Bookin'

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Gary Graff, editor of 501 Essential Albums of the 80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide, which is published by our friends at Quarto Publishing Group. Topics of discussion include Alice Cooper, lists, what people think of when they think of the 1980s (hair), Walkmans and boomboxes, CDs and cassettes, MTV, and much more.  Copies of 501 Essential Albums of the 80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide can be ordered from your favorite local, independent bookstore.  Happy reading!

On this episode, host Jason Jefferies and award-winning poet Dan Hawkins continue their read through of the works of Cormac McCarthy, this time with his first screenplay, The Gardener's Son. Further, Jason and Dan start their discussion about film adaptations of McCarthy's works with PBS's The Gardener's Son and James Franco's Child of God. Happy reading, friends!

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes back Bookin' favorite Dan Hawkins, librarian at The Citadel and Cormac McCarthy aficionado. This time, Jason and Dan talk about Blood Meridian, and oh boy is it a big one. Copies of Blood Meridian can be purchased from your favorite local independent bookstore. Happy reading!

On this week's Bookin', host Jason Jefferies interviews Professor Keon West, author of The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know But Probably Don't--Yet, which is published by our friends at Abrams Press.  Topics of conversation include the state of the world, Michelle Obama, how to teach a population to vet its sources, Star Trek, bias and racism in hiring practices, the UK vs. the USA, and much more!  Copies of The Science of Racism can be purchased from your favorite indie bookstore.  Happy reading!

