DMPL Podcast

Marlú joins us to discuss some great books and Kanopy movies! Kanopy is the library's free video streaming service. To use Kanopy*, go to dmpl.kanopy.com and create an account using your library card number and PIN.

*You must live in Des Moines, Windsor Heights, or rural Polk County to use Kanopy for free with your Des Moines Public Library card.

Show Notes

Marlú's Picks:

• Book 1: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune, by Roselle Lim
• Kanopy Flick: TheFarewell (PG)
  
  
• Book 2: The Low, Low Woods, by Carmen Maria Machado
• Kanopy Flick:The Witch (R)
  
  
• Book 3: Black Enough, Edited by Ibi Zoboi
• Kanopy Flick: Moonlight (R)
  
  
• Book 4: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (English & Spanish available!)
• Kanopy Flick:Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Register for AViD

Ibi Zoboi | Tuesday, May 11 | 7:00 PM | Zoom

AViD author Tayari Jones takes part in the DMPL Podcast ahead of her virtual visit this coming Saturday. She talks about her favorite story growing up, the scene she considered toughest in her award-winning novelAn American Marriage, and when she thinks she writes best.

Tayari Jones will be taking part in AViD on Saturday, March 27, at 3:00 PM as part of the DSM Book Festival. You can register for the event on our AViD page.

Show Notes

Tayari Jones' Books

• An American Marriage(2018)
• Silver Sparrow(2011)
• The Untelling(2005)
• Leaving Atlanta(2002)

Tayari Jones on the Web

• Tayari Jones | Website
• Tayari Jones | Facebook
• Tayari Jones | Instagram
• Tayari Jones | Twitter

Tayari's Recommendations

• "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer
• Mercy, by Lucille Clifton
• The Tradition, by Jericho Brown
• The Street, by Ann Petry
• All the Devils are Here, by Louise Penny
  
• The Kindest Lie, by Nancy Johnson
• A Promised Land, by Barack Obama

On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, Jenny from the Book Chat team joins us to talk about books with crazy plots and premises. As Jenny describes them, these books feature "a thriller sympathetic towards the murderer, a heist that focuses on student debt, and a remake of an old favorite children's book as an adult horror story."

Show Notes

Jenny's Picks Discussed on the Podcast

• My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyikan Braithwaite
• The Assistants, by Camille Perri
• Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero
  

Other "MAD" Books, with Notes from Jenny

• Playing Nice, by J.P. Delaney: A couple finds out the son they’ve been raising for two years was switched at birth and have some terrible choices to make. But the couple raising their biological child is not what they seem. Part family drama, part courtroom adventure, part thriller.
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix: Abby has been best friends with Gretchen since she was the only girl who didn’t stand her up at her roller-rink birthday party. In absolute 80s style, best friend drama gets complicated when one of the girls may be possessed by a demon. The exorcist is a bodybuilder. This book is wonderfully weird.
• A Madness so Discreet, by Mindy McGinnis: A teenage girl is in an 1890s mental institution for being pregnant, fakes a lobotomy to escape with a Sherlock-Holmes-esque doctor to track down a serial killer. Suffragettes, corrupt politicians, positive portrayals of people with mental health problems, and just so much adventure. I straight up forgot about Zoom Game Night because I was too engrossed reading this!

Other Links

• AViD Homepage
• Register for AViD: Tayari Jones
• Register for AViD: Hanif Abdurraqib
• Book Chat

Author and Iowa native Greer Macallister is the guest on the latest episode of The DMPL Podcast. Her newest novel, The Arctic Fury, follows an all-female expedition to the north as they try to uncover what happened to the lost Franklin expedition.

Greer discusses why she wanted to set a book in this ice cold setting and how she assembled the Ocean's 13-esque crew of characters. She also lets us know what she's working on next - it's a big change!

Spoilers are discussed from about 13:20-29:50.

Show Notes

• The Arctic Fury at DMPL
• Other Greer Macallister books at DMPL
• Greer Macallister | website
• Greer Macallister | Facebook
• Greer Macallister | Twitter
• Greer Macallister | Instagram

AViD author Robert Kolker joins us on the DMPL Podcast! We talk about how he came to know the Galvin family, the subject of his newest, critically acclaimed bookHidden Valley Road. Kolker also discusses the challenges of structuring of narrative nonfiction books and reveals which classic novel he just completed and loved.

