Episode 512: Pandemic

Episode 312 Pandemics logo

Thank you for joining us on Reading With Libraries! We are so glad you are here to join our book group podcast!

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we work with all types of libraries.We started this podcast to provide information for our library community doing Reader’s Advisory work. It’s hard to be an expert on ALL of the great books out there! 

So we pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!

This week we do want to give you a heads up that we’re discussing a topic that might not be for everyone – books about or featuring pandemics. Based on current events, we thought people might be interested to learn more, but we also recognize this content may not be what you want to hear right now!

So, consider this your content warning! And keep in mind if this episode’s topic is not for you, Reading With Libraries has TONS of other episodes to choose from 🙂 

This week’s Additional Host is Ariel Kirst, from Great River Public Library!

Beverages:

Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages. We have several options for beverages to enjoy during a pandemic: 

The Quarantini 

  • The increasingly important specialty cocktail is one that anybody can make at home: It’s the drink you make with what you’ve got in your cabinets or freezer, and is best enjoyed with whomever you’re cooped up with
  • Shares this version of a Quarantini that can be made with common at-home drink ingredients.
  • 1½ to 2 ounces of a not-necessarily-sweet base spirit, like vodka or gin — or another of your choice
  • ¾ ounce of citrus (such as lemon or lime juice), whose vitamin C is great for immunity
  • ½ to ¾ ounce of simple syrup to sweeten things up. (Simple syrup, as its name suggests, is simple to make. Just boil equal parts sugar and water until they liquefy together.)
  • Then shake the drink with a bit of ice — if you don’t have a shaker, you can grab two pint glasses and join their rims — before straining it into a cocktail glass.

Pandemic Cocktail

  • 45ml whisky
  • 15ml Holy Water
  • 100ml ice
  • Add ice to glass
  • Pour in fine whisky
  • Add holy water
  • Sip and pray

Quarantine Cocktail: A Turmeric-Tinted Orange-Juice-and-Vodka Drink

  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • 1 pinch turmeric
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice
  • 1/2 ounce honey (preferably raw)
  • 1 ounce orange juice
  • 2 ounces vodka (preferably Ketel One)
  • Soda water, as needed 
  • Combine everything except for the soda water and mix well. Strain into a highball glass with ice and top with soda water. 

Genre Discussion:

We don’t usually get into discussions of current events here – the books are the focus, and they are usually not too tied to anything specific that is going on in the world. But of course, no one can ignore the COVID-19 pandemic. And there are so many good books out there that involve pandemics, as well as dystopian disasters, that having a good background in fiction may help you to cope with the realities going on around you!

If you missed our episode on Dystopian fiction, it was episode 205. A quick listen to that, and reading some of those books, will help you to keep things in perspective as we all work though our current situation.

From The Millions article “On Pandemic and Literature:”

  • There has always been literature of pandemic because there have always been pandemics. What marks the literature of plague, pestilence, and pandemic is a commitment to try and forge if not some sense of explanation, than at least a sense of meaning out of the raw experience of panic, horror, and despair. 
  • Narrative is an attempt to stave off meaninglessness, and in the void of the pandemic, literature serves the purpose of trying, however desperately, to stop the bleeding.
  • Pandemic literature exists not just to analyze the reasons for the pestilence—that may not even be its primary purpose. Rather the telling of stories is a reminder that sense still exists somewhere, that if there is not meaning outside of the quarantine zone there’s at least meaning within our invented stories.

Suggested Reading Resources:

Our Book Discussion

We have our beverages, we are familiar with this week’s genre, let’s get to the book discussion! 

Conclusion:

Thank you so much for joining us on Reading With Libraries!

We hope you’ve found this discussion of pandemic literature as enjoyable as possible, or at least learned something new! 

Thank you so much to our fantastic Additional Host Ariel and thank you to our wonderful listeners! 

Join us next Thursday with another genre, more guest hosts for our book group, and more books to share and discuss. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! And if you want to hear more about the work we do in libraries or expand your library skills, check out our podcast Linking Our Libraries!

Bring your book ideas, bring your beverages, and join us back here on Thursday!