Paperback Readers: Recent Episodes
Joe and Julie
Welcome to Paperback Readers, a podcast with Joe and Julie in which they discuss what they’re reading and go in-depth on one book they read together.
At long last, we are back to talk books with you! Our shared read is I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Engler, which was fantastic, and we’ve ready so many other books beside. Below, we’ve listed the highlights we discussed in this episode, and we’re looking forward to talking about Wright Thompson’s excellent new book, The Barn.
We hope you’ve had the best fall filled with wonderful books, and we can’t wait to hear all about them.
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
A Fine Sight to See by Sophie Hudson
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson
Bake & Pray: Liturgies and Recipes for Baking Bread as a Spiritual Practice by Kendall Vanderslice
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci
Daybreak at Chavez Ravine by Erik Sherman
Monkee Business by Erik Lefcowitz
One on One: Behind the Scenes with the Greats in the Game by John Feinstein
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang and Dave COok
Hometown Victory by Keanon Lowe
Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson by Annye C. Anderson
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Engler
The Barn by Wright Thompson
Welcome back! We have missed talking to you about books but are excited to return and catch up on all the things we have been reading, and all the things you think we should be reading. Our shared read was An Unfinished Love Story, by our favorite Doris Kearns Goodwin. Join us next time when we talk about I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger.
All the books we talked about are below. Please let us know if there is anything you think we should add to our list!
Beyond Bartman, Curses, and Goats: 104 Reasons Why It’s Been 104 Years by Chris Neitzel
Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr
Life in the G: Minor League Baseball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA by Alex Squadron
Baseball: The Movie by Noah Gittell
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski
Deja Blue: A Sportswriter Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball by Jerry TIpton
Every Moment Holy Volume 3
How to Walk Into a Room by Emily P. Freeman
The Wedding People by Alison Epsach
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
Summer reading is always fun, and it’s even better when we’re joined by special guests to talk about a book we loved this summer: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. This was one of our favorite conversations, and you’re definitely going to want to check out this book.
All the books we discussed are below. Join us next time when we talk about Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s.
Steve Kerr: A Life by Scott Howard-Cooper
Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
The Match by Sarah Adams
Take Me Homeby Melanie Sweeney
An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Twelfth Night by Alexene Farol Follmuth
Loose Balls by Terry Pluto
Happy Fourth of July! We are talking about everything we’ve read over the last two weeks, and going deep on our shared read, How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. All the books we read are listed below. Join us next time when we discuss Kwame Alexander’s novel in verse, The Crossover, with two special guests.
Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern
Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
We Are the Baby-Sitters Club edited by Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
You Are Here by David Nicholls
The Way of Belonging by Sarah Westfall
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Welcome back! We are home from vacation and are ready to talk about books with you again. Our shared read was The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom. All the books we discussed are listed below. Please join us next time as we talk about How to Read a Book by Monica Wood.
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner
Betting on You by Lynn Painter
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedman
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love by Larry Bird with Jackie MacMullin
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
We are so excited to talk about a novel we both loved: Colton Gentry’s Third Act, by Jeff Zentner. We loved this tribute to love, food, country music, football, Kentucky, and the changing dreams that make a life.
All the books we talked about are below. Join us next time when our shared read is Mitch Albom’s The Stranger in the Lifeboat.
Dylan Goes Electric by Elijah Wald
The Way of Belonging by Sarah Westfall
Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West
Funny Story by Emily Henry
River of Earth by James Still
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
Welcome back to another edition of Paperback Readers. This time, our shared read was They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. Join us next time when we talk about Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zenter. All the books we discussed are listed below.
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zenter
The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
We Played the Game: Memories of Baseball’s Greatest Era edited by Danny Peary
Fab Five by Mitch Albom
Peculiar Treasures by Frederick Buechner
Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
We have been fans of Scott Simon ever since we read his book on the Chicago Cubs, so we were happy to find this memoir about his mother, and we are even happier to get to talk about it with you. Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Scott Simon is our shared read this week. Let us know what you think about this book!
All the books we discussed are below. Join us next time when we talk about They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us Hanif Abdurraqib.
Baseball Heaven by Peter Golenbock
It’s Hard for Me to Live with Me by Rex Chapman
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
The Wives by Simone Gorrindo
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Say Yes by Scott Erickson
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Unforgettable by Scott Simon
This week, we’re talking about a novel we’ve seen everywhere: James by Percival Everett. It’s a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic Huckleberry Finn, but told from Jim’s perspective, and we have been so eager to read it. If you’ve read it, let us know what you thought!
All the books we discussed are below. Join us next time when we talk about Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Scott Simon.
Blood from a Stone by Adam McHugh
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
Once Persuaded, Twice Shy by Melodie Edwards
The Rule Book by Sarah Adams
The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor by Lore Wilbert
Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison
The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War by James David Robenalt
James by Percival Everett
Unforgettable by Scott Simon
Happy spring! This week we’re talking about Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed, and, of course, everything else we’ve been reading. Join us in two weeks, when our shared read will be James by Percival Everett.
Here are the books we discussed this week!
Ice: Why I Was Born to Score by George Gervin
In the Name of the Father: Family, Football, and the Manning Dynasty by Mark Ribowsky
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Book Lovers and Happy Place by Emily Henry
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley
Why I Read by Shannon Reed
James by Percival Everett
Our March reading has been a lot of fun, and we are happy to get to share it with you! Our shared read was One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake, and our next one will be Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed.
All the books we discussed are below. Let us know what you’ve been reading!
Wire-to-Wire Reds by John Erardi and Joel Luckhaupt
Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
Rising Strong by Brene Brown
Right on Cue by Falon Ballard
Why We Read by Shannon Reed
The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay
The Getaway List by Emma Lord
One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake
The Super Bowl is over, and baseball is here! At least, that’s how it feels in our house. Today we’re talking about Joe Posnanski’s new book, Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments. We’re also catching up on everything else we’ve been reading! Join us next time when we talk about One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake.
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
A Moment in Time by Ralph Branca
Not a Game by Kent Babb
Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members by Ray Padgett
Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski
One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake
It’s a new year of books, and we are so happy to get to talk to you about what we’ve been reading. This week, our shared read was How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks.
We’re catching you up on highlights from what we’ve read in the month of January. Join us next time when we talk about Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments by Joe Posnanski.
Wilson by A. Scott Berg
The World’s Largest Man by Harrison Scott Key
Smart, Wrong, and Lucky by Jonathan Mayo
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
The Upstairs Delicatessen by Dwight Garner
The Joy of Snacks by Laura Goodman
Red Sauce, Brown Sauce by Felicity Cloake
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
How to Know a Person by David Brooks
Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski
It’s here! We’re discussing our favorite books of 2023, and we’re joined by our friend Haley (on Instagram @readanyways and also on her Substack, titled Anyways) sharing her faves too. We had so much fun with this conversation! Be sure to let us know what your favorites were.
All our favorite books are listed below. Join us next time when Joe and Julie discuss How to Know a Person by David Brooks.
Julie’s Books:
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith
Jane & Edward by Melodie Edwards
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last by Wright Thompson
Joe’s Books:
Pappyland by Wright Thompson
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo
The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series by Tyler Kepner
Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey by Robert Johnson
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key
All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore
Sum It Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective by Pat Summit with Sally Jenkins
(Honorable mention nods for Hello Beautiful and Twilight in Hazard)
Haley’s Books:
We Must Not Think of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
Stealing by Margaret Verble
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Florin
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland
We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian
Welcome to the last episode of 2023! We have loved getting to talk about books with you again this year. Thank you for listening, emailing, and commenting. It’s always so much fun to share books with you, and to track down your recommendations.
We are ending 2023 with a book we loved—Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last by Wright Thompson, and we are catching you up with the reading that has finished out our year. All the books we discussed are listed below. Next time, we’ll be cataloging our favorite reads of 2023, and sharing some of our plans for 2024.
Happy holidays!
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry
Singled Out by Andrew Maraniss
Pappyland by Wright Thompson
We are big fans of Michael Lewis, and we’re excited to talk to you about his latest book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, which is our shared book this week.
All the books we discussed are listed below. Join us next time when we discuss Pappyland by Wright Thompson.
The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman
Basketball: A Love Story by Jackie MacMullan, et al.
