The Bookshop Podcast

Send us a textHi, Fellow Bibliophiles!Today I’m in stunning Anacortes, Washington State chatting with Brandy Bowen from Watermark Book Company and local author Kathleen Kaska.Watermark Book Company is a locally owned independent bookshop in the heart of beautiful downtown Anacortes, where they’ve been since 1989. They sell new books—bestsellers, old favorites, classics, and other book-related miscellanea. They also carry Theo chocolate, made in Seattle from organic fair-trade beans. Watermark Book Company is now owned by Brandy and Ben Bowen.Kathleen Kaska graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in physical anthropology and taught middle-school science for 25 years. She was a staff writer for AustinFit magazine from 1997-2002, and her articles have appeared in Cape Cod Life, Marco Polo, Agatha Christie Chronicle, Texas Now, and Home Cooking Magazine. Kathleen is the author of six fiction and 5 non-fiction books.Watermark Book CompanyTheo ChocolateBridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson, Donna Diamond (illustrator)This Is How It Always Is: A Novel, Laurie Frankel Indie Bound, Watermark Book CompanyKathleen KaskaKathleen Kaska, BooksNew Victim, Same Tragedy: The Plight of the American Mustang (Mandy Jackson-Beverly – Huffington Post Blogpost)The Great Gatsby, F. Scott FitzgeraldTo Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Essays of E.B.WhiteSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textHi, and thanks for visiting The Bookshop Podcast!Today I’m in Winnipeg, Canada speaking with Michael Bumsted from Whodunit Mystery Bookstore. Later I’m in London—via Zoom—chatting with Chris Carter, author of the Robert Hunter detective series.WHODUNIT Mystery Bookstore opened for business in 1994 and in 2007 loyal customers Jack and Wendy Bumsted became the new owners. WHODUNIT is Winnipeg's specialty mystery bookstore, offering a full range of crime fiction. The bookstore hosts a Mystery Reading Club and has readings and signings by mystery authors.WHODUNIT has become a family affair, with son Michael an award-winning bookseller (Chase Paymentech Young Bookseller of the Year, 2013), and daughter Sian as social media and general internet guru. WHODUNIT carries both new and used books and can special-order any book that is commercially available, as well as ship to out-of-town customers, accept pre-orders for Winnipeg-based customers, and deliver to those unable to reach the bookstore themselves. Chris Carter was born in Brasilia, Brazil. After graduation from high school, he moved to the United States where he studied psychology with a specialization in criminal behavior. During his university years, he held a variety of odd jobs, ranging from flipping burgers to being part of an all-male exotic dancing group.Chris worked as a criminal psychologist for several years before moving to Los Angeles where he swapped the suits and briefcases for ripped jeans, bandanas, and an electric guitar. After a spell playing for a few well-known glam rock bands, he tried his luck in London, where he played for several famous artists and toured the world several times as a professional musician. A few years ago he gave it all up to become a full-time writer.Whodunit Mystery BookstoreJ.M. Bumsted & Michael C. Bumsted, authorsList of crime fiction genresFortune Favors the Dead, Stephen SpotswoodBooks by Michael van RooyAn Evil Mind, Chris CarterChris CarterChris Carter BooksHemmingway: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn NovickSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textWelcome to the Wednesday edition of The Bookshop Podcast!My guest today is writer, creative producer, and learning designer, Megahn Modafferi.Meghan Modafferi is a writer and multimedia producer with a focus on developing compelling educational content and experiences. She’s designed, launched, and facilitated digital and in-person learning experiences for corporate and nonprofit clients, university faculty, and K-12 students and teachers — in both domestic and international settings. National Geographic, Slate, and the NPR-affiliate, WUNC, have published her writing and media.Links for this episode:Meghan ModafferiNovel Climate, podcastSubway Mediation, Meghan ModafferiNational Geographic Educator CertificationTranscendent  Kingdom, Yaa GyasiThe Bookshop Podcast Interview With Peter GraySupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textHello fellow bibliophiles! Today I’m in Belfast, Northern Ireland chatting with Linda Murray from Books, Paper, Scissors, an independent bookshop in Belfast. They stock a curated selection of new fiction and non-fiction, plus classics, Irish writing, and poetry. They also have a children’s room, with choices from newborn to teenager. Beyond books Books, Paper, Scissors stock high quality stationary, notebooks, pens, diaries, and greeting cards. Plus gift wrap and of course, scissors.Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in East Belfast. Her debut novel Malcolm Orange Disappearsand short story collection, Children’s Children, were published by Liberties Press, Dublin. A micro-fiction collection, Postcard Stories was published by The Emma Press in 2017. Jan’s novel The Fire Starters was published by Doubleday in April 2019 and subsequently won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019. She has been shortlisted for the Sean O’Faolain Short Story Prize and in 2016 won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize.Enjoy :)Links from this episode:Books, Paper, Scissors Books, Paper, Scissors – Book Club Look! It’s a woman writer! Irish Literary Feminisms, 1980-2020 edited by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Leonard and Hungry Paul, Ronan Hession Jan Carson The Fire Starters, Jan Carson The Last Resort, Jan Carson Postcard Stories, Jan Carson Postcard Stories 2, Jan Carson Children’s Children, Jan Carson Malcolm Orange Disappears, Jan Carson Jan Carson Books The Tin Drum, Günter Grass  Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textHello Vermont and South Carolina!Katie Crouch is the New York Times–bestselling author of Girls in Trucks, Men and Dogs, and Abroad. She has also written essays for The New York Times, Glamour, The London Guardian, Slate, Salon, and Tin House. A former resident of Namibia and San Francisco, Katie now lives in Vermont with her family and teaches creative writing at Dartmouth College.Blue Bicycle Books is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1995 as Boomer’s Books by Lee and Jim Breeden, the store was bought