Ep. 123: Nikki Erlick (Author of The Measure) + Book Recommendations
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2022
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 123, Nikki Erlick joins me to discuss (spoiler-free!) her debut novel, The Measure, and share her book recommendations. A both otherworldly and of our time story, in a symbolic way rather than a literal way. The Measure will absolutely be one of my favorite books of 2022!
This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Highlights
- Nikki’s inspiration for The Measure.
- How she incorporated Ancient Greek mythology about fate in her writing.
- The ways COVID-19 pandemic influenced and impacted her novel.
- How she decided to take her story to a place of healing, peace, and hope.
- Nikki’s path to publication as a debut author.
- The comparable books and authors Nikki names for read-alikes.
- Nikki’s process for weaving together the wide variety of societal implications into her story.
- Whether Nikki thinks she’d open the box featured in The Measure…and how she’d live her life if she were a short stringer.
Nikki’s Book Recommendations [29:18]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman | Amazon | Bookshop.org
[29:35]
- Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:40]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [33:06]
- End of the World House by Adrienne Celt | Amazon | Bookshop.org [34:30]
One Genre of Books She DOESN’T LOVE [36:33]
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (September 27) |
Last 5-Star Book Nikki Read
-
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles | Amazon
Other Books Mentioned
- The Power by Naomi Alderman [14:48]
- The One by John Marrs [15:00]
- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson [15:12]
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman [30:20]
- Exhalation by Ted Chiang [30:59]
- The Book of M by Peng Shepherd [34:11]
- Severance by Ling Ma [35:37]
- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister [36:00]
- The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas [37:10]
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier [37:26]
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara [37:51]
- The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King [38:23]
- The Shining by Stephen King [38:43]
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson [39:28]
- Rules of Civility by Amor Towles [42:15]
About Nikki Erlick
Nikki Erlick is a writer and editor whose work has appeared on the websites of New York magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan, the Huffington Post, Indagare Travel, BookTrib, and the Verge. As a travel writer, she explored nearly a dozen countries on assignment—from rural villages in France to the arctic fjords of Norway. As a ghostwriter, she has lent her voice to CEOs, academics, and entrepreneurs. She graduated Harvard University summa cum laude and is a former editor of the Harvard Crimson. She earned a master’s degree in global thought from Columbia University. The Measure is her first novel.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week, I talk with a bookish |
| 0:16.8 | guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they do not love, |
| 0:22.1 | and one new release they're excited about. We're going to get real and sometimes a bit snarky |
| 0:27.2 | about all things books. If you like the show, I'd love it if you follow the show in your |
| 0:31.9 | podcast player, spread the word to your reader friends, post about it on your social media, |
| 0:37.4 | or support the show on |
| 0:39.0 | Patreon at patreon.com slash Sarah's bookshelves. Supporting the show on Patreon gets you access to |
| 0:46.5 | bonus podcast episodes and lots of other goodies. There's also a link in the show notes and in my |
| 0:52.0 | Instagram bio. Let's get rolling. The measure by |
| 0:55.5 | Nikki Ehrlich will absolutely be one of my favorite books of 2022. And many of you have probably |
| 1:00.8 | already heard me talk about this book on the summer circle back episode a couple weeks ago. |
| 1:06.1 | It's both otherworldly and very of our time in a symbolic way rather than a literal way, which I loved, |
| 1:12.8 | and it's perfectly balanced between plot and character. It goes down super easy while remaining |
| 1:18.3 | incredibly thought-provoking. And I delighted in the thoughtful way Nikki tied up even the |
| 1:23.9 | smallest details, and we will talk about that today. Nikki is a writer and editor whose |
| 1:28.3 | work has appeared online with New York Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan, Indigari Travel, |
| 1:36.0 | the Huffington Post, and Vox. She has a bachelor's degree from Harvard in comparative literature |
| 1:40.5 | and a master's degree from Columbia University in Global Thought. And the measure is her |
| 1:45.2 | debut novel. Welcome, Nikki. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. |
| 1:50.0 | I think you are one of our most anticipated guests of the whole year so far. Oh my gosh. That's |
| 1:55.8 | that's really kind. Thank you. So many people in my Facebook group have been reading the measure over the past few months |
| 2:02.0 | talking about it. And I have really yet to see very many people that have not liked it. |
... |
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