Overdue

Do you need a ghost story to tell? Maybe one about a bunch of friends who probably shouldn’t be friends anymore? Then Cassandra Khaw has you covered with this flashy little novella about yokai, spooky weddings, and releasing one’s inhibitions.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Spooktober 2024 is here! And we're opening this month's spooktacular with a book about a cannibal dystopia, where people eat other people and where maybe we draw some parallels between how Special Meat is treated and how real-world non-special meat is treated?? Also we deal with the spookiness of a protagonist who Sucks.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will be learning about the world of babysitting! We're going to read eight books in this seminal series, picking books where we meet new Club members.

This episode is a free teaser for our Sit Me Baby One More Time longread project. Patreon supporters can get new episodes monthly (Episode 1 is up right now!), but the rest won't unlock on the main feed until months after the whole series has wrapped! For more information on how to get these episodes as they are released, head to patreon.com/overduepod.

In this episode, you'll hear us discuss the background of The Baby-Sitters Club and author Ann M. Martin.

The full series reading list:

• Kristy's Great Idea
• Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls
• The Truth about Stacey
• Mary Anne Saves the Day
• Dawn and the Impossible Three
• Hello, Mallory
• Jessi's Secret Language
• Welcome to the BSC, Abby

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Four wounded souls try to endure the end of WW2 in a bombed out Tuscan monastery. Ondaatje's novel digs into these liminal lives as they project themselves onto the blank slate that is [dramatic music] the English patient.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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We want to be the very best (podcasters)! The best (podcasters) there ever were! And our true test was to talk about the novelization of the first film in the most successful media franchise in the world: Pokémon.

To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod.

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Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Real horrorshow episode for you this week, malchicks and devotchkas! The best-known version of A Clockwork Orange might be Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film, which is based on a version of the story that is missing its last chapter. Burgess wants us all to know that he'd disown this story if he could, but if we're going to read it, we might as well get the ending as originally intended.

This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark, find it on your favorite listening app.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 15-19

Episode 7: Things start heating up in books 15 and 16, as Achilles finally sort of acknowledges that there's a war on and Patroclus rides out to meet his fate.

Episode 8: Now that we've bid Patroclus goodbye, it's time to fight over his body! The Trojans and Greeks scramble to control the fallen hero and the borrowed armor he wore. Achilles is heartbroken at the news and resolves to enact revenge. His mom overnights him some dope armor. Some horses cry and then give Achillies lip.

Find out more about how to get longread episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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Are you in your prime? If you were, would you know it? And would you know what to do with it?! Miss Jean Brodie's in her prime, and she's going to teach all these girls about art history, being the creme de la creme, and how Mussolini made the trains run on time. Tune in for a story about how teachers can have a huge impact on your life while still remaining mysterious in their motivations.

This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark, find it on your favorite listening app.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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In The Odyssey, Penelope is mostly a side character who exists to be faithful to Odysseus (and clever enough to be compatible with him). Atwood's Penelopiad asks: what was Penelope up to? What did she want? What if the Homeric version of Odysseus' story isn't the true one? And what if Penelope's version isn't either?

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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In this classic novella, Leo Tolstoy asks, "What would it take for a guy who stinks to realize he stinks? And how would he feel about that at the end of his life?"

This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark, find it on your favorite listening app.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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And so the (initial) story of the world of Percy Jackson draws to a close. It's time to discuss the Battle of New York, the resolution of a prophecy, and the ultimate theme(s) of Riordan's blockbuster series.

This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark and Jordan J. Hall's new story collection Mammoth, Massachusetts: A Collection of Speculative Folk Fiction.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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The Magic School Bus series, beloved of 80s and 90s kids as both a book series and a TV show, depicts a school where every day is a field trip and every field trip is actually a fantastical voyage through time and space. I don't want to think what these permission slips look like.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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The book that put Murakami on the map in Japan is an intimate tale about youth, love, sex, and grief. So it's not surprise he settled on a Beatles song for his novel's title??

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Hello, cats and kittypets! If you're up for a Redwall-y, Watership Down-y exploration of warrior cat societies and territorial conflicts, boy do we have the dozens and dozens of books for you!

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Communities collide in the Chicken Hill neighborhood of 1930s Pottstown. Will the tensions become more than this town can manage? Since this is a James McBride novel, probably not! His work is characterized by a warmth of spirit that feels optimistic without naivete. So it shouldn't surprised you that folks of different backgrounds are finding common cause on all sorts of things - like how cool it is they all call somebody Big Soap.

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Emily Henry's Beach Read is a romance novel that's light on the romance, and also on beaches and reading. But it's still fun! An a good argument against aggressively pigeonholing books or their authors into any given genre box.

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Garfield creator Jim Davis decided to turn his PAWS, Inc. artists loose on multiple interpretations of our favorite orange feline. Behold, a truly absurd collection of tails -- I mean, tales.

EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF AT LEAST ONE ODDLY EXPLICIT TURN OF PHRASE THAT REALLY CONFUSED US.

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Caw caw! Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a New Age messiah. Or is it? All we know is that this seagull loves to fly and craves perfection -- which is somehow an allegory for self-improvement?

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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This podcast is about to REAL! In that we are about to talk about Realism and Naturalism, two things we definitely have an amazing handle on. And did Émile Zola have a handle on them in his notable novel Thérèse Raquin? Tune in to find out.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Nora Ephron is known mainly for her films, but her voice comes through loud and clear in Heartburn, a thinly-veiled autobiographical novel about love and divorce and how much she doesn't like Washington DC.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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You find yourself facing a cherry tree. Is it on the level? Is it secretly plotting revenge against the President? Make a choice and dive into this revolutionary tale.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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To celebrate Bloomsday (however inadvertently), we decided to make our first foray in the work of James Joyce. His debut novel riffs on themes and characters that feature prominently in the rest of his canon, so join us for a discussion of modernist novel structure, semi-autobiographical lyricism, and what you should run off to smell if you find yourself crying in front of your family.

This episode is sponsored by Microdose. Get 30% off your first order, plus free shipping at Microdose.com, promo code OVERDUE.

This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Sometimes you read a book from 1940 and you get a little upset about how relevant its characters and themes remain more than 80 years later. Sometimes! McCullers' debut novel explores capitalism, alienation, and poverty in the American South at the tail end of the Great Depression.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Often grouped with the other plays in García Lorca's unfinished "rural trilogy," The House of Bernarda Alba is a claustrophobic drama about control, conformity, and one mother's intimidating cane. Which daughter will get Pepe? Will that horse stop kicking the wall? Will grandma ever be free?? These questions and more on this week's episode.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Percy Jackson and friends are back for the penultimate entry in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This installment in Rick Riordan's mythological mash-up benefits from additional emotional complexity and deepened character relationships.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 10-14.

Episode 5: It's time for a three-fer! This little triptych of books explores the combat of the Iliad from a few different perspectives:

Stealth (Book 10): Diomedes and Odysseus engaging in feats of derring-do. Non-lethal Damage (Book 11): Greeks and Trojans alike suffer setbacks but most of the Dramatis Personae survive. Siege (Book 12): Did you know the Greeks ALSO have a wall? And that the Trojans are besieging THEM?!