On this week's Bookin', host Jason Jefferies welcomes Elaine Neil Orr, who discusses her new novel Dancing Woman, which is published by our friends at Blair.  Topics of discussion include people who are perfectly logical all the time, Nigeria, 1963, Harry Belafonte, mixed feelings about the church, how writing a novel is like painting, USAID, and more!  Signed copies of Dancing Woman can be ordered here (while supplies last).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Mark Kingwell, professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine.  His new book is Question Authority, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include current affairs in Canada, super-cycle elections, demonization, what trustworthy leadership looks like, cultural and institutional achievements, skepticism, rhetorical education, professional wrestling and more.  Copies of Question Authority can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by frequent guest and Librarian at The Citadel Dan Hawkins, who discusses Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.  Topics of conversation include Vanity Fair, James Joyce and William Faulkner, existentialism, Walker Percy and much more.  Copies of Suttree can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Andy Corren, author of Dirtbag Queen, which is published by our friends at Grand Central Publishing.  Topics of conversation include bookstores in New York, obituaries, the right side of Fayetteville, nice furniture rooms, a child's perception of enormous riches, Donnie and Marie Osmond vs. RuPaul, and much more.  Signed copies of Dirtbag Queen can be ordered here from Page 158 Books (while supplies last).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Julian Zabalbeascoa, author of What We Tried to Bury Grows Here, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of discussion include the Two Dollar Radio tattoo club, the Spanish Civil War, parallels between pre-WWII Spain and the United States of America in 2025, individual liberties as great threats, James Joyce's Ulysses, research, priests vs. soldiers, whether a person who has never been in a war can truly understand a war, and much more.  Copies of What We Tried to Bury Grows Here can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by the legendary poet Paul Jones, who discusses his new collection Something Necessary, which is published by our friends at Redhawk Publications.  Topics of conversation include the Arch Mission Foundation, support for an author community, musical writing, the place of poetry in a bookstore, seeing a poem in a piece of bread, and much more.  Copies of Something Necessary can be purchased here or by calling Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, Dan Hawkins and Jason Jefferies talk about Cormac McCarthy's Child of God by way of the recent Vanity Fair article that exposes Cormac McCarthy's relationship with Augusta Britt, which started when she was age 14-16.  Discusses are issues of art vs. the artist, artists versus politicians, thinks that are "of their time" and many more minefields.  Copies of Child of God can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy listening!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning journalist David Aldridge in a discussion about The Basketball 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA History, which is published by our friends at William Morrow.  Topics of conversation include the shot clock, ACC basketball, analytics, how to accurately rank active players, Steph Curry vs. Larry Bird, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, Wes Unseld, the Charlotte Hornets and much more.  Copies of The Basketball 100 can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Gaelan Bergstrom and Ben Diehl is a conversation about Berserk by Kentaro Miura.  Topics of conversation include the first arc of Berserk, Japanese pop-culture, radiation, the place of manga in a bookstore, and much more!  Copies of Berserk can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Waker Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Andrew K. Clark, author of Where Dark Things Grow, which is published by our friends at Cowboy Jamboree Press.  Topics of conversation include growing up in the midst of the eternal battle between good and evil, ancestry, the years between World War I and World War II, wulvers, magic, genre fiction vs literary fiction, monsters and Jesus, tall tales, and much more.  Copies of Where Dark Things Grow can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning and bestselling writer and illustrator John Hendrix, who discuss his new book The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, which is published by our friends at Abrams.  Topics of conversation include Missouri, friendship, Norse Mythology, methodologies, genre fiction, lions and wizards, The Great Departure of the Buddha, portals, World War I, Christianity, and much more!  Copies of The Mythmakers can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Sam Sax, author of Yr Dead, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include ITALIC lecturers, trigger warnings, queer planets, a myth buried in blood, Apple stores, books as objects, text message conversations in literature, laser discs, the human ritual, belonging, and much more.  Copies of Yr Dead can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Dan Hawkins for a conversation about Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark, the second episode in an ongoing series that will feature a read through of McCarthy's works.  Topics of conversation include second novels, imagery, hell, the most American religion, brothers and sisters, how you know when a book is a western, and much more.  Copies of Outer Dark can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by bestselling author Charles Bock, who discusses his new book I Will Do Better, which is published by our friends at Abrams Books.  Topics of conversation include New York, James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, the nature of memoirs vs. fiction, raising a child after a spouse's death, the physical laws of reality and Haruki Murakami, the male's capacity to feel sorry for himself, fitted sheets and much more!  Copies of I Will Do Better can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Georgann Eubanks and Debra Kaufman, editor and contributors to Paul Green: North Carolina Writers on the Legacy of the State's Most Celebrated Playwright, which is published by our friends at Blair.  Topics of conversation include the Paul Green Foundation, Blair, Playwrights in North Carolina, political activism, how Paul Green's activism translates to an audience in 2024, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and more!  Copies of Paul Green: North Carolina Writers on the Legacy of the State's Most Celebrated Playwright can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Chris Koslowski, author of Kayfabe, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, amateur professional wrestling, the physical demands of professional wrestling, sleazy showmen of the southeast, Becky Lynch, Gunther, Jimi Hendrix and Hulk Hogan, Rock Hill, SC and much more.  Copies of Kayfabe can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Kwame Mbalia, who discusses his new book Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek, a Freedom Fire title.  Topics of discussion include Freedom Fire, young adult literature vs. middle grade literature, Freeman as a name, North Carolina in literature, the significance of Chicago, trains, Moses, the Chicago Bulls vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, and much more.  Signed copies of Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Scott Reintgen, who discusses his new book The Last Dragon On Mars, which is published by our friends at Aladdin, a division of Simon and Schuster.  Topics of conversation include the intersection of sci-fi and fantasy, young adult novels versus middle grade novels, Mad Max and Fallout, school visits, relocation clinics, dragons in space and more.  Copies of The Last Dragon On Mars can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Bookin' favorite Dan Hawkins in a discussion about The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy, the first in a Bookin' read-through of McCarthy's works.  Topics of discussion include William Faulkner, the Tennessee Valley Authority, bootleggers and blockaders, first novels, nature vs. technology, and much more.  Copies of The Orchard Keeper can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities fellow Nora Lange, who discusses her new novel Us Fools, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, the future as a capitalist scam, unreliable narrators, house projects meant to temper drinking, portraits, confusing liberalism/socialism/capitalism, similarities between internet dating and fad diets, and much more.  Copies of Us Fools can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning journalist and 2024 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate Steven Petrow, who discusses his new book The Joy You Make, which is published by The Open Field and Penguin Life, and imprint of Penguin Random House.  Topics of discussion include The Open Field, crowdsourcing, half-empty glasses vs. half-full glasses, life as a Piedmont Laureate, being too busy for your own good, joy as a whole wheat muffin, The Last First Day by Carrie Brown and much more!  Copies of The Joy You Make can be purchased here from Page 158 Books!  Steven Petrow will be appearing at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC on October 22, 2024 at 6pm.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Marguerite Sheffer, who discusses her new collection The Man in the Banana Trees, which is published by our friends at University of Iowa Press. Topics of discussion include writing groups, the Iowa Short Fiction Award, student behavior, sequencing, the difference between workshopping a story and talking about one in an interview, resiliency, rain theft, being the first at something, lost snakes, sacrifice, and much more.  Copies of The Man in the Banana Trees can be preordered here (and purchased here after 11/5/24).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud, who discusses his new novella Crypt of the Moon Spider, which is published by our friends at TOR Nightfire.  Topics of discussion include Asheville, Dale Bailey, treatment for the melancholy, the dark side of the moon, dead gods, the relationship between the moon and madness, spousal behaviors, the 1920s, Frankenstein and much more.  Copies of Crypt of the Moon Spider can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jon Sealy, who discusses his new novel The King Street Affair, which is published by our friends at Haywire Books.  Topics of conversation include South Carolina, Graham Greene, Charleston, Wuthering Heights, signals in the noise, gangsters, popular media, newspapers, AI, ChatGPT and more!  Copies of The King Street Affair can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi, who discusses his new novel Navola, which is published by our friends at Alfred A. Knopf Publishers.  Topics of conversation include the intersection of The Godfather and Game of Thrones, items with mythological powers, dragon eyes, Renaissance Italy, doubting one's parents, reliable narrators, servants, and much more.  Copies of Navola can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week is Bookin's 300th Episode!  Host Jason Jefferies is joined by Suzanne Lucey and Dave Lucey--owners of Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC--in a discussion of The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, a collection they contributed to, which is edited by James Patterson, Matt Eversmann and Chris Mooney, and which is published by our friends at Little, Brown and Company.  Topics of conversation include the origin of Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, James Patterson, personal service vs. shopping online, the 'WTF Did I Just Read' book club, the future of bookselling, and much more.  Copies of The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians can be ordered here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, I am joined by T. Shawn Long, host of the Horror Book Club at Page 158 Books in a discussion about all things Stephen King!  Topics of discussion include The Dark Tower, the Holly novels, 11/22/63, automobile accidents and more!  Stephen King's books can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by music journalist Corey du Browa, who discusses his new book An Ideal for Living: A Celebration of the EP-Extended Play, which is published by our friends at HoZac Books.  Topics of conversation include EPs vs LPs, vinyl vs. CDs vs. streaming, Britt Daniel from Spoon, Frances the Mute by the Mars Volta, double EPs, genres, lists, how history colors the music industry, and much more.  Copies of An Ideal for Living: A Celebration of the EP-Extended Play can be ordered here from Hozac Records (extremely limited edition), and your other book needs can be fulfilled here by Page 158 Books!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by the busiest reader on the planet, Dan Hawkins!  Topics of discussion include Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles and Circe, James Joyce's Ulysses, C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, and much more.  Copies of all of these books and more can be purchased at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC. 

