Lit Society: Books and Drama

This week we're taking it back, way back. Before we were on YouTube, when we were still recording in Kari's dining room and taking pizza breaks midway through each episode, we cut one of our favorite shows – Animal Farm by George Orwell, and Compliance and Power of Authority. This book prompted a discussion about conformity that listeners still reference to this day.  While we're on break this week, we’re thrilled to revisit this episode with you during our extended weekend. We’ve even added a convo to the beginning that we know you'll love. Enjoy, and we look forward to seeing you again on June 8th with a new episode: Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell and Are Bohemians People from the Bahamas. See you next week! Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

We'll cut to the chase. This week, we're teaching you how to convince someone they've committed a crime. Read that sentence again. That's right. We'll show you how to fake your family and friends into thinking they've done terrible things worthy of prison time. Do with this information what you will. Whatever. Then, on to our book: Confined to a wheelchair, battling arthritis, one world-famous detective has reached the end of his season- but his core, his mind, is still sharp as ever and is leading him to a confrontation with a murderer. What are the murderer's motivations? Will the detective stop him before he overcomes the next victim? When will fall the final curtain?! The detective is Hercule Poirot. The book: Curtain by Agatha Christie LET'S GET LIT!   SHOP our store for bookish merch: www.LITSocietyPodShop.com  Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod Twitter — https://twitter.com/litsocietypod  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com 

This week, we're trying something new. We know many of you run out of time to read along with us each week. To not spoil the book before you've had a chance to finish reading it, we're experimenting with SPOILER-FREE episodes. This is our first try at the new format, and we couldn't have chosen a more conversation-inducing book – Deacon King Kong by James McBride. Before we discuss the book, we'll try to cure you of the stresses of going back into the office after enjoying over a year of working from home. We'll share a few helpful tips for everyone who must now start wearing pants again and aren't sure what to do. Then, on to our book: In broad daylight, seemingly for no reason, an old widower shoots a young drug-dealing orphan in the head. What happens next involves nearly everyone in one dying Brooklyn neighborhood. LET'S GET LIT! Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod Twitter — https://twitter.com/litsocietypod  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com 

This week, we return to the story of a dowdy damsel and her lackluster beau, who are forced apart into a cold world of misery. Sound depressing? That's the Brontë sisters for you. Quite remarkably, however, this book has a happy ending (kinda)!   The book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte    LET'S GET LIT!    Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

This week's theme is Do Ugly People Have Better Relationships, a subject on which there's no shortage of scientific studies. Harvard's most remarkable minds are on the case to figure out why Bennifer will never work while Danny DeVito has been in a committed relationship for 40 years. Then, on to our story: Two ugly folks find Love in the countryside of northern England. Our dowdy damsel, however, soon finds her lackluster Love is a liar! Will the hideousness he's hiding destroy their lives and her reputation, or will our mush-faced maiden find the inner courage to walk away with her dignity intact.   The hot mess heroine? Jane Eyre. The book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte   LET'S GET LIT!   Harvard Study: Do Beautiful People Have Better Relationships?  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/201704/do-beautiful-people-have-better-relationships.   Essay: The Case for Dating Someone Less Attractive Than You https://www.thrillist.com/sex-dating/nation/the-beauty-of-dating-ugly-people.   Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

If you watch us on YouTube or follow us on IG, you know how much we loved reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. This book made us sit with the matriarchs of our family to learn their journeys, struggles, and successes. Not to be dramatic, but it brought us closer to knowing who we are.  We're super excited to revisit that episode with you during this, our week off. We've remastered that episode from season one, trimmed the fat, and added a few more details and corrections that we missed initially.   Enjoy, and we look forward to seeing you anew next week when we dive into Jane Eyre (the third (and FINAL!) Bronte book we'll ever read).   This is LIT Society. Let's get LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

This week we're discussing the real-life men and agents who inspired the fictional James Bond. These folks jumped out of planes fought Nazis while enduring chase and torture—incredible stuff. A suave super-spy with both daddy and mommy issues must use his skill with the cards to play his way out of death in a fancy French casino. His goal? Stay alive and gain victory for his country. His game? Baccarat. His weakness? Fast cars and faster women.   The AGENT? James Bond The book? The graphic novel adaptation of Ian Flemming's Casino Royale by Van Jensen and Dennis Calero.   LET'S GET LIT!   Favorite line: "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning."   Sources for our theme: Business Insider Meet The Spy Who Inspired The Creation Of James Bond https://www.businessinsider.com/the-inspiration-for-james-bond-2012-9   Esquire Magazine:  The Real Spies Who Inspired James Bond Are Far More Fascinating Than the Big Screen 007s https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a30533681/james-bond-true-story-real-life-inspiration-ian-fleming/   History Extra:  James Bond in real life: where did Ian Fleming's inspirations come from? https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/james-bond-who-based-on-inspiration-ian-fleming-villains-q-m/   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com

Was it creepy when the great poet Billie Eilish waxed, "Let me hold you like a hostage"? Some folks are about that hostage life. So, what happens when your captor is totally chill, and all you can think about is going to see a movie with them before enjoying a long walk and watching the sunset together, but they have you locked in a bank vault at gunpoint? Stockholm Syndrome happens, that's what.    After we discuss real-life cases of hostages turned homies, we'll dive into a story about idiots. Yes, idiots. In a way, this is a story about all of us because we're all idiots at times. But this is also a story about a bridge. Also, it's a story about people and how people need people. Actually, this is a crime novel about a bank robber and a room full of terrible captives who each have something in common. More than anything, though, this is a story about kindness.  The book? Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.  Let's get LIT!   Favorite quote: "This book is dedicated to the voices inside my head, the most remarkable of my friends. And to my wife, who lives with us." - Fredrik Backman   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com  

A tenacious entrepreneur finds herself facing one heartbreak after another. Down but not defeated, she puts her inherent skills to use by launching a detective agency. Her cases start with awol husbands, con-men, and disobedient daughters, but when a local child goes missing, her abilities are put to the test. Does she have what it takes when it counts? The detective? Mma Ramotswe The book: THe no. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency LET'S GET LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod; Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

Rockwell tried to tell us. A dystopian novel that becomes more evocative as reality mirrors its bleak fiction, 1984 is a vision of a world controlled by a totalitarian regime where not even your thoughts are safe. Is your cell phone watching you, or are you watching it? Are your neighbors spying on you for their political leader's advantage? Does the government own Twitter? Of course, the answer to all of these questions is yes, and this book explains how it all started. Before we dive into 1984, we'll discuss how to keep your privacy as safe as possible in 2021. Let's get LIT! Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod; Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.