← From the Front Porch
Loading summary
Transcript4 lines
- [00:02]
A
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. What I didn't yet understand what I couldn't yet understand was that much of what gave me away as American had nothing to do with my physical features or my clothing. It was my loping gait, my exaggerated wave, even my laugh, which was a little too loud. Small traits, all of them, but together they added up to something big and brash and also a little bit unwieldy. Rachel Beanland the Half Life Annie I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week I'm back with another installment of our Summer Readings series. Have you ever wondered what the Bookshelf actually looks like? Consider following us over on Instagram ookshelftville. We post behind the scenes pictures and give important updates on store hours, events, and special promotions. We'd love to see you over there. Now back to the show. Last spring, when I finally came to terms with the fact that I was pregnant and a baby was coming, I brainstormed ways to keep the podcast episodes coming. Throughout my maternity leave, we rarely ran reruns on the show, and even though I'm not opposed to taking a break, I simply haven't taken very many. Last summer, though, with Olivia and I both down for the count, I knew something had to give. So we launched our summer Readings series. I fell in love with the shorter format. So this summer, even though I'm not pregnant and neither I nor Olivia is on maternity leave, we're bringing the summer Reading series back. These episodes are short and sweet, much like our traditional yes, Virginia episodes, but they'll provide you with a taste of some new summer books I think you'll really love. Each book featured can be found on our website@bookshelfthomasville.com and each week you can receive 10% off that week's featured title. Use the code SUMMERREADINGS. Don't forget the S at checkout each week. For the rest of July, I'll tell you a little bit about a featured summer book, then read an excerpt and close with some comp titles so you'll know if the book is right for you. The comp titles are 10% off in the shop too. I hope these quieter episodes will give you a respite and a reprieve this summer that you'll like the feeling of being read to as much as I do. So far this month, I've shared excerpts from the debut rom com Abby Offsides and Jesmyn Ward's essay collection on Witness. And this week I'm talking about a new book in a genre I don't always love, the Half Life by Rachel Beanland. A new work of historical fiction I think would be well worth your time this summer. Listen, this book clocks in at 480 pages, so it is by far the heftiest of the titles I'm recommending this season. And it's not not necessarily a book you'll fly through. Instead, I think the page count is worth it, offering details and insights I might not have gotten from a shorter work. You may recognize Beanland's name. She's the author of Florence Adler Swims, a pandemic read I loved, and the House Is on Fire, about a real life theater fire in the 1800s in Richmond, Virginia. Beanland has a track record then for well researched historical fiction, and the Half Life is no different. There's a way, even, where this feels like this was the book she was meant to write. In the Half Life, we're introduced immediately to our narrator Eileen, a Navy wife telling the story of her first years of marriage to an unnamed audience. This narrative trick mostly works, and I was immediately swept up in the younger Eileen story, her whirlwind romance with a naval officer, marrying him in Charleston and immediately leaving for an Italian island off the coast of Sardinia during the Vietnam era. The book is partly Eileen's coming of age, including several somewhat unexpected steamy scenes, and partly an investigation of American military involvement and its repercussions for the countries who may not have asked for military intervention. I was fascinated by the details other readers might find less enjoyable discussions about nuclear war, its environmental impact, and the role of military submarines around the globe. Beanland offers insight and information I had never once previously considered, and the Italian setting described beautifully. Thanks, I'm sure, to Beanland's own ties to the place offers a reprieve when the book begins to feel bogged down in detail. In other words, if you're an enneagram5 like me, you're going to eat those details up. And even if you're not, there's plenty more that will help you enjoy this book. This is an excerpt from Rachel Beenland's the Half Life.
- [05:05]
B
This episode sponsored by Apollo still moving deals forward from your desk. With Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts, and launch outreach right Inside Claude and ChatGPT. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM, or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run. Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices. Grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.
