JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 117
Summer bingo is winding down this month, and the Books & Bites team is back on the job with books about workers or the workplace.
Carrie talks to author Kayla Rae Whitaker about the role of work in her novel Returns and Exchanges, how she balances her writing life with a full-time job, and more.
Michael shares a horror story that will give a whole new meaning to your retail experience at big-box furniture stores. And Jacqueline reviews a YA romance about a teen who finds herself drawn back into competitive chess to help support her family.
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Carrie Talks to Kayla Rae Whitaker
Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Set in Lexington, KY, Returns and Exchanges is a “sweeping novel of one Kentucky family’s rise and fall throughout the 1980s—a tragicomic tour de force about love and marriage, parents and children, and the perils of mixing family with business, from the acclaimed author of The Animators.”
—description provided by the publisher
Join us for a book discussion of Returns and Exchanges on Monday, Sept. 28 at 6:30 pm. Register at the Customer Service Desk.
Kayla’s Pairing: Cowboy Cookies
Kayla believes this recipe first appeared in Woman’s Day magazine in the early 1980s. It’s the kind of thing Fran, the matriarch of the Taylor family, might make after a busy work day.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup shortening (Crisco being the best)
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- Beat white sugar, brown sugar, and shortening in large bowl on high speed.
- Add eggs. Beat thoroughly.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into sugar/egg mixture.
- Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for eight to ten minutes.
Michael’s Pick
Horrorstör is set in Cleveland, Ohio, at a recently opened Orsk—a fictional store described as an “All-American furniture superstore in Scandinavian drag.”
Over the past several weeks, strange things have been happening throughout the store.
A group of employees takes an overnight shift to investigate. The deeper they go into the store, the more they begin to uncover the horrifying secret buried beneath Orsk.
Michael’s Pairing
Jacqueline’s Pick
This YA romance begins the summer after Mallory, a once promising chess player, graduates from high school. Her mother’s illness keeps her from working full-time, so Mallory stays home to work instead of going to college.
When Mallory unexpectedly defeats the world chess champion at a charity chess event, she is offered a scholarship and a paid internship. If she does not seize this opportunity, her family may lose their home.