Books About Radio on The Point With Mindy Todd

(written by Jill Erickson)

This morning was the last regular WCAI radio show that I will be doing-you can listen to it here! As of October 30th I retired from the Falmouth Public Library. You can take a look at two blogs I wrote about this departure. One is about my being a reference librarian and one is about my time on WCAI. It has been an absolute pleasure to spend time every month with Mindy Todd and whichever book talker happens to be there that month. When Mindy asked me last month what book topic I would like to talk about for my last show, I immediately came up with RADIO! How it is possible that we had never done this topic, I’m not quite sure, but it was the perfect topic for the last show. 

Here is the article that includes the Jack Binns Tribute song we mentioned! Scroll to the very bottom to hear it. 
 

Peter’s Picks

Hello, Everybody: the dawn of American radio by Anthony Rudel

On the Air: the encyclopedia of old-time radio by John Dunning

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Raised on Radio: in quest of the Lone Ranger, Jack Benny….by Gerald Nachman

Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern

Listening In: radio and the American imagination by Susan J. Douglas

Something in the Air: Radio, Rock and the Revolution…by Marc Fisher

Jill’s Picks

Radio On: A Listener’s Diary by Sarah Vowell (available via the Commonwealth Catalog)
Invasion From Mars: a study in the psychology of panic by Hadley Cantril
Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” and the art of fake news by A. Brad Schwartz
Marconi: the man who networked the world by Marc Raboy
Out On the Wire: the storytelling secrets of the new masters of radio by Jessica Abel
The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice; Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery by Allen Chapman

Listener Picks

The Great American Broadcast: a celebration of radio’s golden age by Leonard Matlin

 

A Farewell to Falmouth Public Library, Part Two

 

          In part one of my farewell to FPL I wrote about the beginning of my career at Falmouth Public Library, but now I’d like to mention a completely unexpected joy that arrived in my library life. That joy began when WCAI called the library one day and wanted to know if Kathy Mortenson, a FPL reference librarian, would like to talk about books for half an hour on The Point with Mindy Todd. As it turned out Kathy did not want to talk on the radio, so she asked me if I would be willing to talk about books on the radio. I said sure.

          And so I went to the WCAI studio in Woods Hole and I met Mindy, and Melanie Lauwers, who was at the time the Book Editor for the Cape Cod Times. Something sparked between us, and before long we became regulars on the show. When Melanie retired to Florida in 2014, I became the regular book talker on what had become an hour long live broadcast. It has been such a treat to have an hour of live radio every month just to talk about books! As far as we can recall, that first show was in February 2005. Also, as far as we can recall, next weeks show on October 27th will be the 166th book show! There were, of course, some shows that were repeated, but let’s just say … I’ve done a surprising number of book shows, considering it was supposed to be a one-time event!

          One of the great joys of the show is, of course, our listeners, who call in or email the station with their picks on whatever book topic we are discussing. There have been many, many topics. Here are a few … books that changed your life, LabLit (novels with scientists as characters), politics, Cape Cod authors, humor, cats & dogs, travelmovies, April in Paris, baseball, banned books, planes trains & automobiles, fairy tales, survival stories, maps, whales, birds, dreaming, pirates, fish, letters, detectives, insects, romance, sisters, colors, cookbooks, magic, water, and stories of the sea. When the pandemic hit in March of 2020 we began to do the show from our homes. The library was closed to the public at that point, and so author Peter Abrahams and I did two shows on the books from our home bookshelves! Many of these shows you can find archived on the CAI web page.

          It has been such a gift to share books with the CAI audience. After one show on trees where I mentioned how much I loved winter trees, a listener called in and told us about a book they adored which was all about trees in winter, with beautiful illustrations. Next thing I knew, they had sent me a copy of the book! Another time I was talking about how my mother loved Josephine Tey mysteries, but I had never read them. Within a few hours, a listener delivered a bag of paperback Josephine Tey mysteries to me! What a gift our listeners have been!