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
Pappyland by Wright Thompson
Welcome back! We’re so happy to get to talk about Wright Thompson’s essay collection, The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business, as well as everything else we’ve been reading.
All the books we discussed are listed below. Please join us next time when we talk about Michael Lewis’s latest book, Going Infinite.
Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame
This Must Be the Place by Jami Nato
Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye
The Good Part by Sophie Cousens
Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The Cost of These Dreams by Wright Thompson
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
We are so happy to be back and talking books with you. Our shared read this week was I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt. All the books we discussed are below. Come back next time when we talk about Wright Thompson’s book The Cost of These Dreams.
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley
Dress Codes for Small Towns by Court Stevens
Start With Hello by Shannan Martin
Beach Read by Emily Henry
We Came, We Saw, We Left by Charles Wheelan
Man on Spikes by Eliot Asinof
Abraham Lincoln: A Life (12 volumes) by Michael Burlingame
I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt
The Cost of These Dreams by Wright Thompson
We are huge fans of this week’s shared read: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith and have looked forward to sharing it with you! All the books we have been reading lately are listed below. Join us in two weeks when we talk about I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt.
Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills
Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame
The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary
Crafting a Life by Donald M. Murray
Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt
Late once again, but you don’t want to miss the book we’re talking about this week: Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett, which is another book in line for our favorites of the year. Join us in two weeks when we’re talking about The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith.
All the books we discussed are listed below. Let us know what you think we should be reading by emailing us at paperbackreaderspod@gmail.com.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Unearthing Joy by Gholdy Muhammad
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
Can’t Help Falling by Courtney Walsh
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
Lebron by Jeff Benedict
Got Your Number by Mike Greenberg
100 Things Royals Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Matt Fulks
Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame (multiple volumes)
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
We love video games, and we loved talking about them through this book, Game On! by Dustin Hansen, with our daughter Natalie.
Richard Russo is one of our favorite authors, and his new book in this series is coming out next week.
Summer is here, and we are loving all the summer reading! We’re catching up on everything we’ve been reading over the last month, and also discussing Stars of Alabama, a novel by Sean Dietrich.
Join us in two weeks when we talk about Beth Moore’s memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life.
Chernobyl 01:23:40 by Andrew Leatherbarrow
John Adams, Young Revolutionary by Jan Adkins
False Start: How the New Browns Were Set up To Fail by Terry Pluto
Pitino: My Story by Rick Pitino
The Book of Eating by Adam Platt
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
Plenty by Hannah Howard
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
Cooked by Michael Pollan
If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook
Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich
All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore
We are delighted to welcome Luma Mufleh to the podcast! Luma has written From Here, a beautiful young adult memoir about how she learned to accept herself as a gay Arab Muslim from Jordan, and how she made a new life for herself in the United States while never letting go of her first home. We loved this book, and we were so happy to get to talk to Luma about her story and her life. (And as a bonus, Julie’s sister Kristi, who introduced us to Luma, also made her podcast debut!)
Books we talked about are listed below. We’ll see you again in two weeks, when we discuss Stars in Alabama by Sean Dietrich.
From Here by Luma Mufleh
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in His Own Words by Steve Jobs
A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Touched by Joe Cox
Stars in Alabama by Sean Dietrich
We are absolutely delighted to talk to our friend Haley about one of our favorite books of the year: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano! Haley recommended this one to us, and it was fabulous. You can follow her on Instagram @readanyways for more excellent recommendations.
All the books we discussed are listed below. Check back on Instagram to find what our next read will be!
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
The Greatest Summer in Baseball History by John Rosengren
The Umpire Is Out by Dale Scott and Rob Neyer
We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian
Above Ground by Clint Smith
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
We have so many books to share with you this week! Our shared read was The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns. All the books we discussed are listed below, as well as our next shared read with our friend Haley: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.
The Life Council by Laura Tremaine
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate by John J. Thompson
Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
Chuck Berry: An American Life by RJ Smith
The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Happy Easter! Joe and Julie are finishing up two weeks of spring break reading, and we are excited to tell you all about it. Our shared read was Alan Maimon’s Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning. Whether you are from Appalachia or not, this book has truths for understanding the region.
Join us next time when our shared read will be The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns.
All books we discussed are listed below.
