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
126: Jane Park
This episode we interview Jane Park about her debut novel, INHERITANCE. Jane is a second-generation Korean-Canadian writer. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, lived in New York City for over a decade, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta. INHERITANCE is her debut novel....
126: Jane Park
This episode we interview Jane Park about her debut novel, INHERITANCE. Jane is a second-generation Korean-Canadian writer. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, lived in New York City for over a decade, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta. INHERITANCE is her debut novel. Linny was excited to identify the similarities of Jane’s life and that of her leading character in INHERITANCE, Anne.
In INHERITANCE, Anne Kim is a disaffected lawyer living a successful life in New York City – a far cry from her impoverished childhood in rural Canada where she faced racism and bullying as a second-generation Korean immigrant. When Anne returns to Canada for her father’s funeral, she must face the relationships and past she thought she had left behind and reckon with who she is.
We talk with Jane, the author of INHERITANCE, about the second-generation immigrant experience, the dark family dysfunction humor that only immigrant kids understand, and the family scripts set forth by Confucianism. We learn about how Holocaust generational trauma literature informed the novel, as well as how Jane worked to prevent her trauma from impacting her own children. Jane also tells us how becoming a mother changed her writing in INHERITANCE and how her interest in God is reflected in the novel.
We hear about Jane's family’s journey to Canada and her journey to becoming a novelist, despite its incongruity with most immigrant families’ desires for children to become doctors or lawyers. Jane tells us about the crucial support she received, financial and artistic, that brought this novel to life. We also learn about her love of fine arts.
And, we now have two Korean words to add to our vocabularies: eunjangdo and ajumma. One controversial; one endearing.
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
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...
93: Atomic Habits
Welcome 2025! In January we choose books that are about goal setting and achieving success and being the you, you want to be. Our book this month is Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear. This book is designed to...
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.