From the Front Porch
Welcome to From the Front Porch, a weekly conversational podcast on books, small business, and life in the South, produced by The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 40 minutes
- Episodes
- 560
- Years Active
- 2014 - 2025
Episode 40 || Turning Sorrow Into Story
What do you do with grief? Annie chats with author Prissy Elrod turning sorrow into story, navigating the publishing industry -- including her publishing company, Thomson-Shore -- what's next for Far…
Episode 39 || Books for Creatives
Ever wonder what it's like to live as a creative in the South? Annie interviews Emily Arwood, artist-in-residence at the Thomasville Center for the Arts. They chat about Thomasville's art festival, F…
Episode 38 || August Reading Recap
Annie recaps the books she read in August, including "super science-y" The Martian and R-rated Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes, plus shout-outs to book Instagrammer SJ Shepperd and the hosts of The Pop…
Episode 37 || Childhood Favorites
Annie and Jordan talk about their favorite books from childhood and the impact those characters have had on their adult lives, ranging from The Boxcar Children's Henry to Hermione Granger. (Plus, joi…
Episode 36 || Entrepreneurship + The New South
Annie chats with Florida State University entrepreneur-in-residence Christine Nieves; the two discuss porch swings and creativity, the importance of connection, and life in the new South (hint: it's …
Episode 35 || PhDs in Bookselling
Ever wonder what it's like to be a bookseller? Annie chats with new Bookshelf staffer and PhD student Chris Jensen. Their conversation covers everything from MBTI results to Wendell Berry, plus they …
Episode 33 || Adventures on the Coast
Learn about Florida's coastal islands as Annie interviews author and naturalist Sue Cerulean. Sue's newest book, COMING TO PASS, both inspires and informs readers about Florida's coast. In this episo…
Episode 32 || Reading Rhythms
Annie and Katie discuss the importance of establishing a reading rhythm and debate reading in bed, plus reference book blogger Modern Mrs. Darcy and this fantastic podcast episode by NPR podcast Note…
Episode 31 || June Reading Recap
Annie lists the books she read in June, including The Rocks by Peter Nichols, The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. (This episode also include…
Episode 29 || Introversion + Extroversion
Annie and her husband Jordan discuss extroversion, introversion, and the influence of Susan Cain (and her book Quiet) on our daily lives. This episode have you curious for more? Find out your MBTI re…
Episode 28 || Fifty Shades + Literary Guilty Pleasures
Annie and Katie talk about the Fifty Shades of Grey books and why they're so popular (maybe because we're repressed?), plus they tackle their own literary guilty pleasures, including chicklit and sel…
Episode 27 || May Reading Recap
Annie reviews the books she read in May, including Mamrie Hart's You Deserve a Drink and Erik Larson's Dead Wake. Don't forget to rank and review the podcast on iTunes here.
Episode 26 || Audiobooks
Annie chats with husband and frequent podcast contributor Jordan about audiobooks: he loves them, but she's not a fan. Where do you stand? (Some of Jordan's favorites, in case you're curious: Defendi…
Episode 25 || Narrative Nonfiction
Annie and Katie chat about narrative nonfiction, the ones we love and the ones we hate, including The Lemon Tree, author Erik Larson, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Wild Swans, the American Gi…
Episode 24 || April Reading Recap
Annie reviews the books she read in April, including A Little Life (reviewed by Books on the Nightstand here) and Emma, part of The Austen Project. Rachel Held Evans' Washington Post article is here.…
Episode 23 || The Localist
Annie chats with author and entrepreneur Carrie Rollwagen in this 45-minute interview episode. They chat about local shopping and eating, Leslie Knope, and Amazon versus the indie. (You can follow Ca…
Episode 22 || March Reading Recap
Annie reviews the books she read in March, including Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before (recapped in its own podcast episode here) and Hey Natalie Jean.
Episode 21 || Word of South
Annie and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra CEO Amanda Stringer chat Tallahassee's first-ever Word of South festival (Ann Patchett, Tony Hale, Julia Reed, J.K. Simmons, and more!), the beauty of Cascade…