Podcasts about tbr

We are talking about The Artist and The Feast by Lucy Steedsin The Reading Lounge. Set just after WWI, a famous artist, the artist's niece, and an aspiring artist and journalist come together in a remote village in the south of France and discover what it means to both unseen and seen and the challenges people face to find their self-expression. Join us in The Reading Lounge to see if you may want to add this novel to your TBR.Our resident mixologist, Sarah, developed a fabulous andapropos cocktail for this read:The Crimson Atelier1 ½ oz vodka1 oz cranberry juice (we used sweetened)½ oz Cointreau (or other orange liqueur)½ oz lime juice2-3 fresh rosemary sprigssplash of ProseccoMuddle a sprig of rosemary in a shaker, add ice, vodka,juices, and Cointreau. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a splash of Prosecco and garnish with rosemary. Other books mentioned in this episode:Attribution by Linda Moore is the book we read previouslythat dealt with women in the art world!Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara DemickThe Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy

FROM TODAY'S RECAP: - The Bible Recap - Day 130 - TBR on YouTube Note: We provide links to specific resources; this is not an endorsement of the entire website, author, organization, etc. Their views may not represent our own. SHOW NOTES: - Follow The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube - Follow Tara-Leigh Cobble: Instagram - Read/listen on the Bible App or Dwell App - Learn more at our Start Page - Become a RECAPtain - Shop the TBR Store PARTNER MINISTRIES: D-Group International Israelux The God Shot TLC Writing & Speaking DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.

FROM TODAY'S RECAP: - Video: Model of Solomon's Temple - Video: A'in Dara Temple in Syria (before/after air strikes) - TBR on YouTube Note: We provide links to specific resources; this is not an endorsement of the entire website, author, organization, etc. Their views may not represent our own. SHOW NOTES: - Follow The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube - Follow Tara-Leigh Cobble: Instagram - Read/listen on the Bible App or Dwell App - Learn more at our Start Page - Become a RECAPtain - Shop the TBR Store PARTNER MINISTRIES: D-Group International Israelux The God Shot TLC Writing & Speaking DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.

This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch and publisher Sarah Sahagian sit down to discuss ongoing news coverage on rabble.ca this summer, the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the war in Iran, Pride Month coverage and more.  Some pieces mentioned in this episode include:  Scott Douglas Jacobsen's on-the-ground reporting in Ukraine  The heroic life of Betty Baxter, athlete and activist by Tom Sandborn  Five Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ books to add to your TBR list  US-Mexico start free trade review talks without Canada by Evan Wexler And celebrating rabble's three summer interns:  Lea Lagredelle Hannah Bolwell Piper Canniff If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and now: subscribe to rabble on Patreon to hear exclusive bonus episodes of rabble radio. 

Le mix de Marlo dans 103 Klubb le 30 Mai 2026 de 19H à 20H Tracklist: MaRLo - The Launch *** T78 - New Horizon *** Roman Messer & Betsie Larkin - Unite (Sergey Salekhov Remix) *** Giuseppe Ottaviani & Gabry Ponte & Crooked Bangs - Astra *** Victor Lobanov & K10 Haze - Missed Call *** Sullivan De Morro - Another Dream *** 2ACES & Josh Le Tissier - Like Home *** Tempo Giusto - Wild Thing *** Alexander Popov & Church Of Molly & Van Snyder - Back To The Old School *** Skytech - Sandstorm (Andrew Rayel pres. EXTASIA Remix) *** Yarpo - Pressure *** B JONES & MIDI Kittyy - Universe *** Oskah - Dirty Romance *** Nifra - I Can See It *** AvAlanche & HEN1 - Papillon *** Maddix & Caroline Roxy - Coming Home *** Marie Vaunt & Deborah De Luca - Lalala *** V3NOM, TBR, ILSE - Overloader *** Sonny Wern X Ezra Hazard feat. Wen-d - Sound Of My Dream

It's hard to believe but we have our THIRD summer book recommendation episode for you! It's a mix of books that we read and LOVE and ones that are on our TBRs. We have fantasy, romance, and everything in between so whether you're looking for a book to binge by the pool or beach, we have a rec for you! Make sure to add Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrel to your summer TBR so you can join us for our June Book Club!!   Currently Reading: Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe Hold Back the River by Ashley Dill Everything's Coming up Rosie by Courtney Walsh Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

I am a creature of habit and often prisoner to my default personality to get things done check things off the list and move onto the next thing. This hustle mentality is as natural as breathing is to me and I have to fight to slow down and smell the roses. I know I am not alone. That's why today's episode invites you to consider reading and writing slooooowly all summer long: less pages read, but more time pondering and fewer pages written, but more time soaking in the insights that appear. This is completely counter to the towering summer TBR and notebook stacks we see on social media, but I say let's topple them down and read them in ways that change us instead of flying through them. It's kind of like that saying: Life isn't about the amount of breaths you take, it's about the number of moments that take your breath away. Reading isn't about the number of books you read, it's about the ways your life changes as a result of reading them. Writing isn't about the number of notebooks you fill, it's about the number of reflections that give you insight into your own life.Today's episode is about giving ourselves permission to read and write slowly this summer. Here's what you'll find once you press play:* Why slow reading and writing are restorative practices.* Permission to finish fewer books and write fewer pages.* What slow writing and writing could look like.* A simple summer reading and writing ritual you can begin today.* A list of summer permissions you may not realize you need.If you've been craving a slower, softer season, this episode is for you!Once you've listened, I'd love to know what slow reading and writing could look like for you and what permissions you're granting yourself this summer. It's time!Let's Work Together!I love to connect with others around our shared love of reading and writing.Here are some ways we can work together to create a life you love where restorative reading and writing is at the center of it all:

CANADA READS INSPIRED 2026 SUMMER READING BINGO CHALLENGE: Rebecca and Tara have filled in the boxes with books they've read or that are on their TBR (the Bingo card and list of titles will be pinned to Rebecca and Tara's Instagram accounts) The Challenge will begin June 5 and run through September 5, 2026 When you complete a bingo line, dm Rebecca (@canadareadsinspired) or Tara (@onabranchreads) on Instagram or email them at  craspod2019@gmail.com with a screenshot or list of titles You may enter more than one Bingo line; one completed line equals one entry If you have already read a book on the card, you can count it towards your bingo At the end of the Challenge, they will draw the name of one winner and that person will receive a $50 gift card from the independent bookstore of their choice. The giveaway is not affiliated with YouTube or Instagram 2026 BINGO TITLES:  Small Ceremonies by Kyle Edwards – Indigenous fiction, 368 pages Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby — short stories, 200 pages The Distance of a Shout by Michael Ondaatje – poetry, 240 pages Nowhere by Jon Claytor – graphic novel, 445 pages Doubles by Nora Gold – novella, 86 pages Lies I Told My Sister by Louise Ells – literary fiction, 268 pages Opposite Sully's Gym by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson – mystery, 320 pages Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin – cozy mystery, 329 pages Lilac People by Milo Todd – LGBT historical fiction, 303 pages The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee — horror, 367 pages Finding Flora by Elinor Florence – historical fiction, 384 pages All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whittaker — crime fiction, 576 pages I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together by Maurice Vellekoop – graphic novel, 496 pages Vanished Beyond the Map by Adam Shoalts – non-fiction, 288 pages Legendary Frybread Drive-In by Indigenous authors – YA short stories, 352 pages Nosy Parker by Lesley Crewe – historical fiction, 264 pages Outsider by Brett Popplewell – non-fiction, 384 pages Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson — memoir, humour, 363 pages Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive – LGBT romance Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey — literary fiction,320 pages Pennies by Lora Senf – middle grade horror, 384 pages Chasing Summer by Frankie Scott – romance, 368 pages Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic – short stories, 240 pages Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo — literary fiction, 498 pages If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

In this episode of Book Talks Podcast, we're sharing everything we read in May and what we're hoping to read in June!We discuss our thoughts on Shield of Sparrows, Golden Son, The Shippers, and the surprise books that completely took over Kayla's reading month. Kayla dives into her newfound obsession with Maggie Gates, why Our Perfect Storm might be her favorite book of the year, and why she's ready to reread some all-time favorite romances. Meanwhile, Marisa shares her honest thoughts on The Nightingale, discusses a disappointing thriller read, and talks about balancing a never-ending TBR.We also chat about:✨ The pregnancy trope debate✨ Why some authors become auto-buy authors✨ June reading goals and anticipated releases✨ Off Campus and Elle Kennedy obsession✨ Morning Star predictions and Red Rising theories✨ Summer reading plans and Kindle Unlimited recommendationsBooks Mentioned:Shield of Sparrows by Devney PerryThe Shippers by E.J. SchultzGolden Son by Pierce BrownDust Storm by Maggie GatesFire Line by Maggie GatesPoker Face by Maggie GatesOur Perfect Storm by Carley FortuneEvery Summer After by Carley FortuneCold World by Alicia ThompsonOn Wings of Blood by Briar BoleynBonds That Burn by Briar BoleynThe Nightingale by Kristin HannahIt's Not Her by Mary KubicaThe Deal by Elle KennedyMorning Star by Pierce BrownBlue Jeans Summer by Maggie GatesFirst and Forever by Eve DangerfieldFever Dream by Elsie SilverFollow us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Fable: @BookTalksPodcast

Tom and Molly recognize the moment of tarps off. Then Tom wants his espresso shaken, not stirred, and Molly reads about Backrooms. Then Tom is nesting with Roost Social, while Molly adds to her TBR.LINKS:BackroomsTBRShaken espresso - aka ShakeratoRoost social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Kate is joined by Amanda Moulson, co-host of Curious Readers, to consider the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Ahead of the prize ceremony next week, which one do we think will win?Perhaps like Amanda you have read them all, but if, like Kate, you're going to struggle to get to all six, which ones should you focus on? Which are the standout reads? Which are the books most likely to delight, surprise, and stay with you long after you've turned the final page? We're covering all six books, and you'll also find out what Amanda has on her TBR, the books she most loves recommending, and how a busy book podcaster organises her bookshelves. Timestamps for the time-poor00:00 Welcome and Prize Preview01:31 Meet Amanda Molson01:44 Quickfire Reading Habits03:18 Bookshelf Organization04:06 Favorite Recs and Current Reads06:20 Kate's Power Broker Detour08:54 Patreon Readalong and Book Club10:12 Women's Prize Context and History15:09 Shortlist Book 1 Flashlight20:51 Shortlist Book 2 Dominion25:23 Shortlist Book 3 The Correspondent26:31 Sybil's Dark Past27:07 Audiobook Clip Letters29:15 Cozy Yet Dark30:22 Famous Author Replies31:14 Sybil Effect Debate32:49 Craft and Book Clubs33:28 The Mercy Step Setup34:40 Mercy Step Clip36:35 Child Narrator Power37:12 Small Press Spotlight38:01 Kingfisher Obsessive Love38:50 Kingfisher Clip Warning40:40 Kingfisher Reactions41:35 Heart the Lover Clip44:07 Two Halves Romance45:36 Illness and Mortality47:33 Marketing and Triggers49:04 Winner Predictions51:23 Wrap Up and Patreon52:25 Kate's Recent Reads and OutroBooks mentionedSorrow and Bliss by Meg MasonMy Family and Other Animals by Gerald DurrellYou With the Sad Eyes by Christina ApplegateOpen Book by Jessica SimpsonA Long Game by Elizabeth McCrackenThe Power Broker by Robert CaroWe Are Green and Trembling Gabriela Cabezón CámaraFeminist History for Every Day of the Year by Kate MosseThe Safekeep by Yael Van Der WoudenBrotherless Night by V.V. GaneshananthanDemon Copperhead by Barbara KingsolverThe Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth OzekiPiranesi by Susanna ClarkeFlashlight by Susan ChoiNothing to Envy by Barbara DemickDominion by Addie E. CitchensThe Correspondent by Virginia EvansThe Mercy Step by Marcia HutchinsonKingfisher by Rozie KellyHeart the Lover by Lily KingWriters & Lovers by Lily KingA Bookshop of One's Own by Jane CholmeleyDykes to Watch Out For by Alison BechdelThe Director by Daniel KehlmanThe Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick HornbyThis is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal MueenuddinYou'll find all the titles we mentioned in our Bookshop.org list. Buying books there helps support independent bookshops, and also supports The Book Club Review.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Brendan Dowd — West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, government consultant, and host of History Nerds United, one of the most respected history book podcasts in the business with over 220 episodes — for a pure, unfiltered book nerd conversation. Both hosts came with a stack of their favorite British history books and took turns sharing their picks, debating the merits, going gloriously off-topic about Darkest Hour, the new Wuthering Heights film, Bridgerton, and Dan Jones's upcoming castles book, and building what amounts to a British history reading list that will keep you busy for years. Between them, Jonathan and Brendan recommend over 20 books spanning Alfred the Great, the Tudors, the Regency, Victorian London, World War II, Thatcher, the Iranian Embassy Siege, and the hidden history of English wolves — plus a peek at what's sitting on each of their TBR piles right now. Links History Nerds United ~History Nerds United Podcast~ ~History Nerds United on YouTube~ ~Brendan's Top Episode: Helen Castor on Joan of Arc~ (update with direct episode link) ⠀Jonathan's Picks ~Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson~ ~The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson~ ~Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts~ ~My Early Life by Winston Churchill~ ~A Very English Scandal by John Preston~ ~London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd~ ~Citizens of London by Lynne Olson~ ~Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera~ ~Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera~ ~The Iron Lady by John Campbell~ ~The Last Wolf by Robert Winder~ ~The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy by David Cannadine~ ~Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh~ ~The Regency Years by Robert Morrison~ ~Churchill's Citadel by Katherine Carter~ ⠀Brendan's Picks ~Alfred the Great by Justin Pollard~ ~The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell~ ~Battle for the Island Kingdom by Don Hollway~ ~Once a King: The Lost Memoir of Edward VIII by Jane Marguerite Tippett~ ~The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge~ ~Henry V by Dan Jones~ ~Thomas More: A Life by Joanne Paul~ ~The Stolen Crown by Tracy Borman~ ~The Crown's Silence by Brooke Newman~ ~The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor~ ~The Invention of Charlotte Brontë by Graham Watson~ ~London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe~ ~The Siege by Ben Macintyre~ ⠀Also Mentioned ~Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe~ ~Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe~ ~Secrets of Great British Castles with Dan Jones on Netflix~ ~Darkest Hour (2017)~ ~Young Winston (1972)~ ⠀Anglotopia ~101 Oxford Travel Tips and Tricks by Jonathan Thomas~ (update with direct product link) ~Anglotopia Guide to the World of Bridgerton~ (update with direct product link) ~Friends of Anglotopia Club~ (update with correct URL) ⠀ Takeaways Both Jonathan and Brendan started their podcasts for exactly the same reason — frustration at the quality of existing coverage in their field — and both were shocked to discover how generous, enthusiastic, and collegial the history author community turned out to be. Brendan's gateway into British history was Alfred the Great by Justin Pollard — a compact, accessible biography of the only English monarch to earn the title "the Great," which he recommends as the perfect gateway drug for readers who think history books are intimidating. Jonathan's most-reread British book is Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island — a definitive outsider's portrait of British culture from the early 1990s that remains beloved by British readers themselves, and the book that most shaped his vision for Anglotopia. Andrew Roberts's one-volume Churchill biography is both Jonathan and Brendan's recommended starting point for anyone wanting a modern, comprehensive, and myth-busting account of Churchill — and Roberts's Napoleon biography is equally essential. Helen Castor is independently named by Brendan as one of his very favorite history writers — her Eagle and the Hart on Richard II and Henry IV, and her Joan of Arc episode of his podcast, are both highlighted as exceptional examples of humanizing complex historical figures without sanitizing them. Both hosts agree that the best history books share a quality: they humanize their subjects — showing the positive and the negative — rather than either condemning or canonizing them. The books they admire most leave the reader to make their own moral judgments. Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera and The Crown's Silence by Brooke Newman both generated significant controversy — particularly in British publications — but both Jonathan and Brendan recommend them as essential, rigorously evidenced correctives to popular myths about the British Empire and the monarchy's role in the slave trade. Ben Macintyre's The Siege — on the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London that made the SAS famous — is Brendan's pick for best recent true British history read, praised for building unbearable tension over hundreds of pages before releasing it all in a single extended final chapter. The new Wuthering Heights film gets a thumbs-down from both hosts — "it looks beautiful but just didn't land" — while Darkest Hour generates a spirited debate about the Underground scene that ends with both agreeing it's historically wrong but emotionally right. Both hosts are currently working through books about the interwar period, Cold War espionage, and upcoming releases from Dan Jones and Thomas Asbridge — and both agree that the single greatest problem with loving history books is that the TBR pile never gets shorter. ⠀ Soundbites "I lost it. I said, there's gotta be a better way. I don't want to continually torture my family with all my rants about books. So I started the blog." — Brendan on the one-star Amazon review that launched History Nerds United. "I sent 10 emails on the first day thinking if I get one back I'll be ecstatic. I got eight back within three days. And I've now sat on a boat with Dan Jones having drinks, overlooking Omaha Beach. Nobody tell me it didn't happen." — Brendan on the unexpected magic of the history community. "I have yet to interview a jerk. Everyone has been unfailingly nice and so excited to be there and just so game to talk about whatever." — Brendan on 220+ episodes of History Nerds United. "My long-term goal is to be like Bill Bryson. I've actually met him. He's a very nice chap. I can only hope to be 10% as good as him one day." — Jonathan on Notes from a Small Island and his writing ambitions. *"If you want to understand why everything is happening in Downton Abbey, read *The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy. I read it as research for a novel I was writing in college and it has never left me." — Jonathan on David Cannadine's masterwork. "Churchill wouldn't have done that. He was not that type of person. But you put Churchill in a period tube carriage, surrounded by Londoners during the Blitz, and it captures the essence of what the story is trying to tell. Was it real? Heck no." — Jonathan and Brendan on the Underground scene in Darkest Hour. "Helen Castor is constantly teaching you, but you feel like you're just having a conversation within the book. At the end of it, you hear Helen get emotional talking about this teenager burned at the stake — how scared she must have been, even with all her faith. She makes her human instead of an icon." — Brendan on his favorite episode of History Nerds United. "The thesis is that because Britain hunted wolves to extinction, it unleashed the economic powerhouse of sheep farming and wool — and as a consequence of that led to so much of what we know as Britain. I read it and I wanted to read it all over again immediately." — Jonathan on The Last Wolf by Robert Winder. "She stayed laser focused on the Elizabethan succession and somehow it's still interesting all the way through. She mentions the Spanish Armada for about three sentences. I said in my review: this book has been written. We don't need any more on this subject." — Brendan on Tracy Borman's The Stolen Crown. "No author has ever made me feel more lazy than Catherine Grace Katz — she wrote *Daughters of Yalta* while she was in law school. If you told me that I would one day be sitting there with Marsha Clark from the OJ Simpson trial, I would have called you a liar. But that's what this world does." — Brendan on the surreal privilege of the history podcast community. ⠀ Chapters 00:00 Introduction — Jonathan sets up the book conversation episode and introduces Brendan Dowd 01:41 How a Tank Platoon Leader Got a 220-Episode History Podcast — Long commutes, bad Amazon reviews, and one unexpected email 05:58 The History Author Community — Why everybody wants you to win, and the generosity of historians 08:10 Dan Jones on a River Cruise — Brendan's honeymoon, Omaha Beach, and a surreal life moment 09:01 What History Nerds United Is — The format, the philosophy, and why Brendan calls himself the laziest podcaster 10:26 BOOK PICKS BEGIN 10:39 Brendan Pick #1: Alfred the Great by Justin Pollard — The George Washington of England and the perfect gateway drug 12:18 Jonathan Pick #1: Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson — The definitive outsider's portrait of British culture and Jonathan's most-reread book 14:28 Brendan Pick #2: The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell — A party animal king, Scottish trauma, and the most uncomfortable compliment Gareth ever received 16:58 Jonathan Pick #2: Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts — The one-volume biography that settles the argument 18:15 Andrew Roberts's Napoleon — A brief but enthusiastic detour to France 18:56 Brendan Pick #3: Battle for the Island Kingdom by Don Hollway — 1000 to 1066, the most disgusting assassination in history, and setting up everything 20:05 Jonathan Pick #3: My Early Life by Winston Churchill — The only autobiography, the Boer War escape, and the Gary Stiles connection 21:50 Darkest Hour Debate — The Underground scene: historically wrong, emotionally right, and why it works anyway 23:18 The Perfect WWII Double Bill — Darkest Hour followed by Dunkirk as a single evening 23:50 Brendan Pick #4: Henry V by Dan Jones — Present tense biography, the greatest medieval king, and writing something when you feel ready for it 25:29 Jonathan Pick #4: A Very English Scandal by John Preston — Jeremy Thorpe, a murder plot, a dead dog, and the British establishment 26:57 John Preston's Robert Maxwell Book — And a certain imprisoned daughter 27:26 Brendan Pick #5: Thomas More: A Life by Joanne Paul — Saints, hair shirts, comedy gold, and debunking 500-year-old myths 29:24 Jonathan Pick #5: London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd — The definitive history of London and the gateway to a great corpus 30:25 Brendan Pick #6: Once a King: The Lost Memoir of Edward VIII by Jane Marguerite Tippett — He wasn't a Nazi, and the documentation proves it 32:03 Jonathan Pick #6: Citizens of London by Lynne Olson — Americans in London during the Blitz and how they helped save Britain 33:24 Brendan Pick #7: The Stolen Crown by Tracy Borman — The Elizabethan succession, new evidence, and calling Henry VIII a few four-letter words 34:56 Tracy Borman on Inside the Tower of London — And Dan Jones's upcoming Castles book 36:03 Jonathan Pick #7: Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera — Deconstructing myths of the British Empire and why the author quit social media 37:32 Brendan Pick #8: The Crown's Silence by Brooke Newman — The monarchy's direct financial involvement in the slave trade and British publications' predictable response 39:34 Jonathan Pick #8: The Iron Lady by John Campbell — The definitive Thatcher biography and why she's Churchill's true successor 41:45 Brendan Pick #9: The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge — William Marshal, four kings, King John, and a life that reads like a Hollywood script 43:22 Jonathan Pick #9: The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy by David Cannadine — The book that explains Downton Abbey and everything behind it 44:29 Brendan Pick #10: The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor — Richard II, Henry IV, and why taking the crown makes you a marked man 46:48 Jonathan Pick #10: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh — Fiction that illuminates aristocratic decline and the companion read to Cannadine 48:18 Brendan Pick #11: The Invention of Charlotte Brontë by Graham Watson — Jane Eyre as a gateway, the weird genius of the Brontë family, and more autobiography than you realized 50:18 Wuthering Heights Film Discussion — Brendan defers, Jonathan gives a verdict: beautiful but it didn't land 51:43 Jonathan Pick #11: The Last Wolf by Robert Winder — No wolves, lots of sheep, and the surprising hidden springs of Englishness 53:10 Brendan Pick #12: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe — A body off a balcony opposite MI5, true crime that leaves you profoundly uneasy 54:54 Jonathan buys London Falling at Barnes & Noble — And finds it in the fiction section 55:24 Jonathan Pick #12: The Regency Years by Robert Morrison — What Bridgerton gets wrong, what Jane Austen's world actually was, and the Anglotopia Bridgerton guide 56:23 Bridgerton vs. The Patriot — Two hosts agree: know your genre, leave accuracy at the door 58:15 Brendan Pick #13: The Siege by Ben Macintyre — The Iranian Embassy siege, the SAS, and a final chapter that takes an hour to read 1:00:06 Jonathan Pick #13: Churchill's Citadel by Katherine Carter — Chartwell as weapon, the wilderness years, and the best first book Jonathan has read in years 1:01:31 What's on the TBR Right Now — Ike and Winston, Three Weeks in July, A Shellshocked Nation, the Nord Stream conspiracy, Dan Jones's Castles, and more 1:07:37 The Book Neither Host Can Find Anyone to Write — Brendan's gap in the market involving Joan of Arc's most disturbing companion 1:10:24 The Book Jonathan Should Write — Brendan makes his pitch; Jonathan firmly declines 1:11:06 Jonathan's Gap in the Market — Churchill's second term as Prime Minister: underexplored, fascinating, partially covered by The Crown 1:12:29 John Lithgow as Churchill — Too tall, earned it on The Crown, also very scary in Dexter 1:12:36 Brendan's Proudest Episode — Helen Castor on Joan of Arc, two hours that felt like twenty minutes 1:16:52 Wrap-Up — Where to find History Nerds United, the full book list in the show notes, and promises of a return visit Video Version

This week on From the Front Porch, it's a New Release Rundown! Annie, Erin, and Olivia share the June (and some July) releases they're excited about to help you build your TBR. When you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order! To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search episode 584), or download and shop on The Bookshelf's official app: Annie's books Whistler by Ann Patchett Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer (June 9th, 2026) The Fervent Whites by De'Shawn Carles Winslow (June 9th, 2026) JULY PICK: The Half Life by Rachel Beanland (July 14th, 2026) Olivia's books The Children by Melissa Albert The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Voyagers by Meg Charlton (June 16th, 2026) JULY PICK: The Mortons by Justine Larbalestier & Scott Westerfeld (July 21st, 2026) Erin's books Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore (June 2nd, 2026) Heather by Caitlin Mullen (June 9th, 2026) The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson (June 30th, 2026) JULY PICK: Not with a Bang by Temi Oh (July 14th, 2026) From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram and Facebook, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  This week, Annie is listening to Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune. Olivia is reading The Final Chapter by C.B. Everett. Erin is listening to Heather by Caitlin Mullen. If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

What should you read this Pride Month?  In this Pride Month episode of Book Lounge by Libby, Joe is joined by Jananie K. Velu to share book recommendations that celebrate queer stories, queer joy, and the many ways LGBTQIA+ people find connection, community, and hope.  As they discuss the books they're recommending this June, the conversation expands beyond reading lists to explore what it means to live Pride every day of the year. Together, Joe and Jananie reflect on the importance of making space for joy, remembrance, rest, and reflection, and how books can help us better understand ourselves and each other.  Whether you're looking to discover new LGBTQIA+ authors, add more queer stories to your TBR, or simply find your next great read, this episode offers thoughtful recommendations and meaningful conversation about the power of reading during Pride Month and beyond.  From stories that celebrate queer futures to books that honor the past, this is a conversation about reading, identity, community, and the many ways Pride can live on long after June ends.  Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Link to our full book list: Find all the books mentioned in Season 3 on Libby Life!  Here's a recap of our Monthly Book Picks (Jan-May 2026) and June – October 2026!  Book recommendations:  Jananie's Picks:  Comedic Timing – Upasna Barath  Tall Water – SJ Sindu  Meeting Millie – Clare Ashton  Honey Girl – Morgan Roges  Perfume and Pain – Anna Dorn  Fundamentally – Nussaibah Younis  Big Swiss – Jen Beagin  Local Heavens – K. M. Fajardo  Devil of the Deep – Falencia Jean Francois  House of Hunger - Alexis Henderson  Joe's Picks:  Stag Dance & Detransition Baby – Torrey Peters  Tell Me I'm Worthless – Alison Rumfitt  Northranger – Rey Terciero  Jackson Alone – Jose Ando  Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous – Autumn K. England  We Burned So Bright – TJ Klune  Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen  You Weren't Meant to Be Human – Andrew Joseph White  Who's in this episode:   Jananie K. Velu – Links   Glad Day Lit, Toronto - website  Time stamps: 00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro 00:00:54 Welcome to Jananie K. Velu 00:01:26 What are your pride practices?  00:07:50 Our Pride Reading Recommendations 01:00:10 Thanks to Jananie and Outro!  Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're looking for a sweeping, epic, and dramatic love story to kick off your summer reading, look no further than Into the Blue. This novel checks every box, and I absolutely loved it. I was thrilled to welcome Emma Brodie to the podcast to celebrate not only the book's release, but also its selection as Reese's Book Club and a Book of the Month pick for May.As fellow New Englanders, Emma and I had plenty to discuss, especially since the region is woven so beautifully into the story. We talked about her path to publication, the challenges and joys of writing a sophomore novel, how Vanderpump Rules and the infamous Scandoval saga unexpectedly influenced the book's development, our mutual love for Julia Spiro, and what it's been like publishing under Jenna Bush Hager's imprint.Trust me when I say this: Into the Blue belongs on your summer TBR. It's the kind of unforgettable love story that will stay with you long after the final page—and you'll thank me later.

David Sons hosts with TBR leadership team members Jared Cornutt, Rob Collingsworth, and Griffin Gulledge for a conversation about what to expect and how to approach the 2026 SBC. The Baptist Review exists for Southern Baptists to engage in good faith discussion about the issues, current events, and questions that matter in our Convention. To follow the conversation, read The Baptist Review online at www.thebaptistreview.com ----more---- Make plans to join us at our 2026 Presidential Forum in Orlando. Tickets are free. Register here. ----more---- Thanks to our sponsors at SEBTS! Our friends at Southeastern Seminary believe scholarship is for the local church. They offer a wide range of advanced degrees with robust biblical and theological training from a Great Commission perspective. Study under premiere Baptist scholars. Refine your leadership. And acquire advanced research skills that will equip you for a lifetime of faithful ministry as you teach others and make disciples of Jesus Christ.  Learn more about how you can be equipped to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission by visiting sebts.edu/advanced ----more---- Follow us on X Follow us on Facebook  

I LOVE IRISH LITERATURE. And like so many of you, I love the work of Maggie O'Farrell – so when I heard her new book was very Irish (set in the aftermath of The Great Hunger in the late 19th century) I wondered if she'd be willing to come on the pod to do one of our favorite things here on Culture Study: offer very specific book recommendations. Stay tuned for a delightful conversation that will add a solid half dozen books to your TBR list. Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode: Go to  https://zbiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase! Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you're in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/ Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. Show Notes: You can buy Maggie O'Farrell's new book Land here: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780593320648 Links for the 30+ books we recommend are available for paid subscribers.   We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about: THE NEXUS OF LLMS/A.I. AND CREATIVITY: A.I. Boosters argues that LLMS can free us for more creative endeavors — or "facilitate" our creative work. THOUGHTS???? (This one's with the brilliant Vauhini Vara, whose work grapples with these questions in a way I've never seen before). Hopefully this week's piece on how A.I. keeps wasting my G-D time will spark some questions on your end. WOMEN'S FITNESS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. As our co-host Zoe Rom puts it: "Women are told they need to do fasting, creatine, lifting, fueling, and recovery differently than men. Sometimes the science backs it. More often the "different" is a marketing mechanism: invent a gendered problem, sell a gendered protocol, collect the markup." What's going on here? Where have you seen it, what pisses you off about it... take this wherever you'd like. HOW HAVING A FAMILY BECAME SO DAUNTING (and DIFFICULT). Anna Louie Sussman is coming on the pod to talk about her incredible new book on the feeling of "impossibility" when it comes to contemporary family. We can talk about fertility, cost, equal partnership, affordability, safety, climate grief, so many things. Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything — it's literally the name of the segment. Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.If you've been sleeping on sports romance, this episode is your wake-up call. Tennis romance is officially having its moment in publishing — and the author who was writing it a decade before anyone else is finally getting her flowers.In this episode, Laura chats with Jennifer Iacopelli, author of Game Set Match and its sequel Wild Card — new adult tennis romances newly re-released through Little Brown's Requited imprint after Jennifer's YA novel Finding Her Edge was adapted into a Netflix series. They dig into Jennifer's 15-year publishing journey, the ensemble cast storytelling structure of the Game Set Match series, the road from canceled Olympics to Netflix, and why tennis provides the perfect natural force-proximity setup for romance. Plus, Jennifer shares her top sports romance recs (including a few you can grab right now) and a YA F1 romance that's coming in 2027 that you'll want to add to your TBR immediately.Perfect for fans of Challengers, sports romance, and anyone who loves a resilience arc — in fiction and in real life.

