Books and Bites

On this episode, we discuss books about the internet or social media. It's one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! 

Whether horror, dystopian fiction, or a mystery, our picks will make you think about what it means to be human in a digital world.

Michael's Picks

• We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
• The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan
• Pairing:  A ...

We’re wrapping up the 2025 Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge with science fiction! 

Our picks include a prequel from a popular YA dystopian series; a novella for fans of Star Trek: First Contact; and a bittersweet comic novel about an alien sent to Earth to learn about humans.

Don’t forget to turn in your completed bingo sheets at the Customer Service, Ask a Librarian, or Teen Desks by June 30, 2025 for...

 On this episode, we discuss books in translation, a prompt on the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. From Iceland to Argentina with several stops in between, come travel the world with us from the comfort of home.

Carrie's Pick

• Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
• Pairing: Icelandic rice pudding

Jacqueline's Pick

• The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
• Pairing: Japanese Enoki and Shiitake Mushroo...

We're in a celebratory mood this April. Not only is it National Poetry Month, it's also our 100th episode! Whether you're a new or longtime listener, we appreciate you tuning in to our podcast.

This episode, we discuss books of poetry and novels in verse, a prompt on the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Our picks include a book by a former Kentucky poet laureate, an updated translation of a classic e...

Join our discussion of Rednecks by Taylor Brown, winner of the 2025 Southern Book Prize! On this episode, Michael Cunningham, Carrie Green, and guest John David Hurley share their thoughts on this novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920-1921.

Want to talk with other book lovers about the novel? Register for our in-person book club discussion of Rednecks, which will take place on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 6:30 pm. 

I...

This month we're getting nostalgic with books set in the 1990s, one of the prompts in the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.

Teenagers all figure prominently in our picks: a YA mystery, a thriller that celebrates horror's babysitter trope, and a novel where two teens accidentally start a moral panic. Don't miss this episode—it's the bomb!

Jacqueline's Pick

• The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B....

Start the new year with the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! We hope our prompts will inspire you to read and have fun while doing it.

Up first, we share wintry books perfect for reading by the fire. Our picks include an Irish Christmas story, a horror novel set in a Pennsylvania orphanage, and a YA fairy tale.

Carrie's Pick

Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Pairings: Fish and Chips, classic Irish...

It's time to wrap up the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! On this episode, we discuss books published in 2024. Our picks include a suspense novel that is also an immersive alternate reality game, a National Book Award-winning adaptation of an American classic, and a YA mystery by a bestselling author.

Michael's Pick

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

Eve Palmer answers the door on a cold, snowy nigh...

On this episode, we discuss books about chosen or found family, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. 

According to library database NoveList, books with this theme focus on families "formed by choice, rather than birth." Close friends, nontraditional families, and people who bond over their circumstances can all form chosen families.

Our picks include a YA novel about a found famil...

On this episode, we discuss Southern Gothic books, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Southern Gothic is a sub-genre of Gothic fiction--or, as Michael says, it's "Gothic with a twang." 

According to Book Riot, some of the characteristics of Southern Gothic include, “eccentric, flawed characters, sinister events, elements of the supernatural or fantastical, and themes relating to...

 On this episode, we discuss books with kings and queens, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.

Our picks include a page-turning history of the Magna Carta; a novel about Mary, Queen of Scots; and a YA novel that imagines an American royal family.

Michael's Pick

Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones

Dan Jones crafts a historical narrative that is compelling and as c...

On this episode, we discuss books that are hybrids of at least two genres, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. 

Jacqueline's favorite romantasy novels are a good example. They combine elements of romance and fantasy. Other books mash up elements of science fiction and horror or, in the case of both Michael's and Carrie's picks, Westerns and dystopian fiction.

Some nonfiction title...

July is Disability Pride Month! Learn more about the history, experiences, and contributions of the disabled community by reading books by authors with disabilities.

On this episode, we also introduce the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.

Teens and adults, from now through December 30, 2024, keep track of books you read or listen to by writing the title and author in the matching square. Complete all 25 ...

No matter the genre, when you read a book with a map, you're in for an adventure. This month, we share a YA historical fiction meets fantasy novel; a mystery set in 1920s Bangalore; and a dystopian novel set during a future American Civil War.

Don't forget to turn in your bingo sheets for the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge by June 30, 2024! If you still need book suggestions, check out the book...

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with books by AAPI authors! It's one of the prompts on the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Our suggestions include an action-packed adventure tale, a YA romance, and a comic but realistic immigration story.

Michael's Pick

The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin begins with Ming Tsu traversing the salt flats of the Utah Territory, m...

 On this episode, we discuss books set in or about the outdoors, one of the prompts on the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. We recommend a memoir by a teenage naturalist and environmental activist; a popular YA dystopian novel; and a horror novel set in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.

Carrie's Pick

Diary of a Young Naturalist is by Dara McAnulty, a young autistic writer, environmental activist, and...

 On this episode, we celebrate Women's History Month with fiction and nonfiction about women's history, one of the prompts on the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. From a graphic novel about Soviet women fighter pilots to a page-turning book about the evolution of female bodies, we'll show you that there's nothing dull about women's history.

Michael's Pick

The Night Witches is a graphic n...

 On this episode, we discuss romance novels, one of the prompts on the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. This popular book genre has something for everyone, even the horror fans among us!

Jacqueline's Pick

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber is a young adult fantasy novel. Seventeen year old Evangeline had loving parents who raised her on tales of magic, fates, and fairytales. She believ...

 On this episode, we ring in the New Year with the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! 

From now through June 30, 2024, keep track of books you read or listen to by writing the title and author in the matching bingo square. Complete all 25 squares for a chance to win a $100 Joseph-Beth gift card or an Amazon Kindle. You’ll also earn an enamel pin (while supplies last). 

Ease into the challenge with ...