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Ari Honarvar, who discusses her novel A Girl Called Rumi, which is published by our friends at Forest Avenue Press.  Topics of discussion include refugee advocacy, Colorado, growing up in a war-torn region, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, mothership in Iran, ants, how to hide a horse, the concept of Home, the Iran/Iraq war, and much more.  Copies of A Girl Called Rumi can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by writer, activist, pastor and storyteller John Pavlovitz, who discusses his book Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage and Compassion When Cruelty is Trending, which is published by our friends at WJK Books.  Topics of conversation include the dual roles of activist and pastor, bad news, the default mode of existence in a capitalist society as antithetical to human nature, waiting for a superhero or savior when one isn't coming, the toxic cocktail of outrage addiction and cultivated worry, mistaking activity for productivity, legislative goals, and much more.  Signed copies of Worth Fighting For can be ordered here from Page 158 Books, and each purchase comes with a signed print.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jordan Elgrably, editor of Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction, which is published by our friends at City Lights Books.  Topics of conversation include The Markaz Review, City Lights Books, the Middle East as the center of the world, the partitioning of land, Israel vs. Palestine, cats, "No terrorist ever found inspiration in Kafka", The Catcher in the Rye, book recommendations, and much more.  Copies of Stories from the Center of the World can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Professor of Sociology at Boston College and noted public intellectual Charles Derber, who discusses his new book Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It, which is co-written with Siren Moodlier and published by our friends at Routledge.  Topics of discussion include the abolition of fossil fuel emissions, focusing on today at the expense of tomorrow, post-scarcity economics, the USA's contribution to potential extinction, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, and much more.  Copies of Dying for Capitalism can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author and Bookin' favorite Mesha Maren, who discusses her new book Shae, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of discussion include teaching athletes, the nature of memory, moments that change our lives, Tool as a Christian rock band, relationships with parents, diving when you don't know how to swim, Oxycontin, artists in West Virginia, theft at The Pink Pony, and much more.  Copies of Shae can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Amanda Bellows, who discusses her new book Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions, which is published by our friends at William Morrow.  Topics of conversation include UNC-Chapel Hill, Kentucky, westward expansion in the United States of America, Sacagawea, James Beckwourth, reconciling amazing deeds with the terrible people responsible for them, Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Dakota territories, John Muir, and much more.  Copies of Explorers can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by baseball writer Eric Vickrey, who discusses his new book Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians and a Tragic Bus Crash that Changed Everything, which is published by our friends at Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.  Topics of discussion include post-World War II conditions in the United States of America, PCLs, formatting, curses and averting disaster, the rationing of oil and gas, Babe Ruth's radio show, and much more.  Copies of Season of Shattered Dreams can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by North Carolina Music Hall of Famer and former Squirrel Nut Zipper Tom Maxwell, who discusses his new book A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999, which is published by our friends at Hachette Books.  Topics of conversation include North Carolina musical history, the Cat's Cradle, the temptation to label something as 'the next' something else, Dexter Romweber and the Flat Duo Jets, the desire for profit vs. the desire to document, Jimbo Mathus, Metal Flake Mother, and much more.  Copies of A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999 can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  SIGNED COPIES ARE AVAILABLE (while supplies last).    

