The Book Up with Verdell Walker | Book Reviews & Book Recs

Welcome back for Season 4, Bookworms! Love books? Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? Whether you're a lifelong reader, crawling out of a reading slump, or just need a trusted voice to help you find a great story — you're in the right place. Today’s book is "Kin" by Tayari Jones. It follows Vernice and Annie, two motherless "cradle friends" growing up as neighbors in 1950s Honeysuckle, Louisiana, whose paths dramatically diverge in adulthood. Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South and the Civil Rights era, it is a sweeping, emotionally rich exploration of mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and being a Black woman in the American South. This episode is a bit over 15 minutes because I had SO MUCH to say about this story! Here are two excerpts from the book: Oprah Daily. Read This Sneak Peek from Oprah’s 121st Book Club Pick, Kin The Bitter Southerner. An Excerpt from "Kin" by Tayari Jones - Chapter 41 'Vernice' If you’d like to read "Kin", you can purchase a copy for your TBR pile: Bookshop.org | Amazon (Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-four-featured-books) Other Books Mentioned in this Episode: American Marriage: Bookshop.org | Amazon FREEBIE: Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/#bingo CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP: Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my reading nook for everybody. Website: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/ Instagram: @thebookuppod YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thebookuppodcast/ Shop: The Book Up Bookshop and Amazon Storefront If you'd like to support the show, please visit The Book Up on Ko-fi to give a one-time or monthly gift. And if you can’t give financially right now? Help me reach more book lovers like you by following the podcast & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify! This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you!

Hey Bookworms! I'm hard at work on the next season of The Book Up — and while you wait, I'm dusting off an episode from the archive. And this one is great for spooky season! Enjoy! --- Love books? Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? Whether you're a lifelong reader, crawling out of a reading slump, or just need a trusted voice to help you find a great story — you're in the right place. Today’s book is "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" by Stephen Graham Jones. A diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told via transcribed interviews of a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy for your TBR pile: Bookshop.org | Amazon (Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-two-featured-books​) Read more about the Marias Massacre, which inspired this book, on Wikipedia. This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you! ​P.S. Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/#bingo CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my book nook for everybody. Website: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/ Instagram: @thebookuppod YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast Pinterest: @thebookuppodcast Shop: The Book Up Bookshop and Amazon Storefront If you'd like to support the show, please visit The Book Up on Ko-fi to give a one-time or monthly gift. And if you can’t give financially right now? Help me reach more book lovers like you by following the podcast & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!

Hey Bookworms! I'm hard at work on the next season of The Book Up — and while you wait, I'm dusting off an episode from the archive. Enjoy! --- Love books? Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? Whether you're a lifelong reader, crawling out of a reading slump, or just need a trusted voice to help you find a great story — you're in the right place. Today’s featured book is The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. In this genre-bending sci-fi thriller, an unnamed civil servant and an Arctic explorer pulled from the past fall in love and face a time-jumping government conspiracy. If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy for your TBR pile: Bookshop.org | Amazon (Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books) This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you! ​P.S. Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/#bingo CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my book nook for everybody. Website: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/ Instagram: @thebookuppod YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast Pinterest: @thebookuppodcast Shop: The Book Up Bookshop and Amazon Storefront If you'd like to support the show, please visit The Book Up on Ko-fi to give a one-time or monthly gift. And if you can’t give financially right now? Help me reach more book lovers like you by following the podcast & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!

Hey Bookworms! I'm hard at work on the next season of The Book Up — and while you wait, I'm dusting off an episode from the archive. Enjoy! --- Love books? Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? Whether you're a lifelong reader, crawling out of a reading slump, or just need a trusted voice to help you find a great story — you're in the right place. Today’s featured book is Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. In this fun, fast-paced thriller, a group of retiring assassins find out they are on their employer's hit list and have to fight back. If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy for your TBR pile: Bookshop.org | Amazon (Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books) Other featured books: Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn: Bookshop.org | Amazon Thelma [film] - rent or buy on Amazon Prime This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you! ​P.S. Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/#bingo CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my book nook for everybody. Website: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/ Instagram: @thebookuppod YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast Pinterest: @thebookuppodcast Shop: The Book Up Bookshop and Amazon Storefront If you'd like to support the show, please visit The Book Up on Ko-fi to give a one-time or monthly gift. And if you can’t give financially right now? Help me reach more book lovers like you by following the podcast & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!

I've been working on something quietly since January, and today I'm lifting the curtain on The Book Up Reading Journal. In this special bonus episode, I share more about the journal I've created for fellow book lovers — why I made it, what makes it different from every other book journal on the shelf, and the real story behind picking the cover. It wasn't all easy, and I get real about that in this one. I also share a TBR update on the books I've been meaning to get to, including a couple I'm still deciding whether to DNF. Whether you're here for the books, the story behind the story, or just to hang out in the book nook with me — I'm so glad you're here. LINKS The final cover!! Sign up for The Book Up email list to be the first to know when the journal is available (and grab a free reading bingo card while you're there!) TBR Top Up #2 TBR Top Up #3 More about Carl Wilson, the journal's graphic designer This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you! ​P.S. Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/#bingo CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my book nook for everybody. Website: https://thebookuppodcast.mystrikingly.com/ Instagram: @thebookuppod YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast Pinterest: @thebookuppodcast Shop: The Book Up Bookshop and Amazon Storefront If you'd like to support the show, please visit The Book Up on Ko-fi to give a one-time or monthly gift. And if you can’t give financially right now? Help me reach more book lovers like you by following the podcast & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!