In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter, Gwen and Frank fall hard for the wise and wonderful Vanessa Zoltan of the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast! We talk Harry and Jane, try the spiritual practice of lectio divina, discuss the healing power of romance novels, figure out Frank's Tinder profile... get ready for some serious revelations.
Vanessa's book recs:
Frank and Gwen get a visit from BridgeUP, NYPL's holistic academic support program for NYC teens. They talk to a teen scholar and program leader about this unique library initiative, what students want and need outside the classroom, and everything that goes into getting them where they want to go in life.
Discussed this week:
BridgeUp's podcast on Latino stereotypes
Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
1984 by George Orwell
The new HBO series "Random Acts of Flyness"
Answer: anything! Frank and Gwen discuss why for-profit businesses cannot and should not take libraries' place in society. Plus, recommendations for two small books that contain very big worlds.
Book Recommendations
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey
The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Oleg Kagan's opinion piece about how libraries are not companies, and more information about Forbes deleting the original op-ed.
The best way to support this podcast is with a gift to The New York Public Library. Click here to donate.
It's our third annual Summer Reading Challenge! This year, Frank and Gwen picked America Is Not the Heart, a debut novel by Elaine Castillo, about language and love and revolution and family and the meaning of home—it's about everything, and it's incredible.
Frank and Gwen break down romance novel stereotypes with fellow NYPL librarian Anne Rouyer. The genre often gets dismissed as fluff, but romance can subvert the traditional confines of gender, power, class, and more. (Gay Regency, anyone?)
Anne's Recommendations
Social Intercourse by Greg Howard
The Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah Maclean
Unmasked by the Marquess and It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (for those who love Me Before You by Jojo Moyes)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison
And for a non-book recommendation: 'Hiyori's Bed & Breakfast'