JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 110
This month, we discuss books set on trains or ships, one of the prompts on the Winter Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.
Travel the high seas with our picks: a graphic novel horror story about a mermaid-like creature; a lyrical, suspenseful novel about a woman following what might be the Arctic Tern’s final migration; and a YA novel about a young artist who is slowly disconnecting from reality and living a second life aboard a ship in the Mariana Trench.
Prefer to stay on dry land for this prompt? We also offer some brief suggestions for books set on trains and subways.
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Michael’s Pick
Sea of Sorrows by Rich Douek and Alex Cormack
This graphic novel is set in 1926, when the S.S. Vagabond is hired by a former German U-boat officer to recover gold from a sunken submarine lost during World War I.
From the start, there’s a sense that something isn’t quite right. As tempers flare and trust erodes, the ship’s diver encounters a mermaid-like creature within the wreck, its song calling to him in a way that could doom the entire ship.
This visually stunning book delivers a bleak, maritime horror story that offers something memorable beneath the waves.
Pairing: Creamy Seafood Chowder
Carrie’s Pick
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Franny Stone wants to follow a flock of Arctic Terns on what might be their final migration from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
She convinces Captain Ennis Malone to take her onboard his fishing boat, one of the last vessels allowed to fish for the disappearing schools of Atlantic herring. The birds, she tells him, will lead him to the fish.
Gradually, the crew learns that Franny is not who she appears to be. In fact, she’s broken parole to make this journey.
Migrations is a character-driven adventure story about people trying desperately to hold onto the things they love—whether animals or people—before they disappear completely.
Pairing: Mashed Winter Vegetable Stew
Jacqueline’s Pick
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
This young adult novel follows fifteen-year-old Caden Bosch, an artist who is slowly disconnecting from reality and living in two overlapping worlds.
In the “real” world, Caden is a good student and a caring big brother. But as his anxiety and connection to reality weakens, Caden spends more and more time in his second world as a crew member aboard a ship bound for the Mariana Trench.
This second world mirrors Caden’s growing fear that terrible things will happen if he doesn’t perform certain rituals.
Challenger Deep is a moving, imaginative, and important look at mental health from a compassionate perspective.
Pairing: Rum Runner