On the latest episode of Beyond the Shelves, Jes and Sarah discuss Book Chat, a reader's advisory service at the Des Moines Public Library. They talk about how to use it, why it's helpful, how they assign Book Chat requests, and more. Plus, an extra long Book Bulletin where we run through some of the controversies and news in the literary world.

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What Jes and Sarah are Reading

• The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang
• Funny Story, by Emily Henry
• Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
• Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang
• If You'll Have Me, by Eunnie
• The True Love Experiment, by Christian Lauren
• Winter's Orbit, by Everina Maxwell

 

Book Bulletin

• Nora Roberts takes on some of her readers in a blog post
• Readers Take Denver was a disaster
  • Note: In the time since this was recorded, they have canceled the 2025 Readers Take Denver event)
• PEN American cancels 2024 Award Ceremony
• The Freydís Moon author scandal
• 5 major book publishers suing state of Iowa over book banning

 

AViD author Gregg Hurwitz joins the DMPL Podcast today! The bestselling author of the Orphan X series chats with host Aaron Gernes about the thriller writer community, his friendship with fellow AViD author Nick Petrie, and some of the elements behind the Orphan X series.

Hurwitz and Petrie will be at the Central Library on Thursday, May 2, at 7 PM for AViD! Doors open at 6 PM. More information can be found at dmpl.org/avid.

You can also watch this episode of the DMPL Podcast on YouTube! Check out it out at this link.

On the latest episode of Beyond the Shelves, Jes and Sarah time travel through the decades, picking a plethora of books set in the past 60 years. Plus, Book Bulletin features the inaugural Libby Awards - what they like, what they don't like, and what they have an issue with!

 

What They're Reading

• Where the Lost Wander, by Amy Harmon
• Clean Sweep, by Ilona Andrews
• The Fragile Threads of Power, by V.E. Schwab
• The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston
• Normal People, by Sally Rooney
• The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due

 

Decade Book Picks

• 1960s
  • The Women, by Kristin Hannah
  • The Great Reclamation, by Rachel Heng
• 1970s
  • ​​​​​​​Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll
  • Secret Identity, by Alex Segura
• 1980s
  • ​​​​​​​When Crack Was King, by Donovan X. Ramsey
  • Tell the Wolves I’m Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt
• 1990s
  • ​​​​​​​Rainbow Black, by Maggie Thrash
  • Big Girl, by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
• 2000s
  • ​​​​​​​Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, by Eric LaRocca
  • How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, by Angie Cruz
• 2010s
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​How We Named the Stars, by Andres N. Ordorica
  • The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, by Anissa Gray

Jes and Sarah are joined by DMPL Systems Administrator Katie on the newest epsiode of Beyond the Shelves! Katie knows all the numbers and stats about the library that you can imagine, and she gives us some fun facts about circulation, programs, technolgoy, and more. It's a great peak behind the curtain about parts of the library you probably don't know about!

Also, what famous author recently said he lied about having cancer? Stay tuned all the way to the end of the podcast for the Book Bulletin segment!

 

What Our Hosts Are Reading

• The Salvation Gambit, by Emily Skrutskie
• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
• Say You'll Be Mine, by Naina Kumar
• Technically Yours, by Denise Williams
• A Tempest at Sea, by Sherry Thomas
• Come and Get It, by Kiley Reid
• Penance, by Eliza Clark

Secret Iowa author Megan Bannister joins the DMPL Podcast. She discusses traveling across the state to discover the fun, unknown sites featured in this book, her favorite roads in Iowa, and what famous authors she outsold at a bookstore in Iowa last year.

Show Notes

• Secret Iowa at the library
• Iowa Supper Clubs, by Megan Bannister
• Megan Bannister's website

It's February, and love is in the air! Get your HEA (happily ever after) by listening to Sarah, a romance aficionado, and Jes discuss the history of the romance genre, current trends, cross-genre romance books, and what some of their favorite stories are within different romance tropes.

 

Currently Reading

• The Book the Wouldn't Burn, by Mark Lawrence
• Ruthless Vows, by Rebecca Ross
• Beautyland, by Marie-Helene Bertino
• Good Material, by Dolly Alderton
• Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty

 

Trope Picks

• Enemies to Lovers
  • ​​​​​​​Act Your Age, Eve Brown, by Talia Hibbert
• Grumpy Sunshine
  • ​​​​​​​Well Met, by Jen Deluca
  • It Happened One Summer, by Tessa Bailey,
  • Delilah Green Doesn't Care, by Ashley Herring Blake
• Only One Bed
  • The Rogue Not Taken, by Sarah Maclean
  • Float Plan, by Trish Doller
  • Happy Place, by Emily Henry
• Marriage of Convenience
  • ​​​​​​​How to Catch a Queen, by Alyssa Cole
  • Tempest, by Beverly Jenkins
• Forbidden Love
  • ​​​​​​​Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston
  • Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai
• Fake Dating
  • ​​​​​​​Boyfriend Material, by Alexis Hall
  • Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
• Second Chance
  • ​​​​​​​Seven Days in June, by Tia Williams
  • Recipe for Persuasion, by Sonali Dev
• Amnesia/Mistaken Identity
  • ​​​​​​​The Girl With the Make Believe Husband, by Julia Quinn
  • Spoiler Alert, by Olivia Dade.
• Sports:
  • Check Please, by Ngozi Ukazu
  • Intercepted, by Alexa Martin
  • Bromance Book Club, by Lyssa Kay Adams
• Funny-Paranormal
  • ​​​​​​​My Roommate is a Vampire, by Jenna Levine

 

Other Books Discussed

• Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton
• Patricia Briggs - books
• Laurell K. Hamilton - books
• Johanna Lindsey - books

 

 

 

Welcome to the New Year! On the latest episode of 2024, Jes and Sarah review their 2023 reading goals and talk about what they want to do in 2024.

 

Show notes

• What they're reading:
  • The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
  • Mall Goth, by Kate Leth
  • If You'll Have Me, by Eunnie
  • A Guest in the House, by Emily Carroll
  • Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett
  • Seven Days in June, by Tia Williams
  • The Book that Wouldn't Burn, by Mark Lawrence
  • The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
• Other books discussed:
  • Who is Maud Dixon?, by Alexandra Andrews
  • Shutter, by Ramona Emerson
  • How Can I Help You?, by Laura Sims
• News items
  • Storygraph is so popular the app crashed to start the year
  • Cait Corrain loses her publisher and agent after review bombing fellow debut authors
  • A federal judge blocks enforcement of an Iowa law banning books in schools
  • What's in and out in 2024

On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, hosts Jess and Sarah talk about their favorite books of 2023, as well as some of the most common books on the best of 2023 lists across the book media sphere.

 

Show Notes

 

What They're Reading

• Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree
• Calamity, by Constance Fay
• Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• The Quiet Tenant, by Clemence Michallon

 

Best Of Lists

• The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, by Ned Blackhawk
• The Wren, by Anne Enright
• Loot, by Tania James
• The MANIAC, by Benjamin Labatut
• The Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey
• Terrace Story, by Hillary Leichter
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
• The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
• How to Say Babylon, by Safiya Sinclair
• Land of Milk and Honey, by C Pam Zhang

 

Jess' Five (plus one)

• Chang Gang All-Stars, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Death Valley, by Melissa Broder
• I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, by Marisa Crade
• I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
• Iris Kelly Doesn't Date, by Ashley Herring Blake
• A Council of Dolls, by Mona Susan Power

 

Sarah's Five

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty
• Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
• True Love Experiment, by Cristina Lauren
• Knockout, by Sarah MacLean
• Eating to Extinction, by Dan Saladino

Andrew Sean Greer, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Less, its sequel Less is Lost, and four other novels, is the keynote speaker at this year's 23rd annual Iowa Author Awards Dinner. He speaks with host Aaron Gernes about the surprise that is winning the Pulitzer Prize, what it's like to sit as a judge for a major literary award, and what he's going to talk about this Friday in Des Moines.

Show Notes

• Iowa Author Awards Dinner
• About Andrew
  • Andrew's Books at the Library
  • Andrew Sean Greer | Website
  • Andrew Sean Greer | Instagram

On the newest episode of the DMPL Podcast, host Aaron Gernes speaks with one of the headliners at this year's Community Table Festival, Toni Simmons. Simmons is a longtime professional storyteller who has traveled across the country, telling stories and hosting workshops on storytelling.

During the podcast, Toni discusses what storytelling is and how it differs from something like a one-person show. She also talks about her past as a children's librarian right here in Des Moines!

 

Show Notes

• Toni Simmons | Website
• Toni Simmons | Facebook
• Toni Simmons | Instagram

On this month's Beyond the Shelves, Jes and Sarah are talking all things spooky season. They discuss some of their favorite horror movies and TV shows and the book adaptations that go along with them.

 

Show Notes Spooky Season Books

• The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirly Jackson
  • Netflix
• The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James
  • Netflix (as The Haunting of Bly Manor)
• The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allen Poe
  • Netflix
• The Midnight Club, by Christopher Pike
  • Netflix
• Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice
  • 1994 film - Hulu
  • 2022 TV series - AMC+
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
  • Prime Video, Peacock, AMC+, Roku Channel, Kanopy, Pluto TV
• iZombie, by Chris Roberson
  • Netflix
• A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
  • AMC+ (check out from the library)
• Wynonna Earp, by Beau Smith
  • Netflix, Hulu
• Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman 
  • Hulu
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix
  • Prime Video
• The Changeling, by Victor LaValle
  • Applie TV
• Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff
  • Max
• The Initial Insult, by Mindy McGinnis
• The Last Laugh, by Mindy McGinnis
• What Moves the Dead, by T. Kingfisher
• Misery, by Stephen King
• The Shining, by Stephen King
• Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware

 

What We're Reading

• Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty
• Eating to Extinction, by Dan Saladino 
• The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
• Death Valley, by Melissa Border
• A Council of Dolls, by Mona Susan Power
• The Violin Conspiracy, by Brenden Slocumb
• Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, by Claire Dederer

 

Best Bets

• Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers
• The True Love Experiment, by Christina Lauren

 

First Dibs

• Anita DeMonte Laughs Last, by Xochitl Gonzalez
• The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale, by Virginia Kantra