Required Reading

On Writing isn’t a horror novel—but it is one of the most honest books ever written about the act of writing. In this episode of Required Reading, we dive into Stephen King’s hybrid memoir-and-manual to explore what it really means to become a writer. King strips away the mystique surrounding creativity and replaces it with discipline, reading, revision, and a willingness to fail publicly. From hi...

In this episode of Required Reading, we dive into Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting short story, The Tell-Tale Heart. Through the fevered confession of an unreliable narrator, Poe explores the thin line between sanity and madness, guilt and obsession. We discuss how Poe uses rhythm, repetition, and symbolism to capture the relentless beat of a guilty conscience — and why this tale still makes hearts race...

In this episode of Required Reading, we explore Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling masterpiece, The Cask of Amontillado. Set in the eerie catacombs beneath an Italian palazzo, the story follows Montresor’s calculated revenge against Fortunato—an act cloaked in deception, wine, and madness. The episode unpacks themes of pride, guilt, and psychological horror, showing how Poe turns a simple act of vengeance...

This week on Required Reading, we dust off our middle school readers and learn about high schoolers in love. We read Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare , the passionate and mature love of a 13 and 15 year old. It's basically Elizabethan Degrassi.  Co-Hosts: Dr. Nic Hoffmann, Mike Burns, Mike Carroll   "n Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in...

This week we are reminding you that this is the best of all possible podcasts. We talk Candide by Voltaire! Keep on reviewing and subscribing so we can continue doing this! or perhaps, this is our last episode and we will go to tend our gardens. Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Panel: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll Here from us!  "The Last Time I Rewound: VHS, Star Wars, and the Freedom to Remember" by Nic Hof...

This week we get the energy up by having Mike Carroll talk about Beowulf again! We plan on coming out with an episode every first and third Friday of the Month for the rest of the school year and hopefully you come along for the ride with us! We are starting out with  Grendel by John Gardner a deceptively short book for the complex magnitudes it contains. So sit back and enjoy our conversation abo...

We are back, baby! This week we are joined by graphic novelist Rebecca Michaud as we talk about the DC Elseworld comic,  Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, and Killian Plunkett ; Superman the pinko, classic!  Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann , Mike Burns, and Mike Carroll. Guest: Rebecca Michaud   Imagine a reality where the world’s most powerful super-being does not grow up in Smallville, Kans...

With Required Reading, we’re launching something new! As we hinted at the end of last term, we’re exploring a broader American Studies approach, tentatively called Zeit Guys. After covering a book last week (and with another on the way), we’ll be diving into Green Day’s Dookie album in the same style—personal stories, analysis, and enjoyment. We’re excited to try this out, and we’d love your feedb...

This week on Required Reading, we talk  Ready Player One  by Ernest Cline and hidden in here is an easter egg that will unlock Hoffmann's Gold.  WE ARE BACK, BABY!!!! Host: Nic Panel: Mike and Mike.    From the Random House book cover: "In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of huma...

Hello! We are starting to dust off the cobwebs of summer break. As we do, we return to one of Mike Carroll's short stories. Please enjoy! We will be back with the new format soon, so keep following us here! Thanks, Nic

This week we dive into the Culinary Underbelly with Anthony Bourdain as we talk about his masterpiece  Kitchen Confidential .  Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Co-host: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll From the Ecco back cover: "An updated and revised edition of Anthony Bourdain's mega-bestselling Kitchen Confidential, with new material from the original edition Almost two decades ago, the New Yorker published a...

This week on Required Reading, we all called our brothers and fathers. We read A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean , one of the greatest American parables ever written. Make your brothers, fathers, husbands, etc read it, also while you are at it, whoever you are, READ IT. Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann , Mike Burns, and Mike Carroll. Book summary from University of Chicago Press: "When Norman Maclea...

This week, Mike Carroll raps poetic about the role a mouse book played in his literary life. We talked about  Redwall by Brian Jacques, volume 1 of 22; them mice sure get up to mischief! How does Redwall by Brian Jacques hold up? Co-hosted: Nic Hoffmann and Mike Carroll   "One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time   The book that inspired a legend—the first novel in the beloved, be...

We are back, baby! Sorry about the delay, life got in the way, but we are back with a graphic novel, this time the Franco-Belgian super star Tintin with Tintin and the Blue Lotus by Hergé. The world's most famous boy(?) detective helps predict World War II and is highly critical of the Europeans in Asia. Also, comedy! Join us next episode for Redwall by Brian Jacques Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Co-Host...

This week we complete the saga and talk The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien. Since the first season, we have had a guest episode with the great Robert von Hagen, but now, in season four we have completed the Tolkien series. "What about the Silmarillion?" You may asked. "WE HAVE COMPLETED THE SERIES." I reply. Enjoy this indepth thematic episode as we crown a king, lib...

This week on Required Reading, we talk race, mental illness, and the Incredible Hulk. We read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck , but just want to talk about the rabbits.  Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Co-hosts: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll From the Penguin Classics back cover: "They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a you...

This week we return to the universe of the Hitchhiker’s Guide as we discuss the sequel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.   Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Panel: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll "Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," “Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist.”—The Washington Post Book World Facing annihilation at the hands of the wa...

This week, for our 50th episode, we talk memoirs, the art scene of the 1970s, the late Robert Mapplethorpe, and the incomparable Patti Smith. We talked Just Kids by Patti Smith.  "WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “Reading rocker Smith’s account of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, it’s hard not to believe in fate. How else to explain the chance encounter that threw them toge...

This week we deal with an airborne plague that kills everyone to get our mind off of current events. We read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.    Back of the book from Vintage:  "NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • Set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic g...

This week we get alllll spooky and cinematic! We talk Zombie apocalypse with  World War Z by Max Brooks ( also, this one has an incredible audiobook) ! Thanks for reading along with us! Our next book will be Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, because we just can't get optimistic. Host: Nic Co-host: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll "We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still h...

We start this season in earnest with a classic Cold War espionage thriller, but I can't remember which one. We read The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.  From the Bantam summary: "His memory is a blank. His bullet-ridden body was fished from the Mediterranean Sea. His face has been altered by plastic surgery. A frame of microfilm has been surgically implanted in his hip. Even his name is a myster...

Hey readers! This summer has been a mess and I promise we will soon return with a regular episode. In the meantime, here is a short story, soon to be published, by panelist Mike Carroll. A Wrong Cruelly Done. Enjoy, Nic

This month in Required Reading we talk about Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The book that coined the term 'snowflake,' gave us the rules, and made you question fancy soap.  From a philosophical work that came out before 9/11, clearly, join us as we meet Tyler Durden.  Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Co-Hosted: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll From the W. W. Norton book description: " The first rule about fight...

This week we revisit 2020, I mean the Vichy/Nazi occupation of the south of France. We were infected with The Plague , Camus' longer, somehow, more depressing work.  Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann Panel: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll  "The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation, and claustrophobia follow as they are...

This month we start with Mike Burns' choice for the high school book he hated, the not subtly homoerotic Billy Budd by Herman Melville.  "Billy Budd, Sailor has been called the best short novel ever written. In his brilliantly condensed prose, Herman Melville fashions a legal parable in which reason and intellect prove incapable of preserving innocence in the face of evil. For all those who feel t...