Books and Bites

Join our discussion of Rednecks by Taylor Brown, winner of the 2025 Southern Book Prize! On this episode, Michael Cunningham, Carrie Green, and guest John David Hurley share their thoughts on this novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920-1921.Want to talk with other book lovers about the novel? Register for our in-person book club discussion of Rednecks, which will take plac

This month we're getting nostalgic with books set in the 1990s, one of the prompts in the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Teenagers all figure prominently in our picks: a YA mystery, a thriller that celebrates horror's babysitter trope, and a novel where two teens accidentally start a moral panic. Don't miss this episode—it's the bomb! Jacqueline's PickTh

Start the new year with the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! We hope our prompts will inspire you to read and have fun while doing it.Up first, we share wintry books perfect for reading by the fire. Our picks include an Irish Christmas story, a horror novel set in a Pennsylvania orphanage, and a YA fairy tale.Carrie's PickTime of the Child by Niall WilliamsP

It's time to wrap up the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! On this episode, we discuss books published in 2024. Our picks include a suspense novel that is also an immersive alternate reality game, a National Book Award-winning adaptation of an American classic, and a YA mystery by a bestselling author. Michael's PickWe Used to Live Here by Marcus KliewerEve Pal

On this episode, we discuss books about chosen or found family, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. According to library database NoveList, books with this theme focus on families "formed by choice, rather than birth." Close friends, nontraditional families, and people who bond over their circumstances can all form chosen families.Our pi

On this episode, we discuss Southern Gothic books, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Southern Gothic is a sub-genre of Gothic fiction--or, as Michael says, it's "Gothic with a twang." According to Book Riot, some of the characteristics of Southern Gothic include, “eccentric, flawed characters, sinister events, elements of the superna

On this episode, we discuss books with kings and queens, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Our picks include a page-turning history of the Magna Carta; a novel about Mary, Queen of Scots; and a YA novel that imagines an American royal family. Michael's PickMagna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan JonesDan Jones crafts a historical nar

On this episode, we discuss books that are hybrids of at least two genres, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Jacqueline's favorite romantasy novels are a good example. They combine elements of romance and fantasy. Other books mash up elements of science fiction and horror or, in the case of both Michael's and Carrie's picks, Westerns a

July is Disability Pride Month! Learn more about the history, experiences, and contributions of the disabled community by reading books by authors with disabilities.On this episode, we also introduce the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.Teens and adults, from now through December 30, 2024, keep track of books you read or listen to by writing the title and autho

No matter the genre, when you read a book with a map, you're in for an adventure. This month, we share a YA historical fiction meets fantasy novel; a mystery set in 1920s Bangalore; and a dystopian novel set during a future American Civil War.Don't forget to turn in your bingo sheets for the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge by June 30, 2024! If you still