Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss the May Reading Challenge to read books that we MAY or MAY NOT have read in the past. This could include books you lied about for an assignment in school, books you’ve been too embarrassed to read, or books you just cannot remember if you have actually read. We chat about the delightful discoveries we made delving into books we may have missed in the past!

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London
• “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy
• “This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
• “Old Yeller” by Fred Gipson
• “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls
• “Pippi Longstocking” by Astrid Lindgren
• “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• “One Heart To Win” by Johanna Lindsey
• “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
• “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand
• “The Courtship Plan” by Kathleen Fuller
• “Walden or, Life in the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau
• John Muir

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Bailey Cline, Program Coordinator at Ballou Recreation Center and our certified number one fan. We discuss finding your way back to reading despite the responsibilities of adult life, the joy of audiobooks, and our strong opinions about movie adaptations.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister
• “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett
• “How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay” by Jenny Lawson
• “I Know What You Did Last Summer” by Lois Duncan
• “His & Hers” by Alice Feeney
• Freida McFadden
• “The Menagerie” Series by Tui T. Sutherland, Kari H. Sutherland
• “Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA” by Jimmy Fallon
• “The Night Before Christmas” allegedly by Clement Clarke Moore
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss
• Carl Hiaasen
• “The Green Ember” series by S.D. Smith, illustrated by Zach Franzen
• “Hamlet” by friend of the pod, William Shakespeare

Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss the April Reading Challenge to read a dystopian or alternate history novel. Oppressive governments, controlling factions, structured existence and more, we discuss the tropes and themes that define this often bleak, but always profound genre. **Correction: George Orwell died 6 months after the release of 1984, not before.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “Zoo” by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge
• “1984: The Graphic Novel” by George Orwell, adapted/illustrated by Fido Nesti
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
• “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• “The Giver” by Lois Lowry
• “Legend” by Marie Lu
• “Divergent” by Veronica Roth
• “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
• “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
• “Parable of the Sower” by Otavia E. Butler
• “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown
• “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
• “The Last Christian” by David Gregory
• “Automatic Noodle” by Annalee Newitz
• “The Electric State” by Simon Stålenhag
• “The Dream Hotel” by Laila Lalami
• “Our Missing Hearts” by Celeste Ng
• “The City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau
• “The Long Walk” by Stephen King
• “The Shadow Road” by K.D. and Kurt Kirchmeier

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Ken Larking, Danville City Manager. In our first mini book club, we review “The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook and the deep themes it explores including love, kindness and absolution. We discuss the delight of quirky characters, the importance of finding the right book for you, and Russell’s quest for a fun book about owls.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook
• Michael Crichton
• Tom Clancy
• “Jack Reacher” series by Lee Child
• Dick Francis
• “Our Country Friends” by Gary Shteyngart
• “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
• John Grisham
• “Joe Pickett” series by C.J. Box
• “Walt Longmire” series by Craig Johnson
• “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbit
• “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
• “Razorblade Tears” by S.A. Cosby
• “The Monster at the End of this Book (Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover)” by Jon Stone

Lost in Translation? We prefer Found in Translation! The reading challenge this month is to read a book that has been translated from another language. Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss some of their most recent reads and a few classics.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Cat Who Saved Books” by Sōsuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
• “Princess Jellyfish” manga series by Akiko Higashimura
• “Spy x Family” manga series by Tatsuya Endo
• “Cat + Gamer” manga series by Wataru Nadatani, translated by Zack Davisson
• “Delicious in Dungeon” manga series by Ryoko Kui, translated by Taylor Engel
• “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas
• “The Door-to-Door Bookstore” by Carsten Henn, translated by Melody Shaw
• “When the Cranes Fly South” by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies
• “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch
• “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith
• “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz
• “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• “Beowulf” translated by Seamus Heaney
• “No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison” by Behrouz Boochani, translated by Alenka Ropret, Omid Tofighian
• “The Pillow Book” by Sei Shonagon

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Michelle Larking, Secondary ELA teacher at Galileo Magnet High School and enthusiastic supporter of reading and literature. Michelle shares her recent reading journey in pursuit of meeting her Goodreads goal, Galileo’s new library at the John M. Langston campus, and whether humans will ever run out of new stories to tell. Russell certainly won’t and we don’t think authors will either.

Books we discuss include:

• “My Friends” and others by Frederik Backman
• “Monster in the Moonlight” by Annelise Ryan
• “The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans
• “Dear Mr. Henshaw” by Beverly Cleary
• “You Know Me All” by Ring Lardner
• “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea” by Yukio Mishima, translated by John Nathan
• “The Elephant Vanishes” by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, Alfred Birnbaum
• “We All Want Impossible Things” and “Sandwich” by Catherine Newman
• “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, “Evidence of the Affair” and others by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• “Abscond” by Abraham Verghese
• “Transcendent Gardening” by Ed Falco
• “We Are All Guilty Here” by Karin Slaughter
• “Blob” by Maggie Su
• “Poor Deer” and “Choette” by Claire Oshetsky
• “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
• “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler
• “The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Tony Moore
• Poetry by Langston Hughes
• “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto
• “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah
• “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
• “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko
• “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson
• “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat about our February reading challenge, books based solely on loving the cover. Listen in as we delve into our personal aesthetic, poorly describe colors, and make a lot of fish puns.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna
• “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger
• “The Revenant” by Michael Punke
• “Bog Queen” by Anna North
• “My Vampires” series by Jenna Levine
• “Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon” by Monte Burke
• “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko
• “Book Nooks: Inspired Ideas for Cozy Reading Corners and Stylish Book Displays” by Vanessa Dina, Claire Gilhuly, photography by Antonis Achilleos
• “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
• “The Overstory” by Richard Powers
• “Direct Descendant” by Tanya Huff
• “The Eyes are the Best Part” by Monika Kim
• “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger
• “The Guide” by Peter Heller

In this final installment of a special 5-episode weekly series, Russell, Rachael, Rachel, and Jess M. share meaningful quotes from favorite authors. Take just a few moments out of your day to "Be Inspired in 2026!"

Quotes from:

• "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• "Time Piece" by Andrea Gibson
• "What You Are Looking for Is in the Library" by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
• "Where Wolves Don't Die" by Anton Treuer
• "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein
• "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss
• "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T.J. Klune
• "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin