Overdue

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.

 

Ep 279 - The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy

A boy and his wolf cross the border into Mexico and things go...rather poorly. That's the premise of Cormac McCarthy's 1994 novel The Crossing. It's a Southwestern Gothic coming-of-age story that also touches on the evil nature of man and the collapse of the mythic American West.

Talking points include the puppet comedy of Jeff Dunham, violence in McCarthy's West, and a call for proposals on "Neoliberal Discourse and/in McCarthy."

Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook

Ep 276 - The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak's breakthrough novel The Book Thief is the story of a young girl in 1940s Germany told by Death itself. It is equal parts heartening and heartbreaking in its depiction of people just trying to live, and it doesn't shy away from showing how "just trying to live" can create a slippery moral slope.

Talking points include Star Wars "spoilers," other books that Death should narrate, the power of literature, and Oscar-bait WW2 stories.

Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook

Ep 275 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

On this week’s show, we ponder the meaning of life, the universe, and everything via Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a radio-play-turned-book that has been adapted to just about every audiovisual medium known to humankind. We also ponder how becoming millionaires would change our walking habits. 

Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook

Ep 273 - Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

Grab your tissues everyone! Wilson Rawls' first novel Where the Red Fern Grows is notorious for how sad it is, and the reputation is well-deserved. It's a story of a boy, his dogs, and "death in its saddest form." You do the math.

Also up for discussion this week are our own pet histories, the savagery of the trapping lifestyle, Andrew's new favorite dog magazine, and Providence.

Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook

Ep 272 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by JK Rowling

For this week’s show, we attempt to figure out what we can add to a conversation about one of the most-discussed books in all of modern literature! Join us for a chat about what JK Rowling’s first book does well, how useful we find the concept of “sorting” real-world people in different contexts, and the nature of fandom. 

Support the show by buying the book!
Bookshop.org · Kobo · Nook

Ep 271 - Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

Strap in and blast off to space with us Ender Wiggin, the pint-sized protagonist of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

It's the story of an ultra-talented youth pushed to the limit as he fights to save humanity. The book's chockablock with laser tag, future school, and telepathic aliens! It's also written by an author who has put in substantial time and effort to oppose same-sex marriage, as well as espouse some other harmful views that seem to run counter to the lessons at the core of Ender's Game.

Join us for a discussion about tolerance, the limits thereof, and whether or not we can ever truly separate art from the artist.