Podcasts about bookening

Hi. It's us. Same podcast releases across this feed and The Bookening and Sanity at the Movies. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Check out the Kickstarter for our friend's non-woke children's book, The Rainbow Knight.The Bookening talks about a charming kid's book by the quirky children's author (and longtime New Yorker illustrator) William Steig.We talk about some of his early books of "symbolic pictures" too—too dark to be kid's stuff. You have been forewarned! You can check out The Agony in the Kindergarten here, or About People here. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes discuss a podcast series that is taking things from them. (Note: for maximum coverage, this podcast is being published in the Sound of Sanity and Sanity at the Movies feed as well.) (Additional note: Jake and Nathan and Brandon are getting together this week to try to finally get that schedule worked out. Thanks for hanging in there.) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes discuss a podcast series that is taking things from them. (Note: for maximum coverage, this podcast is  being published in the Bookening and Sanity at the Movies feed as well.) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes discuss a podcast series that is taking things from them. (Note: for maximum coverage, this podcast is  being published in The Bookening and Sound of Sanity feed as well.) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The "Booknado" podcast episode features Matt, Miles, and Jack discussing the rapid release of books in Age of Sigmar. They debate the impact on the game's meta, keeping up with new releases, and potential burnout among players.

It's an update! With atrocious audio! Basic message: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!" ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

All the pretty horses ... where do they all come from? All the pretty horses? Where do they all belong?Did you know Cormac McCarthy was born in Rhode Island? He had to work to sort of figure out how to become a southern western gothic writer, or whatever he is. Anyway, The Bookening talks about All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Revenge, madness, whale blubber, etc. The Bookening discusses one of the best books they've ever discussed. And probably the great American novel. Herman Melville's Moby Dick.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The senselessness of life. The meaninglessness of death. Those moments where you murder someone in cold blood for no particular reason. Hope you like existential stuff. Because Ernest Heminway and Albert Camus sure do, as we talk about in this mega-stuft episode of none other than ..... THE BOOKENING. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Bookening is divided over one of the great (?) Russian novels!Here's a link to that great piece on Tolstoy and Turgenev's relationship.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Happy Valentine's Day! It's been six years. Can you believe it? Time for The Bookening to return to the book that started it all. Will our opinions have changed? Will we argue our former selves into the dust? Will we now HATE Pride and Prejudice???? Find out in this mega stuffed episode.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

How is the Bookening moving forward after a 2021 that wasn't what we wanted? What are we reading in 2022? Was Ender's Game a good novel? The answers to all these questions and more in the mega-long super spectacular new episode!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

A classic episode of The Bookening in which eventually we talk about Hamlet. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Of all the Daphne du Mauriers, Daphne du Maurier was the Daphne du Maurieriest. That's the lesson from today's sterling episode of The Bookening. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes begin to review the first book that was actually written in their current hometown, as Nathan and Jake discuss at length in this episode of THE BOOKENING.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Move aside, Miyazaki! The Bookening is talking about the awesome Diana Wynne Jones novel that is Howl's Moving Castle. If you haven't read it, what are you waiting for? Brandon provides some much needed context in this episode. Plus Jake talks all about Harry Potter world. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Bookening talks anthropomorphic animal stories. Hopefully we'll have all 3 of us to finally LITIGATE Watership Down next week. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We continue our journey through books. All the books. 

Was King Arthur a real dude? How has the Arthurian romance come down to us? Which cultures has it drawn from, and what has it picked up along the way? The Bookening discusses all these issues and more in the first of our Patron-sponsored mini-series on the tales of King Arthur. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Conservatives reject a lot of great twentieth century art by people of color for one simple reason. The Bookening discusses all this and more as Brandon provides some MUCH NEEDED context for Ralph Ellison's great novel, Invisible Man. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Should you read a bad book or short story for your college class? The Bookening considers the age old question, in this VERY SPECIAL EPISODE (ONE OF THE POINTS THEY MAKE WILL SHOCK YOU!).★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The word "broken" gets tossed around a lot these days, but Dostoevsky was truly a broken man. Our contextual Texan tells the story of his life, among other things, as The Bookening provides some much needed context on The Brothers Karamazov and its author.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

2020 was a pretty great year here at The Bookening. We haven't been paying a ton of attention to what's going on in the outside world, but we assume everyone else loved 2020 just as much as we did.In any case here's a short episode with the list of books we'll be reading in 2021, and a bit of discussion about them. Yay!Oh, fine, here's the list in written form: January: The Brothers Karamazov February: Northhanger Abbey March: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory April: Invisible Man (Ellison) May: Watership Down June: Howl's Moving Castle + Ready Player 2 July: Rebecca  August: Hamlet September: A Room With a View or A Passage to India October: Spoooooky Stories November: Ender's Game December: Fathers and Sons January: A Tale of Two Cities ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Was George Orwell a great prophet, or even a good one? Did he see the future of society accurately, or not so much? Those are the very issues that The Bookening is figuring out in this very episode, our second in a series on 1984. Our heroes talk about historical revisionism, doublespeak, all that good stuff. Fun times, fun times. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What exactly was the War of the Roses? Who was on what side? Why? What happened? The Bookening attempts to make sense of all this complicated English history before they read the rest of the William Shakespeare's plays on the subject. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What is it that makes Shakespeare so darn great? It's time for The Bookening to discuss the immortal bard again! So our heroes are talking about William Shakespeare and providing some context for The Hollow Crown, which is the BBC adaptation of Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3. Plus Richard III. We'll be back next week with more historical context for The War of the Roses. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

While Ace is away in recovery, Ron and Jake decide they know how best to fix summerslam...Tune in to see how they do --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Was J.R.R. Tolkien a racist? The answer is not a simple yes or no. So the Bookening is devoting an entire episode to the issue. Listen to it. It's Thought Christmas, y'all!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Who is the greatest monster in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien? What makes a good monster anyway? What does Gollum have to teach us about addiction? Is Gollum an entirely original character or does he have his roots in mythology somewhere? The Bookening answers all those questions and more as it considers the Frodo and Sam section of The Two Towers. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Steven Millhauser is one of the coolest, most uncanny, weird, beautiful, mysterious writer's writers that a lot of people haven't heard of, kind of a cross between Borges and Poe and Leave it to Beaver. And today The Bookening is talking about one of his best story collections, Dangerous Laughter. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Oh brother. In this Dadaesque episode of The Bookening our heroes discuss Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket. At least it is arguable that they do this, but it sounds like some sort of gas was released into the room. Or something. Anyway, along the way, they talk a lot about existentialism, Brandon makes a date with the Knight of Infinite Resignation, and a beloved new catchphrase is born based on Nietzsche's mustache. DON'T MISS OUT!  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Um, what a weird book. The Bookening wraps their head around The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White. Or tries to. As usual (it seems) when we come to children's literature, we're a little unsure of what to say. What a weird book. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Bookening is talkin' Lord of the Rings, namely The Fellowship of the Ring (Book 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien, a book that, in their opinion, holds up quite well. Subjects include: that fey, suggestive feeling Tolkien is able to inspire, the condescension or lack thereof with which Tolkien approaches the hobbits, whether the story takes too long to get going, the potency of the ring as a literary conceit, and whether Tom Bobadil is a good section or not. SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. A book that every parent or teacher assigns and no kid likes. Well, The Bookening decided to actually read it as adults, and it turns out it may not be half bad. At least one of us is prepared to argue pretty staunchly for it. That's the topic of today's episode. LISTEN TO IT AND YOU WILL BENEFIT GREATLY. Next week, more Tolkien. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

But you know that Sense and Sensibility was not originally published under Jane Austen's name? The title page just said "By a Lady." She was indeed a lady. And also a good novelist. And this is The Bookening's first episode on her first novel Sense and Sensibility. Brandon provides much needed context. Nathan attempts to rush through the intro. Jake sings Goo Goo Dolls. Listen today! Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Oh boy, our heroes had to record this one late at night, after recording another episode, and their brains were fried. So if you like that kind of Bookening, this is The Bookening for you. But we got in some good talk about Mirkwood, the power of forests and woods, Smaug the dragon, how to make a good villain, and other Hobbity things. Next week, we'll finally get to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. By the way, Nathan says something confusing about episode order at the end of the episode. What he means is not that Sense and Sensibility Part 2 is coming up next (skipping Part 1). But that we recorded out of order, so Part 2 will contain more compliments. If that makes sense. Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Well, friends, here in another episode of The Bookening on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. In this one we get a suprsing amount of discussion out of a simple question: was Tolkien a racist? Yes, kind of, but how should that affect your enjoyment of the story? Also, why recount every riddle in the dark? What is the power of the cave section? That's what our heroes talk about in this episode! Yay! The Hobbit Part 3 next week!Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If you like The Bookening, you should like this episode of The Bookening. And it does contain some of the promised discussion of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. But the fact is that we got off-topic a little bit and talked about literary style and talent, so we decided to save our more meaty discussion of The Hobbit for next week. But you should still listen to this episode. Love, Us. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode of The Bookening podcast, Nathan says something silly near the beginning, Brandon says something nerdy about a book  somewhere in the middle, and Jake says something impassioned and pastoral somewhere near the end. It's a pretty unique episode that way. What is the subject you ask? Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Baby. One of the top three books our heroes have done on The Bookening.  We'll be doing some Tolkien content here asap. Thanks to all our patrons for making the Year of Tolkien happen! Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Leo Tolstoy was a colossal genius of the first order, and War and Peace is one of the best books that The Bookening has ever or will ever do. So that's why you should listen to this episode, in which Brandon provides some much needed context on Russian history, the life of Tolstoy, and more. Listen today. Yay!Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What would happen if Jane Eyre teamed up with Reepicheep the Mouse, or the White Witch fought King Henry from Shakespeare? You'll find out in this very episode of The Bookening, as our heroes finish up their fantasy draft of different characters and objects and settings from 2019's booklist. Be sure to go to our Twitter or Instagram this Friday after 12pm to vote on which of the novels our heroes came up with is the best. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Now with audio glitch corrected!The Bookening discusses one of the most important books of the latter half of the twentieth century, and one that they are pretty excited to talk about, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Postmodernism, magical realism, the history of India, and more inform a Contextual Texan that Brandon had a lot of fun preparing, and you should have an equal amount of fun listening to. Listen now! And here's the interview with Rushdie that Brandon recommended.Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Sredni Vashtar went forth,His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white.His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death.Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful.Happy All Hallow's Eve Eve, fiends! Here's a truly weird little item for ya! In this episode The Bookening reads Sredni Vashtar by Saki (H. H. Munro). It's a good story by a good writer who people aren't as familiar with as they should be.  It's also part 3 of our weeklong Spook-tacular! Support us here, today, right now, if you want us to march around the courthouse dressed like swans, blowing trumpets! Music: Signs In The Fields by cinematicwaves licensed by a Creative Commons 3.0 license. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode of The Bookening, our heroes discuss Henry V. It is a good episode. Listen to it. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hooray, it's our episode on William Shakespeare's Henry IV. Which part you ask? We're doing both parts in one amazing episode. You'll hear our heroes' theories on whether Hal was faking it or he really loved Falstaff, whether Falstaff is still funny in 2019, and whom to reward and whom to punish when you suddenly become king, or manager of McDonalds for that matter. Plus Brandon goes to Washington, Jake works in Apple and Microsoft somehow. All in all, it's an episode of The Bookening. Yay! Listen now. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Bookening really enjoyed The Magician's Nephew. That's right, they liked it a ton. Did you know this was the last Narnia book that C. S. Lewis wrote? Even though it was the second to last published, and now some dumb publishers label it as the first book that kids should read? Well, it was. And you can tell, because it feels like C. S. Lewis has the kinks worked out, and is just chillaxed and ready to tell a great Narnia story. Which he does. And we really liked it. Because we do like C. S. Lewis from time to time. Actually lots of the time. Just listen. Thank you. Support us here please! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Thanks, Patrons! The Bookening is returning to Narnia with The Horse and His Boy, a book that is a personal favorite of many a boy and girl. But will it be the personal favorite of The Bookening crew? Our heroes also provide their final thoughts and rankings for The Silver Chair. This could be a controversial episode, beware! But also a big, good, fun one. In our humble opinion. Listen right now. Warhorn Media (employer of both Nathan and Jake) could use help making payroll this month. Make a one-time donation here. And then sign up to support us on Patreon so we can hit that $1000 mark by October 31st, dress as swans, and do Tolkien next year.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jake really loves this book. Brandon does not as much. Thus disagreement stalks The Bookening crew in this episode, as Brandon goes on the attack against some of the more, shall we say, mystical elements of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And, after about 45 minutes, Jake goes on the defense, because he just really likes the boy's adventure of this book. All this and more. Support us here!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here!The Bookening provides some much needed context on C. S. Lewis, as our heroes embark on their multipart quest to talk through all The Chronicles of Narnia. Also, our heroes court a little controversy by having their usual issues with Lewis. But also, they really like him and are looking forward to talking through his books. But on the other hand, he has some issues that are, shall we say, problematic. But on the other hand, he's pretty great. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here!We're gonna go ahead and call this a bonus episode instead of a real one. It was recorded on a crazy late night in Brandon's kitchen without the best sound quality. But we thought it was worth releasing because there's some good discussion and a good lead in for next week's real poetry episode. Plus you get to hang out with the women of The Bookening.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here!In this episode our heroes continue to discuss Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. They have good things to say about it. This is a quality episode of The Bookening. You should listen to it, and benefit from it.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here!Apologies, no new episode this week. Our heroes will be back next week with Old Man and the Sea. In the meantime, here is the first episode of our new podcast Sanity at the Movies. It happens to feature Nathan, Jake, and Brandon, so it's pretty much like an extended Bookening ep. Only about a movie. If you already heard it, there's a new ep of that podcast coming out tomorrow, which you subscribe to here, Apple users. (Also available wherever you get your podcasts.)★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here please and thank you! The Bookening is talking about Rochester in Jane Eyre in this episode, and the weird crazy ways the book goes off the rails. Oy vey.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support your local Bookening! In which Brandon provides some much-needed context on Jane Austen's Persuasion. And Jane Austen herself. And we discuss Jane's nephew's memoir of her. It's fun. And educational.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

With the holidays upon us, what are we sad gamers bois to do? Man up and cultivate relationships with all of the friends and family that we're forced into being around! What are some of the intersections of community and gaming? What are some of the pitfalls in the stories that we partake in? Let's fumble through some of these questions and more on episode 12 of the Backlog Breakdown! Some media recommendations to check out this time around are Selfwire's episode on Fathering Yourself, based on the Proverbs, the "Let's Study" series on Galatians and James, and The Bookening podcast's episodes on The Big Sleep. A very special thank you goes to Jason for the new logo artwork! You can contact us at thebacklogbreakdown@gmail.com or The Backlog Book Club on Facebook Catch Nate on PSN at Nate_McKeever or on Twitter, Facebook, and GG and Josh on Twitter, Facebook, and GG. The Opening and Closing theme we used for podcast is: "The Savior of Dream Land" ReMix by Juan Medrano, hosted by OCRemix.

Support us here! Hey! This is a fun little item. Our heroes got to do their first live show as a fundraiser for Charis Classical Academy in Madison, WI, hosted by Red Village Church. (If you're in the area, you ought to check both of 'em out!) And you can listen to it. If YOU want to book The Bookening, get in touch. We are totally down. Here's the description from the ad copy of what our heroes did: THE BOOKENING PRESENTS! Art In Art's Place: Lessons from Shakespeare, Austen, and Tolstoy On How to Stop Being a Pretentious Poser and Start Making a Difference. Christians love to talk about redeeming the culture through art. The Bookening Live Show is here to tell you that's a lot of hooey, Jack. Probably you're not changing much of anything through art. At least nothing super big and theoretical. But if you put art in its proper place, you might be able be a little helpful to some people. You might even end up changing the culture by accident. Need some proof? Come hear what William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Leo Tolstoy each have to teach us.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes don't have a good track record with movies. In fact, they've never liked one in a completely unqualified manner. But now they're watching a stone cold classic, Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep. Will this break the Bookening movie curse???????????????? 00:01 Nathan forgets to introduce us 03:53 We watched The Big Sleep! 05:11 Nathan gives some context 10:00 Nathan continues to rant 15:26 Dead bug on Brandon's shoulder 16:00 Sexiness of Bogart 18:30 American manliness 22:00 Old movieness 26:12 Where was the grit? 28:28 Just add sex 30:18 Why does grit help the morals? 36:30 Movie Vivian vs. Book Vivian 37:49 Don't get excited about Faulkner 40:13 Coveted LSOA 42:47 Donor shout-outs! 46:15 Nathan introduces us! 48:00 The show continues for some reason★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Finally! Our heroes are discussing The Odyssey! Sing to me, O Contextual Texan! 00:29 Nathan does none of his normal schtick + AVENGERS SPOILERS 05:25 Donor Shout-outs 10:04 Contextual Texan begins 12:05 An intro to Homer 18:00 He never existed? 22:48 Who did folks used to say Homer was? 25:00 Greece 29:00 Higher criticism 36:10 Homeric question 44:00 We continue to debate who wrote the darn thing ... 50:14 Epic 52:35 Translation★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes very much liked this book, and in this episode they talk about it, contrasting it with some of the other, lesser children's books they've read. 00:00 The show begins 03:43 Jake's baggage 05:03 Brandon's baggage 10:20 Bookening baggage 13:45 Nathan's baggage 14:45 Fundamentals!!!! 20:37 What makes this book so great? 24:33 Irony done well 30:29 Nathan closes the loop 33:06 Representative details 38:00 Sentiment free 39:57 Great literary spiders and existentialism 46:30 Donor Shout-outs!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Click here to make sure Jake and Brandon's kids don't starve! THIS WILL NOT, WE REPEAT, THIS WILL NOT BE A REPEAT OF WRINKLE IN TIME, EVEN THOUGH IT SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT BE EARLY ON. SOME OF US MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ACTUALLY LIKED THIS BOOK. Our heroes discuss Ready Player One, a book that may or may not end up being the impetus for one of the bigger disagreements in Bookening history. They also discuss sci-fi in general, and indulge in some gnarly 80s nostalgia. Suffice to say, some of our heroes liked it and some did not. As a matter of fact, next week we're putting the book on trial, with a judge and prosecutor and everything. You may even hear a raised voice or two. In the meantime, here are the things that happen in this episode: 00:00 Bit-music theme song thing 00:59 Our Heroes Love the 80s 04:03 80s Donor Shout-Out 07:38 Jake summarizes the book 09:28 Context! 09:42 Ernest Cline's life 14:22 Poetry Slams 15:29 Awkward self-conscious idiots who think they're big men because somebody told thme about Nietzsche and Schopenhauer one time 17:59 We're not going to beat up on this book (Well not all of us) 21:07 Fanboys 22:31 Bidding Wars 23:36 The Brilliant Idea for Ready Player One 24:20 Science fiction 25:22 The coining of the term sci-fi 26:45 Vantage points 28:41 Different schools of sci-fi 30:58 Today 33:34 Science is magic stripped of the supernatural 37:18 Fan fiction 38:26 Experiment in Criticism 43:34 Down with Marxism! 44:19 Baggage check! Music: "The Pirate And The Dancer" by Rolemusic is licensed under an Attribution License.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Sign up to support our podcast here!Happy Valentine's Day, Bookeners!Fanny Price is not a popular heroine. She's weak, passive, and afraid for most of the novel. She achieves her victory through something almost like diffidence. And yet, our heroes at The Bookening unreservedly love her. They think she's kinda great. In today's episode, they attempt to convince you of the same thing. Also we decide if Nathan should marry a LIzzie or a Fanny, with copious love advice from Dr Mentzel.In so doing, the following things occur:02:15 Donor Shout outs!!!!!! 05:20 Nathan spits some awesome bars 06:56 Baggage check!! 12:31 The Price is wrong?????? 13:54 The Price is right!!!!!! 14:19 Fanny is damaged, yo 19:06 Shades of early Dickens 21:11 Fanny's faults 22:40 The play! 24:06 The clergy! 27:21 Feminine virtue =/= shutting up all the time 29:55 Feminine virtue = gentle and quite spirit 33:11 Fanny is awesome! 34:26 Edmund 35:30 Don't trifle with women's hearts! 38:30 Stockholm syndrome! 43:15 Love advice with Dr Mentzel★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us on Patreon! Our heroes are looking back on all the books they read in 2017 and awarding the coveted Bookening awards of excellence in such categories as: Coolest male character Coolest female charcter Worst female villain Worst male villain Most evocative image. ... And more!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes are joined by old pal Dani McNeilly to have some fun and give their thoughts on the Kenneth Branagh movie of Murder on the Orient Express. The actual film discussion starts around the 19:00 mark, but our heroes discuss lots of VERY important things before that, and give an actual up-to-date list of donor shout-outs. If you want to check out the world's only competing Christian podcast on literature, do so here. If you want to support a fine gentleman and manful poet, do so here. If you want to support the McNeilly's ministry, do so here. And finally, if you want to support The Bookening do so here.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode our heroes have an extended discussion of Ray Bradbury's style in Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's archaic, it's overwrought, it's hyperbolic ... AND THEY LOVE IT! (See what we did there?????) That part begins at 17:53, Time-Code Fans! Before that, our heroes discuss their (in Nathan's case, copious) Bradbury baggage, beginning at 6:00. Before that, there are various shenanigans, screaming, a children's poem about mauling people, etc., you know how this show works.Click here to support The Bookening.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Sometimes a man sets out to write a good episode description for an episode of The Bookening about My Antonia and he just doesn't have it in him. Not that it's a bad episode or a bad book, mind you. But sometimes even the best podcast episodes about the best books don't really inspire one to write a good podcast blurb. Life is weird like that. Deal with it.Click here to support the ongoing mission of awesomeness that is The Bookening.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Having apologized profusely for some recent meanderings last episode, our heroes engage in no such hogwash/balderdash/poppycock this go around. At no point do they discuss Nathan's recent endoscopy, or awesome roller-coasters, or anything like that. Nor do they spend a bunch of time trying to figure out if it's AnTONia or ANtoNEEa or what have you. It's just straight-ahead collegiate-level book discussion all the way. Mrs. Mentzel and Mrs. Chasteen will be ever so proud. And some hot single chick will probably listen to this fall in love with Nathan (which, hot single chicks, if you're reading this, let's face it, Nathan is not a hard guy to get a hold of).In any case, there is plenty to ponder about the great Willa Cather's My Antonia. Our heroes discuss whether Cather was a lesbian and how much that matters, how a sense of place informs one's reading of a book, whether Jim was a weirdo for obsessing about Antonia all those years, and more!Click here to support the ongoing mission of awesomeness that is The Bookening.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

First up, Nathan and Jake have some thoughts on last week's episode they wish to share. Then we're taking the week off, so sorry about that! We did include a bonus episode from another fine Wahorn podcast for you to enjoy, if you haven't already heard it. Our heroes thank you for the breather!Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

_"[O]ne touch is added which makes the play colossal. Theseus and his train retire with a crashing finale, full of humour and wisdom and things set right, and silence falls on the house. Then there comes a faint sound of little feet, and for a moment, as it were, the elves look into the house, asking which is the reality. “Suppose we are the realities and they the shadows.” If that ending were acted properly any modern man would feel shaken to his marrow if he had to walk home from the theatre through a country lane." --_GK Chesterton on _A Midsummer Night's Dream. _A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is a surprisingly difficult play to talk about. What do you say about a weird supernatural relationship comedy set in a Greece that feels more like the English countryside? Are there deeper themes to dredge up or is it just supposed be fun? What were you thinking, William Shakespeare? Are our heroes up to the task of talking about it? Will Nathan work in extended references to Gilligan's Island? The answers await you, Dear Listener!Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This is technically part 1 of our series on Midsummer Night's Dream, but it also serves as a good primer on all things William Shakespeare, as Brandon leads our heroes through the tangle of what we know about the Bard, what we don't, and how we should feel about it. Plus, our heroes discuss life in Elizabethan times, and Jake goes mano a mano with some philosopher named Aristotle on the origin of comedy. Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 When a damsel in distress feels oppressed by a not-completely-crazy-and-almost-kinda-reasonable article on why Christians shouldn't read fiction, our heroes jump to her rescue!  Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Murder on the Orient Express! Our heroes ponder whether it is ever acceptable to take the law into your own hands, answer questions from Schmoop, and solve their very own murder mystery. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END WILL SHOCK YOU! Featuring MVP guest star, Dani McNeilly.Give a trillion dollars to the McNeilly's campus ministry to Indiana University. Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! Music Credit: Undertale Remix - Megalovania (Chime Electro / Dubstep Remix) - GameChops Spotlight (Used by Creative Commons Attribution license)★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Agatha Christie --  expert plot mechanic or good storyteller? Our heroes attempt to solve this mystery with a little help from their pal Dani McNeilly. Nathan is dubious about "good storyteller", until Dani points out some things which (it's easy to take for granted, but) Christie does really well. See if Dani will let you follow her on Instagram, then go and give a trillion dollars to the McNeilly's campus ministry to Indiana University. Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes invite a woman on the podcast and chaos ensues. Also they discuss Dame Agatha Christie and _Murder on the Orient Express. _Co-starring the wonderful Dani McNeilly.Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!Here's something different for those of you who like different things. Our heroes conclude their discussion of _Heart of Darkness _by interviewing their good friend Pastor Lucas Weeks, who actually grew up in the Congo. He's played with monkeys, seen terrifying native tribal dances, and been escorted from his home by US Marines while machine gun fire echoed in the distance. So arguably he can bring more perspective to _Heart of Darkness _than even the Mysterious Phantom did. Next week Dame Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!Let's face it. Nathan, Brandon, and Jake are probably the three bravest men ever to have walked the face of the earth. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that in this episode, our heroes delve fearlessly into the murky depths of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, asking tough questions like "was Marlowe wrong to lie to that lady at the end?" and "Is Joseph Conrad a 'bloody racist?'"It's also entirely possible that a very special guest shows up near the end of the episode, someone who has some very particular bones to pick with our heroes. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WILL SHOCK YOU!!!!!!!!!Next week more Joseph Conrad's_Heart of Darkness. _Coming thereafter Dame Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!This week Nathan, Jake, and Brandon begin their journey into ... THE HEART OF DARKNESS! (Nolanesque musical sting). Our heroes discuss Joseph Conrad's journey from Polish orphan to French sailor to English novelist, why King Leopold of Belgium was a real jerk, and whether Jake's shoes glow in the dark. Next week more Joseph Conrad's_Heart of Darkness. _And soon thereafter Dame Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!Kids certainly do say the darndest things, and given that 3 of our heros' kids had read N.D. Wilson's _Boys of Blur (_and what's more, loved _Boys of Blur), _we figured they'd have the darndest things to say about it. Spoiler: we weren't wrong.Special thanks to Elissa, Eliot, and Peter for a fun and fascinating ep! Tell all your friends and family to support us A.S.A.P, so they'll get their Skittles bribe.Yes, next week we're finally getting to Joseph Conrad's_Heart of Darkness. _★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!In today's episode, our heroes (sadly sans Brandon) continue their discussion from the Newbery ep about why reading is not some kind of big inherent virtue like so many educators and pundits make it out to be. As our heroes point out: Reading, like any discipline, requires actual work. Sometimes mundane work. It is not (merely) a glorious series of transcendent moments and discoveries, like, y'know _Reading Rainbow _kinda makes you think. Reading (or any art) is not the ultimate point of the well-lived god-honoring life. If you're one of those Christians who thinks he's going to redeem the culture through it engaging it with the arts, you're pretty dumb. CORRECTION: Nathan very well may be wrong at the end of the episode when he says that next week we start Joseph Conrad's_Heart of Darkness. _If all goes according  to plan, next week we hope to have a Very Special Episode to finish out our discussion of children's literature. After that, Conrad, baby!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

_Mr. Popper's Penguins. _Call It Courage.Maniac Mcgee._The Bridge to Taribithia. _Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.What do these books have in common you ask? They're Newbery Medal winners of course, and in this episode our heroes use Newbery as a springboard into a discussion of the invention of kids lit and young adult fiction, and whether kids should be taught to read what they enjoy ... or enjoy what they read.One thing is for sure. Everyone hates _Johnny Tremain. _Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!Next week we begin Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness._ _Music Credit: "Loping Sting" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If you love The Bookening, we really do need your help. Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!Here's a pretty pickle. Our heroes like N.D. Wilson and what he's doing in Boys of Blur. On the other hand, they did have some difficulties with the book that made for some interesting discussions about literature, writing, story, etc. Which, it turns out, is one of the primary functions of their podcast. Never ones to shirk their duty, our heroes solider on, discussing the weaknesses of a book they would 100% recommend for boys in the target demographic.Hey, we talked about Steinbeck's weaknesses, too.Click here to buy the book.Next week, we'll be discussing the Newbery Awards and kids lit in general_. _After that, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If you love The Bookening, we really do need your help. Please click here to support The Bookening for a very low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!In episode 40, our heroes talk about N.D. Wilson's young adult horror/fantasy/action novel _Boys of Blur. _For such a slim volume, this book packs a lot in, and our heroes find themselves with plenty to discuss, including small towns, football rivalries, race relations, C.S. Lewis-wannabees, useless clichés, useful tropes, extravagant character names that are good, and one character name that they weren't such a huge fan of. By the way, here's some footage from the event that Jake mentions involving Nate's dad Doug.Click here to buy the book.Next week, more _Boys of Blur. _After that, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 'My father's relationships were always between equals, however old or young, distinguished or undistinguished the other person. Once, when I was quite little, he came up to the nursery while I was having my lunch. And while he was talking I paused between mouthfuls, resting my hands on the table, knife and fork pointing upwards. "You oughtn't really to sit like that," he said, gently. "Why not?" I asked, surprised. "Well..." He hunted around for a reason he could give. Because it's considered bad manners? Because you mustn't? Because... "Well," he said, looking in the direction my fork was pointing, "Suppose somebody suddenly fell through the ceiling. They might land on your fork and that would be very painful."'-Christopher (Robin) Milne on his fatherIt's another episode of _The Bookening _and this time our heroes are discussing _Winnie the Pooh _and _The House of Pooh Corner. _This proves to be a more delicate task than expected, as our heroes realize that while there are many things to admire and love about A. A. Milne and his creations, there are things to be wary of, too.There's something weird about these stories. Something sort of off. They're not quite children's stories. And the cumulative effect is a little different than just some silly stories a humble father made up for his kid. Plus, there's the matter of Milne's own history, and his relationship with his son Christopher, which wasn't half as magical as the stories make it out to be.Will our heroes get to the bottom of this Heffalump pit? Or will this journey into the 100-acre woods prove to be their undoing????????????????Click here to become a supporter (pretty please). Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next time _Boys of Blur _by ND Wilson! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Per Wikiepdia, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is "commonly thought to explore the themes of hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion, and the agrarian connection to land in contrast to the lifestyles of the city." Thanks for the help, Boys! (Their citation for that assertion is gradesaver.com—maybe we should just do our research there).Anyhow, _Anna Karenina _is indisputably one of the great novels, but a lot of people bash their heads against it. It's long, it's about adultery on the one hand, and prosaic family life on the other, and it has many, many digressions into Russian land politics of the 1860s. It's problematic for feminists because its heroine tries to live a progressive dream life, and it doesn't quite work out. It's problematic for Christians because its heroine tries to live a progressive dream life, and for a while it's kinda dreamy, even if it doesn't quite work out. Fortunately, our heroes are on hand to sort it all out for you in this Russian-novel-length single shot of pure Bookening goodness. Nathan proves that he should never attempt a Russian accent, Jake remembers college ministry students who could have learned a thing or two from Kitty, Brandon ponders whether every happy family is alike or unalike or somewhere inbetween, and if you listen closely you can probably hear some birds fly into the window of the house where our heroes find themselves recording. We'll get back to our regular schedule of 2-3ish (maybe 4 sometimes if we can swing it) episodes a month starting in February. Happy New Year!Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Coming next month, _Emma _by Our Lady Jane. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

2016 was a pretty great year here at The Bookening. We haven't been paying a ton of attention to what's going on in the outside world, but we assume everyone else loved 2016 just as much as we did.In any case here's our final episode of the year. Our heroes look back upon (and do some earnest bickering about) all the books they read this year. They also look ahead to the books they'll be reading in 2017. Below is the complete list, and Happy New Year!January—_Anna Karenina _by Leo Tolstoy February—Emma by Jane AustenMarch—That Hideous Strength by C.S. LewisApril—As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner May—Winne the Pooh by A. A. MilneJune—_Heart of Darknes_s by Joseph ConradJuly—Labyrinths by Jorge Luis BorgesAugust—A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Immortal BardSeptember—My Antonia by Willa Cather October—Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray BradburyNovember—Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser December—The Dubliners by James Joyce ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It's A Christmas Carol. Yay!_ _Merry Christmas from The Bookening!Today our heroes discuss that odious old sinner, Ebeneezer Scrooge—and the sinner who created him, Mr. Charles Dickens. Unlike the socially conscious entertainers of today (say, George Clooney), Mr. Dickens knew how to make his points so charmingly that you sort of want to go along with him—even when he's hammering you over the head with them. Or do you?Will Jacob Mentzel be more like Jacob Marley, and say "humbug" to this humble tale? Will Nathan obsess over the spooks and phantoms, or find a little Christmas cheer? Will Brandon join with his younger self in loving Dickens or give in to the more critical appraisals of modern scholarship?You'll have to listen to find out. Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Coming next month, Leo Tolstoy's kinda mind-blowing Anna Karenina.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Without fear of contradiction, the most gripping, exciting, amazing, spine-creeping THING ever to reach the screen! "DRACULA" has held two generations in fascination and terror! Its daring will ASTOUND you! Its SUSPENSE will chain you to your seat! You'll never forget DRACULA!—from a one-sheet for Universal Pictures _Dracula _movie of 1931It's October, Nathan's favorite month of the year! And as good as excuse as any to make his friends read one of the hallmarks of weird fiction, Bram Stoker's _Dracula. _But first, Nathan and Brandon team up to offer some flesh-crawling context for this creepy-crawly chronicle of cruel carnality! Brandon tells us all about 19th century invasion literature, and Freudian theories of sex and the subconscious_ _(which are kinda unavoidable for this particular work). Nathan gives us a quick overview of vampire tales from Assyrian pottery shards to Bela Lugosi. Then Jake does some pastoral pondering about just why the heck people like vampires stories anyway.Somehow our heroes get from there to Jake's theory that that hack Professor Tolkien stole the entire plot for _Lord of the Rings _from Bram Stoker. At least Bram didn't have any deus eagles machina. But that's getting away from our larger point, which is that you should listen to this episode of The Bookening.Trivia: by complete happenstance, our heroes ended up recording this episode at around midnight in a building that was completely dark and deserted besides the room where they were recording. In Part 2 (coming next week) you'll hear something happen which may or may not sound all that creepy, but actually was pretty creepy in the moment.Next month, we'll be reading a novel with (we're just guessing here) 100% less horrible demonic bloodsucking Transylvanian monsters: _Gilead _by Marilyn Robinson.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

I think “Macbeth” the one supreme drama because it is the one Christian drama; and I will accept the accusation of prejudice. But I mean by Christian (in this matter) the strong sense of spiritual liberty and of sin; the idea that the best man can be as bad as he chooses. You may call Othello a victim of chance. You may call Hamlet a victim of temperament. You cannot call Macbeth anything but a victim of Macbeth. The evil spirits tempt him, but they never force him; they never even frighten him, for he is a very brave man.-G.K. ChestertonSo we'll get to Macbeth in a second, but first ... apparently Hillary Clinton is a Shakespeare truther. There's this article in the New York Times Sunday Book Review, and if you read it you'll see that she, like, went out of her way to bring up the subject. Nobody asked her what she thought about Shakespeare. They just asked her what literary figure she'd like to have dinner with, and she decided to be cute and say "Shakespeare" because she'd like to see who really showed up. So yeah. If you needed another reason to believe that William Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare, there's that.Anyway, this is another episode of The Bookening. In fact it's part 2 of our series about Macbeth. You'll hear lots of discussion about our friends the Macbeths, and what we think makes them tick. Our heroes also argue that the witches are just that—witches.Next month we turn to the Prince of Darkness Himself: Dracula.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Yes, sir, this is an episode of The Bookening about _Macbeth. _In it our heroes discuss _Macbeth. _You should listen to it. It's good. You'll learn lots about Macbeth. Which is a surprisingly thorny play to discuss. After all, just what is so great about a play re: some thug and his castrating shrew of a wife murdering a bunch of people and then feeling bad about it and making a bunch of speeches? ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In today's episode of The Bookening, we discuss how poems differ from novels, the character of Beowulf as a dudely dude, and the appropriate time to brag about how many sea monsters you've killed. Then Brandon and Jake go to war in an epic kenning-guessing context. It's intense.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In 1941, the Pulitzer Board convened to decide what work they were going to honor with their prestigious prize for fiction—and it didn't take long for the entire group to come to an enthusiastic decision for Ernest Hemingway's bestseller _For Whom The Bell Tolls. _But by the time the meeting came to its bitter end, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction was going to … nobody. What happened?Apparently, Nicholas Murray Butler happened. He was the President of Columbia University (which administers the Pulitzer) and he was NOT okay with the prize going to an “offensive and lascivious book” like FWTBT. How dare the committee even think about sullying the University's name by associating it with Hemingway's book?It ended in deadlock and defeat, no Pulitzer for any writer of fiction that year, and none for Papa Hemingway until _The Old Man and the Sea _in 1953.The real question this raises is whether there is a Pulitzer Prize for Podcasting. And if there is, when will our heroes of The Bookening win it? Will it be for this—their brave foray into Ernest Hemingway's _For Whom The Bell Tolls? _Is the book an offensive, lascivious piece of macho garbage? Or a sweeping meditation of death and sacrifice? Just who exactly does the bell toll for, and why don't they answer?Never fear, our heroes are on hand to ponder these very questions in the most macho way possible—Rugged, Red-Blooded Jake Mentzel, Brawny Brandon Chasteen, and Exceedingly Masculine Nathan Alberson.Could this be the manliest episode of The Bookening yet??????????!?!?★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this thrill-a-minute episode of The Bookening, our heroes wipe the East-of-Eden tears from their eyes,_ _and plunge into the murky depths Rudyard Kipling's  The Jungle Book.Initially, they can't think of all that much to say about it, which leads Nathan to introduce a dangerous piece of podcasting contraband into the proceedings. When said device proves to be more dangerous than they could possibly imagine, our heroes must use all their wits to properly comprehend Kipling ... OR BE DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS!Will Nathan, Jake, and Brandon live to read another tale??!??!?!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

“Mr. Steinbeck has written the precise equivalent of those nineteenth century melodramas in which the villains could always be recognized because they waxed their mustaches …” —Anthony West in a _New Yorker _review of East of Eden entitled “California Moonshine.”From it's publication in 1952, John Steinbeck's _East of Eden _has always been more of a popular than a critical favorite. As another great twentieth century author (Raymond Chandler) wrote, “The average critic never recognizes an achievement when it happens. He explains it after it has become respectable.”There are parts of _East of Eden _(the characters of Lee and Cathy, some of Steinbeck's prose styling) that may never be respectable. It's one of those books that's too much of a potboiler for certain members of the (ahem) Critical Intelligentsia, and too much like Literature for certain blockheads who only read potboilers.Not that any of this matters to the heroes of The Bookening.They love it all_ _unabashedly. Read it and you will too.In the final part of their series on John Steinbeck's _East of Eden, _our heroes wax elegant on Adam Trask and his sons, crush on Abra, love on Lee, and try to understand the mystery that is Cathy. Do they succeed in saying everything they have to say about this awesome book? They mayest.Timshel, Bro.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★