We re pleased to announce the official launch of the
Talk of Iowa Book Club podcast. Season 1 in its entirety has dropped into podcast feeds, and season 2 episodes will begin populating at the end of every month in 2021, beginning in January.
The Talk of Iowa Book Club podcast is a product of the monthly on-air book club show on IPR’s
Talk of Iowa, heard on IPR News and News/Studio One signals weekdays at 10 a.m. with host Charity Nebbe. While the goal of the on-air show is to get listeners to read along each month and tune in live for the discussion, the podcast allows readers to read and enjoy these discussions on-demand at their own pace.
The 2021 reading list begins with Kurt Vonnegut s Mother Night. The Talk of Iowa Book Club is a team effort, and joining Charity Nebbe on this episode are two of the people she s worked most closely with to compile the 2021 reading list.
Selected books should be available in mass market paperback. Many are either written by Iowans or people who have spent time in Iowa or have another Iowa connection. Some don’t have any connection to our state, but we’re sure that Iowans will enjoy them.
January:
Kurt Vonnegut s Mother Night
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” That’s the most famous quote from “Mother Night,” a strange, cautionary tale from Kurt Vonnegut. The novel is told in the first person by Howard W. Campbell Jr. as he awaits trial for war crimes. He is an American who was living in Germany when World War II broke out, recruited to serve by both Nazis and the Allied Forces. The book is set in the past, but f
Published December 16, 2020 at 5:34 PM CST Listen • 48:29
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“Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression” provides a vivid look at Depression-era farm life from a child s perspective
“Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression” by Mildred Armstrong Kalish is a delightful and detailed account of early farm life; full of memories, recipes and family.
The book takes listeners back in time as Kalish recounts her early life growing up on an Iowa farm in the 1920s and 30s. Kalish, who was 85-years-old when the book was published, brings readers a deeply personal account of this era, rooted in her own vivid childhood memories and thorough research.