Episode 6: We're past the halfway point, and the fighting continues, with the Trojans managing to make it behind the Greek walls to cause some trouble (not that we're ever really allowed to believe they might win). Poseidon aids the Greeks. Hera suits up and bones Zeus to sleep so that some other gods can get in on the action.

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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This week we travel back to Bois Sauvage to revisit the work of acclaimed author Jesmyn Ward. Sing, Unburied, Sing introduces us to a family on hard times, preparing to welcome back a member from prison while also grappling with the ghosts that demand their attention. For more discussion of Jesmyn Ward, head to Ep 283 - Salvage the Bones.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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We're learning how to THINK AND GROW RICH with our good frenemy Napoleon Hill!

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Isaac Asimov's short story collection-turned-novel has very little to do with the mid-2000s Will Smith movie adaptation, which is a good thing. It's a lot less about robots rising up and killing their creators, and more about the law of unintended consequences.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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"We just found this bear at the train station and he seems cool? Like he's good at shopping and staring at people. Let's bring him home! Don't mind all the mess he makes." That's probably what the Browns said to themselves upon first spying a charming little bear at Paddington Station. Celebrate Children's Book Week with us by diving into the first appearance of this marmalade-loving lil scamp.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Did you know that before Gillian Flynn brought us the book Gone Girl, the movie Gone Girl, and the concept of "Gone Girl-ing" someone, she wrote a murder mystery about a different kind of unhealthy family dynamic!

This episode briefly discusses self-harm.

This episode is sponsored by Aura Frames. Visit AuraFrames.com and use code OVERDUE at checkout to get $30-off plus free shipping on their best-selling frame. Terms and conditions apply.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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This graphic memoir (ahem) This collection of comics chronicles the life of an Iranian girl named Marji, whose experiences are heavily based on those of author Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi lived through the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its authoritarian aftermath, and her story is one of resistance, education, and the difficulty of finding yourself amidst societal upheaval. Note: our discussion is based on reading the Complete Persepolis, which combines Volume 1: The Story of a Childhood with Volume 2: The Story of a Return.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Holes! We all need 'em, we all love 'em. This is a book where a boy is sentenced to dig a bunch of holes out in the desert because he was accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit. That's bad! But he also discovers a little something about himself and his family, and makes a new friend. That's good!

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Lo's award-winning novel seeks to shine a light on marginalized experiences from mid-century San Francisco. What's most impressive is how she's synthesized all of her research into a couple of fresh, compelling characters - allowing the story to honor the historical record without feeling overly bound by it.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Every week, one of our hosts reads a book and tells the other person (and you, the audience) about it. This week's book is about the topic of war and also the topic of peace. It has characters and themes. Find out more about all of this and more on this week's Overdue!

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 5-9.

Episode 3: These three books include: gods intervening directly on the battlefield, a new Greek hero emerging, the Trojan hero getting a boost from Ares, Hector's wife and son, and a duel with no resolution. It's action packed but also somewhat restful?  (Books 5-7)

Episode 4: A lot of folks in these two books remembering that Achilles exists. Zeus presides over more fighting, and it's going poorly for the Greeks. So poorly that Agamemnon tries to make good with Achilles but man that guy knows how to be mad, huh?? (Books 8-9)

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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The first rule of podcasting is DON'T TALK ABOUT PODCASTING. The second rule of podcasting is please tell everyone about podcasting and specifically about this episode in which we cover Chuck P's notorious novel about masculinity, terrorism, and getting punched in the face.

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There There sets itself apart by being a book by and about indigenous Americans in an explicitly contemporary, urban setting. It's also got a neat perspective-shifting structure and interconnected characters.

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This bonus episode was recorded on LEAP DAY! So we leapt into The Mystery at Lilac Inn with our good friend young sleuth Nancy Drew! Let's play some Hot or Not, I guess?? Also we're talking Odies 2023!

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The third and final of White's whimsical children's books about animals, The Trumpet of the Swan asks important questions like: How do swans learn English? How can we better provide accommodations for those who need them? And how much money could a swan earn at a jazz club in the 1960s?

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Modern readers often experience C.S. Lewis as "the Narnia guy," but he's also one of the 20th century's foremost Christian apologetics. The Screwtape Letters, written from the point of view of a demon whose object is to send souls to Hell, is a deeply Christian work but its appeal comes just as much from Lewis' insight into what makes humanity tick.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

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Toni Morrison’s second novel in her beloved Beloved trilogy, Jazz introduces the reader to a trio of characters united by an incident of tragic romance. Will the freewheeling optimism of the Jazz Age set them on the path of redemption or will they be bound to their painful pasts? 

This episode is sponsored by Factor. Head to factormeals.com/overdue50 and use code overdue50 to get 50% off delicious, ready-to-eat meals.

This episode is also brought to you in part by Eavesdrop: Conversations Across Time, the new fiction collection by Juliana Nicewarner. Head to juliananicewarner.com for more information.

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Percy Jackson returns for another road trip across a mythological United States. Plenty of new characters are introduced -- and some of them survive!

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Our month of sequels continues with the first full-length novel in Martha Wells' Murderbot series. The book's extra length leaves it room to dig into themes that the novellas had only nodded at, and also has a whole bunch of extra murderbots in it.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self.

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To kick off a month of sequel coverage, we get bone deep in the Locked Tomb follow up Harrow the Ninth. This obtuse but compelling sci-fi/fantasy tome plays with perspective, doubles down on the space wizards, and challenges the reader NOT to notice oddly specific meme references.

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An early-90s Bengali novel that was translated into English relatively recently, The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die has a lot going for it, but as with many books the thing we'll remember the most is the murderous horny ghost aunt.

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For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 1-4.

Episode 1: The Iliad drops us right into the middle of the action, where "the middle" is 9 years into a 10 year conflict and "the action" is a couple of easily-affronted guys who instantly get mad at each other. Then we're treated to some maneuvering among the gods, some Odyssean trickery, the Catalog of Ships, and the less-impressive Catalog of Boys. (Books 1-2)

Episode 2: Just as the Trojans and Greeks seem on the brink of a giant clash, pretty boy Paris is shamed out of the crowd and cajoled into dueling Paris' former husband Menelaus. Surprise, surprise - the gods intervene! And after a brief interval, the gods spur the two sides into bloody action. (More like Aga-neg'em-on, amirite.) (Books 3-4)

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Move along, everyone. Nothing to see here. No women navigating adult friendships and their identities as parents. No jabs at men in power who work overtime to cover up their shame. And definitely no kids that catch on fire. Move along!

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Time to celebrate winter with a chilly fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Also we're talking Disney's FROZEN!

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The Witch Elm has Dublin, and it has murder, and it has a squad of detectives, but despite all that it is not a book in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. This riff on her classic crime novel formula focuses instead on some of the suspects, namely Toby Hennessey, who doesn’t know if he can’t remember things because of head trauma or because for most of his life he’s been able to get by without acknowledging the existence of systemic problems. 

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Banned in many countries until the 1960s, David Herbert Lawrence's 1928 novel is both racier and tamer than you might imagine. What more would you expect from a book that uses both "the love experience" and [BLEEP] to describe, well, adult behavior? Caveat lictor: this episode features discussions of Adult Situations.