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Super Bowl Monday by Adam Lazarus
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Almost There: A Twisted Tale by Farrah Rochon
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Twilight in Hazard by Alan Maimon
The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns
A huge welcome to our friend Nathan, here today to talk with us about The Mayor of MacDougal Street, by Dave Van Ronk with Elijah Wald. We loved this book, and we had so much fun getting to talk to Nathan about it.
All the other books we discussed are listed below. Our next shared read will be Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Alan Maimon.
Julie’s books:
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan
Joe’s book:
Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Alan Maimon
Nathan’s books:
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
We’re back with an unusual episode for us: neither of us was a fan of the shared read for this week. Listen in as we explain why, and what we do when a book isn’t working for us.
All the books we talked about are listed below. Join us next time when we talk about The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir with our friend Nathan!
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel
Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca
Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel
Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the NBA by Bob Ryan and Terry Pluto
To America: Personal Reflections of An Historian by Stephen Ambrose
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Aida Donald
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir by Dave Van Ronk
We had so much fun talking to our friend Andy tonight! As our first guest on Paperback Readers, Andy chose an excellent book: Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown, the story of Jim Abbott’s life in baseball. It was a great conversation about books and about baseball, and we look forward to having Andy back on the show, as well as future guests.
Here are all the books we talked about on this episode.
Joe’s books:
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz
The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits that Reveal the History of Pop Music by Tom Breihan
Andy’s books:
Unmasked by Paul Holes
Just Ask by JD Greear
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Shoedog by George Pelecanos
Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski
Undelivered by Jeff Nussbaum
Julie’s book:
Maame by Jessica George
Join us next time as Joe and Julie talk about The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.
Welcome back to Monday night, when the kids go to bed, and Joe and Julie talk about books. This week, we’re talking about Drew Magary’s memoir Someone Could Get Hurt, a hilarious story of parenting.
Next time, we’ll be introducing our first podcast guest: our friend and longtime listener, Andy. Our shared read will be Imperfect by Jim Abbott, chosen by Andy, and we can’t wait to read it and talk to him about it…and to all of you.
All the books from this week are below.
Blood From a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back From the Dead by Adam McHugh
Begin Again by Emma Lord
Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes
Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages from Great Books to Teach Writer’s Craft by Penny Kittle
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson
Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs by Greil Marcus
William McKinley by Kevin Phillips
Cracking the Show by Thomas Boswell
Sum It Up by Pat Summitt with Sally Jenkins
Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First Century Parenthood by Drew Magary
Imperfect by Jim Abbott
It’s almost February, and we should be finishing the slow process of taking down the Christmas tree, but instead, we’re talking books with you! Thanks for listening and giving us an excuse to let the ornaments wait one more day.
Our shared read was Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry, aka Julie’s favorite Friend. Join us next time when we talk about Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary.
Comeback Season: My Unlikely Story of Friendship with Greatest Living Negro League Baseball Players by Cam Perron
The Night the Lights Went Out by Drew Magary
Belichick by Ian O’Connor
Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
Mad Honey by Jodi Piccoult
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry.
Welcome to the new year of reading with Joe and Julie! We’re back to tell you all about our latest reading, and to talk about our shared read: Dickens and Prince, by Nick Hornby.
All the books discussed are listed below. Join us next time when our shared read will be Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry.
Homemade by LIz Hauck
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca
My First Popsicle edited by Zosia Mamet
Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah
The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah
Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen
The Cap: How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA by Joshua Mendelsohn
Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America’s Presidents by David Stabler
Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich
Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America by Cody Keenan
The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters by Karl Rove
Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Happy New Year! We’re here to talk to you about our favorite books of 2022, from over 250 that we read and shared with you over the past year. Thanks for being with us for another year, and thank you for talking about books with us!
Our favorite books are listed below. Stay tuned in 2023, as we are planning some changes to the podcast. We’ll keep you posted.
God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson
Learning in Public: Lessons for a Racially Divided America from My Daughter’s School by Courtney E. Martin
Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working by Shauna Niequist
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends on It by Tabitha Carvan
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Confidence to Write: A Guide for Overcoming Fear and Developing Identity as a Writer by Liz Prather
Southernmost by Silas House
Start With Hello: (And Other Simple Ways to Live as Neighbors) by Shannan Martin
Will the Circle Be Unbroken: A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay by Sean Dietrich
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Music Is History by Questlove
The Ninetines: A Book by Chuck Klosterman
Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz
Basketball: A Love Story by Jackie McMullen, et al.
Grant by Ron Chernow
The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood by Jane Leavy
Showtime by Jeff Pearlman
(Demon Copperhead, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and Booth are repeats)
Hello! It’s Joe and Julie, back again to talk about books with you as we wind down this year of reading. We loved Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel Demon Copperhead, the shared read we’re discussing this week, and we’re catching up on everything else we’ve read in all the busyness of the holiday season.
Join us next time to talk about our top books of the year!
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist
Love Your Life by Sophie KInsella
Out of My League: A Rookie’s Survival in the Bigs by Dirk Hayhurst
A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland by Troy Senik
The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 by Harvey Sachs
Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
In an attempt to understand what we eat and how it affects us, we read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules.
Celebrities for Jesus is a highly informative look at the way celebrity culture has infiltrated the church.
We’re reading one of Joe’s favorite detective novels: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.
We loved Karen Joy Fowler’s novel Booth. Joe is already predicting it may be in his top ten of the year.
We are big fans of Rachel Held Evans and are so grateful that we got to read her words one more time.
Tangled Up in Blue by Rosa Brooks is fabulous, and not just because it takes its title from a Dylan lyric.
We’re starting the year with several books about musicians, including Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller.
We’re starting this year strong with so many good books, including Mr. Dickens and His Carol.
We’re revisiting one of our favorite shows in the new oral history, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin, by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman.
We’re talking, once again, about Pat Conroy—this time about his posthumous essay collection, Lowcountry Heart.
Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood is thought-provoking and fascinating.
We’re reading When Stars Are Scattered, a graphic novel recommended by our daughter, and welcoming guest appearances by each of our kids.
We love Doris Kearns Goodwin, and her book Leadership in Turbulent Times helps us discuss the Presidency in new ways.
Happy first podcast anniversary to us! We’re celebrating by discussing Michael Lewis’s The Premonition: A Pandemic Story.
John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed brings new light to the events and creations of our world today.
We’re exploring one of Joe’s favorite Presidents with Andrew Ferguson’s Land of Lincoln.
With summer travel on our minds, we took a look back at Bill Bryson’s classic travel memoir, Neither Here nor There.
This week’s focus is Joshilyn Jackson’s Mother May I, but we’re also discussing thrillers, sports books, a cancer memoir, and the joys of re-reading.
In imitation of this week’s Great Writers, Joe, Julie, and their kids share what they love about the Beatles.
Joe and Julie discuss Wendell Berry’s magnificent novel Jayber Crow.
Joe and Julie read Jesus and John Wayne.
Joe and Julie discuss A Promised Land, Barack Obama, presidential writing in general, and what else they've been reading.
Joe and Julie catch up on their holiday reading and discuss the writing of Malcolm Gladwell.
Joe and Julie end the year with each of their top ten books of 2020.
Joe and Julie talk political books, middle grade and young adult books, and the importance of reading the right book at the right time, and they do a deep dive into Frederik Backman’s amazing Anxious People.
Joe and Julie discuss Jon Meacham's His Truth Is Marching On, and they catch up on the other things they've been reading.
Joe and Julie talk about Michael Ian Black’s A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son.
How do you decide whether to read controversial literature? We’re discussing this and more on the podcast today.
Joe and Julie discuss Nick Hornby's novel Just Like You.
Joe and Julie talk about Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom.
Joe and Julie discuss Do Not Sell at Any Price by Amanda Petrusich and The Deepest South of All by Richard Grant, as well as what they are currently reading.
This week's deep dive is on Tim Soerens's Everywhere You Look and Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan.
Joe and Julie discuss what they have been reading individually.
The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan
The Ministry of Ordinary Places by Shannon Martin
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi
The Monk’s Record Player by Robert Hudson
The Hamilton-Burr Duel by Dan Gutman
The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy Tyson
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Past is Never Dead: The Life of William Faulkner, Volume 1 by Carl Rollyson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Welcome to Paperback Readers, a podcast in which Joe and Julie (and you) discuss what they are reading separately and go in-depth on one book they read together.