On this episode, Melissa Joulwan, author and co-host of the podcast Strong Sense of Place, discusses the way her personal reading life and work for the show overlap. We talk about her deep and varied book preferences, our shared love for diving deep into a backlist, and you get to hear the fabulous way she describes the books she loves.   Strong Sense of Place website https://strongsenseofplace.com For the podcast, extensive show notes, book lists, and travel tips and photos.    For people new to the show, this is a good place to start: https://strongsenseofplace.com/welcome   Substack https://strongsenseofplace.substack.com/ Free newsletter with photos and book recommendations, behind-the-scenes stories, secret recipes, inspiring ideas, and (sometimes) silly stuff.   Books mentioned in this episode:    What Betsy’s reading:  King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby  The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Skeleton Crew by Stephen King   Books Highlighted by Melissa: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte A Room with a View by E.M. Forester The Inn at Lake Divine by Elinor Lipman   Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery  Circe by Madeline Miller  Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  Less by Andrew Sean Greer The Trick by Emanuel Bergman Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles  Odds Against by Dick Francis Dietland by Sarai Walker Piglet by Lottie Hazell The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson    All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.   Other books mentioned in this episode: Well Fed Weeknights by Melissa Joulwan  Rollergirl by Melissa Joulwan  The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva  This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart  Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver  The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde  The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell  What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher  Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  Carmilla by Joseph Sherican Le Fanu Hungerstone by Kat Dunn  The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller  Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel  The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova  The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon  A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn  A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley  The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley  The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley  2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino  Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino  The Way Men Act by Elinor Lipman  Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel  The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller  Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer  My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh