I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still

watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you,

soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making,

Stories Without End from WB EZ Chicago.

Join me as I share how the genre began, their social impact, and why these stories endure.

Listen wherever you get your podcast.

From WBEZ Chicago, I'm Greta Johnson, and this is the Nerdette Book Club.

It's just like a regular book club, except you don't have to share your snacks. This month's selection is Tanya James'

historical fiction novel Lute. It takes place right around the 1700s in Mysore, India,

and our main character is a boss, a young and talented woodworker who is summoned to the Sultan's palace to help a

French expat build a mechanical tiger. It's about a boss and his journey across the sea, but it's also

about ambition and colonialism and love and how history is remembered. That's all I'm going to say for

now, but this is your spoiler warning. If you haven't read the book and you don't want to know what happens, go listen to our author interview in the feed because we are going to get into it. I am super excited to introduce you to our panelists this month. With us, we have the author of several books, including most recently our March Book Club Pick, the boarding school murder mystery novel. I have some

questions for you. Rebecca McKay, Rebecca, welcome. Thank you. I'm glad to be back. Thank you for coming

back. Also here is Samir Pandya. He is the author of another Nerdat Book Club Book members only,

which we chose approximately 10,000 years ago back in August of 2020.

Samir, welcome.

Hey, Greta.

Nice to chat with you again.

Yes, nice to have you.

You also have a book coming out next year called The Boys, which I'm very excited to check

out as well.

...