Novelist Elizabeth Taylor is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining Andy and John to discuss The Soul of Kindness (1964) - and much more besides - are author and founder of Virago Press Carmen Callil and journalist and critic Rachel Cooke, plus occasional contributions from Carmen's Border Terrier, Effie. John has been reading Surfacing, a new co ... Show More
Sep 1
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan (1971), the second Earthsea novel, is the subject of this episode. Joining Una and Andy is writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce, current Children’s Laureate. We look at how Le Guin shifts her story from the adventures of Ged in A Wizard of Earthsea t ... Show More
1h 11m
Dec 2024
Episode 509 || Best Books of the Year with Hunter Mclendon
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie and Hunter (@shelfbyshelf) discuss their top 10 favorite books of 2024.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 509”) or download and shop on The Bookshelf’s ... Show More
57m 36s
Oct 6
738 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (#15 Greatest Book of All Time)
Emily Brontë only published one full-length book before dying at the tragically young age of 30. But that book, Wuthering Heights, which tells the story of obsessive and vengeful love on the rugged moors of Yorkshire, is still considered one of the pinnacles of English literature ... Show More
1h 16m
Dec 2024
Episode 508 || Yes, Virginia
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie’s dad, Chris Butterworth, reads the New York Sun reporter Francis P. Church’s timeless response to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s question: “Is there a Santa Claus?” Read the letter from 1897 and learn about its history here.
From the ... Show More
9m 2s
Sep 18
Ian McEwan on Speculative Fiction, Lost Poems and What We Can Know
Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His novels include Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach, and he is the recipient of many awards including the Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and t ... Show More
42 m
Jan 2025
Episode 510 || Unsung Books of 2024
Happy New Year! This week on From the Front Porch, Annie chats about the unsung books that may have flown under your radar and deserve more airtime.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 510”) or ... Show More
33m 8s
Mar 2025
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition (Part Two)
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.
Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain a ... Show More
37m 8s
Dec 2024
Episode 506 || Staff's Favorite Books of 2024
This week on From the Front Porch, The Bookshelf staff share their favorite books of 2024!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 506” to find the books mentioned in this episode), or download and ... Show More
26m 25s