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Happy 2024, and happy Public Domain day! Time finally caught up to US copyright law a few years ago, and the result has been a steady trickle of new creative work that’s available for anyone to modify and adapt. This year’s Big One is the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, but the new batch of PD stuff also includes this week’s Pooh book, as well as Tigger himself.

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You can't spell Horny without Ho(-Ho-Ho)! In this year's Happy Hornydays celebration, one of the people finding love during the holiday season is Santa herself. That's right, this is an F/F steamy short featuring a gender-swapped Kristina Kringle and the niece (???) of Melchior (????) the Magi (?????). Sadly, the extremely promising lore goes somewhat underexplored.

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This generation-spanning epic explores the experience of a Korean family living in Japan throughout (most of) the 20th century. We talk about Lee's use of time, her penchant for "minor" characters, and the recent adaptation of Pachinko for Apple TV+.

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Despite being fairly well-versed in 20th-century fantasy, Mervyn Peake and his Gormenghast series has flown completely under our radar until now. It's a strange, florid, disjointed book with some fascinating character portraits, and also the most detailed description of a dude taking a bite of a pear that we have ever read.

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Our previous show-within-a-show concludes! In this longread project, we worked our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters got these episodes monthly, but every two months we combined them for general consumption. If you haven't heard, our current longread project is Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's ILIAD. That's right - STOP! HOMER TIME is back! But first, our final Sandman episodes.

In Episode 9: THE KINDLY ONES, things come to a head on this month's episode of our Sandman-focused show-within-a-show. A few people have it out for Dream, who is handling things with characteristic detachment. Matthew wants to know what happens to ravens when they're done. Someone gave the pumpkin guy a machine gun. It's a very long episode for a very long collection. 

In Episode 10: THE WAKE, the Endless gather for a funeral wake. Dream rebuilds his domain. We ponder Gaiman's reasons for ordering the epilogues as he did. Plus, we share some closing thoughts on our time with The Sandman.

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In this episode, two gamers sit down to talk about one of the buzziest books of 2022. Zevin's blockbuster novel spans 30 years of advancement in technology and in the friendship of Sadie and Sam, two gifted game designers working out how they fit into each other's lives.

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When you make an AI too smart, you also give it anxiety and depression and an appetite for serialized television. These are the things that motivate Murderbot, the protagonist of the many Murderbot Diaries stories that Martha Wells has released in the short time between 2017 and now.

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Percy Jackson and his pals are back in another mythology-packed middle-grade adventure story, this time (mostly) patterned after the voyages of our old pal Odysseus.

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Mssr. Merseault only likes a few things, unfortunately he must live his life doing plenty of other things for people he doesn't particularly care about. Such is the story of this seminal work of 20th-century fiction and absurdist philosophy. Join us as we grapple with an indifferent universe (and a compelling translation by Matthew Ward).

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What if a dog was your POV character? What if that dog's owner was JACK THE RIPPER? What if there was a game but you didn't know who was playing? All of these questions and more get asked in our Spooktober bonus episode.

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We joined Melody and Sabrina for episode 300 of Heaving Bosoms, where we all chatted about the made-to-order, big-on-TikTok, new-adult romantasy that is Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing. (It may be about the fourth wing, but it's the first of a planned five books).

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For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will be revisiting Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books.

This episode is a free teaser for our Stop! Homer Time project. Patreon supporters can get new Stop! Homer Time episodes monthly (Episode 1 is up right now!), but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

On this episode, you'll hear us discuss the background of the Iliad and Wilson's great-as-usual Translator's Note.

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Based on the hit film--just kidding. Blatty's novel was swiftly turned into a landmark film adaptation just a few years after its release. And it's easy to see why: hauntings, sad priests, the patriarchy's fears about the social mobility of women. People couldn't get enough of that stuff. So let's dive in and hope we don't get possessed!

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How would the "breakdown" phase of an apocalypse novel function if the characters involved had already survived through multiple apocalypses? That's the perspective that this week's book brings, in addition to the subtle spooks that come from anticipating the end of the world.

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What if H.G. Well's classic tale of humanimals created by a mad scientist were recontextualized in southeast Mexico? Would you find yourself saying that the Yucatan is less an island and more of a peninsula? Sure, you might say that - but why waste time on pedantry when you can engage with Moreno-Garcia's themes of colonialism, paternalism, and class conflict!

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If you've ever done surgery on a dog to make it more like a guy, only to set it loose in the wilderness and gradually watch it shift back into being a dog, maybe you'll have some sympathy for Doctor Moreau. Otherwise it's pretty hard to get fully onboard with his whole badly-make-animals-into-people gambit.

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Welcome to Spooktober 2023!

We've all been through a bad break-up, right? We've all moved away to start fresh, we've all started a new job, we've all befriended witchy spider-ladies and felt a strange new power growing within us. Right? Tale as old as time.

We're joined this week by Natasha from the UNspoiled! podcast family, hear more of her work at unspoiledpodcast.com.

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Welcome to our current show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 7: BRIEF LIVES, Gaiman digs deep into the concept of lifetimes while following Delirium and Dream on a quest to find their missing brother. 

In Episode 8: WORLD'S END,  a reality storm leaves people from multiple worlds stranded at a cozy free house. They swap tales to pass the timey-wimey time until an Existence Shattering Event passes by and they can all leave. This collection is most notable for the distinct art styles within each issue, including whatever the hell Boss Smiley is. #vote4prez

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This novel was the genesis of the Blade Runner film franchise, which means like many books it gets eclipsed a bit by its adaptation. But does the movie have a gadget you can use to make yourself feel specific emotions, including the emotion that makes you want to use the gadget more? I didn't think so.

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It's time to talk about market efficiencies in popular non-fiction aka the work of Michael Lewis. Specifically, we're chatting about his 2003 book MONEYBALL, which chronicles the work of Billy Beane to optimize the Oakland A's despite his owners not wanting to spend real money. 

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This "Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream" is a landmark of Gonzo journalism, a sensational writing style of which Thompson is the OG. Thankfully, we did not have to journey to Las Vegas on our own. We're joined this week by Mel and Dave from Strong Sense of Place, a website and podcast dedicated to literary travel and books we love.

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What if you got playing cards in the mail? Playing cards that told you to help random people in your community? Would you do it? Could you do it? What does "helping" mean? And who is even sending these cards?? We answer MOST of these questions as we discuss Markus Zusak's The Messenger (aka I Am the Messenger).

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Our friends Renata and Kait are back to talk with us about Colleen Hoover and her debut novel Slammed. We dive into her recent reign as Queen of BookTok, the appeal of slam poetry, the lack of dads, and whether or not this work of New Adult Fiction worked for us.

Find more episodes of The Worst Bestsellers at worstbestsellers.com.

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It's time to meet the Queen of Suspense! To kick off her reign, Mary Higgins Clark spins a tale about a wrongfully accused women trying to reinvent herself -- only to be nearly caught by the monster she thought she'd left behind. It's more thrilling than mysterious, so it shouldn't be a surprise that we DO get an answer to the novel's titular question.

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You don't end up liking everyone by the end of Madame Bovary, but in kind of a funny way? Come for the book talk, stay for the butchered French pronunciation. 

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Who is Mr. Benedict? And why did he recruit four outstanding orphans to uncover and stop a madman's secret plot to takeover the world? Solve the puzzles hidden in this episode to find out! (Don't worry, you can just listen. There aren't any puzzles...or ARE there?!?) 