- [05:43]
A
Most financial apps tell you what to do. Settlemate helps you actually do something about it. It identifies potential claims and helps you file and track them all in one place so you don't miss opportunities that most people overlook. And with a money back guarantee, if settlement doesn't help you recover at least the cost of your subscription after the first year, you get your money back. Plus you can save 79% with annual billing. Less guesswork, more action. Visit settlement IO, that's settlement. And download the app today to start settling. What's unsettled Tom took us directly to the Excelsior Hotel, which was an imposing four story building that sat across the Via Amendola from the ferry terminal. Home sweet home, he said as he pulled up to the curb. I got out of the car and stood on the empty sidewalk staring up at my new, albeit temporary, home while the guys got our bags out of the back of the car. Just pay for whatever you need tonight, said Tom as we made our way into a small lobby. Tomorrow you can go to the bursar and get your tla. Paul had already told me that for as long as we were living out of suitcases at the Excelsior, we'd qualify for a temporary lodging allowance, which covered the hotel as well as meals and other incidentals. Where's the bursar? Paul asked Tom, but Tom just waved him off. I'll show you everything tomorrow. How about I meet you back over here at 0800 hours? Paul nodded and Tom looked at his watch. There's a small market around the corner, but it's probably closed right now. I looked at my own wristwatch. It was a little after three. Don't count on anything here being open between one and four, said Tom. That's when all the shopkeepers go home for their siesta. We said our goodbyes and Tom turned to go, but then he stopped in the middle of the lobby and did a 180. I almost forgot, he said when he was in front of us again. There've been a couple of protests recently. We must have stood up a little straighter because Tom rushed to reassure us. Not a big deal, he said. Mainly people from off the island. What are they protesting? I asked us. The Gilmore A bunch of left wingers are all riled up about the nuclear reactors on the subs. They think we're going to leak nuclear waste all over the archipelago, if we haven't already. Paul let out a short laugh, like the very idea of a leak was not just remote but impossible. Things have been pretty quiet here recently, said Tom. But then all that stuff went down in Japan, and it's got a lot of Italians feeling like chumps for not doing more. Japan, I said, but Paul gave me a look that said, later, we're telling our people to keep their heads down. Should we not go out? I asked, but the question didn't make sense even as I said it. After all, we'd just been at a restaurant in Palau, and Tom hadn't acted like we were breaking any rules. Tom rushed to reassure me. You can go out, definitely. Just don't draw a lot of attention to yourself. Try to blend in. You know what I mean? I did, but then I thought of the woman on the ferry and how I had immediately known she was an American without her ever opening her mouth. I was 5 8, with auburn hair, hazel eyes, and my Irish father's pale skin, which burned and then freckled in the sun. There was no way I'd ever be mistaken for an Italian, even if I traded in my Keds for a pair of Bruno Magli pumps. What I didn't yet understand, what I couldn't yet understand, was that much of what gave me away as American had nothing to do with my physical features or my clothing. It was my loping gait, my exaggerated wave, even my laugh, which was a little too loud. Small traits, all of them, but together they added up to something big and brash and also a little bit unwieldy. If you liked the women, Beautiful Ruins, and Beyond the Point, I think you might enjoy Rachel Beanlen's latest, the Half Life, the book released earlier this month in hardback, and you can purchase it and the comp titles from the Bookshelf website receive 10% off this week by using code SUMMERREADINGS. Make sure you include the S at checkout. This week I'm reading A Private man by Stephanie Sakia from the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram ookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, bookshelf thomasville.com a full transcript of today's podcast episode can be found at. From the frontporchpodcast.com Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of from the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. Our executive producers of today's episode are Kami Tidwell, Beth Linda, Lee Drost, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Farrell, Jean Queens, Jamie Treadwell, Joseph Shorter iv, Martha Linares, Nicole, Marcy, Wendy Jenkins and Kimberly. Thank you all for your support of from the Front Porch. If you'd like to support from the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and helps us reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone. Look for from the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, write a review and tell us what you think. Or if you're so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com from the FrontPorch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
- [11:45]
B
This episode sponsored by Apollo still moving deals forward from your desk With Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts and launch outreach right Inside Claude and ChatGPT. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run, Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices. Grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.