Episode 37: Hidden Gems

For this edition of everyone's favorite biweekly literary podcasts, your Book XChange hosts present some "deep cuts" from their own personal bookshelves. The idea with our "Hidden Gems" episode is to offer some "of the beaten path" recommendations of books - from all genres, fiction and non-fiction - that might intrigue our listeners and/or give them something new to try. As readers Jude and John both get a lot of satisfaction from discovering the work of a writer we may have never heard of before, or dusting off a long-forgotten novel or book that might provide some hidden insights for people living today. We hope that listeners can find something of interest in this adventurous and eclectic discussion... if nothing else, no one can accuse the BXC boys of narrow reading! Your meal is hot and waiting on the table folks... dig in!! [NOTE: Very special shout-out to listeners HW and KC for their recent contributions and feedback offered to the show. We appreciate you very much, and every other listener to the BXC!]

MUSIC: Young Wolf, Voidz Panda

BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE

What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next:

'The Gospel According to Jesus Christ,' Jose Saramago -

TBD -

What John is currently reading/plans to read next:

Undisclosed -

Books/Writers discussed in this episode:

'At the End of the Santa Fe Trail,' Sister Blandina Segale -

'A Month in the Country,' - J. L. Carr -

'Fear,' Gabriel Chevalier -

'The Bookshop,' Penelope Fitzgerald -

'The Old Boys,' William Trevor -

'Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's,' Frederick Lewis Allen -

Books of history by Christopher Dawson -

Books of history by Barbara Tuchman -

'The Meeting at Telgte,' Günter Grass -

'Gould's Book of Fish,' Richard Flanagan -

'The Songlines,' Bruce Chatwin -

'You Know When the Men Are Gone,' Siobhan Fallon -

'A Hero for the People,' Arthur Powers -

Short stories by Tim Gautreaux, J. F. Powers and Breece D'J Pancake -

'The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto,' Kenji Nakagami -

'Red Dust: A Path Through China,' Ma Jian -

'The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy,' Michael McCarthy -

'Fragments of an Infinite Memory: My Life with the Internet,' Maël Renouard -

Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast:

Episode 38 will be an in-depth review of a novel recommended by a BXC listener: 'Leave the World Behind' by Rumaan Alam... this is recent and "buzzy" novel that presents a vaguely apocalyptic scenario and how it is handled by two well-off couples who end up together in a lush vacation home in a rural area of Long Island.