Bookish a Casual Bookclub
Discover your next literary adventure with HCC English professors Kofi Adisa, Sylvia Lee, and Laura Yoo! Dive into thought-provoking discussions about books and get expert recommendations for your next captivating read. Fuel your imagination and expand your literary horizons with these insightful educators
Episodes
2 days ago
The Fantasy Genre
2 days ago
2 days ago
In this episode of Bookish, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura explore the fantasy genre and its many subgenres, such as high fantasy, magical realism, Wuxia fantasy, and sci-fi fantasy. They discuss The Wings of Fire (the graphic novel) by Tui T. Sutherland, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and “La Héron” by Charlotte Ashley from Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar/Apr 2015. Correction: The short story “Axolotl” that Laura mentions is written by Julio Cortazar, not Jorge Luis Borges.
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Grocery Store Reads
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about "grocery store reads" or so-called "trashy novels" that range from romances like The Single Dad Project and Fifty Shades of Grey to crime thrillers like Reckoning.
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
The novel, Erasure, by Percival Everett
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Kofi, Laura and Sylvia discuss the 2001 novel, Erasure, by Percival Everett. They also talk about the film based on the novel, American Fiction. American Fiction is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. The film has received five Oscar nominations.
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Graphic Literature
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Kofi, Sylvia and Laura discuss graphic literature. They review "Abina and the Important Men," a compelling and powerfully illustrated "graphic history" based on an 1876 court transcript of a West African woman named Abina, who was wrongfully enslaved and took her case to court.
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Memoirs
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Monday Nov 27, 2023
In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about memoirs, including a discussion of Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu, HCC’s Bauder Lecture book for this year.
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Halloween & Scary Reads
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about scary stories! What is scary? Why do we write and read scary stories? Happy Halloween! The stories discussed: “The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, “Survivor Type” by Stephen King, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, “Free Jim’s Mine” by Tananarive Due, and “Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe.
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Summer Reading Recap
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
In this episode of Bookish, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura share their summer reading adventures. Listen to find out how they fared in their the summer reading challenges!
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Summer Reading
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Come listen to Sylvia, Laura, and Kofi's chat about their summer reading lists, which consist of a wide range of novels, poetry, and memoir. Listeners are invited to join in and read with the hosts.
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
"If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English" by Noor Naga
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Listen to Sylvia, Laura, and Kofi's wonderful discussion of Noor Naga's micro-novel If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, which follows the story of two nameless characters---one an "American" girl, the other an Egyptian "boy". Naga situates her story in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2010s, using unique storytelling techniques to question the limits of identity, identity politics, and shared humanity.