          The time has come, however, for me to hang up my monthly radio book chats, which is not to say that the book show itself won’t continue. I have no doubt that Mindy and Amy and Dan will soon find someone else who enjoys spending as much time talking about books on CAI as I have. Mindy has made me promise that I will return from time to time as a guest, and I have assured her that I will. In the meantime, there will be one more live show on Wednesday, October 27th at 9:00 AM on CAI where Mindy and I will talk about books featuring radio! Joining us this month will be a brand new booktalker … Jessica Rudden-Dube, Director of the Cotuit Library. I hope you’ll be listening! And as one last little radio treat, here is a link to the many, many photos I have taken for the monthly book show.

Books About the Sea on The Point with Steve Junker

This morning on The Point book show, we had a visiting host, and a new book talker! You can listen to it here! Steve Junker, Managing Editor of  News at WCAI, sat in for Mindy Todd and Jayne Iafrate joined us for the first, but I am sure not the last, book talk. Our topic was nautical books. Below is the list of all the titles we mentioned, and if you want to add your favorite to the list, just send us an email at info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org. 

 

Jayne’s Picks

 

Jill’s Picks

Adventurers Afloat: a nautical bibliography by Ernest W. Toy, Jr.  The sub-title is: “A Comprehensive Guide to Books in English Recounting the Adventures of Amateur Sailors upon the Waters of the World in Yachts, Boats, and Other Devices and Including Works on the Arts and Sciences of Cruising, Racing, Seamanship, Navigation, Design, Building, etc. from the Earliest Writings Through 1986.” While this is a reference book, and usually non-circulating, I have made it circulating for the time being should anyone want to take a closer look.

The Riddle of the Sands: a record of secret service recently achieved by Erskine Childers

Moby-Dick In Pictures: one drawing for every page by Matt Kish

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian. Article from the New York Times: “An Author I’d Walk the Plank For” by Richard Snow

Lobscouse & Spotted Dog by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas. And the Paris Review article “Cooking with Patrick O’Brian” by Valerie Stivers

“The Fog Horn” by Ray Bradbury in Stories of the Sea.

The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett

“The Sea and the Wind that Blows” in Essays of E.B. White

Stuart Little by E. B. White

Little Pig Saves the Ship by David Hyde Costello

Dare the Wind by Tracey Fern. Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully

 

Listener Picks

Thomas Kydd novels by Julian Stockwin

Green Shadows, White Whale by Ray Bradbury

 

 

 

 

 

Books Featuring Islands on The Point with Mindy Todd

This morning on the monthly book show we discussed books that featured islands. If you missed the show, you can always listen online. Mindy and Jill were joined this morning by Stefanie Corbin, owner of Footprints Cafe LLC Bookstore located in Buzzards Bay. What is your favorite book that is set on an island?

Stefanie’s Picks

Summer On the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin with Veronica Chambers
Whaling Captains of Color: America’s first meritocracy by Skip Finley
The Wampanoag Tribe of Martha’s Vineyard: colonization to recognition by Thomas Dresser
Island Queen by Vanessa Riley

Jill’s Picks

The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard. Here is a link to Weisgard’s Caldecott Acceptance Speech.
Island Boy by Barbara Cooney 
Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: a guide to the city’s hidden shores by Christopher Klein
African-Americans on Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket: a history of people, places and events by Robert & Karen Hayden
Island Zombie Iceland Writings by Roni Horn
Archipelago: An Atlas of Imagined Islands edited by Huw Lewis-Jones
Atlas of Remote Islands: fifty islands I have never set foot on and never will by Judith Schalansky
The Un-Discovered Islands: an archipelago of myths and mysteries, phantoms and fakes by Malachy Tallack, illustrated by Katie Scott
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

Listener Picks

Small Island by Andrea Levy
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Mysteries featuring Detective William Gibson by Kathy Garthwaite
Away Off Shore by Nathaniel Philbrick
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

A Book Show About Beverages

This morning on The Point with Mindy Todd on WCAI we discussed books that feature beverages. Joining us this month was Kellie Porter of the Woods Hole Library. If you missed the show you can listen online, or send us your suggestion for great books about beverages. If you would like to read the full review of Cape Cod’s Way by Scott Corbett, reviewed by the Falmouth ENTERPRISE on June 3, 1955, just head over to falmouthpubliclibrary.org and click on the box that says digital archive, the ENTERPRISE. A review in which they note: “Thrice the author misspells the name of the author of ‘American the Beautiful’, the Falmouth-born Katharine Lee Bates.”

