If you have spent any time at all here, you know that we like books, and like to talk about books. In fact, we have THREE podcasts and drop two new episodes every single week – all of them talking about Minnesota books and libraries

So, we like books. We like podcast. We really like Minnesota discussions of books.

And this podcast combines all of those things!

You can explore their episodes on Amazon here, or check it out on your favorite podcast app. (I’m subscribed on PocketCasts, which is my favorite; but you find your own preference.)

I love to find new sources of book information, so it was great to find this podcast written up in the Star Tribune. Check out this excerpt of their article here, and you can read the entire article here.

“Gary Nygaard had already come out by the time he read James Baldwin’s 1956 novel “Giovanni’s Room,” about a man’s ill-fated relationship with a man he meets in a gay bar.

So, Nygaard told listeners on the locally based podcast “This Queer Book Saved My Life,” the book didn’t literally save his life. But he was deeply affected by the book, seeing it as a cautionary tale confirming he’d made the right choice.

“It showed me how destructive it is to try to pretend, how awful for yourself and how damaging it can be to other people,” said Nygaard, who is 71 and lives in Vadnais Heights.

“This Queer Book Saved My Life” was launched in June — Nygaard was on the second episode — and is now well into its second season, with nearly 20 episodes.

The podcast asks “what was the story that you read and said, ‘Wow, I have a new way to live and love in this world because I read this,'” said J.P. Der Boghossian, the program’s creator and host.

In each episode, a guest who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, nonbinary or queer discusses a book that helped them understand themselves, pointed toward life choices or offered support in a culture where LGBTQ people still face bias and intolerance.

“I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has a book that comes into your life and becomes part of you, that gives you the feeling that you’re being seen for the first time on the page,” Der Boghossian said in an interview.

Guests have named novels, memoirs, essay collections, self-help and young-adult fiction. Authors sometimes join the discussion, including Alison Bechdel, whose 2006 graphic memoir “Fun Home” was adapted as a musical that won 2015’s Tony Award for Best Musical.”

Read the rest of the article here!