The Bookmark: Recent Episodes
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas
Learn what to read next! We talk about new books, bestsellers and books in many different genres. Discover what other people are reading and recommending. All book and movie titles mentioned in the podcast are listed in the blog post at http://tscpl.org/podcast/
We conclude our season finale of Bookish Balderish, 2024 The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's the end of the season and Bookish Balderdash is back! This time with special guests Debbie Stanton and Julie Nelson.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's that time of year again and Autumn and Chris are making sure you don't miss out on the hot new titles coming out this summer! The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Autumn Friedli and Chris Blocker along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Bookmark hosts Chris and Autumn scour the library (and the world) for books that "might be good". The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Ever wonder what kind of lives the people telling you stories are living? Is what you're reading based on something true or wholy out of the blue that is in your favorite author's mind? We brought back Ginger to crack open the vault that is our authors' minds.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode, Autumn, Michelle, and Chris discuss highly anticipated new books releasing this April. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us as we welcome back special guest, Michelle Morris, to share some of her favorite reads.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Ginger Park returns to the Bookmark to answer some questions about what she's read, what she's reading, and what she hopes to read.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us while we say goodbye to our beloved Reader's Librarian, Miranda, as she embarks on a new chapter.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us while we say goodbye to our beloved Reader's Librarian, Miranda, as she embarks on a new "chapter".
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The only mythological creature in the Chinese zodiac, 2024 is the year of the dragon.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Today's special guest is the library's AMH check-in machine! Join us as we look over recently returned items.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join Miranda, Chris, and Autumn, as they recommend love stories from their fictitious "Onesie Twosie machine". This game was inspired by Autumn's favorite PBS show growing up, Once Upon a Time.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We revisit our very loved Once Upon a Time theme, based on a popular Nebraska public television series from the 1980s.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do you have reading plans for 2024? We've got suggested reading challenges for and tons of book suggestions to fit those prompts!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This episode we discuss the books our staff picked as the best books they read in 2023 and those books you, the community, have picked as favorites in 2023.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us as we review Goodreads' best books of the year. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Looking for something to read on these chilly days?
The Bookmark Team has your back. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We're going through the rest of these books that will be coming out in 2024. Will you be adding any of these upcoming titles to your to-read list?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We're unboxing a new selection of Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs). Which of these 2024 reads can we interest you in?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's that time again to find out what you, our listeners, are reading. We post the question "What are you reading?" to our social media accounts on a weekly basis and this episode is all about what you answer.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This week, Chris gushes about all things related to the Booker Prize, past and present. Miranda shares about the titles she's read and is excited to read. Despite having read none of the titles, Autumn makes predictions for the winner. And then there's Paul.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode, The Bookmark cast shares their sub-genre quiz results. Which Sub-genre should you try next? The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's time to get snuggly! On this episode we'll talk comfy reads for chilly days.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The Bookmark Team discusses reads involving moms and houses.....eek.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Our hosts read What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman, and explore other books with similar themes.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Here are our recommendations for spooky reads this season!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The Bookmark cast discusses a selection of books that push the boundaries of genre.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We're back with Lara Avery to discuss books similar to The Year of Second Chances. Listen to find out what books are currently on Lara's nightstand.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode, we're joined by special guest Lara Avery, author of The Year of Second Chances. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us as we talk about upcoming book-to-movie adaptations. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Are you ready for Season 5?! We're back with books we read during the summer that we can't wait to tell you about!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Who will be this year's champion of Bookish Balderdash?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Bookish Balderdash is back! Debbie Stanton returns for another contest of our favorite game.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We're getting excited about summer reading. We've got lists of books coming out this summer that we're looking forward to reading. Which of these books are you looking forward to?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Chris, Autumn, and Miranda dig deeper into Richard Bach's bestselling novel from in the 1970s.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Last week, we started talking about the New York Times Bestseller List. This week we continue our timeline by discussing which books hit the top and stayed on the list.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Once you are on the list, you have lifetime bragging rights. So how does having "New York Times Bestseller" on a cover influence your reading habits? Do you want to read a book with that honor more or less? This episode we delve into the controversies and history that is the New York Times Bestseller list. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
If you missed the last episode, you might want to go back and listen because this is fanfare Part 2 of our Once Upon a Time tribute. In this episode we continue to take on the roles of the Witch, (who we now know is named "Kerfumbly"), Marian, and Onesie-Twosie to supply additional books for your reading list. As you recall from last time, each host plays the Witch and will supply Onesie-Twosie with their bookly desires. Then, with a little bit of sound effect magic, our other hosts will supply titles that fit that description. Will we finally get out of Kerfumbly's dungeon?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join Miranda, Chris, and Autumn, as they recommend books from their fictitious "Onesie Twosie machine". This game was inspired by Autumn's favorite PBS show growing up, Once Upon a Time. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book.
Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We've noticed some pretty popular authors' names on screenplays for film and television. We're talking authors who've adapted their own work, adapted the work of others, as well as those who have written entirely new stories for screen. In this episode, we focus on screenplays written by authors we may not think of when we think of film.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
How do you rate books? How many stars do you use? Do you use stars? If so, how does a book earn stars? Everyone has a subjective method.
In this episode, our hosts discuss their star-rating methods and then play a game of guessing titles based on starred reviews. Can you guess the book title before our hosts do?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
In honor of Women's History Month, Miranda and special guest, Michelle Morris, discuss warrior women.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Miranda loves the Brontë sisters, so she unsurprisingly has feels about them and their works. Learn about the Brontë family and how their lives influenced their works.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode we'll be talking about recently returned books. What could go wrong?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Today we're playing a game. Autumn will give a title, and Chris and Miranda (and you listeners at home) will try to guess if it's a romance novel title or not. If it is a romance, they have to give a synopsis of what they think the book with that title is about. Get ready for some silliness and lots of laughter.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This episode we're discussing The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon. Our hosts give you just enough to make you want to read it without giving away the big twist promised at the end. That doesn't mean they don't have strong opinions about the twist at the end, though!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Special guest Michelle Morris joins us as we discuss new book releases for 2023.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
2023 is the year of the rabbit. To celebrate, we're dedicating an entire episode to these floppy-eared friends.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
What books checked out the most at TSCPL in 2022? We go through the lists of top print copies and top ebooks. There are sure to be some you need to add to your holds list. Miranda also collected staff favorites, which are books that staff loved in 2022, even if the book wasn't published in 2022. Saving the best for last, our hosts discuss what their favorite books of the year were. Tune in and find out!
We return to our discussion of the 2022's Goodreads Awards. We start in History & Biography and make our way through Historical Fiction, Romance, Horror, Mystery & Thriller, and Fiction. Get ready to add some new titles to your to-read list.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us this episode as we discuss 2022's Goodreads Award Winners. Our hosts are excited to tell you about which of the nominees they read in the categories Debut Novel, Best Young Adult Fiction, Best Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction, Adult Fantasy, Adult Science Fiction, Nonfiction, Humor, and Memoir.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
A few months ago, we dedicated an entire episode to the Booker Prize. In this episode we're giving other book awards their time to shine. Listen in as we discuss the winners of the National Book Awards, the Pen Faulkner Award, the Newbury Award, and the Women's Prize (formally known as both the Orange Award and the Bailey's Award). We also discuss the difference between the Nebula and Hugo awards. Autumn talks about her new favorite award – the Swoon Awards (or Swoonies for short).
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode we'll provide you with some delightfully chilly books to add to your winter reading list.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This episode we discuss all things related to Kevin Wilson's newest novel, Now Is Not the Time to Panic.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This week we had fun taking literary quizzes to find our next best reads! Our hosts took 3 quizzes and discussed the results and whether these results will be added to their TBR (To Be Read) piles or if the quiz was horrendously off.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do you have a thing for reading True Crime? So does our Cataloger, Alex! On this episode, she shares some of her favorites with The Bookmark cast.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode of The Bookmark, Cadie the Cataloger will talk about how she discovers new fiction through her role as a cataloger.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us as we celebrate the diversity of literature through the lens of indigenous and native authors.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
From The Amityville Horror and Creepy Carrots to the works of Stephen Graham Jones and Paul Tremblay, this episode will fill your to-read list with frightening tales.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's time again to see what the hosts and you all are reading!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Are you wanting to read Sci-Fi but not sure where to start? That's okay! On this episode of The Bookmark, we'll discuss some of our favorite Science Fiction reads.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Longlist, shortlist, scuttle on who may win...we will talk all things BOOKER! If you have been with the podcast long, you know this is Chris's favorite literary award.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Need some help getting out of your reading slump? Want to start small? This episode is all about itty-bitty, short, short books.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We're picking up where we left off last week in our discussion about reading slumps.
Autumn has more nonfiction that helped her through her slump. The appropriately titled Burnout is just one of the books she read about the fight or flight response our bodies go through when dealing with stress, which includes flashbacks and PTSD. Miranda couldn't bring herself to read anything light and/or fluffy during this time, and has even dived into some Booker Books, which are serious books and usually Chris' territory.
We're picking up where we left off last week in our discussion about reading slumps.
Autumn has more nonfiction that helped her through her slump. The appropriately titled Burnout is just one of the books she read about the fight or flight response our bodies go through when dealing with stress, which includes flashbacks and PTSD. Miranda couldn't bring herself to read anything light and/or fluffy during this time, and has even dived into some Booker Books, which are serious books and usually Chris' territory.
When nothing is quite right for you right now and you stare off into space when you want to be reading, you know you're in a slump. We've all been there. Nothing sounds remotely good or holds your interest beyond the opening pages. Let's talk about it because you are NOT alone. Here's our hosts' ways out of a reading slump.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
When nothing is quite right for you right now and you stare off into space when you want to be reading, you know you're in a slump. We've all been there. Nothing sounds remotely good or holds your interest beyond the opening pages. Let's talk about it because you are NOT alone. Here's our hosts' ways out of a reading slump.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The Bookmark is back! We've got a new studio, new equipment, and a fresh list of new fall reads! Autumn procured a list of new books from http://shereads.com and our hosts discuss cover art and synopses. How many of these books are being added to your To Be Read list?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The Bookmark is back! We've got a new studio, new equipment, and a fresh list of new fall reads! Autumn procured a list of new books from http://shereads.com and our hosts discuss cover art and synopses. How many of these books are being added to your To Be Read list?
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This week we are playing a game called Bookish Balderdash with guest star Debbie Stanton. The rules of the game are as follows: -One person (the "Dasher") reads the synopsis of a book.
-The other players make up what they think is the first line of the book. -After all players have submitted their first line to the Dasher, the Dasher mixes them up and adds the slip of paper with the real first line. -The Dasher reads the first lines out loud to the other players.
-Each player picks which first line they think is the real one.
-The Dasher reveals the real first line of the book.
The points are given as follows: -1 point for every vote their answer earned. -2 points for correctly guessing the REAL answer. -3 points to the DASHER if no players guess the real answer.
-3 points to any player who writes an answer very similar to the real answer. -As a bluff, you can vote for your own book but you will not earn a point for this vote.
Start your summer off right with these sizzling new reads!
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This episode Chris and Miranda are joined by TSCPL star, Julie Nelson. Julie's taking us on a trip to Maine, and whether it's living off the grid or visiting a summer camp, we're enjoying our visit. The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
One of our favorite ways to engage other readers is through a Facebook post asking you what you are reading. This episode, our hosts review titles you've shared. They also have recommendations for similar books. Listen closely, you may hear your name or recommendation.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
In this episode, we discuss books that we find generally discussable.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do your TV watching preferences match your reading preferences? Our hosts discuss TV series they have enjoyed and come up with book suggestions that are inspired by these viewing choices. In addition to a to-be-read list, you may end up with a to-be-watched list from this episode.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Special guest Megan joins us this episode to share some of her recent nonfiction reads. Based on her titles, Chris and Autumn then recommend fiction books that they think Megan will enjoy.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Take a trip back to the books you read 10 years ago. Do you remember them? How much of them do you remember? Our hosts examine their Goodreads lists from 10 years ago to discuss what was memorable, which books they rated and thought would be memorable, and which ones they don't really remember.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do you have any books or book topics that are an immediate no for you? Our hosts spend this episode discussing book turn-offs. They've got lists including the kind of drama and types of characters. Whether it be content or writing style, sometimes you just have to shut the book. We agree, though, that sometimes a favorite author will keep us reading when we normally wouldn't.
On this episode of The Bookmark, Autumn, Chris, and Miranda discuss how knowing what readers don't like helps them when recommending new titles.
Ever read a good book that you can never seem to drop into conversation? This week we talk about those books that people don't necessarily ask for, but are good recommendations. There are various reasons these books don't get recommended. Sometimes it's a tough subject matter, like death. Other times it's the "how" to get on the topic of recommending books like cookbooks, photo collections, map collections, and even some graphic novels. Any way you can talk about these books we don't talk about is a mission accomplished.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Autumn came up with a book association game using popsicle sticks to choose the kind of character, the setting, and the dilemma of a book. After selecting one popsicle stick for each category, our hosts recommended a book that fits the criteria.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
How do you feel about book-to-movie adaptations? On this episode of The Bookmark, Chris, Autumn, and Miranda discuss these adaptations and the impact that they leave on readers.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
How large of an impact does a good or bad element have on a story?