Kellie’s Picks

Craft Coffee: a manual by Jessica Easto
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond by Alex Lewin and Raquel Guajardo
Homegrown Tea by Cassie Liversidge
Homemade Soda by Andrew Schloss
 
Jill’s Picks
 
Beach Cocktails: favorite surfside sips and bar snacks. Published by Coastal Living
It Began With Lemonade by Gideon Sterer and illustrated by Lian Cho
Mr. Pudgins by Ruth Christoffer Carlsen, illustrated by Margaret Bradfield
 
Listener Picks 
 
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery … and to go along with that, Jill suggested The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate Macdonald
“tear-water tea” as described in Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel

Books featuring water on The Point with Mindy Todd

This was a particularly delightful book show for us today, as it was the FIRST time we have actually been in the WCAI studios since February 2020! Yes, the first show I did from my living room couch was in March 2020. The joy and silliness in today’s episode was the joy at being in the studio, and actually being able to see Mindy and Vicky as we spoke!  Our topic today was water, and below you will find all the books that were mentioned. If you weren’t able to listen this morning, you can listen online anytime!

Vicky’s Picks

Swimming to the Top of the Tide: Finding Life Where Land and Water Meet by Patricia Hanlon
Waterlog: A Swimmers Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin
Waves and Beaches: The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast (3RD ed.) by Willard Bascomb and Kim McCoy
Shearwater: A Bird, an Ocean and a Long Way Home by Roger Morgan-Grenville 
Outer Beach: A Thousand Mile Walk on Cape Cod’s Atlantic Shore by Robert Finch 
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey Into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton
Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson 
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Water Bugs and Dragonflies: explaining death to young children by Doris Stickney

Jill’s Picks

Hey, Water by Antoinette Portis
Peter Spier’s Rain by Peter Spier
How To Read Water: clues and patterns from puddles to the sea by Tristan Gooley
Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
Rain: a natural and cultural history by  Cynthia Barnett
Brolliology: a history of the umbrella in life and literature by Marion Rankine
Plainwater: essays and poetry by Anne Carson
New England Waterfalls by Greg Parsons & Kate B. Watson
The Crying Book by Heather Christle

Listener Picks

One, Two, Three by Laurie Frankel
Outerbridge Reach by Robert Stone
Salt:  A World History by Mark Kurlansky
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Wave by Susan Casey
Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox
Grayson by Lynne Cox

 

Short Reads on The Point With Mindy Todd

Today on the monthly book show with Mindy Todd on WCAI, we were trying to offer short reads for short attention spans. Joining us this month was Nelson Ritschel, a Professor in the Department of Humanities at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Having trouble concentrating this year? Our book topic this month is short fiction, or as we like to think of them One-Night Reads. We shared short novels and short stories.

UPDATE: I have only just realized that during the course of our conversation I was talking about Laurie Colwin’s books being reissued, but managed to confuse her with Lorrie Moore, who is the author of the book I was actually talking about called Self-Help: stories. And I dearly love Laurie Colwin’s stories and novels, as well as her book Home Cooking: a writer in the kitchen. By all means you should read BOTH Laurie Colwin and Lorrie Moore! Pandemic brain strikes again!

