Ep 587 - The Going to Bed Book (and Other Stories), by Sandra Boynton

To celebrate this year's Children's Book Week, we decided to discuss the work of children's author and illustrator Sandra Boynton, whose board books we both have and which are well known for their fun illustrations and whimsical poetry. Since they're each pretty short we decided to talk about a bunch of them, including:

1. Doggies
2. Dinosaur Dance!
3. Barnyard Dance!
4. Pajama Time!
5. Blue Hat, Green Hat
6. Moo, Baa, La La La!
7. The Going to Bed Book

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 586 - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl

We're talking about candy for the second week in a row, but this time the candy is literal, and the building is a factory and not a house. Willy Wonka is a mad candy scientist who flouts labor regulations and inflicts misery on children he deems insufficiently deserving. It's a fantabulous, scrumdiddlyumptious romp!

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 585 - The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan

It only took 500-or-so episodes to revisit the world of Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. We did, of course, have to wait for Egan to write her sequel (sort of) novel. This follow-up to a post-postmodern classic is focused on memories (digital and otherwise) and relationships (virtual and otherwise). It's got "what if the Meta but for everyone's memories," okay??

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 584 - All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders

This week's book is all about duality: science against magic, love vs. hurt, book about middle school alienation and also near-future climate apocalypse. And also there are birds! 

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 583 - Normal People, by Sally Rooney (w/ Vanessa Zoltan)

This week, Vanessa Zoltan from the podcasts Harry Potter & the Sacred Text and Hot & Bothered joins us to chat about Sally Rooney, her 2018 novel Normal People, our approaches to reading, and what it felt like when email really meant something.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 582 - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

O podcast! O books! O episodes about hard-scrabble immigrants eking out an existence on tough Nebraska land. Cather's work - rich in memorable prose and compelling characters - could stand to be better known, but it still has blind spots common in American frontier fiction.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Sand By Me: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman - Books 1 and 2

Welcome to our newest show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 1, we do some table-setting on the series, and Gaiman -- then we dive into the first trade paperback Preludes & Nocturnes, which introduces Dream and his whole deal over the first 8 issues.

In Episode 2, we dig into the second book The Doll's House (which actually came out first). Dream is on the hunt to track down some rogue underlings, and a woman named Rose learns a lot about her family. Also there's a Cereal Convention!

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 581- Heidi, by Johanna Spyri

Heidi, Heidi, Heidi! Everyone's talking about this adorable ragamuffin, a precocious child who lights up every life she touches like a ray of God's perfect sunshine. This week we learn that living in a hut in the Swiss Alps is better than living in a city, and that if you roast a piece of cheese just right it sounds like the best food you could ever eat.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 580 - Ghost Train, by Louise Munro Foley (Do Overdue Bonus)

WE FIND OURSELVES SHOOK BY THIS ROLLICKING RATTLING RIDE ALONG THE RAILS OF THE GHOST TRAIN.

This bonus episode was part of our Do Overdue 10th Anniversary Spectacular, in which we revisited books from earlier in the run of our show. It was also recorded with a live Patreon supporter audience online. 

Find out how to join us for future bonus episodes at patreon.com/overduepod.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org

Ep 579 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams

We finally read a play by Volunteer State Williams! Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a rumination on a family falling apart in the South. It's also an interesting example of how revisions and rewrites can shape a story's legacy.

Support the show! Buy the book on Bookshop.org