On this episode of The Bookmark, Autumn, Chris, and Miranda discuss books that left them with a love/hate relationship.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode of The Bookmark, Chris, Autumn, and Miranda discuss books that share a common thread.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode of The Bookmark, Chris and Miranda, along with special guest Michelle Morris, discuss Megha Majumdar's 'A Burning'.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do you ever find yourself in a reading slump? On this episode of The Bookmark, Miranda, Autumn, and Chris will explore a recent article about Reading Motivation while discussing what motivates them to read.
Autumn, Miranda, and Chris discuss BookPage magazine's recent recommendations.
The Bookmark is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
It's time to play a game! In this episode of The Bookmark, Autumn reads the summary of several new titles. This is followed by a discussion on books that give off similar vibes. This is a great way to build one heck of a reading list!
This episode, our hosts discuss the various books they are looking forward to reading in 2022. With the variety of book preferences our hosts possess, you're surely going to be adding books to your to-be-read pile. Listen to our hosts pitch the books you soon must read.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join Autumn, Miranda, Chris, and special guest Michelle Morris as they discuss their favorite books of 2021!
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Chris, Miranda, Autumn, and guest Megan Johnson discuss this year's top-rated books via Goodreads.
During Part 2 we discuss best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, history/biography, nonfiction, and debut novels. Tune in to hear who read which category and their opinions. Also learn our hosts' most memorable books of 2021.
Chris, Miranda, Autumn, and guest Megan Johnson discuss this year's top-rated books via Goodreads.
During Part 1, we discuss best in Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Historical Fiction, and Romance. Tune in to hear who has read books from which categories and what their opinions were.
Chris, Miranda and Autumn discuss reading books in a series: the good, the bad, and everything in between.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This episode, we discuss shifty (possibly psychopathic) characters and the authors who create them.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Join us as Chris, Autumn, and Miranda discuss their favorite recent reads.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
SPOILER ALERT! Join us as we discuss the team's first all-read title, Mrs. March by Virginia Feito.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Have you ever heard the term 'playing with time'? On this episode of The Bookmark, Autumn, Miranda, and Chris discuss how time feeds into stories.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
When we talk about a book, we typically think of other books that book reminds us of as well. On this episode, Miranda, Autumn and Chris will play a little readers game of This Book Reminds Me Of...a game created in Autumn's Imagination.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We examine our reasons for reading what when. Do you read books based on the season or your mood? Would you be willing to read certain books based on what your mood ring reveals?
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
Do the stars matter? Do they help you find your next great read, or turn you away from a book that MIGHT HAVE been your next great read. Miranda, Autumn & Chris talk about all things ratings and books they feel have been unjustly (and justly) low rated.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
This week, our hosts wanted to take the time to define some oft-used library terms.
First up is Psychological Fiction, also fondly known by our hosts as "What the bleep?" books. These books contain an internal struggle based on an external event. It often uses inner dialog and flashbacks as devices and has more than one Point of View with at least one unreliable character/narrator. Deception and suspense are what drive these twisty novels.
The Gothic genre was created as a counter to the overly realistic writings of the late 1700s and 1800s. It usually involves emotional extremes and big sweeping weather. Gothic books also tend to lend to characters who are secretive, isolated, and naive. Authors of the genre are often inclined to also include some supernatural elements.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
What's the motivation behind the books you read? How do you want them impact you? On this episode of The Bookmark, the team reflects on titles that successfully fulfilled their literary wishes.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
There's always more than one way to tell a story. In this episode, our hosts discuss how there are ways other than blocks of text to tell a story explore a few examples of unique storytelling narratives.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
In this episode, our hosts discuss how they read. Audiobooks, ebooks, print, graphic novel and fiction and non -- there's no wrong way to read... even if that means the book is upside down.
At the end of Season 2, our hosts unboxed some advanced reader copies of new books and assigned one to each other. In this episode our hosts are back from hiatus with their homework.