Nelson’s Picks

“The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane,  https://public.wsu.edu/campbelld/crane/bride.htm

“The Dead” by James Joyce, Dubliners. London: Grant Richards, 1914—and http://online-literautre.com/

“A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, The Best American Short Stories of the Century, John Updike, ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

“Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, The Garden Party and Other Stories. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1922—and https://katherinemansfield.org

“The Adventure of ‘The Western Star’” by Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories, New York: William Morrow, 2013.

Jill’s Picks

The Virgin In the Garden by A. S. Byatt (A LONG book, which  made me realize I needed to read short books!)

Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Self-Help by Lorrie Moore (or really anything by Lorrie Moore)

Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

High Rising by Angela Thirkell

Nothing Much Happens: cozy and calming stories to soothe  your mind and help you sleep by Kathryn Nicolai

Desperate Characters by Paula Fox

Margaret The First by Danielle Dutton (Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s essay on Margaret the First.)

Listener Picks

Roughing It by Mark Twain
The Opposite of Loneliness: essays and stories by Marina Keegan
I Love Everybody (and other atrocious lies) by Laurie Notaro

 

Books Into Movies or TV Series on The Point with Mindy Todd

This morning on The Point with Mindy Todd we talked about books that have been turned into movies and television series. Joining us was the delightful Petra Mayer, editor for NPR books. Thanks to all of you who called in or emailed with your book suggestions! What a plethora of new books to read or to watch. The full list of titles mentioned is below.

Petra’s Picks

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, YA novel by Jenny Han, adapted by Netflix.

The Magicians, original books by Lev Grossman, adapted for SyFy

Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, of course – the TV show was based on volume one, The Duke and I, and if you don’t want to wait for season 2, you can read The Viscount Who Loved Me, which is all about Anthony Bridgerton (and his fear of bees).

For a fun twist on Sherlock Holmes, there’s Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series – the first one is A Study in Scarlet Women (Sherry Thomas, by the way, is an INCREDIBLE romance author – try the Heart of Blade books, they’re amazing), and the other series I mentioned was Laurie R. King’s Holmes & Russell – the first one of those is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.

I also talked about Preacher, the mid-90s Vertigo comic series that was adapted for AMC but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend either the books or the show unless people understand they’re gonna be in for a LOT of violence, gore, weird sex, blasphemy and general disgustingness.

And then in terms of series that are in development that I’m excited about, there’s N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books (try the Six of Crows duology, it’s a hoot!), Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books (hopefully they won’t screw it up this time around – the last adaptation was Not So Good) and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.

Finally, the series I’d love to see come to TV (I’ve heard rumors of a development deal but nothing concrete) is Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, about a half-fae-half-human private investigator and sometime knight errant in San Francisco. The first one is Rosemary and Rue. (Also, and I didn’t get around to mentioning this one because I ran out of time, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books, about an alternate Britain where the world of literature is real and people can cross back and forth into books. It’s SO fun. The first one is The Eyre Affair.)

Jill’s Picks

VideoHound’s Golden Movie Retriever edited by Michael J. Tyrkus
Masterpiece Theatre: A Celebration of 25 Years of Outstanding Television by Terrence O’Flaherty

The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott is book one in The Raj Quartet. The Granada Television version was spectacular.

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes edited by Leslie S. Klinger

From Holmes to Sherlock by Mattias Boström

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis. New Yorker article by Sarah Miller: The Fatal Flaw of “The Queen’s Gambit”

Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright. New Yorker article by Charles Finch: The Forgotten Novel That Inspired Homesickness For An Imaginary Land

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch is the 1st Charles Lenox Mystery. A series which should be made into a television series.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. No time for his novel Time and Again, a novel I love, which has  never been filmed, although it was made into a failed musical! There was a sequel as well, From Time to Time, but I never read it, because I thought the original novel did not need a sequel. (If you read the sequel and loved it, let me know!)

Listener Picks

Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling

Outlander series written by Diana Gabaldon

Walkabout by James Vance Marshall

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Murdoch Mysteriesa television series, but based on the mysteries by Maureen Jennings

1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The World According to Garp by John Irving

A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Book Magic on The Point With Mindy Todd

This morning on The Point with Mindy Todd we talked about books having to do with magic. Joining us this month was Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore co-owner Caitlin Doggart. Thanks to all of our listeners who shared their book suggestions on magic! And remember … you can listen online at any time!