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Brad Balukjian, author of The Six Pack: On the Open Road to Wrestlemania, which is published by our friends at Hachette Books.  Topics of conversation include being in an open relationship with your VCR, professional wrestling, the Iron Sheik, MTV, Captain Lou Albano, driving your childhood hero to buy drugs, the line between fact and fiction, journalists methods, and much more.  Copies of The Six Pack can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes award-winning author Alex Pugsley back to the program!  Alex discusses his new novel The Education of Aubrey McKee, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include novels about art and artists, worshipful beginners, people who are not active participants in their own lives, heartbreaking naïveté, comedy vs. horror, pirates, interesting problems, young adult love, loving someone as they become famous, and much more.  Copies of The Education of Aubrey McKee can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by R.A. Cramblitt, author of Like Printing Money, which is published by our friends at BC Publishing Inc.  Topics of discussion include music, self-publishing, Baltimore, 3D printing, sports fandom, the Charlotte Hornets, America being built by alcohol and drugs, oil and gas and sustainable alternatives, the type of person who rocks out to AC/DC while kidnapping someone, and much more.  Copies of Like Printing Money can be ordered here from Page 158 Books.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Freeman Vines and Timothy Duffy, who discuss Hanging Tree Guitars, which is published by our friends at Piedmont Press in association with Music Maker Foundation.  Topics of conversation include guitar craftsmanship, mysticism and philosophy, lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, out of body experiences, gifts, and much more.  Copies of Hanging Tree Guitars can be ordered from Page 158 Books and the Music Maker Foundation website.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by author, lecturer, and consultant on terrorism and political violence Jeffrey D. Simon, who discusses his latest book The Bulldog Detective: William J. Flynn and America's First War Against the Mafia, Spies, and Terrorists, which is published by our friends at Prometheus.  Topics of conversation include terrorism, spies, growing up as the child of a celebrity detective, crime fiction, Eliot Ness, Al Capone, and much more.  Copies of The Bulldog Detective can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Cally Fiedorek, who discusses her new novel Atta Boy, which is published by our friends at University of Iowa Press.  Topics of conversation include tattoos, New York exhaustion, MFA programs, working in a bar, pleasure as a pathology, Colorado, extremism, catnip for cult leaders, being smart (but not about the things that matter), and much more.  Copies of Atta Boy can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Georgann Eubanks, who discusses Song Keepers: A Music Maker Foundation Anthology, which is co-published by our friends at No Depression and the Music Maker Foundation.  Topics of discussion include working with non-profits, the Emmys, SoLaTiDo, Music Maker Foundation, the world's happiest bluesman, Jimi Hendrix, writing in North Carolina, and much more.  Copies of Song Keepers can be ordered from Page 158 Books and the No Depression website.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Daniel Wallace, who discusses his newest book This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of discussion include teaching overseas, delineations between before and after, digesting an idea over decades, suicide prevention, cartooning, North Carolina vs. Alabama, Walker Percy and James Joyce, writing as a cathartic exercise, and much more.  Copies of This Isn't Going to End Well can be purchased here or downloaded from Libro.fm for FREE with the promo code BOOKIN (new members only).  

This week, I am joined by Dan Hawkins, librarian at the Citadel and repeat Bookin' podcast guest (see the Emergency Cormac McCarthy episode).  Dan discusses Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, one of the greatest novels of all-time.  Topics of discussion include Robert Frost, J.R.R. Tolkien, unreliable narrators, the very loud amusement park right outside of Charles Kinbote's lodgings, Lolita, chess problems, Hopscotch, and much more.  Copies of Pale Fire can be purchased here.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Katya Apekina for a discussion of her new novel Mother Doll, which is published by our friends at The Overlook Press.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, the Overlook Press, baby bedtime routines, visitations, September 11th, video stores, physical media vs. digital media, organization, ghost stories, self-deception, knowledge and education, and much more.  Copies of Mother Doll can be ordered here.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival and libro.fm audiobooks for presenting this episode.