amor towles

Summary: Grab that benzoyl peroxide and your Abercrombie cologne, friends, we’re talking teenagers on this lovely Galentine’s day! Whether you always felt like an old soul the way Holly did, or hid behind athletics and Evanescence like Devin to get through those spicy years of youth, the YA books our hosts discuss today will bring you comfort, connection, and cringe. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Dagger (4:35): Holly discussed Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide, a YA mystery following Sade as she navigates her third year at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school after being homeschooled most of her life. The very first night, Sade’s roommate and house sister Elizabeth disappears. Soon after, the body of a student turns up and the search for Elizabeth becomes frantic. Holly’s key takeaways were:

• With vibes that bring “Wednesday” and “Mean Girls” together, this novel is heavily dark academia. There is a clear sense of place, and boy is that place creepy! The uneasy undercurrents fit perfectly with the plot as Sade and her best friend Baz investigate their friend’s disappearance. 

• The student dynamics in play are not only fun to read but also amplify the sense of teenage angst through the novel. The Unholy Trinity, a group of 3 popular girls, along with Sade’s best friends not only have various queer and cis-het romantic intrigues but also deep relationships and conflicts that connect to the disappearance. 

• At over 400 pages, this book would have likely been more impactful and effective if it were edited down a bit, especially in the middle. There were some questions floating around about the mystery we follow that required some suspension of disbelief, although once past there enjoyable nonetheless. 

• The Heart (21:55): Devin discussed Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde, a YA romance following the titular character as he confronts his final year at Brisbane Northolm Grammar School for Boys, the uncertainty of his future heading to Uni, and the burgeoning romantic feelings that he never saw coming. Devin’s key takeaways were:

• Henry’s struggle to understand his sexuality, his blossoming romantic love for his platonic best friend, Len, and also what he wants from his future as a high performing perfectionist at school is fantastic, authentic, and endearing. By contrast, Len’s confidence in his bisexuality and his self-acceptance acts as an anchor for us and draws Henry like a moth to flame. 

• Figuring out your sexuality in a cis-het society is full of stress, second-guessing, and gaslighting. Wilde’s gentle treatment can act as a guide for YA readers and a soothing balm for queer people like Devin who suppressed those feelings in high school and acted straight. 

• We root for Henry easily, but he’s also not mature or polished and grapples constantly with the impacts of his choices on his future, which feels too big. His internal narrative feels true to his age and he’s a bit of a mess, but is also pressured by various family members to focus on different aspects of himself as he takes the step to university. 

• Hot On the Shelf (36:13):

• Holly: Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

• Devin: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (40:24):

• Holly: Fleabag on Amazon Prime

• Devin: We’re Here to Help Podcast

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Hello to you listening in Kings Hill, Montana!

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday, and your host, Diane Wyzga.

How often have you made a decision about someone you just met? If you’re anything like me perhaps your righteous, opinionated, judgmental side showed up. Not good! I know; I’m working on it.

Why? There are virtues to withholding judgment. As Amor Towles writes: “After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration-and unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.” [A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles]

Question: When have you been surprised (and delighted) to learn that your first impression wasn’t your last?  

You’re invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!

Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

✓ Check out What I Offer,

✓ Arrange your free Story Session call + Bonus gift,

✓ Opt In to my monthly Newsletter for valuable tips & techniques to enhance your story work, and

✓ Stay current with Diane and on LinkedIn.

Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

All content and image © 2019 to Present: for credit & attribution Quarter Moon Story Arts

In this episdoe, just back from the New England Crime Bake, Hannah and Sam discuss the mysteries they're reading (not "sexy mysteries"), Sam's dip into "The Lincoln Highway," the new Louise Erdrich (Hannah's first!), romance novels set in the Indian Diaspora (with a segue into "Never Have I Ever"), the new Ann Patchett, and then a bunch of stuff about why there aren't any big Thanksgiving books or really any cultural artifacts. 

Oh, and Ursula Le Guin's book is called "No Time to Spare" and Louise Erdich's is called "Future Home of the Living God" (which Sam was not even close to getting right in real time). 

Sam and Hannah kick things of with an extensive discussion of why John Updike is the patron saint of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms, then move into thoughts about intimidating big books, Christmas books, authors you discover way after they were popular, and just which kind of weird is appreciated. 

Note: Hannah and Sam for sure know the book is called "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell," but Hannah was apparently having a stroke and Sam was stoned. 

Also: Sam doesn't really hate "A Peculiar Peril" as much as it sounds. He DID read the whole thing, after all. 

"The journey is the oldest story known to humanity", says bestselling American author Amor Towles, whose third book is based on this archetypal narrative and takes a group of lost boys on an unpredictable road trip in The Lincoln Highway.

Also, Booker Prize shortlisted author Anuk Arudpragasam with A Passage North and Vietnamese American Monique Truong's exploration of Lafcadio Hearn, the 19th century Creole cookbook author and Japanese folktale collector, in The Sweetest Fruits.

Routine. Status quo. Fixed obsessions with societal norms and customs? Are those  things that we cling to in the face of utter madness, chaos, the real opiates of the masses? What do you cleave to maintain some sense of control, normalcy, when all else is in ruins? Is the very act of maintaining a status quo , rebellion or cowardice? 

In today’s episode we will discuss the New York Times Bestseller  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. This is the story of Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian noble sentenced to life confinement in the Metropol, a hotel for Moscow’s and the world’s elite, for crimes against the Revolution.  It is a beautifully told character-driven story of his existence for over 30 years behind its walls.