It took the dark humor of a lesbian atheist with a penchant for death, but we finally got genuine laughs out of Chris. After reading Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, he even did extra credit by looking up similar books in Novelist Plus. Chris shared a list of potential titles that might tickle his funny bone in the future. We also learned the death of pet rabbits is a lasting sorrow. Autumn speaks from personal experience that jokes on this matter are all “too soon.”
Miranda was psyched for some speculative fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale, but Girl One fell short. She said the book was a good attempt but she was sometimes pulled out of it by stilted dialogue. Our hosts want to know if the secrets a missing mom kept and references to Kansas are enough to have you give the book a good review.
Even Tanya Tucker references couldn’t save Autumn’s review of The Photographer. Delta Dawn’s desire to join the family she’s hired to take photos of reaches past Autumn’s cringe criteria. However, our coworker Trish, loved the book. So there is hope that you will end up liking this book.
It has come to the end of the season and the hosts of The Bookmark are celebrating with an unboxing! Chris, Miranda and Autumn unbox a delivery of Advanced Reader Copies (books scheduled to be released in the future) just in time for you to add them to your summer reading list! Tune in next season to see which of these books the hosts have read and hear their reviews.
Do you have a bingo yet on your Top City Reads Bingo Card? With our hosts' help, you should go for a blackout! This week, the square we're focusing on is "A book with your favorite color or an animal on the cover". Tune in to hear about books with covers that have an animal, a color, or both. Maybe your favorite part will be the tangents our hosts go off on. You'll have to listen to find out what hummus has to do with this topic.
Chris' curiosity has him asking questions about books – 23 questions to be specific. Discover interesting things about our hosts such as what imaginary world from a book would each most want to live in to weird reading habits and favorite flawed characters. Tune in to find out the answers to these questions and 20 more! That's 69 answers and tons of books to add to your to-be-read list.
The Bookmark is back to helping you with your Top City Reads Bingo card and this week it's all about debut authors. Autumn says she specifically seeks debut authors out because it's fun to discover new authors and recommend them to other people. It's like having your own secret you can't wait to tell. Speaking of "telling", is it obvious that a debut author is new to the trade and their book is the first thing they've had published? Our hosts don't think so.
Our hosts spend this episode giving rave reviews to some of their favorite debut authors and discuss what exactly qualifies an author as "debut". They look forward to future works by these authors and think you should to. Check out these debut books.
Personalized Browsing for You is just one of the services we have launched this year. In this episode of the Bookmark, Miranda reads real browsing requests to Chris and Autumn; a flurry of book recommendations follow.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
So, what is a beach read? Our hosts debate the definitions and give examples of what they think perfect beach reads would be. Their best conclusion is that a beach read is anything that you would read at the beach (or a location you'd prefer to the beach). More specifically, whatever type of book is relaxing to you. Our hosts conclude with a robust list of books they are looking forward to reading as beach reads.
Movie and television adaptions of books are pretty popular. In this episode, our hosts discuss what works and which ones just don't. We discuss how adaptions that are too close to the book tend to bore us because they do not add anything. There are also times when the adaptions are so different you feel like it is unfair to compare them. This episode explores that place where books and movies intersect.
In this episode, our hosts play a game of "Would You Rather" with books. Each one reads a blurb from two different books without giving away the title or the cover of either book. This begs the question, what are YOU missing because of knowing the title or seeing the cover of a book before reading the blurb?
Let's play a game! Join in as our hosts read a blurb from a book they have never read and then free-associate whatever book the blurb makes them think of and then the book that makes them think of and on and on! You'll be impressed with our extra long book-list for this episode.
Being a genre reader doesn't make you a bad reader. Sometimes you know what you like and you just like what you like.
Do the genre stickers on the spines of books help or hinder? Do they stop you from reading something you might otherwise pick-up? Not all books fit neatly into one specific genre. Sometimes the only way you find out about books out of your genre that you may like is by discussing books with others.
Journey back with us to when our hosts were teenagers and listen to them talk about what grabbed their angsty teen attention. Listen to them talk about favorite titles, favorite authors, and even "forbidden" books they may or may not have "borrowed" from older relatives.
Ever find yourself just not liking a book? Sometimes you hate a characters, hate the plot, hate some other aspect of the book. Sometimes it is because the book just fell flat. It did not live up to your expectations. Turns out that's okay.
Our hosts take turns giving titles that either they hated or fell flat for them. They admit that sometimes they would still recommend said titles to other readers. Sometimes a book isn't meant for a specific reader or a specific person. Sometimes you have to make the book fit.
