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
124: Kate Schatz
KATE SCHATZ joins us on the front porch for a rollicking and deeply felt conversation about her novel, WHERE THE GIRLS WERE. She's the New York Times-bestselling author of the RAD WOMEN book series; the novel WHERE THE GIRLS WERE; the 33 ⅓ BOOK RID OF ME: A STORY;...
124: Kate Schatz
KATE SCHATZ joins us on the front porch for a rollicking and deeply felt conversation about her novel, WHERE THE GIRLS WERE. She's the New York Times-bestselling author of the RAD WOMEN book series; the novel WHERE THE GIRLS WERE; the 33 ⅓ BOOK RID OF ME: A STORY; and DO THE WORK: AN ANTI-RACIST ACTIVITY BOOK, co-written with “United Shades of America” host W. Kamau Bell. Kate tells us WHERE THE GIRLS WERE was inspired by her mom’s experience of having two unplanned pregnancies in 1960’s San Francisco and being sent to private homes to wait out the pregnancies. Kate had never heard of this practice. Her research eventually led her write this book.
One theme that comes through clearly in WHERE THE GIRLS WERE is the unequal burden women bear from the consequences of unprotected sex. Yet, the book mentions that for as long as there have been sex and babies, women are taking care of each other. Kate did want this truth to be evident in Baker’s story. The care women have taken, has often looked like hiding and secrecy. Kate also didn’t want Wiley to be a jerk. He’s just a dude. But she did want to show he just gets to walk away and continue his life.
Linny also mentions Nancy and her experience in visiting a commune!
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
97: The Mighty Red
Nancy is excited that we are reviewing a Louise Erdrich book, THE MIGHTY RED, her latest novel, published last year. Nancy read Erdrich's book, THE BINGO PALACE, a number of years ago (it was published in 1994) and really loved it. THE MIGHTY RED is a New York...
96: John Janovy, Jr.
We talk with John Janovy, Jr., author of our February book, Life Lessons from a Parasite. John is one of the world's preeminent experts on parasites, a best-selling author, and an artist. In this fun and wide-ranging conversation, we discuss parasites, of course,...
95: Life Lessons from a Parasite
Our book for January is Life Lessons from a Parasite by John Janovy, Jr. John is one of the world's pre-eminent parasitologists. In his book we learn all about parasites -- the minuscule life forms that live inside other organisms. We learn about the scientists that...
94: Our Implementation of Atomic Habits
James Clear's bestselling book, Atomic Habits, tells us that tiny changes can yield remarkable results. Clear writes, "The quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you'll end up with the same results. But with better...
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.