in 2007 by local writer and longtime employee Jonathan Sanchez. Jonathan changed the name of the store to Blue Bicycle Books. Links for this episode:Katie Crouch Embassy Wife, Katie Crouch (signed bookplate) Girls In Trucks, Katie Crouch Men And Dogs, Katie CrouchThe White Glove War, Katie Crouch, Grady HendrixThe Magnolia League, Katie Crouch Peter Orner Early Morning Riser, Katherine Heiny Blue Bicycle Books YALLFest Write of Summer Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston The Bookstour, a documentary by Mason Engel Binc – Book Industry Charitable FoundationSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textThis week I’m virtually visiting London and India!I chat with Jo Heygate the bookshop manager at Pages of Hackney in London. Pages of Hackney opened in 2008 and is an award-winning independent bookshop on the Lower Clapton Road owned by Eleanor Lowenthal. The bookshop stocks an eclectic mix of books in the areas of literary fiction, politics, feminism, essays, and life writing as well as philosophy, psychology, nature writing, music, and children’s books.Shaheen Chishti is an Indian British author, world peace advocate, and thought leader. He was born in Ajmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and is a descendant of the revered Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. He is the author of The Granddaughter Project, which tells the stories of Helga, a Holocaust survivor, Kamla, who grew up during the Bengali Famine, and Lynette, who is beaten and left for dead during the Notting Hill riots of 1958. These warrior women tell their stories for the first time to their granddaughters, hoping that they can succeed where they failed and that they feel empowered, inspired, and supported to do what is best for themselves. Enjoy!Pages of HackneyPages of Hackney, TwitterPages of Hackney, InstagramPages of Hackney, FacebookOctavia ButlerPatrice Lawrence The Sellout, Paul BeattyThe Death of Francis Bacon, Max PorterCost of Living, Deborah LevyPatrick Mills, Fields BooksThe Record Deck U.K.Shaheen Chishti The Granddaughter Project, Shaheen Chishtihttps://www.facebook.com/syedshaheenchishti/https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-shaheen-chishti/?originalSubdomain=uk1958 Notting Hill RiotsShaheen Chishti BlogThe Shaheen Chishti show Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textPeter Gray, Ph.D., research professor at Boston College, is the author of Free to Learn (Basic Books) and Psychology (Worth Publishers, a college textbook now in its 8th edition). He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University.His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play. He a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow. His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long-distance bicycling, kayaking, back-woods skiing, and vegetable gardening.Here are the links for this episode:Let GrowTipping Points PressPsychology TodayPeter Gray on FacebookFree to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, Dr. Peter Gray (available in 18 languages). The Alliance For Self-directed Learning Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textToday, I’m in Canada, starting in Guelph, Ontario, and moving across to the Sunshine Coast, British Colombia.In the city of Guelph, Ontario is a one-of-a-kind bookstore called The Bookshelf: A bookstore that shows movies. A cinema that serves dinner. A resto-bar that launches books. This is a family-run business, started in 1973 by Barb and Doug Minett, after visiting Britain and relishing all the British bookstores. I caught up with Stephanie Minett to find out more about this special place. Caitlin Hicks is an author, international playwright, and acclaimed performer in British Columbia. Her debut novel A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE published in the US, won numerous awards: iBooks Best New Fiction, Bronze Book of the Year in Literary Fiction (Indiefab Award), Best Inspirational Fiction (Next Generation Indie Awards), Literary Fiction (Somerset Awards) Silver Medal: Inspirational Fiction (Reader’s Favorite) and JDC Top Must Read Books of 2015.Enjoy!Here are the links for this episode:The BookshelfThe Village PodcastYou And I Eat the Same, René RedzepiCaitlin HicksA Theory of Expanded Love, Caitlin Hicks Some Kind of Woman, Stories of UsMigrations, Charlotte McConaghy  Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textToday I’m chatting with Betsy Amster, literary agent and founder of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles, California.Before opening the agency, Betsy spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. She has been described in the Los Angeles Times as “a dogged prospector of…literary talent” and celebrated in a profile in the American Society of Journalists and Authors newsletter for her “no-nonsense style and whimsical sense of humor.” She frequently teaches classes on publishing at UCLA Extension’s Writers Program and participates in panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.Enjoy! Here are the links for this episode:Betsy Amster Literary enterprisesSubmission GuidelinesStation Eleven, Emily St. John MandelL. A. Weather, Maria Amparo EscandónA Taste of Sugar, Marisol Vera Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Send us a textOn May 2, 2015, Donna Garban and Kate Jacobs opened Little City Books in Hoboken, New Jersey. Donna is by nature a salonista, and Kate likes the Russians and the Victorians, and some of the Edwardians, and is learning to like the Nows.Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance journalist, food and travel writer, and author. Her book Lincoln Road Trip: The Back Roads to America’s Favorite President, was a Finalist for the 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Travel category. Her other books include How to Murder Your Wealthy Lovers and Get Away with It: Money & Mayhem in the Gilded Age, Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest and Murders that Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana.Enjoy!Links for this episode: Little City BooksKate Jacobs, Bar None RecordsFantasy Author Panel: Ava Reid, Alix Harrow, and R.F. KuangIn The Heights! Book Launch with Lin-Manuel Miranda Sutton Foster, Hooked Chris Frantz, Remain in Love Seven Silly Eaters, Mary Ann Hoberman, Marla FrazeeWhy Sinatra Matters, Pete HamillA Walk in the Woods, Bill BrysonJane Simon AmmesonJane Simon Ammeson Book Red-Headed Woman, Katherine Brush    Support the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links