Book covers tell a story and publishers go through numerous steps just to produce one cover. In this episode, our hosts discuss how they judge books by their covers, what catches their eyes, what puts them off.
What makes a book rereadable? Which of our hosts does the most rereading? And where do they find new books to read?
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
The Bookmark hosts are helping you out with your 2021 Bingo cards from community group Top City Reads in their 50th episode! This episode is to help you out with your square "An Author New to You". It goes without saying that it also covers the square for a book you heard on the Bookmark podcast! It's always an adventure when, as a reader, you read something out of your wheelhouse and our hosts don't disappoint for this episode.
Lists of what books to expect in 2021 have been posted all over the place and our hosts have been paying attention. Autumn's been taking advantage of her access to Advanced Readers Copies (ARCs) and has even read some of the great books she's recommending in this episode. Join our hosts as they tell us the books they are excitedly anticipating, whether it's the newest from a favorite author or a premise they just can't wait for!
On this second part of The Bookmark, our hosts discuss more of the books that made 2020, using the Goodread's Choice Awards as a starting point.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
On this episode of The Bookmark, the team overviews titles on 2020's Goodread's Choice Awards.
The Bookmark Podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join regular readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you’ll want to add to your reading list.
We've all read titles that forced us out of our comfort zone. These books encouraged The Bookmark Team to step out of their usual reading 'box'. Chris not only read a romance, he read a disturbing tale that reminded him of Heathers. We did mention Chris read a ROMANCE, right? Autumn surprised us with a "well-written and not dry" business management book. She also read a book about a character who is always having to step slightly out of her box. Miranda supplied us with some good recommendations that are out of the box for what the writers usually produce. A thriller from Alyssa Cole?! A non-Dublin-based book from Tana French?!
Sometimes things are just not quite like they're supposed to be. Sometimes a clerical error sends someone into the afterlife early or a person being in the right place at the wrong time finds that their life isn't as perfect as they had assumed. A perfect little street can hold secrets and someone can think they're right where they're supposed to be and could not be more wrong. Occasionally, wars don't happen where you think they might and don't go how you expect them to. Listen in for all these, plus Murderbots!
We're recommending books that talk about the end of the world, take place after the end of the world, and some that are just the end of the world for the characters. Our hosts discuss how and why the world could end and whether they truly do feel fine about it. Read these books for an emotional rollercoaster that might leave you ugly-crying or feeling hopeful.
There are plenty of bird jokes and puns as our hosts discuss both literal birds and people that flock together. There's an established pecking order for many of these characters. They are assigned a flock and expected to wear those feathers. Some fly the coop and some are pushed out of the nest.
The holidays mean different things to different people. For us it means cookies, cider and cozy books. The books we recommend include some holiday magic, which in this case can include ghost stories, the Brontes, time loops, and small island communities. Oh, and you can't forget the coffee and Keanu Reeves. The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
Family defines who we are and what we're willing to do for each other. Sometimes family means everything, including jail. Not knowing who your family is sometimes means not knowing oneself. But knowing family can also mean knowing way too much about certain people and certain things. The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
The battle lines have been drawn and the battle cries have been sung. Survival is the goal and this week the chances of the characters in these books are challenged. Take away the familiar terrain and any assurances of who your allies are and who your enemies might be. These books have our protagonists battling both the literal land and other characters. No one is safe. Full of nature, futuristic and survival themes, these books are wild! The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
Which is scarier: literal demons or the demons that haunt only you? Sometimes the devil is charming, but sometimes he makes you suffer. Sometimes he even needs to be invoked to make a point of political importance. From scandalous crushes to personal hauntings, these devilishly clever titles will make great additions to your 'spooky' reading list.
The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
IKEA is deceptive. Things that seem so easy to pick out or put together turn out to be way more complex than we could have imagined. These books aren't as simple to piece together as you might think, which makes them all the more delightfully challenging. Bring your lingonberries and follow this journey or get lost in translation. Don't miss golden cages, flying machines, an epidemic and a farting dog.
The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
Just like gold, these books are solid!
The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.
Ever feel like you don't quite belong? Or maybe you can't get something to fit in with others. Sometimes you're expected to be part of a culture by default and you can't help but just be a square peg in a round hole. That culture can be related to the country you are from, a team you are a part of, the friends you choose, or the school you go to. The Bookmark podcast is your place to find your next great book. Each week, join readers Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli along with other librarians as they discuss all the books you'll want to add to your reading list.