All Episodes

June 30, 2025 74 mins

On this episode, Melissa Joulwan, author and co-host of the podcast Strong Sense of Place, discusses the way her personal reading life and work for the show overlap. We talk about her deep and varied book preferences, our shared love for diving deep into a backlist, and you get to hear the fabulous way she describes the books she loves.

 

Strong Sense of Place website

https://strongsenseofplace.com

For the podcast, extensive show notes, book lists, and travel tips and photos. 

 

For people new to the show, this is a good place to start:

https://strongsenseofplace.com/welcome

 

Substack

https://strongsenseofplace.substack.com/

Free newsletter with photos and book recommendations, behind-the-scenes stories, secret recipes, inspiring ideas, and (sometimes) silly stuff.

 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

 

What Betsy’s reading: 

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby 

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

 

Books Highlighted by Melissa:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A Room with a View by E.M. Forester

The Inn at Lake Divine by Elinor Lipman  

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 

Circe by Madeline Miller 

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

The Trick by Emanuel Bergman

Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 

Odds Against by Dick Francis

Dietland by Sarai Walker

Piglet by Lottie Hazell

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson 

 

All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.  

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Well Fed Weeknights by Melissa Joulwan 

Rollergirl by Melissa Joulwan 

The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva 

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart 

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver 

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde 

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell 

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Carmilla by Joseph Sherican Le Fanu

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn 

The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller 

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn 

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George<

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.