Book Club: ‘The Vanishing Half’

Nerdette Recaps With Peter Sagal

WBEZ

Tv & Film, Books, Self, Improvement, Pop, Tv, Wbez, Culture, Technology, Society & Culture, Nerds, Nerd, Nerdette

4.6 • 924 Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2020

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's Nerdette Book Club! Each month, we read a book and chat about it with a rotating group of panelists.This month’s pick is Brit Bennett’s sophomore novel, The Vanishing Half.

The story starts in rural Louisiana in the late 1950s, when two light-skinned Black girls run away from home to New Orleans. When one decides to pass as white, she leaves her past behind. The book unfolds to tell the stories of both sisters and their daughters as they live with the repercussions of the choices they’ve made.

Listen along as Nerdette host Greta Johnsen discusses the book with Abby West, an editor for Audible, and Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age.

And then get ready for next month’s pick: Last Tang Standing, Lauren Ho’s debut novel. The publisher calls it a cross between Bridget Jones’ Diary and Crazy Rich Asians.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still
0:06.1	watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you,
0:12.7	soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making,
0:18.0	Stories Without End from WBEZ Chicago.
0:25.7	Join me as I share how the genre began, their social impact, and why these stories endure.
0:28.3	Listen wherever you get your podcast.
0:56.8	From WBEZ Chicago, I'm Greta Johnson, and you are listening to The Nerdat Book Club. It's just like a normal book club, except you don't have to share your snacks. I am here with Kylie Reid, the author of Such a Fun Age, which was also a nerd at Book Club pick. Kylie, hello. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Oh my gosh. I am so excited to have you. We are also joined by Abby West, who's an editor at Audible.
0:57.8	Abby, hey.
0:58.7	Hello.
1:00.4	I'm also happy to be here.
1:03.0	I think this is just going to be the most fun.
1:03.5	I'm pumped.
1:04.2	Let's do it.
1:05.7	It's going to be such a fun time.
1:06.2	Get it, Kylie?
1:06.6	Get it?
1:07.6	I'm sorry.
1:16.5	I had to. I've never heard that ever. Okay, so we are also going to hear from a bunch of you.
1:19.6	We got a lot of really great voicemails this time, and I can't wait to listen to them.
1:24.5	So this month, we are talking about The Vanishing Half.
1:27.3	It is the second book by Britt Bennett. It came out earlier this month, we are talking about The Vanishing Half. It is the second book by
1:29.0	Britt Bennett. It came out earlier this month and pretty much like instantly hit number one
	...

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