Show Notes

Kolker's Books

• Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family(2020)
• Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery(2013)

Books Mentioned by Kolker

• Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
• These Truths, by Jill Lepore
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
  
• The Brothers Karamazov,byFyodor Dostoevsky
• Mike Nichols: A Life, by Mark Harris

Kolker's Favorite Self-Authored Pieces

• "The World’s Smallest Ukulele,"Bloomberg Businessweek, May 12, 2016
• "Nine Blocks from Home,"New York Magazine, July 7, 2006

• Iowa author Darcy Maulsby is the guest on the latest DMPL Podcast! Her newest book,Classic Restaurants of Des Moines and Their Recipes, is a culinary history of Des Moines restaurants During the podcast, Maulsby and host Aaron Gernes discuss restaurants of days' past, including Babe's, Johnny & Kay's, King Ying Low, and more. It's a must-read for anyone who want's to feel nostalgia as well as those who are interested in Des Moines history.

  • The Italian influences of Des Moines
  • Famous Des Moines figures such asBabe Bisignano and Edna Griffin
  • The fall and rise of downtown through the restaurants
  • What Des Moines' culinary future holds
  • and much more!

  Show Notes

  • Classic Restaurants of Des Moines and Their Recipeson our shelves
    
  • Other Darcy Maulsby books on our shelves
  • Darcy Maulsby | website
  • Darcy Maulsby | Facebook
  • Darcy Maulsby | Instagram
  • Darcy Maulsby | Twitter

Theresa and Lynn join us today on the DMPL Podcast! The two Library Assistants love the DMPL Reading Challenge, and they've picked three books each to discuss - one in each of three different categories.

Show Notes

Theresa's Books

• Educated, by Tara Westover - A book based on its cover
• My Antonia, by Willa Cather - A book she enjoyed in school
• One Summer: America, 1927, by Bill Bryson - A book about a significant historical event

Lynn's Books

• Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald - A book of essays or short stories
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey - A book recommended by a Book Chat librarian
• Perestroika in Paris, by Jane Smiley - A book with a non-human main character(s)

Other Related Links

• DMPL Reading Challenge
• DMPL Express
• Book Chat

Show Notes

• Adam Higginbotham | Website
• Adam Higginbotham | Twitter
• Midnight in Chernobyl
  
• Books and stories discussed:
  • M.R. James:Collected Ghost StoriesandGhost Stories of an Antiquary
  • "Life at the Top," by Adam Higginbotham (The New Yorker, February 4, 2013)
  • Naples '44, by Norman Lewis (GoodReads link)
  • The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro
  • How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, by Clint Smith

Janeé and Rebecca, with the Book Chat team, join host Aaron to chat about their favorite books this year. What made them laugh? What made them cry? What made 2020 a great year for reading? Listen to the podcast to find out, and be sure to check out the show notes to see other books they loved that they didn't discuss.

Show Notes

Book Chat

Janeé's Books

• Picture Books
  
  • I Am Every Good Thing,by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
    
  • Anti-Racist Baby, by Ibram X. Kandi
    
  • We Will Rock Our Classmates, by Ryan T. Higgins
    
• Middle Grade
  
  • Class Act, by Jerry Craft
    
  • Twins, by Varian Johnson
    
  • The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love, and Truth, by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
    
• Teen Fiction
  
  • Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas
  • Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo
    
  • Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel, by Jason Reynolds
    
  • The Magic Fish, by Trung Le Nguyen
    

Rebecca's Books

• This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar
• The Magic Fish, by Trung Le Nguyen
• The House in the Cerulean Sea, by T.J. Klune
• The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones
• Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Are You Listening?, by Tillie Walden
• One to Watch, by Kate Stayman-London
• Frogcatchers, by Jeff Lemire
• Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas
• All My Mother’s Lovers, by Ilana Masad

It's the first episode in our latest AViD Podcast Series! Kate Quinn in answering seven questions about her books, what she reads, how she writes, and more. After you're done listening to the podcast, be sure to register for her AViD event next Wednesday, December 9, at 7:00 PM! You can do so at the AViD Page below.

Show Notes

• AViD Page
• Kate's Info
  • Kate Quinn | Website
  • Kate Quinn | Facebook
  • Kate Quinn | Instagram
  • Kate Quinn | Twitter
• Kate's Books
  • The Huntress(2019)
  • Ribbons of Scarlet(2019)
  • The Alice Network(2017)
  • The Empress of Rome Saga
    • Lady of the Eternal City(#4) (2015)
    • Empress of the Seven Hills(#3) (2012)
    • Mistress of Rome(#2) (2011)
    • Daughters of Rome(#1) (2010)
  • The Borgia Chronicles
    • The Lion and the Rose(#2) (2014)
    • The Serpent and the Pearl(#1) (2014)
• Kate's Recommendations
  • Empire of Gold, by S.A. Chakraborty
  • In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden
  • Conclave, by Robert Harris
  • Munich, by Robert Harris
  • Island Queen, by Vanessa Riley (to be released July 2021)
  • Half Sick of Shadows, by Laura Sebastian