The Reading Culture
Host Jordan Lloyd Bookey speaks with authors and reading enthusiasts to explore ways to build a stronger culture of reading in our communities. They'll dive into their personal experiences, inspirations, and why their stories and ideas are connecting so well with kids.
Episodes
Three years strong, y’all! We’re back with our favorite tradition: The Reading Culture Yearbook.
As we close out 2025, we’ve gathered superlatives and stories that celebrate some of the memorable authors who joined us on the show this year.
This year’s edition features awards such as “Most Revolutionary,” “Grandma’s Hands,” “Scariest Story,” and, of course, “Best Reading Advice.”
I’m also saying a brief farewell as...
Home. It’s something we spend our whole lives building and rebuilding. Sometimes it’s made of walls and windows. Others, it’s made of words.
Sophie...
Mychal Threets grew up among the stacks and, from a young age, experienced the magic and shelter of the library. Today, he is a librarian, a social med...
Nic Stone isn’t interested in staying in her lane.
A #1 New York Times bestselling author, her young adult novels—Dear Martin, Chaos Theory, and Clean Getaway—explore nuances of racism, power, and mental illness with clarity and compassion.
Now, she’s stepping ...
“It’s that old expression that I love, which is ‘wherever you go, there you are.’ So you never really get out of the limbo, because the limbo is you.” — Erin Entrada Kelly
There are seasons when life slows down, even as our minds continue to race. When we find ourselves caught somewhere between motion and stillness, haunted by what came before and reaching for what’s next.
That tension has become deeply personal for Eri...
“This is what awe always does: it’s the zoom out. All of a sudden, you can see how tiny and insignificant you are, and you plug into that bigger thing” - Kate DiCamillo
When was the last time you were so captivated by the beauty of the world around you that it stopped you in your tracks? Kate DiCamillo intentionally has those moments daily. In a world that can feel dark and hopeless, she maintains a sense of awe. It’s the f...
We all inherit scripts about who we’re supposed to be. For boys, they often center on toughness, aggression, and hiding their emotions. Jason Reynolds has spent his life questioning those scripts, carving out space for tendern...
We all want to feel in control, mold our lives and experiences, and shape the world into something we can hold. But control is slippery; one moment, it can steady u...
Unfairness is a pervasive theme in a lot of fantasy fiction. With battles between good and evil dominating title after title, these tales appear to have a tight grasp on fairness and justice. But for Victoria Aveyard, the world of fantasy frequently ...
Some of the most unsettling monsters don’t come from nightmares or ghost stories. They walk among us in daylight, smiling widely and blending in. They can be shaped by our environments, our circumstances...
What if there were two stories running through your life: the one you’re telling the world, and the one you haven’t even admitted to yourself? That’s ...
This week, we revisit our episode with Kwame Alexander while we take a quick summer break!
Kwame Alexander recently interviewed the esteemed and now former Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, for the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Philadelphia. They talked about the power of poetry, the role of libraries in creating access and imagination, how Dr. Hayden remains hopeful and positive in this moment,...
We all want to make the most of our time here. Not just survive, but dream big and live fully. For Jasmine Warga, that means carrying forward the strength of those before her while creating space for joy, curiosity...
What does it mean to rise to the occasion, not once, but over and over again? Sometimes it means reckoning with grief. Other times it means stumbling forward, messing up, and tryin...
Ibi Zoboi writes to remember—her own story, her family’s legacy, and the long history of migration, myth, and memory that shaped them both. For Ibi, storytelling is a form of resistance and...
Soman Chainani wants reading to feel irresistible. The bestselling author of "The School for Good and Evil," series and the recently released graphic novel, "Coven," shares how his own r...
"I think all of us had the experience after reading the book of looking in maybe our grandparents' wardrobe, our parents' wardrobe, and like knocking on the back of the wardrobe and being like, maybe this is my time. Maybe they're gonna call me in here."
— Mychal Threets
For this week’s episode, we are testing out a slightly different format, something we have named a “Mixtape” episode. Rather than making the reading cha...
Give a story to twenty kids, and you might get twenty different takeaways. Some will catch the details you didn’...
We all want to believe in heroes and villains, right and wrong, and clear-cut answers. But history and life are rarely that simple. Debbie Levy has spent her career exploring the gray areas, challenging readers to see multiple perspectives and embrace complexity.
A former lawyer, journalist...
Aida Salazar believes deeply in the...
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