S14:Ep271 - The Secret Astronomers with Guest Jessica Walker + West Virginia Based Book Recommendations

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In this week’s episode, we’re talking to debut novelist and assistant professor of fine arts at Parsons School of Design Jessica Walker, whose novel Amy discovered late last year. The Secret Astronomers is an illustrated novel, which is not the same as a graphic novel.  This is a novel that is written on sticky notes between two people inside a book.  It’s in full color and really eye-catching. Although it is technically geared towards young adults, it is a feast for the eyes for any age reader.  The story is about two girls who keep their identities secret from each other and converse through an old astronomy textbook in the school library. This new take on the epistolary novel takes the reader on an adventure to solve a mystery in this small West Virginia town.  

 

And in our book rec section, inspired by the West Virginia setting of The Secret Astronomers, we’re giving you other books set in The Mountain State. We have a mystery, a Pulitzer Prize winner, several historical fiction, and an investigative nonfiction.

 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

 

1- The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker 

2- I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak 

3- Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton 

4- Floreana by Midge Raymond 

5- What You are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte 

6- Yellow Singing Sail: A Memoir of an Only Child in China by Yinfan Huang 

7- Otto: A Palindrama by Jon Agee 

8- Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Address Book by Nick Bantok 

9- My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for a Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar

10- The Doorman by Chris Pavone

11- A Five Star Read by Fellow Book Lover Karla @karla_bookishlife - Blood Like Ours and Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville

12- The Road to Blair Mountain by Charles Keeney

13- The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

14- The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb

15- Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

16- The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence by Stephen Kurczy

17- The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg

18- Foote: A Mystery Novel by Tom Bredehoft

19- The Coffin Quilt: The Feud Between the Hatfields and McCoys by Ann Rinaldi

20- The Grand Design by Joy Calloway

 

Media Mentioned:

1- Footnotes and Tangents Substack - War and Peace

2- Eden (Netflix, 2024)

3- Our episode with Meg Shaffer - https://ThePerksofBeingaBookLover.podbean.com/e/s12ep249-the-lost-story-with-guest-meg-shaffer-11525/

4- Article about Reading Resetting the Nervous System - https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/873671/why-reading-cures-overactive-nervous-system-experts-explain/