 

Caitlin’s Picks

Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts by Victo Ngai
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Sevogia
Circe by Madeline Miller
And for some bonus titles from Caitlin, head over to her bookstore!

Jill’s Picks

Magic: a history by Chris Gosden
Magic in Western Culture: from antiquity to the enlightenment by Brian P. Copenhaver
The Magic of Handwriting by Christine Nelson
HausMagick: transform your home with witchcraft by Erica Feldmann
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski
Escape: the story of the great Houdini by Sid Fleischman
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harness
Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen


Listener’s Picks

Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Sacred Agriculture: the alchemy of biodynamics by Dennis Klocek
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Wise Child by Monica Furlong
Juniper by Monica Furlong

 

Books About Food on The Point with Mindy Todd

This morning on The Point with Mindy Todd we featured books about food for the monthly book show. Joining us for the first time (but I hope not the last) was Elspeth Hay. You can hear Elspeth regularly on CAI when she does her Local Food Report and she also has a food blog called Diary of a Locavore. We had lots and lots of listener suggestions, which was delightful! Thanks to all of you that called and emailed us with your food book suggestions. The illustration for this blog post is a postcard designed by Jane Mount. She has also illustrated a book called My Ideal Bookshelf, which includes a number of bookshelves full of cookbooks, if you need more inspiration!

Elspeth’s Picks

Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen
Feeding a Family: a real-life plan for making dinner work by Sarah Waldman
The Real Food Cookbook: traditional dishes for modern cooks by Nina Planck
Dinner: a love story: it all begins at the family table by Jenny Rosenstrach

Not Enough Time For:

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals: Mediterranean whole grain recipes for barley, farro, kamut, polenta, wheat berries & more by Maria Speck
Out In Blue Fields: a year at Hokum Rock Blueberry Farm by Janice Riley & Stephen Spear
Jerusalem: a cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
Good to the Grain: baking with whole-grain flours by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood
The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: healthy cooking and good living with pasture raised foods by Shannon Hayes
The Art of Fermentation: an in-depth exploration of essential concepts and processes from around the world by Sandor Ellix Katz

Jill’s Picks

Food Lit: a reader’s guide to epicurean nonfiction by Melissa Brackney Stoeger
What We Cook On Cape Cod by The Village Improvement Society
An Everlasting Meal: cooking with economy and grace by Tamar Adler
Always Home: a daughter’s recipes & stories by Fanny Singer
The Fruit Forager’s Companion by Sara Bir
Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayres
Maigret’s Dead Man by Georges Simenon
Poison à la Carte by Rex Stout, a novella that can be found in Three At Wolfe’s Door or in Seven Complete Nero Wolfe Novels

Bookmarks: for everyone who hasn’t read everything “The American ‘Foodoir: when food meets memoir” in the Nov/Dec 2020 issue.

Listener Picks

Love Real Food by Kathryn Taylor
Cooking the Catch by Dave Mausch
The Loaf and Ladle by Joan Harlow
Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody
The Seasonal Kitchen: a return to fresh food  by Perla Meyers
Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murry
Ruth Reichl books
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perlman
The Boston Cookbook by Fannie Farmer
The Food Lab: better home cooking through science by J. Kenji López-Alt
Alice Waters & Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson
Indian Herbalogy of North America by Alma R. Hutchins
My Bread by Jim Lahey
Lobscouse & Spotted Dog by Anne Grossman (For Patrick O’Brian fans)
The Irish Cook Book by Jp McMahon
Silk Road Cooking by Najmieh Batmanglij
The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen (many other Moosewood inspired cookbooks came after the original)

Suggestions that came in too late for broadcast:
Provincetown Seafood Cookbook by Howard Mitchum
The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash