Scott O'Dell began writing Island of the Blue Dolphins because of "anger, anger at the hunters who [...] slaughter everything that creeps or walks or flies." The Newberry Award-winning story that resulted is a compelling account of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island and a powerful story of perseverance.
In between dishing on animal companions, we find time to talk about email etiquette, dog-focused action sequences, and why Overdue is the #1 Podcast for Teens.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
You asked, we answered! For this month's bonus show we didn't read a specific book, but instead went through some listener-submitted questions about the show and about us and gave semi-thoughtful answers.
Join us to hear a dramatic reading of our first real chat about the show, some not-too-great names we tried out before we settled on Overdue, and a whole lot more.
Joanne M. Harris’ The Gospel of Loki is part straightforward myth written for a modern audience and part fanfiction, and we don’t mean that in any sort of pejorative sense.
Harris sees the Norse pantheon as inherently modern, and it’s hard to disagree - it’s full of prideful, flawed sex maniacs who are so insecure that’s it’s almost funny, at least when their spats aren’t breaking and remaking the world. Join us for all of this plus some thoughts on Chuckie Finster’s Greatest Hits.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
"In Soviet Hungaria...nanny hires you!"
Time to talk about The Door, a lesser known but very powerful book by celebrated Hungarian author Magda Szabo. It's set in the 1960s and 70s, so we read up a little on the Eastern Bloc to make sure we knew what we're talking about. Instead we just make Yakov Smirnoff jokes.
Other topics include old guitar ladies, "groupie states," and Craig's love language.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
This week Andrew completes the Brontë trilogy with Charlotte Brontë's seminal novel Jane Eyre.
Is it a romance? Is it spooky? Do we like Mr. Rochester or does he well and truly stink? We'll attempt to answer these questions and more in between revisiting #MomSwears, solving some Scooby Doo mysteries, and traveling through Internet tubes.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
Here's a fun fact: Did you know that Marcia Clark, lead prosecutor on the OJ Simpson case, wrote legal thrillers? Neither did we! But Craig's fascination with the American Crime Story version of the trial and a well-placed ad on Andrew's Kindle led to Craig cracking open her first novel, Guilt by Association. It can be clunky, but it's also a surprisingly fun read!
This belated May Bonus Episode is brought to you in part by our illustrious Patreon donors.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
What if God walked away from it all? And left behind a Gomorrah-like stew of sex and bloodshed out of which emerged a superpowered preacher, seeking revenge on the almighty? That's the set up for Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's graphic novel Preacher.
This week, Craig tackles the first two volumes of the series and explains what's preventing him from pressing onward in the story. We also touch on how best to subvert the comic code, American Movie Classic, and how far is far too far when depicting taboo behavior.
Support the show by buying the book!
Gone to Texas
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
Until the End of the World
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
It's alternate universes, murderous plots, and ghostwritten novels all the way down this week—1Q84 is Andrew's first Haruki Murakami novel, and there's a lot of good stuff here even if the book could stand to shed a couple hundred pages.
Come for the book talk, stick around for references to Highlights For Children, the Tostitos Bowl, and the usual nonsense.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
Get in touch with your inner wolf-dog and answer The Call of the Wild by Jack London!
We apologize that our Murakami episode will take another week. We didn't want to leave you in the literary lurch, so we took a trip on the Yukon trail with one heck of a dog named Buck.
It's time to talk instinct, dog names, oyster pirates, and Calvin & Hobbes and John Locke from LOST.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
There are dinosaurs! Lots of dinosaurs! And they rule Jurassic Park!
Michael Crichton's techno-thriller classic Jurassic Park kicked off a generation's dinomania. But it's also a chilling tale of science run amok. A story about what happens when advancement for advancement's sake breaks the rules of nature.
Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook