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When a book's plot and characters don't break a ton of ground in and of themselves, you're left hoping that the writing and the perspective will be enough to make a book interesting—luckily for us, Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation is insightful and entertaining despite its narrow scope and well-trod material.

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Bring on the battalion of Dad Books! Cornwell started writing the Richard Sharpe novels because he wanted something like Horatio Hornblower on land. Well, we haven't read any Hornblower yet but we can attest that this book sure is about a British rifleman fighting in the army during the Napoleonic Wars!

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Welcome to our newest show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 5: A GAME OF YOU, the story is about Barbie, her fantastical dreams, Barbie's friend Wanda, their neighbors Hazel and Foxglove, a vengeful witch named Thessaly, an authoritarian cuckoo bird, and MARTIN FLIPPING TENBONES. 

In Episode 6: FABLES AND REFLECTIONS, Gaiman penned another set of one-off stories. Some are fables, others are reflections. Tune in to find out which is which! 

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Imagine a version of the spaceship from Wall-E, but with racial and class divisions that mirror those in our own society. That's a (dramatically oversimplified) one-line summary of what's going on in this week's book.

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It's episode 600, baybee!!! To celebrate, we're embarking on a voyage through Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, some middle-grade fantasy-but-in-the-real-world fiction that passed us by when it came out in 2005. We'll be reading the first five books in the series, starting with The Lightning Thief.

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We're talking Mondays. We're talking lasagna. We're talking annoying dogs and bumbling owners. We're talking Lyman -- wait what? Join us as we dive into the Garfield deep lore (and learn to make a Garf of our very own).

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Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? If you're a wizard of Earthsea, you can make it smell however you want if you know it's TRUE name. LeGuin's beloved fantasy novel is notable for how it plays both against and into common fantasy tropes, delivering a proper hero's journey without the same Sturm und Drang we've come to expect in the genre.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Join us for our 600th episode recording at bit.ly/overdue600. We're talking PERCY JACKSON!

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We've covered vaguely spiritual self-help books before on the show, but The Alchemist is unique insofar as it attempts to wrap the broad platitudes of a The Secret up in a there-and-back-again adventure story. Please listen, as long as it fits with your Personal Legend. 

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Our Patron's Choice Poll for June had a theme: Junebugs! And this novel by Weiss about a roach colony attempting to assert control over the apartment in which they live is uhh...well it won the poll. So Craig read it. And now he's going to talk about it.

Caveat lictor: this book is a strange one (also it's got more explicit sexual content than you might expect!)

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It's summer, and we all need water to live, two things that make Sarah Moss's Summerwater feel timely this week. One other thing the book reflects is the Simmering Anxiety of Our Times! 

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Meet Gulliver, a traveling English surgeon. First he's big, then he's small. Next he's wise, then he's a Yahoo! To wit, Swift's seminal satire is realer, grosser, and really grosser than either of us knew.

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This week’s book tackles aging and writing and the author’s determination to write a book about a gay character who is allowed to experience joy. These are all themes that hit us where we live as we trundle into early middle age ourselves.

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Flog the jib and shiver me timbers, it's time to set sail with the first of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels Master and Commander. It's equal parts ship jargon, ship action, and shipmen (aka sailors) pondering themes of isolation and authority. Plus, we get to the bottom of who exactly is the master and who is the commander.

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Welcome to our newest show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 3: DREAM COUNTRY, Gaiman needed a bit of a break after the Doll's House arc, and the result was a series of one-shots that contributed bits and pieces to the series' mythology without telling one larger story. Doesn't mean there isn't a lot to talk about, though!

In Episode 4: SEASON OF MISTS, there is a plot! Specifically, a plot about the Devil retiring and giving Dream the key to Hell and a bunch of other supernatural beings pleading their case for why they should get that sweet piece of real estate. Also a little kid sees some ghosts.

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This week: a non-fiction book that sometimes reads a lot like fiction, The Orchid Thief is only a little about the titular thief and a LOT about Florida and its history and its denizens. Plus, "orchidelirium," the part of the 19th century where the English aristocracy would just go wild for these bad boys.

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Mamma Mia! Let's-a go back to the 1990s and discuss Todd Strasser's novelization of the 1993 film adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. videogame franchise. It all makes about as much sense as the sentence you just read!

This episode was recorded with some of our Patreon supporters watching live. Find out how to join us for future episodes at patreon.com/overduepod.

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This novel about a wizarding school and its teen magicians feels like the finale of a series that you've heard about but haven't read. Which is...sort of the point? Born out of an in-universe work of fan fiction from a different Rowell novel, Carry On provides a great opportunity to dig into what helps a story inspired by another story succeed.

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Several People Are Typing was mostly written pre-pandemic but failed to garner publisher interest until a virus locked us all inside our homes with nothing to turn to but our jobs and our friend-Slacks. It manages to perfectly encapsulate what it feels like to use Slack for anything, with a dash of creepypasta for good measure.

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To celebrate this year's Children's Book Week, we decided to discuss the work of children's author and illustrator Sandra Boynton, whose board books we both have and which are well known for their fun illustrations and whimsical poetry. Since they're each pretty short we decided to talk about a bunch of them, including:

1. Doggies
2. Dinosaur Dance!
3. Barnyard Dance!
4. Pajama Time!
5. Blue Hat, Green Hat
6. Moo, Baa, La La La!
7. The Going to Bed Book

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We're talking about candy for the second week in a row, but this time the candy is literal, and the building is a factory and not a house. Willy Wonka is a mad candy scientist who flouts labor regulations and inflicts misery on children he deems insufficiently deserving. It's a fantabulous, scrumdiddlyumptious romp!

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It only took 500-or-so episodes to revisit the world of Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. We did, of course, have to wait for Egan to write her sequel (sort of) novel. This follow-up to a post-postmodern classic is focused on memories (digital and otherwise) and relationships (virtual and otherwise). It's got "what if the Meta but for everyone's memories" okay??

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This week's book is all about duality: science against magic, love vs. hurt, book about middle school alienation and also near-future climate apocalypse. And also there are birds! 

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This week, Vanessa Zoltan from the podcasts Harry Potter & the Sacred Text and Hot & Bothered joins us to chat about Sally Rooney, her 2018 novel Normal People, our approaches to reading, and what it felt like when email really meant something.

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O podcast! O books! O episodes about hard-scrabble immigrants eking out an existence on tough Nebraska land. Cather's work - rich in memorable prose and compelling characters - could stand to be better known, but it still has blind spots common in American frontier fiction.

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Welcome to our newest show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 1, we do some table-setting on the series, and Gaiman -- then we dive into the first trade paperback Preludes & Nocturnes, which introduces Dream and his whole deal over the first 8 issues.

In Episode 2, we dig into the second book The Doll's House (which actually came out first). Dream is on the hunt to track down some rogue underlings, and a woman named Rose learns a lot about her family. Also there's a Cereal Convention!

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Heidi, Heidi, Heidi! Everyone's talking about this adorable ragamuffin, a precocious child who lights up every life she touches like a ray of God's perfect sunshine. This week we learn that living in a hut in the Swiss Alps is better than living in a city, and that if you roast a piece of cheese just right it sounds like the best food you could ever eat. 

