A podcast about the books you've been meaning to read. Updates Mondays.
Overdue is a podcast about the books you've been meaning to read. Join Andrew and Craig each week as they tackle a new title from their backlog. Classic literature, obscure plays, goofy murder mysteries: they'll read it all, one overdue book at a time.
This week Andrew reads Rainbow Rowell’s pitch-perfect YA novel Eleanor and Park, and it spurs a discussion of 80s nostalgia, first kisses, censorship, body image issues, and teen life.
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Daniel José Older's novel Shadowshaper is the story of Sierra Santiago, a young woman with the power to infuse art with spirits and save her community from destruction. Set in Older's modern, magical Brooklyn, Shadowshaper shows us the supernatural power of heritage while also tackling subjects like gentrification, cultural tourism, and young love.
Of course, we find time to riff on nighttime salsa, bone moes, and Harold and the Purple Crayon. Enjoy!
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This week, we use Tana French’s outstanding sequel The Likeness as an opportunity to comment on everything from the semi-serialized nature of crime stories to tips for going undercover to Pokémon Go.
We read French’s first novel, In The Woods, for the show a couple of years back, and while you don’t need to have read that book to enjoy this one, we will spoil minor elements of both books in our discussion this week. You’ve been warned!
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Sometimes an author’s prose is so distracting in so many ways that it totally derails their stories—such is the case with Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember. Sparks always tells but rarely shows. He gives us one- or two-word descriptions that are meant to serve as “characterization,” but those characters don’t always act the way Sparks tells us they act. And people talk to each other not like human beings, but like aliens in human skin-suits.
This week, Unfriendly Black Hotties co-hosts Christina and Kamille help us break down Sparks’ writing and the man himself, and we try to figure out the stuff in Sparks’ work that makes his books bestsellers. (Note the Explicit tag this week, for some light swearing and Sexual Discussions.)
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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