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April 28, 2025 61 mins

On this episode, Christopher Hermelin, host of the podcast So Many Damn Books and I discuss his life that revolves around books, our shared love for stories on the continuum of weird, and we both go on a bit of a tear about over-comped books. You can also hear me get totally sucked in by something Christopher recommends. 

 

So Many Damn Books

The Roving Typist 

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

Are You Happy? By Lori Ostlund

 

Books Highlighted by Christopher:

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray 

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata 

Bear by Marian Engle

2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino 

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 

Heart of Junk by Luke Geddes

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

17776 What Football will Look Like in the Future by Jon Bois

Bluets by Maggie Nelson

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio 

On the Calculation of Volume Book 1 by Solvej Balle, trans. Barbara J. Haveland 

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal 

Nutshell by Ian McEwan 

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

Redwall by Brian Jacques 

The Twits by Roald Dahl 

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender 

Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender 

Bunny by Mona Awad 

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad 

The Magicians by Lev Grossman 

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman 

Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link 

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur 

Mumbai New York Scranton by Tamara Shopsin 

Arbitrary Stupid Goal by Tamara Shopsin 

LaserWriter II by Tamara Shopsin 

Parakeet by Marie-Helene Bertino 

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino 

Exit Zero by Marie-Helene Bertino 

You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman 

Good Girl by Aria Aber 

Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman 

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 

The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata 

Bear by Julia Phillips

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 

Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio 

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin 

The Martian by Andy Weir 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas 

Mark as Played

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