TGMS #018 Books for Global Moms with Anne Bogel
Have you ever browsed your library’s new releases or searched the displays at bookstores wondering which book is right for you? After I moved back to the States after several years living abroad, many of the titles I came across simply didn’t resonate with me. Even books recommended by friends seemed shallow and one-dimensional. There are a few really good books that I’ve connected with in the past few years, and those were hard to find. I have a theory, that global moms like different books! It may be because our personalities seek out adventure and are already drawn to complexity. Or, it may be that after experiencing travel, cultural differences, and real international issues, we can’t identify with books that only tell a simplified story. Anne Bogel is a book lover who hosts the podcast What Should I Read Next? Each week, she listens to readers’ picks for three books they love, one book they hate, and what they’ve been reading recently. Then, she complies a list of three literary suggestions based on their current choices. She calls it “Literary Matchmaking,” and it’s so much fun. When I discovered her podcast a few months ago, I knew she could help me hone in on some global-mom book choices that I would want to curl up and read right away. And she did! Listen in on our conversation as we discuss why global moms are looking for something different, what they are looking for, and what ideas she has for how to find the perfect book.
You can find out more about Anne on her blog Modern Mrs Darcy, and you can listen to her podcast there or on iTunes or Stitcher.
Great books often have a richness that the not so great books lack. They have complex characters…they are often deeply rooted in the time and place they are set in…If you find a good book, you are halfway there–maybe 70%”
Books, Blogs, Talks, and Movies Mentioned in this episode:
Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri
In Other Words, Jhumpa Lahiri
Before We Visit the Goddess, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Wednesday Chef, Louisa Weiss’ blog
My Berlin Kitchen, Louisa Weiss
In a French Kitchen, Susan Hermann Loomis
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
The Upstairs Wife, An Intimate History of Pakistan, Rafia Zakaria
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseni
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
TEDx Talk We Should All Be Feminists
TEDTalk The Danger of a Single Story
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Ghana Must Go, Taiye Selasi
TEDTalk Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, Ask Where I’m a Local
At Home in the World, Tsh Oxenrider
Give Your Child the World, Jamie Martin
Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan
The Motorcycle Diaries (movie)
The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner
Life from Scratch, Sasha Martin
Global Table Adventure, Sasha Martin’s blog
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