On this episode of Buzzing about Romance, Becky is joined by Heather, Jenni, and Lindsey to help you plan out your summer TBR along with the Book and Buzzy Summer Reading challenge.

This week, Sarah and Cyrus take a look at back at their lofty goals for 2026 and see how far along they're getting in their TBR piles - as expected, it quickly devolves into a competition, as these things often to. Come and hang out with us as we go over the books our intrepid readers have loved and hated so far this year, with a sidebar into abusing the cat and contemplating whether or not it's time to use the Desk Gun. Support the show

June is STACKED with incredible new releases, and this month's Book Picks episode is here to help you build your summer TBR. Joe is joined by Kieran, founder of the Queer Liberation Library, to talk about the most exciting June 2026 book releases across genres — from buzzy literary fiction and swoony romances to twisty thrillers, queer stories, fantasy adventures, and everything in between.  Along the way, Kieran also shares more about the mission behind the Queer Liberation Library, a digital library working to increase access to LGBTQIA+ books for readers across the United States. If you're looking for more queer stories to add to your reading life, it's an incredible resource worth exploring.  Whether you're planning beach reads, book club picks, or simply trying to stay ahead of the biggest releases of the month, this episode is packed with recommendations to keep your TBR thriving all summer long.  Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Who's in this episode:   Check out the Queer Liberation Library (website)! You can show your support with a donation here (donation link) or just by supporting them on social media (Instagram).  Link to our full book list: Find all the books mentioned in Season 3 on Libby Life!  Here's a recap of our Monthly Book Picks (Jan-May 2026)!  Book recommendations:  Kieran's Picks:   Honorable Mention: The Fake Divination Offense – Sara Raasch  Puck – Samantha Allen  25 Days in Athens – Jack Strange  Supergay! - Frankie Grande  Double Dutch Fuss – Phill Branch  Red X – David Demchuk   Tillinghast – Clare Cavenagh  Grief Eater – Emma Osborne    Joe's Picks:   Slasher Summer – E.L. Chen  Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel – Kiersten White, Illustrated by Veronica & Andy Fish  The Disaster Gay Detective Agency – Lev AC Rosen  The Disco at the End of the World – Nathan Tavares  We Hexed the Moon – Mollyhall Seeley  Girl's Girl – Sonia Feldman  Valley of the Moms – Hannah Selinger  Marion – Leah Rowan  I am not a Vampire (Anymore) - Darcy Miller  Time stamps: 00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro 00:01:03 Welcome Kieran and the Queer Liberation Library 00:01:27 What is the Queer Liberation Library (QLL)?  00:03:24 Supporting QLL and the Pride month donation drive 00:04:44 June 2026 Book Picks 00:58:48 Thanks to Kieran and Outro   Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking for a deep dive into current affairs, a captivating memoir or an opportunity to get lost in a novel? We've got you covered. Booksellers Jan Weismiller, Tim Budd and Linzi Murray share the best new fiction and nonfiction books to add to your TBR this summer.

My OG OG, Kristy Woodson Harvey, is back! And when I say we go way back, I mean over a decade ago when I first received her debut novel and welcomed her onto my blog. She has been a favorite ever since and truly is one of the absolute best.We celebrated her latest novel, Summer State of Mind, and trust me, the title says it all. Once you dive in, you can practically feel the summer breeze coming off the pages. People calls her books “elevated beach reads,” and I could not agree more. Kristy has such a gift for pulling readers into stories that are equal parts escapist and heartfelt.This latest delivers everything readers love about her work: a strong leading lady, characters you genuinely want to spend time with, rich Southern charm, and emotional depth that lingers long after the final page. It is classic Kristy in every way.We also caught up on all the exciting things happening in her world, from new developments and more Peachtree Bluff conversations to life as an athlete, her latest favorite reads, and so much more.Consider this your sign to add Summer State of Mind to your beach read TBR immediately.

If your TBR is looking a little too well-behaved, consider this your official invitation to cause some chaos.  Joe is joined by Abby from @crimebythebook to dive headfirst into a stack of mystery and thriller recommendations that are twisty, chilling, and completely unputdownable. From locked-room tension and atmospheric horror-leaning suspense to darkly clever whodunits and cult-favorite thrillers, this episode is packed with reads guaranteed to keep you guessing long after “just one more chapter.”  If you're searching for the best mystery books, psychological thrillers, dark academia vibes, or hidden gem crime fiction to add to your reading list, this episode is your next obsession.   Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Link to our full book list: Find all the books mentioned in Season 3 on Libby Life!  Here's a recap of our Monthly Book Picks (Jan-May 2026)!  Book recommendations:  Abby's Picks:   Nightwatching – Tracy Sierra  You Are Fatally Invited  & The Library After Dark  – Ande Pliego  The Treasure Hunters Club – Tom Ryan   The Anniversary – Alex Finlay   Hide & Seek - Søren Sveistrup   The Possession of Alba Díaz - Isabel Cañas    Joe's Picks:   The Mill House Murders – Yukito Ayatsuji  Dead & Breakfast & Summer Coven  - Kat Hillis & Rosiee Thor (Aug. 25)  Murder in the Dressing Room & Missing in Soho – Holly Stars (Jun. 2)  With My Little Eye – Joshilyn Jackson  The Sister Holiday Series (Book 1: Scorched Grace, Book 3: Divine Ruin) - Margot Douaihy  Who's in this episode:   Abby (Crime by the Book) - Links  Time stamps: 00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro 00:00:44 Welcome to Abby from CrimebytheBook! 00:01:06 Getting to know Abby and Crime by the Book 00:11:11 Our Mystery & Mayhem Recommendations 00:51:54 Thanks to Abby and Outro!  Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan MailIn Episode 253 of Book Talk Etc., Tina and Hannah are joined by Phoebe Wright from @readandwright on bookstagram, and bookseller at Alice, Ever After in Buffalo, New York. We talk all things romance, pop culture, and of course, books! We hope you enjoy our lively, casual conversation and that your TBR stack grows taller for your summer reading.If you enjoy this commercial-free podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon! Your membership includes access to bonus episodes like What's in the Mailbag, Bookstore Browse: The Handsell, and Book Talk After Dark, invites to monthly community events like Mood Reader Happy Hour, and entry into our private Facebook group and Discord server- all for just $5 a month.Loving LatelyNeck Cream (T)Susan Lee Skin Care Recs (Phoebe)Real Housewives of Rhode IslandJamie Attenberg 1000 words of summerLatest Read & Books MentionedThe Echo Wife | Sarah Gailey (T)Tropesick | Lauren Okie (H)Nesting | Roisin O'Donnell (H)Other Books Mentioned - (Please make sure you're supporting Alice Ever After on Bookshop.org if you decide to purchase any of the following books!)Devney Perry BooksThis Story Might Save Your Life | Tiffany CrumThe Magic Treehouse BooksOur Guncle | Stephen RowleyDory Fantasmagory | Abby Hanlon (2nd-4th Grade)Dogman & Captain UnderpantsDragon Master Series | Tracy WestThe Princess in Black | Shannon HaleMail Duck | Erica SirotichBuffalo Fluffalo | Bess KalbSandwich and Wreck | Catherine NewmanNobody Tells You This But Me | Bess Kalb The Correspondent | Virginia EvansYesteryear | Caro Claire BurkeProject Hail Mary | Andy WierLegendborn | Tracy DionGood Girls Guide to Murder | Holly JacksonThe Guncle | Stephen RowleySamantha, the Next Chapter | Fiona DavisIf Not You | Ellen O'CloverSunflower Season | Danica NavaWhistler | Ann PatchetHollywood Ending | John GreenShelf AdditionsMarion: A Novel | Leah Rowen (T)If Not You | Ellen O'Clover (P)Flashlight | Susan Choi (H)@Aliceeverafterbooks on socialAliceeverafter.com@readandwright on socialThank you for listening and supporting the show!Support the showLet's Connect... Email us at booktalketc@gmailBTE on YoutubeTina's TikTok , IG @tbretc YT @tbretcHannah's TikTok , IG @hanpickedbooksJonathan IG @infiltrate_jayPodcast IG @booktalketcRenee's Substack Newsletter , IG@Itsbooktalk

This episode of The Currently Reading Podcast is a great place to jump in if you love honest book recommendations and spoiler-free bookish conversation. Meredith and Kaytee help two listeners take control of their overflowing TBR piles with personalized picks. They also get into everything they have been reading lately, from literary fiction like Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar to the cozy fantasy of T. Kingfisher, and they talk honestly about how to keep your reading life calm instead of overwhelming. On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: needing some reading sanity and two Kindles? Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: Kaytee and Meredith boss some listeners' TBRs Before We Go: our new segment featuring a bookish friend post and Meredith brings a book she may DNF Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site). . . .   1:23 - Bookish Moments of the Week 3:16 - The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson (pre-order, releases June 9, 2026) 5:56 - Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar  10:53 - Current Reads 11:14 - The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan (Meredith) 17:03 - The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut (Kaytee) 21:30 - Strangers by Belle Berden (Meredith) 24:06 - Awake by Jen Hatmaker 28:49 - Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher (Kaytee) 29:36 - A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher 32:40 - What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher 32:41 - Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher 32:42 - Swordheart by T. Kingfisher 34:56 - The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (Meredith) 36:42 - An Unlikely Story 38:25 - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanne Clarke 39:26 - The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman 40:13 - Isola by Allegra Goodman (Kaytee) 45:35 - Deep Dive: Boss My TBR From Carrie: 47:19 - Lady Tremine by Rachel Hochhauser 47:20 - How to Kill A Guy In Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson 47:24 - Five by Ilona Bannister 47:27 - Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire 47:57  - romance.io  48:02 - This Summer will be Different by Carley Fortune 50:38 - Every Summer After by Carley Fortune From Gianna: 52:26 - The Boomerang by Robert Bailey 52:28 - Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore 52:31 - For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn 52:34 - Good People by Patmeena Sabit 52:37 - Lady Tremine by Rachel Hochhauser 57:23 - Before We Go Kaytee highlights a bookish friend post Meredith brings a book she might DNF and why 59:43 - Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zang by Kylie Lee Baker   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May's IPL is brought to us from a new to us bookstore, Book & Books in Coral Gables, Florida Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

What happens when you swap a career in healthcare for a world of ancient gods and high-stakes magic?In this episode, we sit down with urban fantasy author Emily Hawthorne to unpack her mesmerizing debut, Of Mountains and Seas, and its sequel, From the Depths. Emily opens up about her transition out of medicine, how she gives traditional mythological figures like the Azure Dragon a modern makeover, and why the California Central Coast is the perfect backdrop for her story.We also dive into the mechanics of her writing process—from mapping complex, converging timelines to exploring how real-world power dynamics inspired her high-stakes magic system. Plus, Emily shares what it means to see Chinese-American identity centred in urban fantasy, and offers powerful advice for anyone stuck in a career with a story burning inside them.Stick around for our Rapid Fire round to hear her dream mythical pet, character anthems, and the hidden BookTok gem you need on your TBR list right now!---Emily Renk HawthorneInstagramTikTokFind her work hereAll Day Show⁠Instagram⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠Other Socials⁠

On this week's episode, we review the latest novel by Ben Lerner. We discuss auto-fictions limitations and why we were left frustrated by this potentially thought provoking novel. And, finally, we discussed adding a beach read to our TBR, (since Lerner was so adamant that his latest novel was most definitely not a beach read)If you've read "Transcription" let us know your thoughts.As always, thanks for listening.Contact Us:Instagram @therewillbbooksTwitter @therewillbbooksEmail willbebooks@gmail.comGoodreads: Therewillbebooksko-fi.com/therewillbbookspatreon.com/therewillbbooks

You can find Henry on his Virtual Pulp website (https://www.virtualpulppress.com) and on Amazon.com. His comic Threat Quotient is live on Kickstarter right now. Check it out here. And he writes on Substack as Machine Trooper (https://substack.com/@machinetrooper) and on Twitter as MachineTrooper.Find Next, Love on www.amazon.com/Next-Love-Kat-Caldwell-ebook/dp/B0D95Y6G56/or add it to your TBR on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250761650-next-love) or Bookbub (https://www.bookbub.com/books/next-love-by-kat-caldwell)Sign up for my writers' newsletter to learn more about the craft of writing, know when my workshops are and be the first to get exclusive information on my writing retreats. https://katcaldwell.com/writers-newsletterWant more information on my books, author swaps, short stories and what I'm reading? Sign up for my readers' newsletter. https://storylectory.katcaldwell.com/signup You can always ask me writing questions on instagram @author_katcaldwell

The 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide is here! Discover 70 must-read titles and 57 pages of fresh picks for your best summer yet. It's time for one of my favorite episodes: the official reveal of the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide! This year's edition showcases 70 carefully curated titles spanning every genre, so you can find the perfect read for every summer mood. In this special Book Gang episode, I'm sharing this year's reading challenges with the buzziest books that didn't deliver but ultimately changed my sails towards the unexpected, from magical days at the library for backlist fun to under-the-radar gems like the ones I'm debuting today. Out of the 114 books I read to prepare for this one, I'm spotlighting five unforgettable novels that deserve a spot on your TBR. These new voices captured my heart, and I hope you'll fall in love with them, too. Grab your notebook (or open your Libby app!)—let's dive into the WHY behind this year's selections and get ready to build your summer reading stack. GET THE GUIDE: Browse the 2026 MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide (with ads) or receive the 57-page reading guide download ($7) to support our show. If you are a show patron, check your inbox for your copy as part of your member benefits- thank you for supporting my small business!   Meet Amy Allen Clark Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com, a vibrant online community she has nurtured since 2004. Through this platform, Amy shares practical advice on recipes, DIY projects, and book recommendations for her readers. In 2013, Amy authored The Good Life for Less, published by Penguin, and offered families tips for running their households on a shoestring budget. Amy launched the Book Gang Podcast in 2021. The book podcast celebrates debut authors, explores backlist titles, and highlights under-the-radar book selections. Through engaging conversations with writers and fellow book enthusiasts, Amy aims to connect you with your new favorite book. Mentioned in this episode: NEW: Buy the 2026 Summer Reading Guide (help our show stay on air) 2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections) Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise) Ellery Adams talks Invasive Species: Horror in the Neighborhood Substack on Yesteryear (the religious perspective) Stormy Daniels Isn't Backing Down 17 Years After The Help, Kathryn Stockett Returns to Mississippi   Connect With Me: Connect with Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or MomAdvice Support the Show With a Tip on Buy Me a Coffee

Jim is joined once again by Glenn the Geeky Hippie for a conversation every SFF fan understands: the hunt for those rare books that NEVER fail as recommendations.You know the ones. The books you hand to someone with complete confidence because they consistently amaze readers, spark imagination, and remind us why we fell in love with fantasy and science fiction in the first place.In this episode, Glenn shares five of his ultimate “go-to” SFF recommendations — books and series that deliver wonder, emotion, adventure, unforgettable characters, and the kind of storytelling that sticks with you long after the final page. Along the way, Jim and Glenn discuss the value of recommendations, exploding TBR piles, gateway reads into fantasy and sci-fi, and the joy of discovering your next favorite book through fellow fans.Whether you're brand new to SFF or a longtime genre veteran looking for your next must-read, this episode is packed with passionate recommendations and nerdy discussion.Be sure to share YOUR own go-to SFF recommendation down in the comments!