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WE FIND OURSELVES SHOOK BY THIS ROLLICKING RATTLING RIDE ALONG THE RAILS OF THE GHOST TRAIN.

This bonus episode was part of our Do Overdue 10th Anniversary Spectacular, in which we revisited books from earlier in the run of our show. It was also recorded with a live Patreon supporter audience online. 

Find out how to join us for future bonus episodes at patreon.com/overduepod. 

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We finally read a play by Volunteer State Williams! Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a rumination on a family falling apart in the South. It's also an interesting example of how revisions and rewrites can shape a story's legacy.

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This is a twist on a time travel story where the relationship between two enemies-turned-frenemies-turned-lovers takes center stage, leaving the actual mechanics of the time travel and all the world-building mostly unexplained. The dual authorship—each author wrote the chapters for one of the two characters—adds another interesting wrinkle.

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For our fourth Do Overdue episode, we revisit our first trip to Austenland and Jane Austen's final novel, a book Craig liked but didn't fully grok ten years ago.

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For our third Do Overdue episode, we return to a book that Andrew wanted to like more than he did, Donna Tartt's debut novel about murder at a small-town college. It went better the second time, thankfully! 

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The graveyard shift in this haunted not-IKEA proves rather spooky! This bonus episode was recorded live with an audience of our Patreon supporters. Find out how to join us for future bonus recordings at patreon.com/overduepod

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To celebrate ten (10) years (!!) of Overdue, this month we'll be re-doing some episodes based on books we read way back in the show's early years. This week we revisit our first-ever episode, talking about men, isolation, and tragic best friends who triumph against the odds.

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In honor of our 10th (!) podcasting anniversary, this month we'll be re-doing some episodes based on books we read way back in the show's early years. This week we revisit our second-ever episode, talking about love, cholera, and the time when both of those things could happen simultaneously.

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Secret societies, extraterrestrial cultures, VR games, HARD SCIENCE- Liu Cixin's award-winning novel has it all. It's also set against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution, grounding the story not only in science but in history as well.

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Super-dense fantasy isn't everyone's cup of tea, and even people who enjoy that kind of tea can sometimes find individual cups of tea that aren't to their taste. Still, any book with lion and bird people in it can't be all bad.

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Enjoy a bonus episode of our spookiest show-within-a-show yet! We read a selection of eight spooktacular books from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, and then we realized there was a movie!

This episode was originally released in November 2022. Some Patreon supporters get longread episodes monthly, but every two months we release them for general consumption.

And our next longread project is SAND BY ME, a reading of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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Natty Bumppo is here to guide you through the wilderness of a Canonical White Guy's famous adventure tale. Maybe he can help us track down why it became the template for some less-than-helpful stereotypes based on dubious historical records. 

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You've got more Qs and we've got more As! This time around we talk more about our reading habits and our day jobs, our personal achievements in 2022, and the ASMR podcast that could have been.

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Are you a spy? If you are, you have to tell us. Are you a 6th grader? Well then, tell us if you identify with Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet, a girl with a keen but (perhaps overly) righteous eye just trying to get through adolescence.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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If you like Jane Eyre but you eye Mr. Rochester and his marital history with some skepticism, Wide Sargasso Sea is an entry in the field of “critically acclaimed fanfic” that might speak to you.

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Happy Hornydays everyone! We're back with another celebration of the winter solstice and the corresponding need to cuddle up with someone to keep warm. Come with us to a Christmas village where a Christmas cop hooks up with a Christmas cop-out.

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The "cold" in this classic spy novel is a metaphor, but it's still a chilling book for a chilly season! If you like double-, triple-, and possible quadruple-crossings and hate happy endings, this is a book that you'll want to bring in from the cold. 

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Look out the window. Do you see a love triangle? Characters that embody turn-of-the-century tensions? Or do you see a boring courtyard? Best ask for a new room, perhaps one with a view.

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The year may be ending, but some things are just beginning! Time for a few announcements that won't fit into a regular episode.

In this special edition podcast update, we drop the details on our next longread project SAND BY ME, remind you that we have a Q&A Bonus Episode coming up on 12/22, tease some plans for January and February, and thank you for listening this year!

For more info on the Patreon and how to get bonus episodes early, head to patreon.com/overduepod

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Not many authors jump from writing technical manuals to writing intense hard-to-categorize fiction about killing and becoming God, but apparently more people should try it! 

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We've talked about National Treasure Beverly Cleary on the show before, but we haven't spent time with her most indelible character, one Ramona Quimby. Recorded on the eve of Craig's new-dadhood, we're joined by TV critic and parenting expert Kathryn VanArendonk to discuss yard apes, sick days, and how differently the book hits from the other side of the parent/kid divide.

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After the last food-related book we read, we figured we'd do a book about a tasty fried snack. Just a normal snack! Definitely nobody getting eaten in this book. At least not until toward the end. 

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Enjoy another episode of our spookiest show-within-a-show yet! In case you can't tell by the name, we're reading a selection of eight spooktacular books from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

Ep 7 - A NIGHT IN TERROR TOWER
Eddie and Sue get into trouble during a trip to London in this spine-tingling tale of history, magic, and time-travelling burger lovers.

Ep 8 - EGG MONSTERS FROM MARS
Jovial Bob Stine is back again with another scary tale about...eggs? Also there's a rogue scientist operating outside the confines of petty things like academia or morality.

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

Also, here's the full GOOSEBUMS reading list:

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You've crash-landed on the mysterious Planet of the Dragons, and suddenly you find yourself drafted into another culture's war by the very first sentient being you run into. Oh well! Guess you have nothing better to do! It's a classic Choose Your Own Adventure setup.

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This week, Andrew's wife Suzannah sits in for Craig to discuss BookTok darling Casey McQuiston's book One Last Stop. An unlikely combination of gay romance and sci-fi elements, this one is the rare romance novel that will keep readers guessing. 

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Dear diary: Today we talked to our friend Natasha from the UNSpoiled podcast about a high-school-aged vampire novel with a popular screen adaptation. No, it's not Twilight. 

The UNSpoiled! podcast: https://www.unspoiledpodcast.com/
UNSpoiled! on Twitter: https://twitter.com/unspoiledshow

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Sometimes, a book comes along that is the exact combination of horny, spooky, and appetizing that makes you need to come on your friends' book podcast and talk about it. A Certain Hunger is about sex and cannibalism, in that order, and we needed a total of four people to help process it in an hour-or-so of airtime.

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Your best friend passes away unexpectedly. Via witchcraft, you bring them back to life unexpectedly. Two of your ALSO-dead casual acquaintances/frenemies ADDITIONALLY come back to life unexpectedly. And the person that caused all these deaths is the least expected thing of all.

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You'll be on pins and needles for this one! The book that the Hellraiser series is based on, The Hellbound Heart introduces a race of not-quite-humans who can't tell the difference between pleasure and pain and so decide to get REALLY horny for pain! 

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Carmilla is a double-whammy: an English-language vampire novel that predates Dracula by nearly three decades, and an edit from Carmen Maria Machado that both underlines the story's gay subtext and has a bit of fun with readers while doing it. Just try not to take her notes too literally and you'll be fine, probably. 

