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BOOK CLUB IS BACK...ish! In this first installment of Backlist Book Club, Michael and Jill chat all about the 2021 novel The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams!

Michael and Jill revisit a favorite genre of writing: the middle-grade novel! What makes a good middle-grade novel? When are you too old for middle-grade novels? Hear them chat all about it, plus hear their middle-grade recs at the end!

What makes a memorable plot twist? In this episode, Michael and Jill chat about the best fictional surprises they've read in books, plus one real-life plot twist Michael would like to forget (spoiler alert: old stucco and rain after nine decades don't mix!)

So you're reading a book, and you're not loving it. Do you keep on reading it or do you DNF it? In this episode, Jill and Michael chat about DNFing (or "did not finish") books. Do they DNF? When do they choose to DNF? And what books have they DNF'd or wished they'd DNF'd? Listen to find out!

The Kindest Lie. The Daughters of Erietown. Revival Season. Red at the Bone. We've read countless books together over the last three seasons, and many of them have this similar thread: complicated family dynamics. In this episode, we chat all about family in fiction, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Book burnout. It happens. What do you when you call yourself a reader and the joy of reading is on hiatus? Michael and Jill tackle this topic with some tips on what you can do to help!

What do pneumonia, football, and Lurlene McDaniel have in common? Nothing, other than taking up space in our brains. Welcome to our first of many "sidebar" episodes, where we just catch up, talk about life, with a little helping of books, too!

Trust me, you're not ready. In this episode, Michael and Jill (finally!) read romance novels that range from the purely sweet to the totally spicy, and their lives are changed forever. For good or bad, who knows.

They've talked adaptations, now they're casting their own! In this episode, Michael and Jill look back on some of the books they've talked about over the years and dream cast them out! Featuring: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson Less by Andrew Sean Greer The Midnight Library by Matt Haig The Guncle by Steven Rowley

"Hi yeah sorry, I can't come in to work today. I have a book hangover." You know that feeling where you finished a book and, for better or worse, it just won't leave your system? On today's episode, Michael and Jill are chatting about the books that just wouldn't leave them alone!

Jill and Michael are back with season three! In the season premiere, Jill and Michael chat all about the characters they just can't quite, for better or worse. Featuring: The Chronicles of Prydain Little Women An American Marriage Little Fires Everywhere Normal People Less

SEASON TWO FINALE! It's that time of the year again! Jill and Michael are looking back on their year of reading—what they liked, what they didn't, and the books they should have stopped reading along the way! 

Though he considers himself a funny, lighthearted person, Steven Rowley finds himself writing tear-jerking novels that are imbued with heart, heavy emotion, and yes, laugh-out-loud funny moments. He is the master of the dramedy, and we were lucky enough to chat with him about our last book club pick for season two, The Guncle!

In our final book club selection of season two, we are talking all about The Guncle by Steven Rowley! Synopsis:  Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes, Patrick's eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human. Purchase your copy of The Guncle here!

If you don't know, backlist means a books that's been on sale for at least a year, but some people measure backlist as books that have been out for as little as six months! Which means new titles are getting all the marketing money and sexy exposure, pushing those other books further back on those bookshelves. In this episode, Michael and Jill explore their own backlist reading habits, and they chat about some titles that they missed when they were first published! This episode is sponsored by Third Place Books.

Have you ever read a book that was so good you had to immediately read what else that author wrote? We call that having an author spiral, in this episode, we're chatting about our favorite author spirals—from childhood to adulthood, these are the authors that hooked us from the word go!

We have a Book It! Public Service Announcement: Don't stop reading middle grade books! In "Middle Grade Matters," Jill and Michael revisit a popular season one episode talking all things middle grade reading, what's good, what's not, and what's coming next!

In this follow-up interview about our Book Club Selection, Revival Season, author Monica West shares her process writing this debut novel—including writing over 70 pages from another character's perspective, only to cut it all from the finished manuscript. Make sure to order the book from our Bookshop link today! This episode is sponsored by Two Rivers Bookstore.

In our third book club selection of season two, we unpack Monica West's debut novel Revival Season! Every summer, fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton and her family pack themselves tight in their old minivan and travel through small southern towns for revival season: the time when Miriam's father--one of the South's most famous preachers--holds massive healing services for people desperate to be cured of ailments and disease.This summer, the revival season doesn't go as planned, and after one service in which Reverend Horton's healing powers are tested like never before, Miriam witnesses a shocking act of violence that shakes her belief in her father--and in her faith. Listen to our chat here, and order the book from our Bookshop link today! This episode is sponsored by Two Rivers Bookstore.

What's a chill book? That's what we're here to tell you! From all the LOL moments to old school Hollywood glamour, these books are perfect reads that are less heavy, but no less literary. Who said literary fiction had to be dense and depressing??