Lit Society: Books and Drama

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

No matter who you are, you're sure to relate to this week's theme: How Our Ancestors Effect Who Are Today. In a real, measurable way, the family members who came before us affect who we are and how we live. We'll chat about how this has proven true in our own lives. Then, on to our book...
 
Following the story of two sisters and the generations they birthed, this week's book covers each woman's journey from the tribe of their childhood to their children's lives and their children's children in America. Each new generation has new struggles, romances, passions, and pain. In the end, the sisters' families are united, brought home to the land and the water that bore them.
 
The book is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
 
Let's Get LIT!
 
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

Wild Card: Song Lyrics and Musical Storytelling (f/Author Dawnie Walton)

This week's is a wild card episode. We're discussing song lyrics and our favorite musical storytellers. We've also got a game — because you all love to put Alexis on the spot (and Kari is more than happy to oblige). 
Joining us this week is acclaimed author Dawnie Walton. A seasoned publication editor turned novelist - Walton has worked for Essence and Entertainment Weekly, to name only a few. Her experience gives her first-hand knowledge of both the music and publishing industries. The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, her debut novel, is a fictional story written as a real-life profile of one of the greatest and most misunderstood rock duos in history. The book details Opal and Nev's rise to fame and the horrific event that led to a man's death, and the band's ostracization by industry insiders and wannabes for years to come.
How has music influenced you as a storyteller?
LET'S GET LIT!
 
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

This week's episode is OUT OF THIS WORLD! First, we'll start with all the petty details of how NASA originated. It's like when that juice box bar opened in Chicago; Everyone went once for the IG pic and then never again. It's like that. By the way, did you know that only 12 men have walked on the moon? Unrelated fact, but true. Then it's on to our book...
Chris Hadfield is a real-life astronaut. His first novel is set in an alternate reality where Apollo 13 is happening, not as an exploration mission but as a military operation. The crew's task is to take down a foreign space station designed to spy on American citizens. Soviet activity forces American hands to action, but the Soviets are prepared with a canon-laden vessel and an American mole secretly working for them aboard the US spaceship. When the smoke clears, who will be left standing?
LET'S GET LIT!
 
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

DIGGING DEEP DOWN IN THOSE ROOTS: Poetry of Black Hair, Culture, Resilience, Personal & Collective Trauma by Katina Horton

It's National Poetry Month, and we've got a special episode to celebrate this brilliantly unique form of literature. Whether or not you're a fan of poetic prose, we guarantee there's something for you. First, we're taking it back to AP English with a breakdown of poetic rhythm, including Shakespeare's fav iambic pentameter, in this week's theme, How to Read and Enjoy Poetry Correctly. Then, it's on to our book...
Black moments distilled into easily digestible verse, this book reminds us that literature lives outside classrooms or cringy rom-coms.
It's more than "To be or not to be" a "phenomenal woman" or a "brother to the night" or the "blues in your left thigh, trying to be the funk in your right. "Poetry is more than that. Poetry is life. This everyday, mundane, extraordinary life.
Poetry turns this life into a song.
Today's song is DIGGING DEEP DOWN IN THOSE ROOTS Poetry of Black Hair, Culture, Resilience, Personal & Collective Trauma by Katina Horton.
LET'S GET LIT!
 
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Lisa Jewell

America's Most Wanted was a television show launched by a man who knew what it meant to lose a child forever, in the blink of an eye, to the hands of a monster. He took his pain and helped others find their missing children before it was too late. Today, we discuss how that man, Jon Walsh, lost his son and what we all can do to be a little safer in these streets. Then, on to our book...
On the tenth anniversary of her youngest daughter's disappearance, one woman must choose to let go of her pain and reopen herself to life and love. After meeting a charming writer, who reminds her of her ex-husband, she begins a path that takes her somewhere she never imagined — to the truth about her daughter's disappearance a decade earlier.
The woman's name? Laurel Mack.
The book? Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Lisa Jewell
LET'S GET LIT!
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.
 

ReLIT: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

We're taking a well-deserved break this week, but here's a favorite episode from our past!
What is love? Baby, don't hurt me.
Alicia Berenson is a beautiful, brilliant painter married to one of the best-looking fashion photographers in the world. Her life is seemingly perfect, so it is so unbelievable that she'd shoot her husband five times in the face and then refuse to speak again. What happened to push her over the edge? It becomes the mission of psychotherapist Theo Faber to find the answer. Will he succeed without losing himself in the process?
Before diving into this week's book, Alexis gives eight reasons why every one of us should be keeping a journal. We remember experiences better when we write them down (travel journal) and eat more thoughtfully when we jot down what we've put in our mouth (a food journal). Above all else, though, a journal can be a great way to get back at people posthumously (it will all make sense. Promise).
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.
 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Iconic American poet, activist, playwright, and holder of numerous awards and 50 honorary degrees, Maya Angelou, was a giant among humans- but like all giants, she started small before learning to grow. This, the first of her famous autobiographies, tells of her modest start and the beginning of her meteoric rise. The lesson — no matter what we've been through, we all decide where we're going.
Before discussing Ms. Angelou, we'll talk about a subject dear to her heart, language. What's the difference between slang and dialect? Are their rules to the Black-American dialect? If so, what are they? Learn all of this and more on the latest episode of LIT Society. Enjoy y'all.
Let's GET LIT!
 
👩🏾‍🏫 🧑🏾‍🏫 Our Independent Bookstore of the Month: Café con Libros
724 Prospect Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11216
https://www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/
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Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.
 

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

What would you do if one of the people you admired most was accused of murder? Faced with this question, one teen decides to uncover the secrets her hometown’s been hiding for the last five years. She soon realizes that nearly everyone she knows is a suspect. What’s more, someone wants her quiet, and someone wants her dead. And You're listening to LIT Society.
Let's GET LIT!
 
👩🏾‍🏫 🧑🏾‍🏫 Our Independent Bookstore of the Month: Café con Libros
724 Prospect Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11216
https://www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/
____________
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.
 

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Pack your bags! We're touring Egypt and the Nile River, courtesy of Alexis! This week's theme paints a picture so vivid you'll feel as if you're there with the pyramids. Enjoy! Then, it's time for our book:
Suffering through his retirement, a world-renowned detective stumbles upon a glamorous young heiress and her new husband. Quickly, he discovers a love triangle that ends in a murder. Wealthy and beautiful, the victim is not short of enemies, but the person who did the deed was incredibly close. Will our detective find the culprit before another life is tragically cut short?
The detective’s name is Hercule Poirot.
The book is Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie.
And You're listening to LIT Society.
Let's GET LIT!
 
👩🏾‍🏫 🧑🏾‍🏫 Our Independent Bookstore of the Month: Café con Libros
724 Prospect Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11216
https://www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/
____________
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.
 

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

An indomitable enemy, it holds you captive in your body as it eats away at your mind. Until it stops your mind and your heart, it is relentless. It abducts those you love the most, leaving you alone until even the person in the mirror becomes a stranger. That enemy is Alzheimer's Disease, and one brilliant woman is blind-sighted when having to face it too soon at an age too young.
 
The woman's name is Alice.
The book is Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
And You're listening to LIT Society.
Let's GET LIT!
 
👩🏾‍🏫 🧑🏾‍🏫 Our Independent Bookstore of the Month: Café con Libros
724 Prospect Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11216
https://www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/
____________
Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.