This week on From the Front Porch, it's a New Release Rundown! Annie, Erin, and Olivia share the May releases they're excited about to help you build your TBR. When you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order! To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search episode 580), or download and shop on The Bookshelf's official app: Annie's books: Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester (May 5th, 2026) Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick (May 26th, 2026) Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan (May 26th, 2026) Olivia's books: Five by Ilona Bannister (May 5th, 2026) Young World by Soman Chainani (May 5th, 2026) Night Objects by Eli Raphael (May 26th, 2026) Erin's books: Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel (May 5th, 2026) The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline (May 12th, 2026) Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin (May 26th, 2026) From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. This week, Annie is reading Whistler by Ann Patchett. Olivia is reading The Mortons by Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier. Erin is listening to Into the Blue by Emma Brodie If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. Our Executive Producers are...Ashley Ferrell, Beth, Cammy Tidwell, Gene Queens, Jammie Treadwell, Joseph Shorter IV, Kimberly, Linda Lee Drozt, Nicole Marsee, Stephanie Dean, and Wendi Jenkins.

In this episode of Book Lounge by Libby, Joe is joined by Jananie K. Velu of thisstoryaintover to celebrate AAPI Month with a stack of incredible Asian lit you'll want to add to your TBR immediately.  Together, they dive into a wide range of must-read books highlighting stories that span genres, perspectives, and lived experiences. From deeply personal narratives to sweeping, unforgettable storytelling, this conversation is all about discovering books that stay with you and expanding your reading list to celebrate these voices all year long.  Whether you're looking to build out your AAPI Month reading list, discover new favorite authors, or simply find your next great read, this episode is packed with recommendations that bring heart, perspective, and unforgettable storytelling.  Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Link to our full book list:  Find all the books mentioned in Season 3 on Libby Life!  Book recommendations:  Jananie's Picks:  We Dance Upon Demons - Vaishnavi Patel  Burn the Sea - Mona Tewari  Capitalists Must Starve - Park Seolyeon  Natural Beauty & Immaculate Conception - Ling Ling Huang  Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead - Mai Nguyen  A Kiss of Crimson Ash - Anuja Varghese  Breasts and Eggs – Mieko Kawakami  Tall Water – SJ Sindu  Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop - Hwang Bo-reum   Joe's Picks:  Counterattacks at Thirty & Almond – Won-Pyung Sohn  Séance Tea Party – Reimena Yee  What You Are Looking For is in the Library – Michiko Aoyama  The Midnight Taxi – Yosha Gunasekera  Convenience Store Woman & Earthlings - Sayaka Murata  Detective Aunty & Moonlight Murder - Uzma Jalaluddin  Shoutout: Strange Pictures, Strange Houses & Strange Buildings - Uketsu  Who's in this episode:  Jananie K. Velu - Links  Time stamps: 00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro 00:01:06 Catching up with Jananie K. Velu! 00:02:20 What are Jananie's guiding lights when choosing for her imprint 00:03:57 Starting the reading recs 01:03:46 Outro   Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by BookTube royalty and queen of reviews Cindy Pham. Now stepping into her author era, she’s here to talk about it all: what’s on her TBR, why she’s drawn to messy, flawed characters, and how years of reviewing books have shaped the way she writes her own. Cindy also shares the story behind her debut novel, The Secret World of Briar Rose, from first drafting it as a teenager to returning years later with a completely new perspective and a fully developed frontal lobe. Plus, we get into reality TV deep dives, bookish trends she’s loving and side-eyeing, and the hilarious promise of a future rant video about her own main character, because no one is safe, not even her. BOOKS MENTIONED: Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham That Asian Girl Is a Problem by Rachel Phan (Coming Soon) Just Between Us by Adeline Kon Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami Book Lovers by Emilty Henry The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun Know My Name by Chanel MillerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has modern fantasy lost its sense of wonder… or are we just looking for it in the wrong places?In this episode of Fantasy for the Ages, Jim is joined by Glenn the Geeky Hippie for a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation about one of the biggest questions in fantasy today: Does modern fantasy still have wonder?We dive into what “wonder” even means in the first place — whether it's awe, mystery, discovery, or something harder to define — and then compare the magic of classic fantasy with the tone and priorities of modern storytelling. From the sweeping worlds of The Lord of the Rings to the grit of The First Law Trilogy and the innovation of The Broken Earth Trilogy, we ask: has something changed — and if so, is it for better or worse?Along the way, we highlight modern works that absolutely still capture that sense of wonder.We also tackle some deeper questions:* Is modern fantasy more focused on realism than magic?* Has wonder become quieter and more personal?* Are we the reason it feels different now?This is one of those conversations that blends nostalgia, critique, and genuine appreciation for how the genre continues to evolve.It also turns into a rec list, a whole bunch of books you might add to your TBR!⸻

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Mary are discussing: Bookish Moments: Indie Bookstore Day and adaptations exceeding expectations. Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: more reading therapy with Mary Before We Go: our new segment featuring something Meredith is curious about and some TBR triage for Mary. Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site). . . .   :10 - Bite Size Intro 2:02 - Currently Reading Patreon 2:10 - Watch Anitra's video HERE 2:47 - Roar by Cecelia Ahern 3:41 - Bookish Moments of the Week 4:05 - Boswell Book Company 6:15 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 6:37 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 9:19 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower 9:44 - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz 10:07 - Current Reads 10:13 - Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Mary) 13:37 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 13:51 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree 15:25 - Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Meredith) 21:26 - Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero (Mary) 21:35 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 24:25 - This Cursed House by Del Sandeen (Meredith) 26:25 - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 27:06 - Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann 28:17 - Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 29:22 - Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan (Mary) 31:44 - Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente 32:45 - The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen (Meredith) 35:00 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 36:59 - Two Friends Books 38:28 - Deep Dive: Reading Therapy with Mary 40:42 - Slewfoot by Brom 43:11 - @maryoliversdrunkcousin on Instagram 43:18 - The Poetry Remedy by William Siegert 45:27 - The Popcast 45:54 - How We Live is How We Die by Pema Chodron 49:10 - Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian by Tim Probert 52:54 - Heartwood by Amity Gage 52:55 - The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella 52:57 - Wreck by Catherine Newman 52:58 - Her Many Faces by Nicci Cloke 53:00 - Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein 53:25 - Sandwich by Catherine Newman 53:36 - Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen 54:02 - The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill 54:04 - The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill 54:59 - It's Ok That You're Not Ok by Megan Devine 55:49 - Currently Reading Substack 56:27 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 57:29 - Before We Go Meredith brings something she's curious about 57:46 - @Meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram 58:41 - The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo 59:47 - Sourdough by Robin Sloan Mary tries a little TBR triage 1:00:23 - The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April's IPL is brought to us from a new to us bookstore, Book & Books in Coral Gables, Florida Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode, Jeff Jones, a fan of graphic novels, talks about how he comes to reading through his interest in sci-fi movies. We talk about his favorite weekly read, how he manages his very small TBR, and his discovery of some favorite authors through their work in comics.    Books mentioned in this episode:    What Betsy's reading:  Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaeffer  Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic    Books Highlighted by Jeff: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer The Darkseid War: The Green Lantern by Tom King & Evan “Doc” Shaner Day After Night by Anita Diamant Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli  Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt  Exhalation by Ted Chiang    All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.   Other books mentioned in this episode: Shonen Jump  Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir  Strange Adventures by Tom King & Evan Shaner  Vision: The Complete Collection by Tom King  Monstress by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda  Far Sector by N.K Jemisin & Jamal Campbell  The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin  All About Love by Bell Hooks  Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

It's still spring and we have selected six new books we are adding to our TBR lists. If you're looking for suggestions for your next spring read, listen in to this bonus episode of The Reading Lounge! We are also going to give this refreshing cocktail a try during spring reading season:Primavera Spritz1.5 oz vodka or gin1 oz fresh orange juice1/2 oz fresh lemon juice1/2 oz simple syrup or honey2 - 3 oz sparking water or club sodaMix all ingredients and serve over ice.

In this episode, we're sharing our April reading wrap-up and everything on our May TBR!We discuss all the books we read this month, including How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates, Unsteady, Unloved, Unbound, The Art of Catching Feels, Never Been Shipped, Promise Me Sunshine, Golden Son, In Every Possible Way, The Night We Met, Project Hail Mary, and Love Letter to a Serial Killer.From five-star favorites to books that completely missed the mark, this month had a little bit of everything—including a controversial one-star read from an entire book club. We also dive into trends in romance and thriller genres, audiobook vs physical reading, and our ever-growing TBR lists.If you love honest book reviews, reading wrap-ups, and discussions on romance, fantasy, and thrillers, this episode is for you.Make sure to follow along for more episodes!

Welcome to We're All Just Faking It! In this episode, we talk all about reading—TBR piles, reading slumps, DNFing books, and how we decide what's actually worth finishing. From Kindle vs. audiobooks to tracking apps and overhyped recommendations, we get real about our reading habits and what keeps us hooked (or doesn't).To find your people and access resources mentioned in each episode, join the Discord using the link below!Social Media Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/WAJFIP

Going back ten years to 2016, Sarah and Catherine Gilmore (@GilmoreGuide) dive into the annual Bookish Time Capsule episode and revisit the book world from that year. They cover big bookish highlights — from the buzziest books of the year to the award winners — along with what was happening in the wider world at the time. They also look back at their own reading from 2016, including their favorite releases, and share a quick round-up of listener-submitted favorites. This episode is overflowing with great backlist titles to add to your TBR!   This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog. Highlights The big news that was going on outside the book world Book stories and trends that dominated 2016 The 2016 books that have had staying power Big books and award winners for the year Reading in the blog years before the Rock Your Reading Tracker Sarah's and Catherine's personal 2016 reading stats Listener-submitted favorites from 2016 2016 Bookish Time Capsule [1:45] The World Beyond Books Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (2018)| Amazon | Bookshop.org  [3:09]  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [4:59]  My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [5:11] Ferrante's true identity has never been confirmed, despite multiple attempts by journalists and various theories pointing to different people. Book Industry Sales and Trends Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:02] The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:10] Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:21] A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:36] Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:40]  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:45]  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:57]  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (2014) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:12]  Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:16]  StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup (2007) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:20]  When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [11:30] The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:33] After You by Jojo Moyes (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:49] The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:52] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [11:59] Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (2016)| Amazon | Bookshop.org  [12:36] Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (2004) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [12:49] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:04]  Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:05] The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (English Translation, 2015) | Amazon| Bookshop.org  [13:32] My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman (English Translation, 2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:39] In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:51]  Big Books of 2016 It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [15:47] A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2) by Sarah J. Maas (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [16:28]   Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [17:25] Pines (Wayward Pines, 1) by Blake Crouch (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [17:57] Recursion by Blake Crouch (2019) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [18:17] A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[18:34] Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [18:58] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:29] James by Percival Everett (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [20:42] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [20:51]  Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [22:10] When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [22:28] Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [22:46] Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [23:19] Award Winners of 2016 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:54] The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [24:06] Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [24:35] The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [24:51] Let Me Die In His Footsteps by Lori Roy (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [25:50] Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [25:56] All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [26:05] Catherine's Top Books Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [27:46]  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[28:11] The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [28:35]  The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin (June 2, 2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [29:03]  Before the Wind by Jim Lynch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [29:57] Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [30:57] Miss Jane by Brad Watson (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [31:48]   Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [31:57] Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [32:08]  Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [32:40]  Sarah's Top Books Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [39:45] Shelter by Jung Yun (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [39:58]   All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun (2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:06]  The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:16]  My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash, 1) by Elizabeth Strout (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:22] Oh William! (Amgash, 3) by Elizabeth Strout (2021) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:38] Tell Me Everything (Amgash, 5) by Elizabeth Strout (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:47]   Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [41:05]  Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [41:30] Tender by Belinda McKeon (US Release, 2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:44] The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:03]  When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[42:05] The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue (2023) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:31]  Listeners' Top Books A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[44:14] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:19] A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2) by Sarah J. Maas (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:35]   Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:47] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [45:01]  Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:24] Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:30] Beartown by Fredrik Backman (English Translation, 2017) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [45:32] Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:40]  The Unseen World by Liz Moore (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:45] Long Bright River by Liz Moore (2020) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:58] The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [47:00] The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:16] 

I recently (and very quietly!) celebrated an important milestone on the Restorative Reading & Writing for Wellness podcast: I reached the 225 episode milestone!It truly seems like yesterday when I nervously hit record and uploaded a very real, raw episode into the world and it's been a wonderful journey of learning ever since. Recently, I've started posting some of these backlist episodes in my current show notes as they relate to the current theme in case you missed it or are new to the podcast and I've loved seeing new life brought to these old episodes. So, I've decided to periodically bring back a backlist episode that relates to my current one-word theme in hopes that it re-energizes your reading and writing life, too. Starting today!Spring is in the air and that means Spring cleaning, organizing and freshening. This kind of work pairs perfectly with my RELEASE theme and might help you let go of the old and make space for the new on your bookshelf….and your life. Today, I am talking about shelf-care or showing love to your bookshelf in mindful and intentional ways to rejuvenate your reading life and how it can lead to self-care in our actual lives, too. Here's a quick overview of the steps I shared in the episode:Know Your WhyFirst, before you even get started, articulate why you are choosing to cull your book collection. Clearly stating your ‘why' behind this work will give you the energy your bookish heart will need to tackle it. Say it out loud. Are you sorting through your books to gain:* a cleaner and refreshed look to your bookshelves?* additional space for new titles and genres?* a chance to sift through your reading life past and plan for the future?Whatever the reason, define your why and hold it close throughout the process.Remove & SortNext, pull all the books off of your shelf so you can literally see and touch each one. This contact is important. Quickly glancing at the titles on your self will not suffice. Pick up each book and sort them into two piles: read and not read yet.Review the Books You've ReadThen, head to the stack of books you've already read. Pick up each book, say the title and author out loud and fan the pages. Saying the title out loud will jog your memory of the book and fanning the pages will highlight any dog-earned passages, bookmarks or sticky notes, all signs you loved the book. If this process does NOT jog your memory of the book, then that's a sure sign you might let it go.Make a decision to keep or donate each book. Is it a book that you read, loved, remembered and want to keep? Yes? Well, why? If you have a compelling reason to keep the book on your shelf waiting patiently for another reader that might never come, then do so. If not, set it aside so you can pay it forward to share with a reader who will love and appreciate it. Continue the process until you have sorted all of the books into KEEP and SHARE piles.But don't put them back on the shelf. Not yet!Review the Books You Haven't Read YetNext, it's time to head to the stack of books you have not read yet. Just as with the books you've already read, pick up each book and say the title and author aloud. How do you feel? Does the book register in your memory? Does it tug at your reading heart? Or do you feel nothing at all? Use that gut feeling to decide whether to keep the book on your shelves or donate to others. These questions might help you decide:* Do you remember when and why you purchased the book?* Are those reasons still relevant in your life today?* Do you remember who recommended it to you and why they thought you might enjoy it?If you can answer these questions and are still interested in the book, keep it. If not and you do not feel any tug at your reading heart, then pay it forward to another reader.Now, there are two steps left: to reorganize your newly culled reading shelves and decide on your donation strategy.Reorganize & ReshelveFirst, let's reorganize. Organization of your bookshelves is a personal process that should be based on your preferences and wishes as a reader AND your desire for organization and accessibility. Here are a few methods you might try:* Shelve books by reading status: read and not yet read* Arrange books alphabetically by author last name* Categorize books by genre and/or format* Sort books by hardcover and paperback* Cluster books by your mood for reading* Visually display books by color, size and/or shape* Celebrate favorite books in a showcaseChoose a method that speaks to your bookish heart and experiment with combinations of strategies, too. You might have a TBR shelf arranged by genre. Or an alphabetically arranged shelf within a certain genre. The choice is yours.Donate Books ForwardLastly, it's time to get your excess books into the hands of its next reader. Here are a few possibilities:* Donate adult books to your local library.* Donate children's literature books to your local school.* Add a few books to a Free Little Library in your neighborhood (or start your own!)* Gift them to family and friends with handwritten recommendations* Declare yourself a book fairy and leave a book in a random place for the next reader to find.Once you see the possibilities for pressing books into the hands of its next reader and making space for the books that need to find you next, it doesn't seem quite so daunting, does it?! Culling your book collections is a necessary stage of the reading life: sharing books that no longer serves you to others and making space for those that need to find you in this season of life:Shelf-Care to Self-Care MagicMoving through this book-culling process and releasing the books that no longer serve you in this particular season of life can feel quite thrilling and leave you with a sense of accomplishment. It also leaves you with new space: space to connect with new books that are just what you need in this moment. So, your last step is to reflect on these three questions, even better if you jot them down in your notebook:* Who do you want to be in this current season?* How do you want to feel?* What do you want to do?Use your unfiltered, gut-reaction responses to connect with new books that can offer you the kind of care you need right now. Here are the books originally mentioned in the backlist episode that I made space for on my newly refreshed bookshelf:ABOVE GROUND by Clint Smith (Amazon / Bookshop)WHEN THE RAIN ENDS by Mary Ellen Taylor (Amazon / Bookshop)ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler (Amazon / Bookshop)And here are the current books I've made space for inspired by the re-airing of this episode:THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi (Amazon / Bookshop)A SPRINKLE OF SWEET SERENDIPITY by Rachel Linden (Amazon / Bookshop)LOVE, FINALLY: UNTANGLING THE KNOT BETWEEN MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, AND FOOD by Geneen Roth (Amazon / Bookshop)I'd love to hear what you think of this episode! How has culling your book collection helped you move into a new season of your reading life AND your actual one, too? What books are on your newly-curated bookshelf? Share in the comments below!Let's Work Together!I love to connect with others around our shared love of reading and writing.Here are some ways we can work together to create a life you love where restorative reading and writing is at the center of it all:

Looking for your next great historical fiction read? Joe is joined by Amy Allen Clark, host of the Book Gang Podcast, to share standout historical fiction recommendations to add to your TBR.  From immersive, character-driven stories to sweeping narratives that bring the past to life, this episode highlights books that will stick with you long after the final page. Amy brings her expertise in discovering buzzy and noteworthy titles, while Joe adds a few picks of his own—including one unexpected curveball.  Whether you're a longtime historical fiction reader or just looking for a place to start, this episode is packed with compelling recommendations across time periods and styles.  Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Book recommendations: Amy's Picks:  The Half Life - Rachel Beanland  Scandalous Women - Gill Paul  The Final Revival of Opal and Nev - Dawnie Walton  The Foursome - Christina Baker Kline  Happy Land - Dolen Perkins-Valdez  Joe's Picks:  Let's Call Her Barbie – Renée Rosen  Disco Witches of Fire Island – Blair Fell  The Hounding – Xenobe Purvis  Dead Eleven – Jimmy Juliano  Silver Nitrate – Silvia Moreno-Garcia  Flung out of Space – Grace Ellis & Hannah Templer  Stage Dreams – Melanie Gillman  The Legend of Auntie Po – Shing Yin Khor  Parallel – Matthias Lehmann    Who's in this episode:   Amy Allen Clark, Book Gang Podcast – links  Articles referenced:   https://bookriot.com/what-makes-a-book-historical-fiction/   https://celadonbooks.com/what-is-historical-fiction/   https://historicalnovelsociety.org/defining-the-genre-2/  Time stamps:  00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro 00:00:53 Hello to Amy!  00:01:30 What is Historical Fiction, and what defines it?  00:04:28 Amy's thoughts on Historical Fiction 00:12:11 Historical Fiction Recommendations 01:07:28 Outro   Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 6, The Passing Winter, finds Benedict doubling down on his cottage solution, convinced he has found a way forward for himself and Sophie. Sophie, meanwhile, is forced to reckon with the practical consequences of their intimacy, and the two of them begin confronting what their future might actually require. Elsewhere, Penelope faces renewed pressure over Whistledown, Alice continues learning the realities of court life beside the Queen, and Anthony returns to London to dominate proceedings as the Bridgertons adjust to life with a new heir. Featuring: - Organisational queens - Several consecutive character spirals - Sibling rivalries - A lot of unwelcome reality checks - Cressida apologism - Unrecognised power imbalance - Kate apologism - Actual and metaphorical cross-class cosplay - Bridgertons always choose themselves - A bummer of an ending Here are is the media we talk about in this episode: - Bridgerton, a television series - An Offer from a Gentleman, a book by Julia Quinn - When He Was Wicked, a book by Julia Quinn - ‘A Husband for Fanny', included in Snowdrift and other Stories, a short story by Georgette Heyer - Heated Rivalry, a television series by Jacob Tierney - Married at First Sight, an Australian reality television series - The Beckham family feud - The ‘Firm', a description of the British Royal Family - Mean Girls, a film by Mark Waters - Romancing Mr Bridgerton, a book by Julia Quinn - ‘Just What I Needed', a song by The Cars - ‘Fields of Gold', a song by Sting - Jurassic Park: Rebirth, a film by Gareth Edwards - Gosford Park, a film by Robert Altman - Les Miserables, a novel by Victor Hugo - Schitt's Creek, a television series by Dan Levy and Eugene Levy Our guest host this episode is the luminous Mirandi Riwoe. You can hear more from Mirandi on instagram or read her beautiful novels. Mirandi has brought something for your (heaving) TBR pile: Check out The Mission House by Carys Davies on her recommendation! Mirandi also asked us for recommendations. We suggested Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, and The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton. We also talked about The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Don't forget you can find us on facebook @bridgertonpod and instagram and bluesky @wwddpod and join the conversation using the hashtag #WWDDpod. Please follow us on your favourite podcast provider! Leaving a 5-star rating and a review will not only help us find more listeners, but also keep you regular (iykyk). This episode was recorded on the traditional and unceded land of the Kaurna, Jagera, Turrbal, Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung people. Our editor is Ben McKenzie of Splendid Chaps Productions. If you need production work completed, you can find them here: splendidchaps.com

Text the Bookcast and say "hi"!Welcome to Your Next Great Read! This month, Hannah and J are joined by Grayson Long, author of the brand new contemporary romance, Chasing the Butterflies, and two other books in her Glendale series. Plenty of fantasy, thriller, horror, and romance recs (plus lots of indie books!) to help you build your TBR!Connect with Grayson: Instagram | Twitch | TikTokConnect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTokSign up for the Read LOKal NewsletterHuge thanks to Self Publish Me for sponsoring this episode! Books Discussed on the Show:GraysonRites of the Starling - Devney PerryProject Hail Mary - Andy WeirThe Prison Healer - Lynette NoniRemarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van PeltHannahThe House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ KluneNowhere Burning - Catriona WardTurn Off the Light - Jacquie WaltersThe Girl on the Train - Paula HawkinsJEchoes of Destruction - W.K. GorbetThe Bluff - J.L. HydeManuscript of an Invasion - Ruy ForteThe Preservationist - David MaineConnect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | FacebookShop the Bookcast on Bookshop.orgMusic by JuliusH

In this powerful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse return to their parable series with an in-depth examination of the Laborers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. This often-misunderstood parable confronts our natural inclination toward merit-based thinking and exposes the scandal of God's grace. The hosts unpack the covenantal language embedded in the text, particularly the workers' "grumbling"—a loaded term echoing Israel's wilderness rebellion. Through careful exegesis and theological reflection, they demonstrate how this parable dismantles religious entitlement while celebrating God's sovereign freedom to bestow mercy according to His purposes, not our calculations. The discussion offers fresh insights into grace, election, and the radical generosity that defines God's kingdom economy. Key Takeaways The parable operates on covenant logic, not economic fairness: The landowner's dealings with his workers reflect covenantal promise-keeping rather than marketplace transactions, establishing that God's relationship with His people is fundamentally gracious. "Grumbling" carries profound theological weight: The Greek word used for the workers' complaint is the same term in the Septuagint for Israel's wilderness rebellion—not mere dissatisfaction, but a covenantal accusation against God's faithfulness. Two types of workers represent two approaches to God: The first-hired workers who contracted for specific wages represent those relating to God through legal obligation and merit, while later workers who trusted the owner's promise represent faith-based relationship. The reversal of payment order is narratively essential: By paying the last workers first, the landowner deliberately exposes the merit-based assumptions of the first workers, forcing them to confront their entitlement. Grace doesn't negate justice—it transcends it: The landowner fulfills every contractual obligation while simultaneously exercising sovereign generosity beyond what is owed, demonstrating that mercy and justice coexist in God's character. The parable addresses the present kingdom, not just heaven: Because it includes grumbling and complaint, this parable describes life in God's kingdom now—the "already but not yet"—rather than the consummated state. Divine sovereignty in salvation is the theological climax: The landowner's declaration "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" directly addresses God's freedom in election and the scandal of unmerited grace. Key Ideas The Covenantal Nature of the Landowner's Dealings The parable's opening establishes a formal agreement between the landowner and the first workers: one denarius for a day's labor. This contractual arrangement is crucial for understanding what follows. Unlike marketplace haggling, this represents a covenant—the landowner binds himself to provide what he has promised. Tony emphasizes that even this initial contract is an act of condescension and grace, as the master had no obligation to employ anyone at all. As the day progresses, subsequent workers are hired with increasingly less formal agreements. By the third hour, the landowner promises only "whatever is right," and by the eleventh hour, no wage is even mentioned. These later workers enter the vineyard based entirely on the landowner's character and trustworthiness. This progression mirrors the movement from law to gospel—from contractual obligation to trusting promise. The theological implication is profound: those who relate to God based on His gracious word rather than calculated merit are actually in a more secure position than those who attempt to earn their standing through works. The Wilderness Echo: Grumbling as Covenant Violation The hosts make a critical exegetical observation about the Greek word for "grumbling" (γογγύζω) used in verse 11. This is not casual complaining but the identical term used throughout the Septuagint to describe Israel's covenant rebellion in the wilderness. When the workers grumble "upon receiving" their wages, they're not merely expressing disappointment about pay inequality—they're filing a covenant lawsuit against the master, accusing him of unfaithfulness. This connection to Numbers 16 and Exodus 16-17 is devastating. The Israelites' wilderness grumbling wasn't about logistics or comfort; it was fundamentally about doubting God's covenant fidelity. By employing this loaded terminology, Matthew signals that the first workers' complaint is nothing less than accusing God of covenant violation. The landowner's response ("Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?") is a covenant defense—he has fulfilled his obligations precisely. The workers' real offense is not miscalculation but begrudging God's freedom to show mercy beyond what is contractually required. The "Evil Eye" and Begrudging God's Grace The final rhetorical question—"Or do you begrudge my generosity?"—contains another Jewish idiom often lost in translation. The Greek literally reads, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" This "evil eye" imagery appears throughout Scripture as a metaphor for envy, stinginess, and resentment toward another's blessing. The landowner's question cuts to the heart: are you cursing me for being generous? This directly parallels Jonah's response to Nineveh's salvation. Jonah had just experienced miraculous deliverance through the great fish, yet when God showed identical mercy to the Ninevites, Jonah's response was essentially, "I knew you were gracious—that's why I ran!" The parable exposes the same perverse logic: those who have received covenant mercy begrudging that same mercy extended to others. For the Pharisees listening to Jesus, this was an indictment of their resentment toward tax collectors and sinners receiving the kingdom. For Christians today, it challenges any sense of spiritual superiority based on how long we've been in the kingdom or how much we've sacrificed. Memorable Quotes Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? That 'or' is a logical connector—either I'm not allowed to do what I want with my belongings, which is ridiculous, or if I am allowed, then you must be mad at me for being generous. Those are the only options. — Tony Arsenal The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation. These workers aren't just complaining about not getting what they thought they would—they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. — Tony Arsenal Most of us are this eleventh-hour call. It's much better to be in the place of that younger brother who comes in and repents than to be the older brother who is stubborn and finds some reason to come before God with self-righteous grievances. — Jesse Schwamb Full Episode Transcript [00:01:05] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 488 of the Reformer Brotherhood. I'm Jesse  [00:01:13] Tony Arsenal: and I am still Tony, and this is the podcast where Tony comes back. Hey brother.  [00:01:19] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. The band is back together again, man. It's reunited and boy, do you feel it? It feels good, doesn't  [00:01:26] Tony Arsenal: it? I do, I do. I'm excited to come back. It was nice to take a break. [00:01:29] Jesse Schwamb: Good.  [00:01:29] Tony Arsenal: I, uh, I've been, you know, texted with you a couple times. Just it was, I did my best to sort of not think about the podcast because that's sort of defeats the purpose of taking a break from something if you spend a lot of time thinking about it. Um, so I'm back. I'm refreshed. I'm ready to go.  [00:01:44] Break and Work Chaos [00:01:44] Tony Arsenal: I appreciate the listeners' patience. Uh, it's been sort of a weird, crazy busy time at work. Uh, there's a lot going on. I, I lost like. 60% of my staff in the course of like three weeks. And, um, I'm still kind of in the thick of it, but we're coming out of it. So took a little bit of time to just make sure that I was having a, an appropriate space to de-stress from that and take care of my family and attend to worship. And, um, it was really a, a blessing to have that. Uh, sort of sabbatical. Ironically, the sabbatical wars were going on at the same time on Twitter, and Jesse is blissfully unaware of that 'cause he's not involved in in the Twitter. That's true. Um, but yeah, just took a little break and it's kinda like overblown it, to call it a sabbatical. Like this is a podcast, it's a hobby, but, but it was nice to have, uh, a little bit of extra time, you know, couple hours extra week, uh, uh, each week of extra time to just decompress and, uh, play with the kids and spend time with my wife and clean the house a little bit, which was good.  [00:02:36] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it is always good to have a clean house. You look great. You seem refreshed. The voice sounds good, and I'm like, I don't know, in year seven or eight of my Twitter sabbatical, it's going great so far. I feel like I haven't missed a whole lot. The world still seems wild and I'm sure, or X, right? We gotta go X on this. It's  [00:02:53] Tony Arsenal: always Twitter. It's always gonna be Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk  says.  [00:02:56] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I'm listen. I'm totally fine with that.  [00:02:58] Back to Parables [00:02:58] Jesse Schwamb: And I teased this in the last episode, but we can't be stopped. I mean, people should know this by now, we have an inexorable march through the parables of Jesus's true. That will not be stopped. We're always gonna come back until there are no more. And on this episode, we're gonna be hanging out in Matthew 20, talking about laborers in the Kingdom of Heaven.  [00:03:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. I'm, I'm, I'm excited to get back into it. I'm excited to get back into the word together with everybody. I'm excited to clear whatever that was on in my throat out  [00:03:27] Jesse Schwamb: emotion,  [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: live on the air. Uh, but yeah, it'll be good. I'm, I'm stoked. I mean, I love this stuff and it's good to be back.  [00:03:32] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you had the rest. Now let's talk about labor. So speaking of labor, it's, it's time for you to work up here, Tony. Are you affirming with or denying against on this episode?  [00:03:42] Tony Arsenal: Uh, I'm affirming something and I'm hopeful, uh, that just a little behind the scenes activity here. Jesse recorded episode 487, like an hour and a half ago. I have not yet listened to it, so I don't know if you did an affirmation and I I did. If you did. I hope it's not the same one.  [00:03:58] Jesse Schwamb: I did not. You're  [00:03:59] Tony Arsenal: safe. Uh, good. So I'm safe.  [00:04:01] Artemis II Hype [00:04:01] Tony Arsenal: So, um, I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um, oh, nice. Have you been, I mean, I know you're not on Twitter, but I'm sure there's news elsewhere. Uh, this amazing mission around the moon, um, for astronaut, for astronauts, I think, um, the furthest man space travel, um, since the Apollo program. Um. Pretty intense, pretty amazing pictures, right? The camera technologies amazing. Increased exponentially, uh, since we were there last. Um, this is ostensibly in preparation for an actual moon landing, which who knows when that will be? Um, but as far as I've seen, the mission was a resounding success. There was no right. I think they had, they ran into a few little hiccups early on with some technical things, but nothing crazy. I have not heard. Um, I know they did touch down and they did reentry. Um, I've not heard anything one way or another, but I'm assuming since I have not heard terrible, tragic news that they made it through, did they do the reentry? I'm really, apparently I'm not actually paying as much attention to this as I thought I was. I saw a lot of information about reentry, but I guess, I don't know for sure when that happened or is happening.  [00:05:05] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, by this point, when people listen to it, it'll be old news anyway, right? So  [00:05:09] Tony Arsenal: For sure. Yeah. And either, either it went terribly wrong and I'm gonna feel awful, or it went fine and I'm gonna feel a little silly for. Throwing a caveat that it went terribly wrong out there. But, um, it's cool. It's, it's amazing. I mean, I, I commented to my wife the other day and she's kinda like, yeah, maybe we should like, spend that money on people who are on the planet. I was like, okay, I can, I can buy that wisdom. But, um, there's something very cool and very Genesis, uh, one, ask Genesis one and two, ask about flying out into space and taking dominion over Yeah, for sure. Over a, a little ball of rock, uh, you know, uh, 25,000 miles away or whatever it is. Um. And, you know, I'm like an engineering nerd. I, I don't know anything about engineering, but I love watching YouTube videos that explain stuff like this. And  [00:05:52] Jesse Schwamb: me  [00:05:52] Tony Arsenal: too, all of the videos that have cropped up now about free return and how, like they're able to basically like do minimal burn on the thrusters to get into the right trajectory and then just like meet the moon in the place it's gonna be. And then the, you know, the moon's gravity captures it and whips it back around and then shoots it back towards Earth. And for the most part, they're able to do all of that with relatively minor, um, relatively minor energy output because they're just utilizing physics and gravity and math, um, to fly to the moon and come back. Yes. It's pretty crazy amazing. So, yeah. Amazing. And the photos of like the, the sort of like new versions of the Earthrise photos are really, really phenomenal. Um, they're crisp, they're clean, they're obviously like the best, the best actual pho photographic images we've had of the lunar surface. Um. And the, the far side of the lunar surface, which we get all sorts of like telescopic photos and things of this side of the lunar surface because it's tightly locked and is facing us at all times. We don't get a ton of really great photography of the far side of the moon, which is a big part of what this mission was, so,  [00:06:56] Jesse Schwamb: right.  [00:06:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. If you haven't seen the photos, I mean, they're out there, they're amazing. There will be even more available once we get back. You know, they, they're transmitting only the most stellar, amazing ones. Um, and, but they're taking, I'm sure thousands and thousands of photos and, um, so yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um. It's just amazing what, what people can do with common grace, you know? That's right. In insight into nature. Um, I don't know anything about the astronauts. I don't know anything about their religious faith or their spiritual life or anything like that. But, um, the people who design this, the people who fly it, they're just tapping into the truth that's present in God's creation. So good on them. Uh, either I'm glad they got home, wish they have a safe home coming, or something along those lines, I guess. I don't know.  [00:07:40] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, you'll be happy to know that NASA is reporting that the four astronauts are an excellent condition after they landed in the Pacific Ocean. So  [00:07:47] Tony Arsenal: good.  [00:07:47] Jesse Schwamb: All, all appears to be well. And it says they have a giant SD card of pictures that's they've been taking. Yeah. And saving. I'm sure. They were just, they were just too big to send to over wifi.  [00:07:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Like massive wideness. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they have a ton that they didn't send because you know Right. Data rates to the moon are pretty high. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Jesse Schwamb: Ex. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Tony Arsenal: This economy is crazy. So  [00:08:07] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. In this economy. Really In this economy. Yeah, exactly.  [00:08:11] Cosmic Worship Reflections [00:08:11] Jesse Schwamb: I think you're right. This is good. I haven't talked about this at all. It's hard not to get just stoked, even in the amateur way about the science, the technology, the physics of all this stuff, and then even the astronauts just being overwhelmed by what they're seeing. [00:08:24] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm.  [00:08:25] Jesse Schwamb: It's hard not to get pulled into that and think about the universe that God has created and find that there is something transcendent just, uh, by observing all of these things. Yeah. Like even casually, which I think shows, again, this is literally the, the heavens and the earth crying out for God, showing his immeasurable power and, you know, immortal nature. It's incredible that we can even see and be a part of some of these things. Just wild.  [00:08:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's crazy that they can get signals to the moon. I mean, I drive home from Dartmouth College and I go through half of the spot there, and I don't have a cell signal, but we can get images from the moon. Um, so yeah, it's great. It's great. Check it out if you haven't seen it. If you haven't heard about it, I don't know what you're doing. Uh, this is probably the largest major scientific advancement in our generation. Um, in terms of like big scale scientific enterprise projects. There's been a lot of really amazing technology that's been developed. But this is like the first big. Almost like risky kind of scientific,  [00:09:30] Jesse Schwamb: right?  [00:09:30] Tony Arsenal: I dunno. Gambit or I dunno, gamble that we've done in a long time. Big deal. I mean, big a lot. Deal of things. Deal. Nothing went wrong. Nothing ma major went wrong. Praise God that they all got back to the planet safely. Right. But, um, a lot of things could have gone wrong, uh, and they didn't. So check out the photos, check out the scientific data they're gonna get. I mean, I'm sure they've got all sorts of information about the way the, the, the space ship moved, all of that stuff. It's gonna be really interesting to see kind of how this all comes about.  [00:09:56] Jesse Schwamb: Get some worship on, right? Yeah. I mean this is what a one, a thing to be reminded about how big and how glorious God is. [00:10:01] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:10:01] Jesse Schwamb: And, and to realize, like you said, the risks of this exploration. And this is God again, creating all of this outta nothing. Why? Yeah. Just absolutely wild. Incredible.  [00:10:12] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, for  [00:10:12] Jesse Schwamb: sure. Blown away.  [00:10:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. What about you, Jesse? What do you have for us?  [00:10:15] Bayes and Predictability [00:10:15] Jesse Schwamb: I got affirmation. It's equally nerdy, and actually this is as is always the case. This is why one of many reasons I miss you is it, it dovetails so nicely, so I'm affirming with a book. It's called Everything Is Predictable, how Esy and Statistics Explains the World. It's by a guy named Tom Chivers. I know this sounds super nerdy, but hear me out on this because Thomas Bayes, if you don't know this guy is first kind of like a wild and interesting guy, but this whole theory he put forward is super interesting. And this book is not like a mathematics book. It's like reads almost like a statistical thriller, which as it came outta my mouth, realized it was not maybe more ingratiating. I could have chosen better words than statistical thriller. But Thomas Bayes was alive in the 17 hundreds. And what's interesting to me at least about him, is he was an English statistician, who was a Presbyterian minister actually. He was a non-conformist and his, this whole theorem that he developed was actually published after his death. And the non-conformist part is super interesting. It's all in this book, even some of his different theological ideas. But because he was non-conformist, it basically meant like he couldn't learn. He was kicked out of all the English universities. He had to go to Scotland. Even all of that shaped how he came up with this particular theorem. But the gist of it is. Rather than treating like probabilities, as we think about it as this fixed frequency, you know, how many times does this thing occur? He argued and realized that it should represent a degree of belief and then you would update that belief rationally as new evidence comes in. And I know that sounds super quaint, but this is like what machine learning is based on medical diagnosis. A lot of like space travel is based on this in terms of understanding uncertainty and systems spam, all of that stuff. Here's an example, I think Tony, because we are, we have to carry forward with the top 50 medical podcast thing, right? We've got going on here. Lemme just give everybody an example of why you need this and why you automatically think this way. So. Statistics is really important, especially in medical testing. This was really prevalent in during COVID. So there's two ways that you can describe how a medical test performs you. You know this already, Tony, you're an expert. So one would be like sensitivity. So like how AIG  [00:12:19] Tony Arsenal: not an expert.  [00:12:20] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, you're definitely an expert in testing. Here we go. So one would be like sensitivity. How good is the test at catching people who are sick? So if you're sick, you, you want the test to identify that, that you're sick. That's sensitivity. So a test with a 99% sensitivity is gonna correctly identify 99 out of a hundred people who are truly sick. It always gonna miss one person. It's a false negative. The other half of that coin is something called specificity. So if sensitivity is all about catching the people who are sick, specificity is gonna say, how good is the test at clearing people who are not sick? And so a test with 99% specificity, you might have correctly guessed, is gonna identify or clear 99 out of a hundred healthy people. Now if you have a test. Both of those 99% sensitive and 99% specific, you might be thinking, that is the dream. That's exactly what I want. That that test is gonna be so precise and accurate. How could my intuition fail me? But this is the thing. It actually fails all the time, and here's why. Let's say that. You go out and you screen a group of people, a general population for a rare disease that affects one in a thousand people. One in a thousand people, rare disease. So if you screen 10,000 people from the general population, that means that truly only 10 of them are going to have the actual disease. I'm not gonna do all the math 'cause it'll, oh, this is already making for amazing podcasting. But here's the bottom line. That test, which sounds so good on the face, is going to identify 109 people as truly sick or truly having disease. But the problem is that only 10 of them actually have it. That means that only there's, it only has a success rate of 9%. There's only 9% chance you actually have the disease, but it's falsely identified. The short end of this is Bayes corrects that problem. He fixes it with his theorem so that we get to the right number of people. That's what's called like a base fallacy rate. It's not taking into account that really only 10 people should have this particular disease or this sickness. So I know that's sounds super nerdy, but so much of our lives are based on this. We have a prior belief or a prior set of things that we understand about the world. And then as evidence comes in, we refine that. That sounds so normal and normative, but it's revolutionary in this book actually. Bayes versus what's called like frequentist or frequent, um, probability is like hotly debated. People actually throw down over this theorem. So it's a really fun read. Go check out. Everything is predictable. Al Bayesian statistics explains our world. It really is for everybody. And then you can impress your friends with all the statistical pross you're gonna have when you're done reading it.  [00:14:56] Tony Arsenal: Like the medical administrator hat that I can't always take off is like, why would we screen 10,000 people? Are, are they all symptomatic? Are none of them symptomatic? But suppose it doesn't really  [00:15:08] Jesse Schwamb: matter for the example. That's a great, so generally what happens here is, let's say it's like some kind of rare form of cancer, unless you use Bayesian statistics, what you'll find is you'll get these false positive rates. So these tests do use Bayesian statistics. It corrects, in other words, for this problem. So there might be a lot of people that are gonna screen for this because if you, you wanna know if you have it, but you don't wanna get it wrong and say that you do. So this ensures his approach ensures that you get it. Right. It's wild. Fascinating stuff.  [00:15:34] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I would think actually, you know, there's probably, there's other mechanisms as well where they would, where they would sort of screen out. People that shouldn't be tested or help identify false negatives, false positives. Um, but yeah, that's, that's interesting. I probably won't read that book, but it sounds like an interesting read. I just don't have a lot of room on my A TBR shelf.  [00:15:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, listen. That, that's fair.  [00:15:57] Goodreads DNF Update [00:15:57] Jesse Schwamb: By the way, here's like a, a side affirmation. I think you and I both share speaking like books and cataloging books. If you use Good Reads, good Reads. Right. Finally adding a list of the Do Not Did Not Finish book. That's fantastic. This, this might be an example for some people, so pick it up and even if you don't have a place for it, guess where you can put it on the did not finish list. Yeah. Good Reads.  [00:16:16] Tony Arsenal: That's finally, that's one of those like, like why didn't they add that 15 years ago? Kind of an updates and you get the email and they're like, we're so excited to introduce the did Not Finish thing. And we're like, yeah. Like of course. Like, duh. It's likes, like, we're proud to introduce that. Your keypad now has a zero on it.  [00:16:36] Jesse Schwamb: Right. So  [00:16:37] Tony Arsenal: yeah. I'm, I'm excited about the DNR, um, the DNF, um, I'm so excited. I can't even remember what it's called. Yeah. The shelf. But, uh, very, very useful. The DNR list  [00:16:47] Jesse Schwamb: is a diff it is a different list. Speaking of medical things, it's a different  [00:16:50] Tony Arsenal: list. Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely a different thing. Usually it's not a list. It's a list of one in most cases.  [00:16:56] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly,  [00:16:57] Tony Arsenal: yeah. You can't put other people on your  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: DNR  [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: This,  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: I suppose. Yeah, I should clarify that. You can really, you can only really put yourself, or I suppose somebody for whom you have that kind of authority over on that list, but I was thinking that more from like a medical perspective, that somewhere there would be a database in which there might be a list of DNR. I don't know.  [00:17:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure. Probably there was at some point, but I think with medical chart technology now, that's probably like a. A moot point. Yeah. They don't need to be able to like cross reference a master list anymore. They just look in the patient's electronic record. We're really like in the weeds here. You can tell it's been a while since I've, I've podcasted. I don't really remember how to do this.  [00:17:35] Jesse Schwamb: This is great.  [00:17:36] Segue to Matthew 20 [00:17:36] Jesse Schwamb: I think at this point we try to make some kind of awkward segue that is mildly successful. Again, probably has statistically like a 20 to 27% chance of being successful and really hitting the mark. Yeah. So do you have anything that's gonna move us into this?  [00:17:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I feel like you've been podcasting for the last several weeks without me and I've been working hard and now I'm kind of coming in as Johnny come lately and we're gonna get paid the same amount so. Even though you've worked harder for longer and I'm coming in late to the game here. [00:18:03] Jesse Schwamb: Oh man. Ple loved ones. Please tell me you got that. Please tell me you got all of that. That's, that's what you show up for here. Yeah, that was  [00:18:10] Tony Arsenal: a deep cut.  [00:18:11] Jesse Schwamb: That, that was beautiful. And I think leads us right into Matthew 20. So I think we've got at least 16 verses to get through here. Maybe again, if we're gonna keep a statistical theme here, something about engineering and math, all that stuff, we'll let everybody else pick the over under and whether or not we're gonna get through this and how many verses that's going to be. But at this point, we might as well begin.  [00:18:32] Tony Arsenal: Yes. Yeah.  [00:18:33] Read the Parable [00:18:33] Tony Arsenal: I'll start by reading. Uh, we're here in Matthew chapter 20, the first 16 versus this is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and it reads. For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborer laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you. So they went, going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when the evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them with their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. And he replied to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? For a denarius, take what belongs to you and go, I choose to give the last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you beg, do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. Now I just wanna head this off. I did bite my tongue earlier and I probably am lisping and this is like a running gag. We thought that we'd resolved it. Uh, so if you hear me stumble over my words a little bit, it's just, it's just the struggle bus today.  [00:20:24] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, this is the, these are like the real things we have to deal with when the podcasting, like the real threats, the real injuries. I appreciate you like working through it. Like you just get back up and you walk it off with your tongue.  [00:20:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, my, my, uh, my podcasting hiatus was actually just a recovery of the last time I bit my tongue. I just needed a couple weeks to, no, I'm just kidding.  [00:20:43] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, we didn't wanna say.  [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:20:44] Kingdom Fairness and Grumbling [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, this is a, this is a parable that follows right on the heels, um, of kind of everything we've been talking about. And I think as we go through these parables and we look at them and we, we sort of pick them up and we look at the different facets of them, we sort of compare them to each other. We kind of, we kind of place them in their context really. They all have basically the same theme, right? Like they're all kind of circulating around these same topics. In this parable, it's circulating around this idea that, um, the, the owner of the vineyard, the master of the vineyard, is allowed to pay the people he employs whatever he wants. And as long as the payment that is due to an individual is received by that individual, then what other people receive and how they receive it and how hard they've worked and how hard they didn't work. That's really not germane to whether or not the, the laborer received a fair wage, uh, in the first place. Right. So we're, we're circling around themes of kind of fairness of, uh, of sort of resentment, I think for resentment at the master's generosity, which has been a big theme in previous ones. So this will be good for us to expand on. There's always little nuggets and kernels of things that are different from other parables, and then it's interesting to always see the ways that they kind of line up and, and tell us similar things.  [00:21:57] Jesse Schwamb: And this parable is unique to Matthew. Yeah. And it does function as this exposition or expansion of what Jesus says in chapter 19 where it says, but many who are first will be last. And the last first, which is repeated with this lovely like inverted emphasis in, at the end of this as you just read. So it belongs to this like interesting cluster of teacher teachings on discipleship and reward nature of the kingdom of God. And we've, we've spoken a lot about that. I think I was just reminded of this as you were, you were. Reading this, I feel like I remember this from some teaching, like this parable is kind of like a unique chiasm that's anchored on the landowner, sovereign generosity, which you brought up. And then there's the complaints of the first hired, which is mirrored by the late comers vulnerability. And then the landowners, two speeches which divide everything, kind of provide sandwich and the like, the theological climax. It does start in that really familiar way, which we've gotten accustomed to thinking about that introductory formula of the kingdom of heaven is like, and it signals of course that what follows is not gonna be a lesson in economics, but it's gonna use all this economic language as theological disclosure for how God's kingdom operates. And it starts again, like you said, with this master of the house, which to me seems. Pretty clearly like a, a God figure himself. Yeah. It's, that's kind of like a reoccurring mathian image. I think. So we've got this vineyard, which of course has all this symbolism, steeply rooted in Israel's covenant imagination and evokes God's people and his redemptive labor among them. So, man, now that I'm saying this all loud, is this thing like super pregnant with all kinds of like imagery and meaning?  [00:23:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's, it's always good to remember, although parables have kind of some parables, most parables have sort of distinct discreet, symbolic elements where like, this represents that this represents that almost in an allegorical form. And, and in some cases, like purely in allegorical form, where it's like pilgrim's progress where each, each individual, each entity, each location each represents some sort of symbolic value. But we have to remember that when, when it says the parable of the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house, it's not just like the master of the house. Yes. Right. It's like this whole scenario. Yes. It's, it's like. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like everything that follows, it's like the entire, um, the entire paree here. That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And one of the things that I think is striking about this is the kingdom of heaven is like some people complaining, like the people complaining about, some people are getting the same wage for less work. Um, that is part of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So I think we sometimes think of, of. The kingdom of heaven in, um, in the parables, we think of it as though God is just saying, this is what heaven is like. Right? Jesus Just saying like, this is what heaven is like, but the kingdom of heaven, that language is broader than what we normally would say, uh, is. We're thinking of heaven, like in the, the spiritual abode where God lives and the angels live. Um, where, where the departed saints are waiting for the resurrection, the kingdom of heaven is, is also inclusive of the, the sort of like. Time now between the victory of Christ on the cross and the consummation of the kingdom and the last day, the kingdom of heaven is inclusive of that time period too. And so this parable sort of situates us. I think it situates us in that pre consummated state where we're talking about what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of heaven here and now in our fallen state, but still solidly in the kingdom of heaven. 'cause there's not gonna be any complaining or grumbling about God's justice in God's fairness once we're in the final resurrected state. Right? Sure. Nobody's gonna be looking back and be like, yeah, you were way too gracious for that guy. Nobody's gonna be playing the Jonah part when we're all resurrected and we're worshiping for, for all time going forward. So this parable, because there are elements of. Dissatisfaction or elements of grumbling or complaining similar to like the, the parable of the prodigal son. There's this sun figure, the, the older sun figure who like is just a bonehead and doesn't get it. Well, that can't be talking about the people who are in the resurrection kingdom in the final kingdom. It's gotta be talking about people who are still awaiting the resurrection of the body and who are still not yet. Uh, and even in, in that parable, the, the older son doesn't even seem to be a figure who's, who's regener. Maybe he does become regener at some point in the future, but he doesn't seem to be. In, even in God's kingdom, he doesn't seem to be, even among God's people, he's consistently placed outside of the field. You don't even know he exists until Nick halfway through the parable. This is similar in that there are these workers, they're receiving their wages and some of them are, are outwardly dissatisfied and grumbling against the master of the house. Um, so I think if we think about parables as describing heaven rather than the kingdom of heaven, we can lose sight of, of what's actually being said in a lot of them. [00:26:50] Contracts Versus Grace [00:26:50] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's really good stuff because it strikes me that there are like, strangely, two groups here mentioned, I, I find this really kind of fascinating. We, I think we should talk about this, like the first group has like the most formal agreement, it's almost a legal contract, right? Various was like a standard day laborers wage sufficient mostly for subsistence. And so that detail seems theologically loaded to me. These workers relate to the landowner on the basis of a contract and what is owed. And so their claim at the end of the day will be exactly that. They're owed something and they know it, and that sets up Then this contrast with a second group, which is mostly all about grace because by the time we get to that third hour, like. Approximately like 9:00 AM then we're beginning this pattern repeated at the sixth and the ninth hours. And crucially, for those workers who go out, go out and get recruited, there's no wage that's specified for them. Only the promise of like whatever is right. And so they enter the vineyard, not on the basis of a contract, but on the basis of like the owner's word and character. And that seems to be like more of a picture of trust and not, not calculation. Yeah. Separate than like the first group. And that marketplace, idleness, as I read this, doesn't imply like laziness because verse seven clarifies like they just had not been hired. Right? They were overworked, they were unemployed. They were marginalized. So it does set up, like you said, everything you just talked about, about the kind of this, I like that. Like the Jonah, the Jonah whiners or whatever, like yeah, they want to complain about this, right? There are, and there are two, two separate groups that have kind of been brought into the fold, not under different terms or pretenses, but differently. [00:28:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I think too, bear's saying, um. Although there are elements of parables that are very, very directly applicable. Mm. We shouldn't read this as though every, every specific thing in the parable is not a parable. Right. Right. I think we can look at this and we can go, you know, you can read this in a way where, oh yeah, there's some people actually earn their, earn their wage, they earn ary. Right. It's a fair contract. And they work all day and he says, well, I'm gonna give you what's right, what you, what I owe you.  [00:28:45] God Owes Nothing [00:28:45] Tony Arsenal: The reality is God doesn't owe any of us anything. Right? Right. He owes us wrath and judgment and destruction. And so even, even the people who are the hard workers in the kingdom of God don't merit and never could merit, um, to, in a certain sense, in a strict sense and stick with me before you send your, your angry emails in a real strict sense. Even Adam couldn't merit. What was, well, it was guaranteed to him, according to the Covenant of Works, God had to condescend to make the covenant of works in order for Adam to have any sort of fruition of his blessedness. So there there's no natural obligation, strict obligation that God has to reward the work of his creatures because nothing they could do could ever be sufficient enough to obligate him. So the, the obligation of himself, and that's, this is where I do think this is strong, the fact that he obligates himself to these workers to give them their denarius after a hard day's work  [00:29:37] Jesse Schwamb: exactly  [00:29:37] Tony Arsenal: is itself. A covenantal, um, contractual, yes. But I actually read this as sort of a covenantal thing and the, the strange part is that the people don't recognize the sort of semi gracious covenantal nature of this. Yes.  [00:29:50] Grace In The Hiring [00:29:50] Tony Arsenal: I think, um, you know, there have been times when I, where I've been unemployed, um, not for very long. Now, I know some people face unemployment for a lot longer than I ever have, but I know there was times where I was, I was looking for work and someone would say to me like, Hey, you know, my, my, my lawn needs to be mowed. Could you come over and I'll, I'll give you 25 bucks to mow my lawn. It's a small lawn. Um. That's a gracious act in most cases. Right, right. Um, yes, I'm performing a task. Yes, they're paying me, but they didn't have to offer me that work. They didn't have to offer me that job, especially when it's something that like they could have accomplished themselves. They could have just done it themselves. Um, so I think there's an element of that here, that there's, there's a condescension of the master to these workers, to these laborers who are not part of his household. These are not, they're not slaves. These are not people who are part of his household, who are regular employees. These are people that he goes out into the market to, to find and to hire. And as we see some of, some of these mark, like the difference between the ones that are hired and the ones that are not hired until later in the day, the parable's not super clear about what it is. Just that they're not hired, it doesn't say the lazy ones were left there. The ones were exactly, that were ugly or had like limp legs or like just couldn't cut it. It just says like there was some that didn't get hired. Um, so there's a gracious element of this, and that makes the recognition at the end or the lack of recognition at the end by these full day laborers, the, the sort of like recognition, this, this entitled ness, um, that actually makes it all the worst. It's like the people who are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace. Um, I know all the Baptists in our, our group, their heads just exploded, but like are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace, um, who wanna somehow complain about like the graciousness of the covenant of grace that they're outwardly attached to it. It's just sort of like a form of, of theological and temporary insanity, I think. And that's what we see on full display here.  [00:31:40] Jesse Schwamb: It's definitely all grace. You're right that nobody's gonna get injustice right in this parable. And I think that's definitely exemplified the further out you go in this hiring order. [00:31:49] Eleventh Hour Mercy [00:31:49] Jesse Schwamb: So by the time you get to 5:00 PM which is pretty extraordinary, right? Only really like one hour remains before sense, right? It's the end of the working day.  [00:31:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:31:56] Jesse Schwamb: You can imagine like these guys who are being hired at the hour probably can contribute very little in the last hour of the day, right? But this owner goes out and hires them and no agreement is stated whatsoever. It's just pure grace. The landowner's question, why do you stand here idle all day? I think to your point, underlies their vulnerability. They were not idle by choice, presumably. And so I think we rightly here in this, like a foreshadowing of those who are called the late in redemptive history, Gentile sinners, the seemingly least qualified for kingdom membership. All of that I think is at play and it's all, it's getting this lovely setup of all these groups to help us understand what that kingdom is actually like.  [00:32:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah.  [00:32:35] Reverse Payroll Setup [00:32:35] Tony Arsenal: And then we have this, um, this is where the sort of dramatic tension turns, right? The end of the day comes and, uh, the master calls the, the people that he brought last, right? He calls the people who'd only been there for an hour and he starts to go down the list of the people who, the people who were last, and the people who came in next. And the people who came in next, right? And the workers who had contracted at the beginning of the day. Um, they're watching this happen and they're kind of going, oh, this is gonna be good. Like, that guy's only been here for an hour and he got a denarius. You know, the logic is probably like, I'm gonna get 12 denarius, like I'm gonna go 12 days worth of work. Um, because I think there's an assumption on their part, um, that the master's fair that he is, he's providing an equitable wage. Um, of course the master is fair, but he's providing an equitable wage that's commensurate with the work delivered. A delivered, delivered, right? And that, that's the key to this parable.  [00:33:26] Merit Mindset Exposed [00:33:26] Tony Arsenal: I think the expectation that God. Helps those who help themselves. Right? God rewards those who put in the hard work. God. God provides blessing or salvation according to the merit provided by the one who's being saved. That perspective is what's on full display here. Yes. By the people who are, uh, the ones who contracted for the full day. They're not thinking about the covenant that they have with this person or the contract they have with this person. They're not thinking about the fact that they agreed to work for the day in order to earn a day's wage. They're thinking about how this actually is gonna work out great in their favor. They're looking at this as a strictly merit-based kind of a, a thing. And you would think that like when the, the one hour people come in, they get a denarius, and then the three hour people come in and they get a denarius. You'd think they would pick up on it at some point, but then in the course of the payroll, it doesn't seem that they do. They still get to the bottom of the list and think they're gonna get more compared to the other people who all got the same.  [00:34:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that display piece is critical to this. It is like complete setup. Like you can imagine he, the landowner calling everybody together at the end of the day and they're all standing around. Some of them are exhausted because they've again born all their work in the heat of the day on their backs. They're tired, they're dirty, maybe they're exhausted. And he starts in this reverse order. And by the way, we should note that there is something here that's beautiful in that the law, the landowner is law abiding because right evening payment is mandated in the Torah. So we see all this taking place as to fulfill the law in some ways. But the reversal of the order that last of first is like such deliberative and good narrative storytelling and staging, isn't it? 'cause it ensures that the first hired workers are going to witness the payment of those who work the least. And if without that order, if you just did it the other way around, the more a crisis of the parable disc like completely goes away.  [00:35:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:35:10] Jesse Schwamb: So this execution of the payment at the owner's will, it just shows that he has. He's completely independent. His sovereignty belong. The sovereignty belongs to the master alone. And so this 11th hour workers receiving a full day's wage for one hour of work, that's like an act of sheer generosity. It's not proportional justice. And I think as reform, people, maybe all of us at some point have had this conversation about predestination and justice and mercy. And again, really I think putting a crowbar between this idea that nobody is receiving injustice, but some are receiving mercy and grace. And here these first hired workers seeing this form, like you said, this expectation that they're gonna receive more, like you said, where that came from. Yeah, it's just them, right? It's purely manufactured in their own reasoning. It's not anchored in the covenantal promise and certainly not witnessed in the grace that they should be receive, like perceiving as the payments get doled out, like sequentially moving in their reverse order toward those who have worked the longest. But their expectation reveals that they have fundamentally misread like the landowner's character. They're still operating in the register of a contract and not grace.  [00:36:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And you know, I think to sort of lock this covenant covenantal frame and sort of like lack of recognition of the covenant into place too, when you look at the language of this parable, um, and especially kind of what it's following up on, it's coming on the heels of this interaction with this rich, rich young ruler who comes in and he thinks that he's gonna earn eternal life by keeping the commandments. Um, and, and he, he has this outward sense or this outward display of pty. He's calling Jesus good. He's saying he, you know, he keeps the commandments, Jesus doesn't even disagree with him actually, that he has connect. Yes. You know, I think it's implied that, well, of course you haven't, but he, he still is graciously trying to like, convince this guy, no, you actually need to abandon your self righteousness and, and pursue and follow me. Um. But this is a parable where like other people are listening, right? There's other witnesses. This isn't like the rich young ruler came to him in the middle of the night, like Nicodemus. This is something that's happened on PO on in the public. So we can anticipate that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the lawyers were all aware of this. They may have been there, but they were at least aware of this happening. And I think there's some language in here that is actually directed at those people.  [00:37:30] Grumbling As Accusation [00:37:30] Tony Arsenal: And, and here's where it comes in, is you get to verse, um, we'll start reading again at verse nine. It says, when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, so we're referring to the people who are hired at the beginning of the day. Now, when those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius and on receiving it, right? So this is as, this is, um, uh, just unbelievable as they're receiving the denarius on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. Now, just the way that I read that and said the word grumbled tells you that that word is really important here. Yes. If you look at this Greek word. And you compare it to the, the word, the usage of this word in the, the, um, Sept. Yes. Which of course is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This word most commonly appears in the wilderness wandering accounts. [00:38:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:38:23] Tony Arsenal: Right. And the, the primary sin of the Israelites during the wilderness wandering was grumbling against the Lord. And this grumbling against the Lord in that context is not just a general complaining, right. It's not just like a, a sort of like a, a general dissatisfaction or like murmuring. This isn't like water cooler frustration about your boss. The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation, right. So this is tied to the, the accounts where Moses first is told to strike the rock, and he does so when the water comes out, and then second is told to speak to the rock, but he strikes it. I won't go into all the details, but the scene that's being, being displayed there is the people come, they accuse the Lord of abandoning them into the wilderness. And this scene where Moses is set up on the rock and he strikes the rock, that scene is a judicial scene. The people have filed a covenant accusation against the Lord, and in reality, it's the people who have been unfaithful. But the Lord standing in the place of the rock is the one who is struck, right? Jesus was the rock in the wilderness from which the water came. Paul says that in First Corinthians, right? So this language of grumbling in this is not just, they're not just complaining about the fact that they didn't get what they thought they were going to, they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. So they're, they're still locked into this merit-based. This merit-based idea even more than it seemed at first, right? There's a logic to the idea that like, oh, if the, the master is actually paying a wage of one denarius for per hour, like there's a logic to that. But it's not just that they're saying, and this is, this explains the response of the master. It's not just that they're saying like, Hey, wait a second, like the wage rate that you're paying is not right. They're saying you have violated the terms of our covenant in the way that you have paid us. 'cause it's upon receiving it that they complain or they grumble and the master says more or less like, Hey. You agreed with me for one Denarius, I'm giving you what you've earned. I'm giving you what you agreed on. Why don't you take it and go. So the answer is not to try to justify why he is free to pay these other people more, or why he's free to pay these people a perceived less. The answer is, again, they're complaining against the covenant. He is bringing it back to the covenant saying, well, here's what the covenant relationship was. You work for the day. I give you Denarius. We're square here, we're on the same page. We've fulfilled our covenant obligations, and you've received your reward for that. So I, I think that's another thing we have to lock in here is this is not just a general idea of like unfairness that's being presented. This is not just a general idea that people are saying the master of the house is unfair. They're saying he's covenantal. Unfaithful. Right? That's a pretty big accusation.  [00:41:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that is, thank you by the way, for completely stealing the whole tugen thing from me. Like I was just going hot to Tugen to find that reference. And now all I can do is add to it. So that is from at least one of those occasions, a number 16, and I just wanna read the verse. This is 16 six. So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel at evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you outta the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh for he hears your grumblings against Yahweh. And what we are that you grumble against us. So I'm totally with you. This is not subtle. The workers first complaint here, the first workers' complaint is like theologically serious. Uh, I think that's what you're hitting us on. Like it charges the owner with injustice. Right. And as I read it, the grievance has like two layers or two parts, I would say. One is this comparative part, which is basically saying, you made us equal to them. Right? And the second be like a meritorious part, they have worked harder and in worse conditions. And that's why they say things like, it's, it's all inflammatory language, isn't it? Like the scorching heat emphasizes like the real bodily cost and their complaint. I think if we're honest, it's not irrational, but it's spiritually revealing at least because Right, they believe their greater effort, mayors greater reward and they resent that grace shown to others. So like you said, they're bringing forward a very serious grievance and it's, it's not just like, Hey, we think maybe could you give us a bonus? Right. But that is a matter of faithfulness. And in fact, like as I'm looking at this tugen here, shout out to logos Bible software. And I'm saying that that verb that we're talking about in Exodus 16 is in the imperfect tense. So this is, they kept on grumbling and it is like an an echo of Israel's murmuring in the wilderness, which I presume like Matthew certainly had intentionally used there or had that view in part casting these workers as the same types of those who relate to God through entitlement rather than gratitude. So it's like insults upon insult here, but it is to emphasize this fact that it's no small accusation, it's not subtle, it's meant to be in your face. They're coming in hot with this and they're making a big deal about it.  [00:43:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and again, I think like underscoring the covenantal nature of this is so key. And I think, you know, when we look at this, we really have to land that this is not just saying. Your wage structure is not right. 'cause and, and we gotta remember, they weren't there when the master went and made this bargain, or, you know, brought these other workers into the vineyard. They weren't there to hear what covenant or contract he did or didn't make. And as we've commented, they didn't, he didn't even make a covenant with them. He basically just said, I'm gonna put you to work and I'll pay you what's fair. I'll pay you what's right. Um, and they went, okay, you need the work and thank you. Like, I think, I think that's kind of like the, the scene here is they're standing there. They recognize they're not gonna get a wage for the day, especially these ones that he's coming in at the 11th hour, they're not gonna get a wage for the day. And as you said, these are subsistence workers. Right. These are people that if you don't get a wage, and this is the, the grounding of the Old Testament, um, the Old Testament command of, of paying at the end of the day is that if they don't get their wage, they're not gonna eat. They're not gonna have food, they're not gonna have the money they need to survive. Um, so he comes in and he basically says like. You don't have a job that's not gonna be good for you. I'll take care of you. I'll, I'll give you a job and I'll take care of you. And the ones who are complaining and grumbling, they have no line of sight to that process. That, that's right. They make a lot of assumptions about the, and this is, goes back to, um. The parable of the talents, which we haven't really talked about yet. The, the, there's a lot of assumptions about the nature of this master that the, the contracted or covenanted day laborers are making that don't turn out to be accurate. Right. They, they assume that he's working, as you've said, that he's working on this one-to-one, you know, quid pro quo. You do this, I do that kind of a, a methodology and he's actually operating on a basis of a much more. Basic, uh, grace principle. Uh, and again, even, even the principle of hiring these original workers and covenanting with them is gracious in the sense that he didn't have to hire them. Right. So, so all along the way they're, they're, it's like the epitome of looking a gift horse in the mouth.  [00:45:24] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:45:24] Tony Arsenal: They've been hired, and so yes, it is right for them to expect their, um, to expect their wage, whatever that wage might be. But they, they are misinterpreting the idea of what the wages are and how the wages are to be delivered. They're, they're applying, this is actually a lot like job's, friends, right? Their, their logic is not actually all that bad, but they have, they have missing parts of the picture that makes the logic. Apply differently in this particular situation. They think that this, this master works on a strict merit-based. You do X amount of work, you receive X amount of money. And this master is actually more functioning on this covenantal principle of, I'm gonna pay you what's right, regardless of what, what work you've done, which, what work is actually owed to you. And the master makes these, this agreement with these other workers to just say, go into the vineyard and then when the evening comes, I'll pay you. Right. Well, he intended to pay them what they needed to survive, regardless of how much work they provided. Right? So they're all, even though there's a formal contract to say these, this group works for the whole day and this group, you know, and, and they receive one day's labor, at the end of the day, he's graciously providing another day of survival for all of these people, for the work that they're, they're putting forward regardless of how much they actually contribute to his bottom line. [00:46:41] Owner Defends The Covenant [00:46:41] Jesse Schwamb: And we see that in verse 13, where the landowner gives his defense, you know, it says. He and he replied, friends, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Now the address, because now I'm deep in the Greek Tony. Here we go. So the address I'm seeing in, uh, again, shout out to Locus Bible software, it, this use of friend is not like the warm fellows, but like a more formal or distance term of address. It's used elsewhere in Matthew. But I think the point here is that the owner's first line of defense is this contractual point, which you're saying. I have not wronged you. He's kept his agreement precisely. No injustice has been done. And that's crucial. The owner doesn't re appreciate justice. He actually fulfills it. He obligates himself and he fulfills that obligation. And what the worker receives is exactly what was promised and exactly what is due. And so by the time he gets to verse 14 where he says, take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you here. I think this is like the theological beating hide of this whole bad boy. Yeah.  [00:47:37] Jesse Schwamb: The landowner explicitly invokes his will, his sovereign freedom to do and to give as he pleases, which is exactly how God behaves. It's not a negation of justice, but this declaration of something beyond justice, it is grace. He exercises his freedom and generosity to those who had no claim, and the command, take what belongs to you and go is, is kind of like a world dismissal, like, like you were saying. Yeah. We're in the courtroom. He's like, I, I've ruled on this already. Like, bring Brian, bring your grievance. Here's my ruling. Take what you have and go. Their grumbling has revealed that they're not celebrating the kingdom. They're actually grieving it. So yeah, you know, I think original invocation of like Jonah is right on the money. It's basically like, are are you mad enough? Yeah, I'm mad enough to die. Like, how dare you give me, give me this great shade and then take it away from me. Yeah. And in some ways this is even worse because what they have been given has been that were promised to them, was given to them, and they get to retain and God says, go, or the landowner as God says, go now and take what is yours. Take what I've given to you graciously. But your point that like what supersedes that, the antecedent to all of that is still God's covenant keeping, covenant making promise, making, right? That sets the whole thing up. But I love this idea that, you know, I will choose, it's my desire, it's language of divine volition. And of course the reform theology, this single verb resonates with the entire doctrine of election. It's God's free, sovereign, and gracious will to bestow blessing without reference to merit, like praise his name.  [00:49:00] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And then we come to kind of the close of this parable, right? And this is, this reall

Looking for your next favorite author before they blow up? This episode is for you.  Joe is joined by Amy Allen Clark of the Book Gang Podcast, an expert in spotlighting debut authors, for a conversation that starts with a little podcast inside baseball. From prepping interviews to working with first-time authors, they dig into what makes debut conversations so special.  Then, it's all about the books.  Joe and Amy share standout debut novels from 2022 through 2026 that completely delivered. These are the first books that don't feel like first books: bold, buzzworthy, and absolutely worth adding to your TBR.  If you loved the Dazzling Debuts conversation, this is your official reading list follow-up.  Looking for the video version of our show? Check out the Libby App YouTube channel!  Book recommendations:  Amy's Picks:  The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman  Harvesting Rosewater by Paria Hassouri  The Sign for Home by Blair Fell  With Friends Like You by Amy Chozick  If I Ruled the World by Amy DuBois Barnett  Joe's Picks:   Mayra – Nicky Gonzalez  The Dallergut Dream Department Store – Miye Lee  Cactus Country – Zoe Bossiere  The September House – Carissa Orlando  I Want You More – Swan Huntley  The Compound – Aisling Rawle  Julie Chan is Dead – Liann Zhang  How to Survive a Horror Story – Mallory Arnold  Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – Anais Flogny   Fitting Indian – Jyoti Chand  Homebody – Theo Parish  Who's in this episode:   Amy Allen Clark – Links     Time stamps:  00:00:00 Title 00:00:23 Intro to Dazzling Debuts 00:05:00 Inside baseball – talking to debut authors and the art of the interview 00:25:35 Dazzling Debut Recommendations 01:19:35 Outro  Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can add these titles to their digital collections for free in OverDrive Marketplace and Kanopy. Check out our Cumulative List for the whole season, or this list for today's episode!  Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog!  We hope you enjoy this episode of Book Lounge by Libby. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can watch the video version of our show on the Libby App YouTube channel. Keep up with us on social media by following the Libby App on Instagram!   Want to reach out? Send an email to bookloungebylibby@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: http://plotthreadsshop.com/booklounge!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: Spring cleaning and outgoing books Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: the oldest books on our TBR Before We Go: our new segment featuring bookish friend posts and a something Meredith is curious about Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site). . . .   1:21 - Bookish Moments of the Week 6:05 - Current Reads 6:59 - A Question of Guilt by Jorn Lier Horst (Meredith, amazon link) 9:36 - Daunt Books 11:59 - How To Kill A Guy In Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson (Kaytee) 12:05 - The Novel Neighbor 17:05 - This American Woman by Zarna Garg (Meredith) 18:59 - Born A Crime by Trevor Noah  23:30 - Zarna Garg on TikTok 24:19 - The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr (Kaytee) 24:27- The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr 29:35 - Vigil by George Saunders (Meredith) 31:25 - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 31:33 - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders 37:54 - The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens (Kaytee) 38:09 - Fabled Bookshop 38:13 - The Life We Bury by Allan Eskens 38:18 - Content Bookstore 42:53 - Deep Dive: The Oldest Books on our TBR 43:20 - Currently Reading Substack 43:24 - Currently Reading Website 47:22 - The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks 48:12 - 12 Years A Slave by Solomon Northrup 49:09 - Raven Black by Ann Cleeves 50:31 - How We Learn by Benedict Carey 51:57 - Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree by Nancy Atherton 53:57 - CR Season 5: Episode 18 54:00 - Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton 56:33 - The Hunger by Alma Katsu 58:12 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 58:54 - Before We Go Kaytee highlights a bookish friend post Meredith brings something she is curious about   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April's IPL is brought to us from a new to us bookstore, Two Friends Books in Bentonville, Arkansas Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

This week on From the Front Porch, it's a New Release Rundown! Annie, Erin, and Olivia share the March releases they're excited about to help you build your TBR. When you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order! To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search episode 575), or download and shop on The Bookshelf's official app: Annie's books ○ The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne (4/7) ○ Love by the Book by Jessica George (4/7) ○ Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Mguyen (4/14) Olivia's books ○ The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke (April 7th) ○ Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer by Paige Classey (April 28th) ○ We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune (April 28th) Erin's books ○ Like This, But Funnier by Hallie Cantor (April 7th) ○ Small Town Girls by Jayne Anne Phillips (April 21st) ○ The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva (April 28th) From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  This week, Annie is reading The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian. Olivia is reading Young World by Soman Chainani. Erin is reading Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart. If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. Our Executive Producers are...Ashley Ferrell, Beth, Cammy Tidwell, Gene Queens, Jammie Treadwell, Joseph Shorter IV, Kimberly, Linda Lee Drozt, Nicole Marsee, Stephanie Dean, and Wendi Jenkins.