Your Shelf or Mine

Becky, Jennifer, and Heather discuss The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum and it's many adaptations, spinoffs, retellings, etc. including: The Wizard of Oz, MGM film (1939) Wicked by Gregory Maguire (1995) Wicked (musical) by Stephen Schwartz and Winne Holzman (2003) Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (2014) Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor (2025) The Antidote by Karen Russell (2025) H...

Becky and Jakob discuss two important American political essays:  "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau (1849) "Letter From Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) They are available from the library in the book "Writing Politics: An Anthology" edited by David Bromwich, published by the New York Review of Books.

Becky and Austin explore the myth of the American Pioneer through Little House on the Prairie. We discuss "Little House on the Prairie" and "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Caroline Fraser, "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich, "Prairie Lotus" by Linda Sue Park, and the new Little House on the Prairie Netfli...

Becky, Shelley, and Austin explore the Founding myths through musical theater. This is the first in a six-part series exploring American mythology through different texts. We discuss 1776 (music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards, book by Peter Stone) and Hamilton (music, lyric, book by Lin-Manuel Miranda). Other work referenced: "We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution" by Jill Lepore, "A Gr...

Becky, Holly, Jakob, and Austin talk about books of the 2020s, trends in reading and publishing, our hopes for the future, and a couple of predictions for the next big thing. This reading data: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump Books mentioned include: Spillover by David Quammen, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, The Plague by Albert Camu...

Becky and Jakob talk about "the crawdad book," a.k.a. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, and more!

Becky and Heather talk about the 2000s and books of the 2000s including Twilight (of course!) by Stephenie Meyer, Touch the Dark (the Cassie Palmer series) by Karen Chance, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom series) by Garth Nix. 

Becky and Jenny wax nostalgic about the 90s. Jakob is also there. We talk about: Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel;  The Perfume by Caroline Cooney;  Silent Scream by Diane Hoh;  The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine;  Frindle by Andrew Clements;  Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman;  and more! context for Jakob's Mitt Romney joke: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4I-SG8dK1AU  

Becky and Jo talk about books of the 1980s including: Alanna: The First Adventure (1983) by Tamora Pierce (and the rest of the Song of the Lioness Quartet), The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood, The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker, and picture books by Robert Munsch (Love You Forever, 1986; The Paper Bag Princess, 1980; Thomas's Snowsuit, 1985), Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express,...

Becky, Jennifer, Heather, and Jakob talk about Stephen King's classic novel "Cujo." Remember - don't have regrets, vaccinate your pets! Apologies for any poor sound quality in this one.

Becky, Austin, and Heather talk about books of the 1970s including: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Norma Klein, Mom, the Wolf Man, and Me by Norma Klein, Taking Sides by Norma Klein, Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry, Sophie's Choice by William Styron, The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers, The Japanese Screen by Anne Mather, The Pride of the P...

Becky, Jo, and Holly talk about books of the 1960s including: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The Young Unicorns by Madeline L'Engle, Miami...

Becky and Jakob talk about: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Eloise by Kay Thompson and more!

Becky and Austin talk about books of the 1940s, including:  Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstro m  The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown by Mac Barnett  Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown  The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown  In the Great Green Room by Amy Gary  “Looking At Picture Books” substack by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen: https://lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/  ...

Becky and Jey talk about books of the 1930s including: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack, The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink.  Check out American Indians in Children's Literature here: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/   Find our reading challenge here: htt...

We are counting down to the Longview Library's 100th anniversary in April 2026 by reading and discussing books from one decade each month. You can read along with us and track your participation on our Beanstack page: longviewlibrary.org.  This month, Becky, Jo, and Austin talk about books from the 1920s: Millions of Cats by Wanga Gag (Wanga Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray and...

Becky, Austin, and Holly talk about the work of National Book Award winner Percival Everett, including Erasure (and the movie adaptation "American Fiction"), God's Country, Watershed, So Much Blue, Telephone, The Trees, James, and more!

Becky, Jennifer, Jo, and Jakob talk about library book club selections from September through November 2024! Including: Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld, Monica by Daniel Clowes, Air by Monica Roe, The Getaway by Lamar Giles, Mexikid by Pedro Martin, Witchlings by Claribel Oretga, the Samantha books from American Girl, and much more!

Becky and Jakob talk about Christmas books, including: Santa's Gotta Go by Derrick Barnes A City Full of Santas by Joanna Ho Love, Santa by Martha Brockenbrough One Foggy Christmas Eve by Kerilynn Wilson Santa's First Christmas by Mac Barnett How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney by Mac Barnett The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Natalie Andrewson Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and...

Becky, Jenny, Jakob, and Heather talk about the work of Stephen Graham Jones including: The Only Good Indians  My Heart is a Chainsaw  I Was a Teenager Slasher Mongrels and more!

Becky, Jakob, Heather M, and Jennifer talk about Misery by Stephen King, the 1990 movie starring Kathy Bates, and season two of Castle Rock. Plus more! Spoilers abound, plus some discussion of graphic violence in the book, movie, and show.

Becky, Jennifer, Austin, Jakob, and Jo talk about library book club selections from summer 2024.

Becky and Austin talk about the work of Ann Patchett including: These Precious Days, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Tom Lake, The Patron Saint of Liars, The Magician's Assistant, The Dutch House, Commonwealth, and more! Introductory reading from Commonwealth. Listen to Ann Patchett in conversation with Cheryl Strayed at Literary Arts here: https://literary-arts.org/archive/ann-patchett-che...

Becky, Austin, and Jakob talk about the work of M.T. Anderson including: Feed (2002);  Landscape with Invisible Hand (2017);  Landscape with Invisible Hand movie (2023);  Elf Dog & Owl Head (2023);  Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad (2015);  The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. I: The Pox Party (2006);  The Daught...

Becky and Jo dish on contemporary romance novels, particularly the work of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood including: "Love, Theoretically" by Ali Hazelwood; "Check & Mate" by Ali Hazelwood; "People We Meet on Vacation" by Emily Henry; "Happy Place" by Emily Henry; "Funny Story" by Emily Henry; Introductory reading from "Book People" by Emily Henry.