120. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Novel Pairings

As voracious readers we love to dive into stories about books and reading, whether it’s paying homage to the source of procuring books (think publishing, bookshops, and libraries) or the physical books themselves. In today’s episode, we’re taking you on a dark, mysterious, and twisty adventure in translation with Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart. A plot-packed novel for the not-so-faint-of-heart, we discuss what Funke’s international bestseller has to say about the power stories hold for children, the necessity to engage a child’s imagination, and how the tone of this children’s classic spooked us (just a little bit). If you’re looking for more imaginative fantasies, we’ve paired this sweeping novel with a rich, outlandish romantic historical fantasy and a slim work of non-fiction about the nature of books from one of the most renowned writers and translators of our time.

A quick note: we had some technical difficulties, so the audio on this episode may sound slightly different than usual. It'll be back to normal in our next episode!

[Pairing Timestamp: 41:33]

Books Mentioned:

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

• The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

• Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow

Other Books Mentioned

• The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

• Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke