, the worlds they live in, and what that means to us.
Latest Episode
The Giver
It’s December, so we are continuing on with our tradition of doing a kid’s book, but this year, the kids are a little older. This is more like a young adult novel. Our book is THE GIVER written by Lois Lowry. It became an instant classic when it was published in 1993....
The Giver
It’s December, so we are continuing on with our tradition of doing a kid’s book, but this year, the kids are a little older. This is more like a young adult novel. Our book is THE GIVER written by Lois Lowry. It became an instant classic when it was published in 1993. That year, Lowry won the Newbery Award which is given by the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. She also had previously won a Newberry Award in 1990 for her book NUMBER THE STARS.
In THE GIVER is set in a dystopian future. It is a sort of speculative work of fiction in which 12-year-old Jonas is selected to become the apprentice of the Giver. The Giver is the protector of memories that have been suppressed in this tightly-controlled community where there are no wrong choices and no competition or conflict and even no war, no music, few feelings, no color. It doesn’t sound like much of a life but this is what they know.
Linny says she thinks a message in this book is that knowledge is power that brings us choices and also consequences. When we take away knowledge, such as is found in books, society is weakened. Linny makes an impassioned case for no book banning. Nancy remarks that THE GIVER is a book that has been banned in US libraries. Ironic, right?
Nancy said one of the really wrenching part of the books for her was when Jonas asks his mother and father if they love him, they ask him to be more specific, that the word “love” is meaningless. Linny says this is a coming-of-age book that tracks the developmental changes that children/teens face.
Linny and Nancy had different ideas of what happens in THE GIVER's ambiguous ending. Then Nancy shares Lois Lowry's examples of how some of her readers have interpreted the ending over the years. Finally, Nancy provides a thumbnail sketch of the remaining three books in the series and this gives Linny and Nancy an idea of what happens with Jonas and Gabe.
Linny said she enjoyed THE GIVER and liked that it was an easy read. She feels it is relevant today. Nancy thinks most teenagers would relate to this book and encourages everyone who has a teenager in their life to purchase this book for them.
About Front Porch Book Club
I honestly was blown away by the deep dive Nancy and Linny did into SPARKS LIKE STARS and really appreciated the personal perspectives they brought.
Nadia Hashimi, Author
Every month the Front Porch Book Club features two episodes on our selected book. In the first episode Linda and Nancy introduce the book and discuss their thoughts. In the second episode, Linda and Nancy are joined by the author or an expert to delve deeper into the book. Our book selections are eclectic: fiction, autobiography, history, memoir, investigative journalism, and classics. They are books that give us insights into how we may be more intentional, creative, and loving.
Recent Episodes
88: Dr. Thomas Jay Lynn
Penn State Berks professor, Dr. Thomas Jay Lynn, joins us on the front porch to discuss Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Tom's book, Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Narration: Envisioning Language, has been called "a notable contribution to Achebe studies." Tom...
87: Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is the oldest book we've discussed on the front porch; it was published in 1958 just as the European colonization of Africa was being dismantled. The book's setting is the beginning of colonization in the 1880's in what is now...
86: Aneri Pattani
Picking up where Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Empire of Pain left off, journalist Aneri Pattani brings us up to date with the latest developments for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Aneri is KFF Health News' award-winning senior correspondent. For the past...
85: Empire of Pain
In this investigative non-fiction book, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the role of the Sackler family in the prescription opioid epidemic that has decimated communities and families since the 1990s. Empire of Pain is an unflinching and horrifying account of how the...
Meet The Hosts
Growing up, Nancy always had her nose in a book. She never remembers not loving to read books. Linda, on the other hand, hated libraries and spent her childhood trying to lure Nancy away from books into some other activity that she thought would be way more fun. That’s right – we’re sisters. Nancy was more of an introvert and Linda was more of an extrovert. But, somewhere along the way, Linda started loving books and Nancy started loving talking about books. Nancy is a recovering academic in Nebraska who writes and Linda is a licensed counselor in Pennsylvania.