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Enjoy another episode of our spookiest show-within-a-show yet! In case you can't tell by the name, we're reading a selection of eight spooktacular books from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

Ep 5 - NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY
Twin girls Kris and Lindy fight over whose ventriloquist dummy is better...until they realize the real contest: which dummy is more haunted??

Ep 6 - THE HAUNTED MASK
Carly Beth's friends like to scare her. But this Halloween she'll scare their faces off! (And maybe hers too??)

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

Also, here's the full GOOSEBUMS reading list:

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This love-letter to sci-fi, libraries, and friends forged through literature is also a fairy tale of sorts about a young girl saving her world. Is the magic real? Probably! 

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Wilde's fairy tales probably aren't the best-known of his works, but that doesn't mean they don't get a little Wilde-y. Just don't expect many happily-ever-afters.

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What's up homeslice? We baked up a real feast for you this time. Quit loafin' around and bite into this episode on James Beard, baking, and bread. We even baked our own bread and tasted it on-air!

This episode was recorded with some of our Patreon supporters watching live. Find out how to join us for future episodes at patreon.com/overduepod.

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This podcast is taking off and it's got a lot of **bad guys** on it! 

Actually...it's just us. As usual. But we are talking about a surprisingly faithful novelization of Con Air, one that really reinforces how much the motley crew of character actors elevated the 1997 film.

Con Air is our Patron's Choice episode for September. Find out how to vote on future Patron's Choice selections at patreon.com/overduepod

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It's us, back again with the first book in a (planned, as of this writing) multi-book fantasy series! The Lost Dreamer has a lot of neat ideas and a unique setting, but its abrupt ending and dearth of distinct supporting characters make it less strong than it could be. 

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What do lawyers, airports, and thrillers have in common? They're all relevant to John Grisham's breakout novel The Firm! A Stepford-y secret, high-end copy machines, brilliant young law school grads -- this book has it all.

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This week's book, the first in a four-book series by the pseudonymous Elena Ferrante, is about the friendship of two Italian women across many years and many phases of life. You won't BELIEVE which friend ends up being the brilliant one! 

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This is a podcast about books.
This podcast is specifically about the book Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson.
It's a book full of short, declarative statements.
That is ultimately about loneliness.
Mostly.

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Welcome back, cats and kittens! We have another MEW episode for you to listen to right MEOW! 

The Cat Who Saved Books is a book about books for book lovers. It does have a talking cat in it, and the cat kind-of-sort-of sets events in motion that leads to the saving of books. But "The Teenager Who Saved Books, And Also A Cat Was There Sometimes" is not as good a title. 

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This week, Anne Bogel of What Should I Read Next? and Modern Mrs. Darcy joins us to talk about one of Graham Greene's most well-known "entertainments." It's time to answer the question: can a political spy thriller set in just before the Cuban Revolution be too silly? 

You can find more from Anne at her website or on her podcast.

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Enjoy another episode of our spookiest show-within-a-show yet! In case you can't tell by the name, we're reading a selection of eight spooktacular books from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

Ep 3 - MONSTER BLOOD
If you're like the kid in Monster Blood, you, too have been horrified by the prospect of needing to find progressively bigger containers for a slowly growing puddle of goop.

Ep 4 - SAY CHEESE AND DIE - AGAIN!
An evil camera with some sick splat stats returns to trouble some teens! Can our hero overcome his hubris or will he be doomed by his desire for revenge on his teacher?

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

Also, here's the full GOOSEBUMS reading list:

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This Man Booker Prize-winning novel has one question at its core: what if Thomas Cromwell wasn't quite the jerk we thought he was? Henry VIII's right-hand man definitely does dirty deeds on behalf of the King, but Mantel creatively fills in blanks in the historical record to imagine a man who wasn't so bad.

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This week we take a bloodydamn dive into the depths of a society living on a terraformed Mars hundreds of years into our future. The humans of this alternate reality are, get this, enforcing a rigid caste system that benefits a privileged few, and it's our meathead hero's job to infiltrate that society and take it down from the inside.

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Killing Time is a classic Star Trek novel most notable for its "interesting" publication history. Della Van Hise was an OG fan fiction author who got the chance to bring her particular skills and interests to an official novel featuring Kirk, Spock, and a few other fan favorites.

Also, Andrew brought slides? 

This episode was recorded with some of our Patreon supporters watching live. Find out how to join us for future episodes at patreon.com/overduepod.

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It's time to talk about expectant fatherhood. But whose? You'll have to listen to find out!

For our previous discussion of pending parenthood, tune into Ep 347 - What to Expect When You're Expecting

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In the world of hardboiled detectives, no one is harder boiled than Sam Spade, a guy who loves to get one over on both the criminals AND the cops while also romancing dames. 

Find out how to vote on future Patron’s Choice episodes at patreon.com/overduepod

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Can we contain all of Tony Kushner's award-winning Angels in America, a Gay Fantasia on National Themes in one podcast? Probably! First we'll talk about Part I: Millennium Approaches, then we'll talk about Part II: Perestroika. And along the way we'll cover Roy Cohn, how to stage an angel, and the Kushner-to-Spielberg Pipeline.

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What if the kids who fell into that wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe all came back to the real world and needed extensive therapy to deal with the things they had seen and done? Welcome to Every Heart a Doorway, where a strong central conceit helps cover for a somewhat rushed mystery narrative.

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Tell me about a Complicated Man. Mishima's breakthrough coming-of-age novel about sexuality in late Imperial Japan has a powerful narrative voice and prose style. But the legacy of his work and his political goals has led to him being a bit of an "enigma" (as one listener referred to him) -- to put it lightly.

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The Scarlet Letter is often included as part of a high school reading curriculum because it's good at teaching people about symbolism, and it's good at teaching people about symbolism because it uses a half-dozen symbols roughly 700 times apiece. 

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What if thirty years of history took place JUST beyond the doors of your hotel? And what if you weren't allowed to leave that hotel? And, get this, the hotel is in Moscow.

The beloved bestseller A Gentleman in Moscow fills its historical fiction with charming characters that you want to root for. But can we (or should we) figure out what it's trying to say?

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Welcome to our newest show-within-a-show! In case you can't tell by the name, we're reading a selection of eight spooktacular books from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

In Episode 1, we do some table-setting on the series, Stine, and Scholastic books -- then we dive into the first entry in this long-running series of kids' horror books: Welcome to Dead House.

In Episode 2, we try to figure out what kind of grow operation Dad's got cooking up in the basement in Stay Out of the Basement! 

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

Also, here's the full GOOSEBUMS reading list:

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Whether you're a fan of Netflix's Bridgerton series or you just want an Austen novel with more modern language and more explicit sex scenes, the first novel in Julia Quinn's series about the Bridgerton family has something for you. Just, uh, watch out for the nonconsensual sexual encounter!! Oops!! 

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Who wants to celebrate April with some modernist poetry??? This month, we allude to many of the allusions in T.S. Eliot's landmark poem.

Thank you to the Patreon supporters who joined us as we navigated this tricksy poem. Find out how to join us for bonus recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.

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August Wilson wrote a whole bunch of plays, all of which contain dialogue and take place at certain points in history. He's most notable for his Pittsburgh aka Century Cycle, so we decided to talk about one of the standouts: Fences.

