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
123: Where the Girls Were
Today we’re reviewing the book, WHERE THE GIRLS WERE by Kate Schatz. This book is set in 1968 San Francisco. Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Phillips, whose nickname is Baker, is a high school senior. She’s set to be her school’s valedictorian, she plans to go to...
123: Where the Girls Were
Today we’re reviewing the book, WHERE THE GIRLS WERE by Kate Schatz. This book is set in 1968 San Francisco. Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Phillips, whose nickname is Baker, is a high school senior. She’s set to be her school’s valedictorian, she plans to go to Stanford for college and become a famous journalist, and probably live in Paris along the way. But then, her older and more free-wheeling cousin, Mae, invites her to a party where she indulges in what it would feel like to be the not-so–perfect daughter and she falls into a passionate, secret relationship with a young hippie, Wiley.
This book takes us to a very turbulent year in the United States, 1968, and we live through it through Baker’s eyes and the upheavals she is personally facing. 1968 was the year of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and intense civil unrest. 1968 saw major political shifts, including LBJ's decision not to run for reelection, violent protests at the Democratic National Convention.
1968 is also known as the beginning of a new era of sexual freedom, though it was certainly a contentious concept. The birth control pill had been approved in 1960 and IUDs in 1968, allowing women to separate sex from childbearing and facilitating the “sexual revolution”.
However, access to contraceptives for single women remained restricted in many areas and most doctors required parental consent for unmarried women under 21 to receive birth control. Baker certainly isn’t familiar with any sort of birth control. So, when she and Wiley begin having sex, she inevitably becomes pregnant. When Baker does become pregnant that it is entirely her problem to solve. Wiley already moved on to other women and is off to Mexico to evade the Vietnam draft and live the surfer’s life. At one point, Baker says, “If men could get pregnant, I bet it would be different.”
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
111: Half of a Yellow Sun
This month we’re reading HALF OF A YELLOW SUN by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Listeners might remember Episode 88 when our guest to discuss Chinua Achebe’s THINGS FALL ABOUT, Dr. Thomas Jay Lynn, mentioned one of his favorite books about Africa was HALF OF A YELLOW SUN....
110: Ted Hamann
Today we interview Dr. Ted Hamann about EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover. Ted is the Charles Bessey professor of teaching, learning and teacher education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ted is an anthropologist of education with a primary scholarly focus on...
109: Educated
Our September book, EDUCATED, is a memoir by Tara Westover. The youngest of seven children, Tara recounts her experience growing up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho, living mostly in isolation with her family, no formal education, not much money, and few ties to...
108: Laura Rudacille
We chat with Laura Rudacille, author of this month's book, CATCHING STARS. She is an author and event speaker, specializing in women’s enrichment. Laura has written five novels and contributed inspirational articles to four publications. She’s a licensed...
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.