Monthly Bookclub

Each month the Literary Roadhouse hosts deeply read and discuss a literary novel.

Discussing The Sellout | Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 5

Discussion Notes: The Sellout

Next Month’s novel is Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy

Rated: Explicit for Adult Themes and Language

Our guest this month couldn’t make it, but Anais, Maya, and Gerald dove in to this dark satire by Paul Beatty.

The Sellout follows a black, urban farmer who, in an effort to restore the black community in his hometown of Dickens, decides to segregate his community. The novel touches on other dark moments in American black history such as slavery, minstrel entertainment, and the civil rights movement. Gerald enjoyed the novel for its fresh prose, humor, and sheer entertainment value, but, as an outsider to both the black experience and United States history, struggled to connect with the references and message on a personal level. Anais was delighted by the courage in the social commentary and the stream-of-consciousness narrative. Maya loved the slam poetry roots evident in the language, and the use of black culture’s ‘inside voice’, and related several points in the novel to her own experience as a black woman in the United States.

If you have any recommendations for the bookclub, please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website. If you would like to leave a voicemail please click the green bar that says voicemail on the left. We may play your comment live on the show, unless you tell us not to. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBC

Literary Roadhouse Discussions with Karan Bajaj

Karan Bajaj

Guest: Karan Bajaj

Rated: Clean

This week we have a treat for you! Literary Roadhouse  Discussions in a new intermittent extra podcast where we discuss literature and writing with authors and other literary figures. Our first guest is Karan Bajaj.

Karan Bajaj is a #1 bestselling Indian novelist with more than 200,000 copies of his novels in print, both optioned into major films. Karan’s first worldwide novel, The Yoga of Max’s Discontent, will be published by Random House on May 3rd’ 2016. The book, called “The greatest adventure of our Generation” by The Daily Telegraph was inspired by Karan’s one year sabbatical traveling from Europe to India by road and learning yoga and meditation in the Himalayas.

During our discussion, we dove deep into how travel and adventure affects his writing. His own spiritual hero’s journey and the reflections seen in his novels and the four one plan that Karan lives by; where he works a normal job for 4 years and then takes a 1 year sabbatical to refill his well of spirituality and creativity. This a wonderfully interesting discussion on writing, reading and life, we hope you enjoy it.

The Yoga of Maxs Discontent

THE YOGA OF MAX’S DISCONTENT will be published worldwide by Random House on May 3, 2016. The book is about a Wall Street investment banker who becomes a yogi in the Himalayas and is both a page turning adventure through the hidden underbelly of India and a contemporary take on man’s classic quest for transcendence.

The book is receiving excellent advance reviews with The Daily Telegraph calling it “The greatest adventure of our generation” and Sharon Gannon saying it’s “A superb meditation on effort and grace, on the level of Herman Hesse and Victor Frankl,”

Karan is also a yoga instructor and you can get a free meditation course, a Quit Sugar in 7 days nutrition guide, a yoga flow video course and other gifts when you order your book today. Details at www.karanbajaj.com/yogamax

Learn more about Karan:

Website: www.karanbajaj.com
Twitter: @realkaranbajaj
Instagram: realkaranbajaj
Facebook: www.facebook.com/author.karanbajaj

Literary Roadhouse DiscussionsIf you enjoyed this extra content, please support our Patreon campaign. We would love to add Literary Discussions to our regular podcast line up but are struggling with the audio editing. Just as the great painters and writers of old relied of Patrons to produce their art, every dollar of support will get us closer to hiring someone to do the audio editing. An audio editor not only would improve the audio quality but would help up launch three planned future shows. www.patreon.com/literaryRoadhouse

 

Your Heart is a Muscle The Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 4

Discussion Notes: Your Heart is a Muscle The Size of a Fist

Next Month’s novel is The Sellout by Paul Beatty

Rated: Clean

Michael La RonnThis month author Michael La Ronn joins us to discuss Sunil Yapa’s novel, Your Heart is a Muscle The Size of a Fist. In addition to being a poet and author of fantasy novels, Michael is a host on the To Be Read Podcast.

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist is a fiction novel set during the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle. With a small cast of characters, Sunil Yapa successfully examines the events of that eventful day as well as touching on themes of family and community. This debut novel successfully breaks rules in an engaging and rewarding way. Michael fit right into the Literary Roadhouse with his insightful in-depth analysis. Anais considered the politics of the novel interesting but wonders how it would be received by less liberal audiences, while Michael and Gerald found it balanced without the common political novel missteps.

If you have any suggestions for the new bookclub please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website; if you would like to leave a voicemail and perhaps have us play your comments about this book, please click the green bar that says voicemail. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBookclub

Discussing Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 3

Rated: This episode has adult themes but does not have adult language

Tamara Woods joins us to discuss Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang

Yay! The Literary Roadhouse Bookclub is here and this month we discussed the novel Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang. Tamara Woods joins us for this weeks bookclub discussion with wonderful input on the language and intimacy of the story. A poet, writer and founder of the Reverie Journal, Tamara reads deeply and we see that in this show. She is also the future host of our upcoming poetry podcast that will launch this summer. Inheritance was loved by the entire podcast and we enjoyed discussing the themes of family, identity, war and control. For the next month’s episode we will discuss Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist.

If you have any suggestions for the new bookclub please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website; if you would like to leave a voicemail and perhaps have us play your comments about Inheritance, please click the green bar that says voicemail. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBookclub

A Discussion of Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 2

Rated Explicit for Adult Themes and Language

Author Roz MorrisThis month Roz Morris joins us as guest co-host. She is a ghost writer, writing teacher and author of My Memories of a Future Life and Lifeform Three. She was a wonderful addition to this weeks discussion lending her experience as a writing teacher and all around well-read person to deepen our analysis of Fates and Furies. To find more information about her, please visit her website.

While Anais, Gerald and Maya enjoyed the novel, both Maya and Roz had issues with some parts of this much talked about piece. We discuss our differences, ideas, the language and structure in depth so do not listen if you want to avoid spoilers.

Yay! The Literary Roadhouse Bookclub is here and this month we discussed Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. It led to quite the debate and I can’t wait for the next book. For the next month’s episode we will discuss Inheritance: A Novel by Lan Samantha Chang.

If you have any suggestions for the new bookclub please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website; if you would like to leave a voicemail and perhaps have us play your comments about Inheritance, please click the green bar that says voicemail. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBookclub

 

The Heart Goes Last – Margaret Atwood – Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 1

Discussion Notes: The Heart Goes Last

Rated Explicit

Yay!  The Literary Roadhouse Bookclub is here and we discussed The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. It led to quite the debate and I can’t wait for the next book. For the next month’s episode we will discuss Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.

If you have any suggestions for the new bookclub please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website; if you would like to leave a voicemail and perhaps have us play your comments about Fates and Furies or The Heart Goes Last, please click the green bar that says voicemail. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBookclub

Additional Books Mentioned:

The Handmaids Tale

The MaddAddam Trilogy