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The first of four books in the Circle of Magic series, Sandry's Book feels a bit less self-contained than first-books-in-a-series normally do. You'll meet likable and well-drawn characters, but be prepared to finish the series if you want a more satisfying story.

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The inspiration for the hit trilogy of DreamWorks films is rather different than you might expect. It's still about a boy named Hiccup and his dragon Toothless, but the original has more burping, farting, and Dragonese than the films dared to show -- which is odd because those are the guys what made Shrek.

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The thrilling conclusion to the Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest continues most of the plot threads introduced in the previous book. If you thought that The Girl Who Played With Fire was lacking in secondary and tertiary characters, boy have we got good news for you! 

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This award-winning novel by a real writer's writer has elicited a broad range of responses, with some folks praising the prose and structure and others bouncing off its characters and style. But maybe that range of reactions was inevitable given the way Trust Exercise explores the slipperiness of memory and narrative.

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Is The Winter's Tale a tragicomedy? A dramedy? A romance? A problem play? Who knows! But we can say for certain it's a play about a king who gets jealous and makes bad decisions. Also a bear eats someone.

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Truly great butlers are work-focused automata, occupied only on maintaining and increasing the reputation of their employer. But what if there were more to life than that? This week, we follow one butler as he comes to exactly that realization.

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Enjoy the FINAL EPISODE of our latest show-within-a-show! We read Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters got these episodes monthly, but every two months we combined them for general consumption.

These episodes cover Chapters 48-74 of Part Two aka The End of the Story.

In Episode 13, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza bid goodbye to the Duke and Duchess of Prankdom...for now.

In Episode 14, we bid goodbye to Don Quixote and Sancho. And we learn just how mad Cervantes was about that unofficial Quixote sequel.

Next up: GOOSEBUMS, a Goosebumps miniseries!

Find out how to get these longreads episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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It's time to go back to school, where professional scientists Melody and Erin from the Heaving Bosoms podcast can help us talk about Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis. This STEAMy romantic comedy is one heck of a romp, and we have a heck of a time recounting it.

Caveat lictor: This episode is marked explicit because this book includes adult material!

You can find more from our new friends at the Heaving Bosoms podcast here.

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This week, Glory Edim of Well-Read Black Girl fame joins us to talk about Deesha Philyaw's inaugural short story collection. We also chat with Glory about her work with WRBG and some of her favorite interviews.

You can find more from Glory and Well-Read Black Girl at their website or on their podcast. 

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My podcast is a fish. Faulkner's 1930 modernist "tour de force" (his words) takes one family's journey to bury its matriarch and splinters it into over a dozen increasingly-disjointed perspectives. The book's structure and characters are memorable but boy howdy are they difficult.

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The State of our Podcast is strong! We just have a few announcements to make that wouldn't fit onto a regular episode.

In this special edition podcast update, we drop the details on our next longread project GOOSEBUMS, discuss some tweaks to our Patreon project, and thank you all for making the show the success that it is!

To find out more about our Patreon changes, head on over to this post. 

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This week we talk about the 1985-1995 comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by way of the 1992 collection The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes. The strip is totally inseparable from a discussion of its medium and the merchandising-averse guy who made it. 

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Join us in the Everglades as Florida Boy rummages through the bayou in search of adventure! Will we make it out alive? Will we win the war? Tune in to find out!

Thank you to the Patreon supporters who joined us as we made these adventurous choices. Find out how to join us for bonus recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.

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This mystery novel featuring Perveen Mistry (get it?) is also an engrossing work of historical fiction. We learn about different religious and family structures in 1920s Bombay, and we also learn about how the story's split timeline impacts the narrative. Also, Cyrus sucks. Boo Cyrus.

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We bring our weirdest and most chaotic vibes to our conversation about Black Buck and the forces that inform it, whether that's a bad thing or not is sort of up to you! 

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Roll of thunder, hear our podcast! We're talking about Taylor's Newbery-winning novel about the Logan family working to survive in the Jim Crow South. Also, Andrew makes a joke about The Sims to try and liven things up.

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In response to the McMinn County, TN's unanimous decision to ban Art Spiegelman's Maus from its 8th-grade curriculum last month, we've both re-read the book to encourage a conversation about its continued importance and (sadly) relevance. Also, did you know that Art Spiegelman helped make Garbage Pail Kids? 

We've made donations to HIAS Pennsylvania and The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia this week.

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We're sharing a special preview of the new podcast, Well-Read Black Girl from Pushkin Industries.

Well-Read Black Girl is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Glory Edim, author and founder of the Well-Read Black Girl community, sits in deep, honest and close conversation with authors like Tarana Burke, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, Elizabeth Acevedo and more. You’ll also meet book club members, literacy advocates, and Black booksellers to hear what they’re reading and what it means to be well-read.

In this preview, Glory talks with Korean American author and teacher Min Jin Lee. Min talks about how reading can radicalize young people — in a good way — and how, through storytelling, we can approach a "new reality” by creating a version of the world we want to see.

You can listen to Well-Read Black Girl at https://link.chtbl.com/wrbgoverdue.

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Clare Bell's novel about prehistoric big cats with language, culture, and fire is also a pretty engrossing adventure about being cast out from your home and discovering the world around you. Time to join the clan of the Red Tongue!

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Enjoy another episode of our latest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

These episodes cover Chapters 27-47 of Part Two.

In Episode 11, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza meet a Duke and Duchess familiar with Quixote's adventures. LARPing and pranks ensue.

In Episode 12, the Duke and Duchess continue to deceive our heroes. There's a wooden horse, a bag of cats, and a governorship (finally).

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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The former hosts of Appointment Television join us this week to talk about Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, the book version of the TV show Peacock's Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. This book makes that show and all other Dan Brown books seem actually kinda better by comparison?

Follow Kathryn VanArendonk on Twitter.

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Yaa Gyasi's debut novel tracks the lasting impacts of the slave trade across multiple generations and continents, through the eyes of two half-sisters and their descendants. 

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Where did his animal-talking abilities come from? Why is he worshipped by animals all over the world? Why does this book talk about money so much? And why did so few of us read Dr. Dolittle in grade school?

This week, we tried to answer these questions (and more) with Alli from the SSR Podcast, a great show you should check out! You can also listen to our previous SSR Podcast collab: Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots with the Bailey School Kids.

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Two horrible dudes double team one sexy lady in this horny, Christmas-adjacent story. This episode is EXTREMELY explicit, so buckle up!!

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We return to the Dragon Tattoo-niverse this week to discuss the second book of the Millennium trilogy, and to talk about each of the three dozen-or-so named characters tucked inside this book. 

Need a refresher on Lisbeth and Mikke? Listen to our 500th episode on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

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We learn the art of military strategy, deception, and fire from Michael Nylan's 2020 translation of this classic text. We start by going in-depth on the contemporary political references in Nylan's Introduction to this edition, and then we go blow-by-blow and nugget-by-inspirational-nugget through Master Sun's timeless wisdom.

Here's translator Michael Nylan writing about the book for LitHub: "The Art of War is Actually a Manual on How to Avoid It."

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Jennifer Government is one of those near-future satirical works that probably felt a lot farther from reality back when it was originally written. Barry's predictions feel distressingly spot on here in 2021, and his prescience isn't exactly comforting. 

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Sometimes a book is so meta it sort of breaks your brain! How to talk about a book that is all beginnings and no ends? How to discuss a book that enlists You, the Reader, in its chicanery? We try to get on the wavelength with Calvino's text. You be the judge of if we get there.

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Sandra Cisneros' first novel is a collection of rapid-fire vignettes about childhood and friendship and race and America. We also check in with the darker side of our recurring guest host, the Iowa Writers Workshop.

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This contemporary Victorian story is chockablock with twists and turns, backstabs and broadsides, as well as Dickensian pornfiends. It also features a steamy lesbian romance between two women desperate to escape their own circumstances. We dive into what makes Fingersmith memorable, as well as where its structure overstays its welcome.

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Enjoy another episode of our latest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

These episodes cover Chapters 10-26 of Part Two.

In Episode 9, someone enchants "Dulcinea" and Don Quixote fights a mysterious new foe. 

In Episode 10, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza attend a wedding and do battle with a puppet show.

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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Groundhog Day meets the apocalypse in this week's book, in which the end of the world is approaching at an ever-faster pace through each of Harry August's successive lifetimes spent on earth. Hope you like paradoxes! 

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DeLillo's award-winning breakthrough novel is a satirical rumination on the fear of death while living in a hyper-consumerist America inundated with information delivered by modern technology. Did we mention it was written in the 80s?

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This week's book observes society from the outside, asking occasionally uncomfortable questions about what it means to "progress" and to "fit in" and who gets to decide whether a person is doing those things.

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We close out Spooktober with a cornucopia of spooky stories from a state we both have a relationship to. Join us for a conversation about ghostly grandpas, paranormal presidents, and spectral students.

For more on our bonus episodes, head to patreon.com/overduepod.

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For the Big 500, we go to Sweden to solve a murder and also some financial crimes. And much like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, we also go on at some length about the specs of classic Macintosh computers.

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Eight stories. Eight women (and plenty more). Eight experiments in genre and form that each explore modern horrors. Carmen Maria Machado's debut short story collection is filled with weird fiction and intimate nightmares, making it a fitting entry for Spooktober 2021.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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A run-down mansion decades past its former glory, a headstrong heroine, a creepy family, and mushrooms all come together to form a perfect, spooky storm in this week's episode.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Spooktober continues! A narrator wanders rooms in his old house, telling the reader stories about his life. Is he an old man responding to a psychological evaluation? Is he a ghost recounting (and selectively editing) his best and worst memories? Will we ever know peace from the miasma of possibilities?

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Spooktober 2021 kicks off with a book about a jerk who turned himself invisible and then was still a jerk! The titular invisible man is a forerunner to a hundred comic book villains, who all suffered some kind of scientific mishap at their own hands and then took it as an excuse to become Evil. 

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Enjoy another episode of our newest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

These episodes cover Chapters 43-52 of Part One, and the Prologue and Chapters 1-9 of Part Two.

In Episode 7, a few more ancillary characters get their moment in the sun before Don Quixote's companions "enchant" him and bring him home. But Cervantes has heard that Quixote rode again! If only those stories were out there somewhere...

In Episode 8, apparently everyone in Don Quixote's world knows about the novel Don Quixote now? And they sure have opinions!

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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Natasha from the Unspoiled podcast joins us this week to hatch a podcast about Eragon, a book that borrows freely from every other fantasy/sci-fi story that existed as of its creation in the early 2000s. 

Find more from Unspoiled here!

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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It's time to solve the mystery of the Boxcar Children! (Or is it The Box-Car Children?) Warner's novel about a quartet of self-sufficient kiddos underwent a major revision 20 years after its debut AND it spawned dozens of mystery-focused sequels despite there not really being a mystery in the original. Tune in to hear about our own secret hideouts and to learn about Andrew's favorite new website for author research.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Craig and Andrew said they would record the podcast themselves. This very modern episode about a very modern novel discusses Woolf's signature writing style, the regrets of a postwar British people, and when (or where) you might find yourself Thinking Big.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning is mostly concerned with big historical questions like "what if nationality had nothing to do with geography" and "what if a boy could make toys come to life," but it also deals with things like "what if noticing gender were a fetish" and "what if all the world's leaders were secretly slamming each other." 

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Everybody get up it's time to read now. We got a podcast goin' now. Welcome to the Space Jam!

Join us as we talk about a storybook edition of the 1996 cartoon basketball commercial Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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After 488 episodes, we finally return to ol' Johnny Steinbeck. East of Eden mixes autobiography, pastoral fiction, and Biblical allegory -- a cocktail that has dismayed critics and excited audiences for decades. We dig into what works in this sprawling story and what might leave some readers wanting more.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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This book is a work of "faction" (that's "fact" plus "fiction") about Richard Nixon's interactions with the physical manifestation(s) of Uncle Sam in the run-up to the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. So, uh, a weird one.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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There are small flames all over the place! Well, specifically all over a family's house in Shaker Heights, OH in the late 1990s. Ng's bestselling sophomore effort dives into two different but intertwined families whose lives are flip-turned-upside-down by a conflagration of personal mysteries, teenage desires, and a tense adoption case.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Everyone! There's been a MURDER! And the person who committed it is still listening to THIS VERY PODCAST!!

While we try to figure this out you should definitely listen to us talk about Hercule Poirot, the unassuming-ish detective who is here to discover your deepest darkest secrets and chew bubblegum and is all out of bubblegum.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Join us for a trip back to Sherlock Holmes Times, as Melody and Erin from the Heaving Bosoms podcast help us talk about Kristen Callihan's Moonglow. The second book in the Darkest London series, Moonglow brings the romance and the supernatural lore in a way that keeps all four of us talking.

You can find more from our new friends at the Heaving Bosoms podcast here.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Enjoy another episode of our newest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.

These episodes cover Chapters 28-42.

In Episode 5, Don Quixote rejoins the party. and everyone decides to shack up in the only inn/castle in all of Spain. Secondary characters step into the spotlight with their own stories, including a novel-within-a-novel called The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious.

In Episode 6, Don Quixote takes the backseat for a few more chapters. We have to close the book on Cardenio's Crew, finish the story of the Two Friends, and meet a few more ancillary characters who just love this inn.

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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In this kid goth Victorian house, objects talk...but only to the people who can listen! Find out what happens to Clod Iremonger and Lucy Pennant in this creepy-yet-kid-friendly novel about a bunch of people who live near (and develop a symbiotic relationship with) trash.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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The House of the Spirits is a multi-generational, lightly-magical-realism-y Chilean novel that eventually ends up being about Piochet's military coup, but it's also about the importance of studying events over a long span of time to come to a deeper understanding of why things happen the way they do. Something we could all stand to do more of, honestly.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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This sensational punk novel from 1993 got attention because it depicts a LOT: drug use, sex, and all sorts of deviance in late 20th-century Edinburgh. You may even be familiar with the film adaptation starring a young Obi-Wan Kenobi!

We also discuss Welsh's connections to (and opinions of) local government, the joy of the beautiful game, and why Craig's cultural references stop in the mid 2000s.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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We've got lesbian necromancers! We've got spooky mansion murder mysteries! We've got MEMES! What else could you need in your space fantasy? How about a lively chat debating the pronunciation of "Doge"?

Find out more about our bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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