Required Reading

This week Justine Engel joins me to read our first American Girl DOLL book: Meet Samantha! In 1904 wealthy orphan Samantha Parkington realizes the injustices that exist in the world around her, including child labor, segregation, and women's suffrage. Next week is our 75th episode! We will be reading Lord of the Flies - come prepared! Follow Justine! Follow Erin! Support the podcast!

Filmmaker Molly McGlynn joins me to discuss our first poetry collection - Shel Silverstein's WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS! We ask the critical question: was Shel Silverstein hot? Let us know. Follow Molly ! Follow Erin ! Support the podcast !

Longest episode title ever? Perhaps. You're welcome. Teaching artist Sara Childrey joins me to discuss TWO movies: The Swan Princess (1994) and Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)! Follow Childrey's substack! Check out some other movie episodes: The Nightmare Before Christmas! The Last Unicorn! Support the podcast ! Follow Erin !

Poet and author Erin Taylor joins me to discuss Kate Chopin's 1899 novel THE AWAKENING. Edna Pontellier struggles between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century Louisiana. (Wikipedia) Erin Taylor's book Bimboland ! Support the podcast! Follow Erin!

Author Alex Brunkhorst joins me to discuss what was almost our very first book - The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. It just turned 100! Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire with an obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. (Wikipedia) Read Alex's...

Another solo episode! Do you like these? Please let me know. Goosebumps book 3 follows Evan Ross when he discovers a can of "Monster Blood" in an old toy store. And it's got an appetite. Follow Erin ! Support the podcast ! Listen to Goosebumps Book 2 ! Listen to Goosebumps Book 1 !

Book two in our Goosebumps deep dive! Something weird is going on with Dad ever since he got fired from his job - and why is he wearing that hat all the time? Could be he's a mad scientist! Follow Erin ! Support the show! Listen to Goosebumps Book 1 !

Zannah Schorer returns to discuss Brandon Mull's absolutely buck wild novel: FABLEHAVEN. Kendra and Seth discover their grandparents live on a nature preserve for all the world's mythical creatures (a haven, you might say, for fables...) Follow Zannah ! Follow Erin! SUPPORT THE PODCAST Listen to Zannah's previous episode about The Tail of Emily Windsnap !

I love this one :) Writer Christin Campbell joins me to discuss the 1982 Rankin/Bass film THE LAST UNICORN! A unicorn leaves the protection of her enchanted forest to discover if she really is the last of her kind. Follow Christin ! Follow Erin ! Support the podcast ! Another Required Viewing episode: The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Rachel Moss joins me to discuss Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo from 2002! Many write it off as a Harry Potter rip-off but - hear this - it might be a whole lot better. When Charlie Bone discovers he can hear the voices of people in photographs he is whisked away to the Bloor Academy to train his powers, where he becomes entrenched in a generations-old battle for power. AND: Erin is in la...

It's just me this week! I am debuting a new intermittent series where I read all of RL Stine's immaculate Goosebumps series! Follow me! Support the show!

Madeline Douglass returns and this time we've got a third: former co-worker Luke Henke! We all worked in a Girl Scout Museum in college. Jealous? From Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 comes one of the first mass-produced books of all time: The Scarlet Letter. The novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man (minister Arthur Dimmesdale) to whom she is not married. As punis...

Not to be biased but this is a really good one! Author Gretchen Schreiber joins me to discuss two-books-in-one, Crown Duel and Court Duel by Sherwood Smith from 1997/1998/2002? The first book follows the adventures of young Countess Meliara "Mel" Astiar of Tlanth as she and her small group of forces rebel against the greed of King Galdran; along the way the mysterious Marquis of Shevraeth aids her...

Its a long one because its STEPHENIE MEYER!!!! It's what she would want. Repeat guest Jess Woodworth returns to discuss The Host! The book is about Earth, in a post-apocalyptic time, being invaded by a parasitic alien race known as "Souls", and follows one Soul's predicament when the consciousness of her human host refuses to give up her body. (Wikipedia) Follow That Bookish Witch on YouTube ! Fol...

Author Darrin Simpson ( Abby's Big Debate ) joins me to discuss Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY in our 60th episode!! Support the show ! Follow Erin !

This week it's French! Kelsey Buckley joins me to discuss Antoine de Saint Exupery's 1943 classic The Little Prince! There's a little "easter" "egg" in this episode - I hope you like it! Follow Kelsey! Follow Erin! Support the show!

This week we are all eating dirt - comedian Carter Hambley joins me to discuss Brian Jacques' sword-toting-mice-fantasy series Redwall! Watch Happy Gilmore 2! Support the podcast! Follow Erin!

Writer Lena Kouyoumdjian (Welcome to Flatch!) joins me to discuss the immaculate Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier! A young bride discovers herself haunted by the reputation of her husband's dead first wife Rebecca. Read Lena's Substack! Support the podcast! Follow Erin!

Merry Happy! Professor Carly O'Brien returns for her third episode (!) to discuss A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens from 1843. Support the podcast! Follow Carly! Follow Erin! In the new year: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier! Redwall by Brian Jacques! And then... who knows! More episodes with Carly! Dealer's Choice: Johnny Tremain Where the Redfern Grows

Trish and I have known each other since 6th grade, and this week we revisit the first book we read in 6th grade!!!!! The Giver by Lois Lowry from 1993. Trish is an incredible educator and radiant light. When Jonas turns 12 he is assigned a job: to become the next Giver, the only person in the perfect community to retain the memories of a life before things were perfect. Find Trish on LinkedIn ! Fo...

Talent manager Elle Potruch of EP Talent joins me to discuss Kate and M. Sarah Klise's 1998 epistolary novel Regarding the Fountain. And I somehow managed to bring up Monica Lewinsky. Classic. Eccentric artist Florence Waters designs a new water fountain for Dry Creek Middle School while Sam N's 5th grade class uncovers a secret lurking just beneath the school... Follow Erin! Support the podcast!

Comedian Dylan Adler joins me to discuss Jon Krakauer's 1996 book Into the Wild about the life and death of Christopher McCandless. And also Wicked. Follow Dylan ! Follow Erin ! Support the podcast! (Please...please)

Book influencer Madeline North joins me to discuss William Goldman's The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The "Good Parts" Version from 1973 and, yes, of course, the movie adaptation. Follow Madeline ! Support the podcast! Follow Erin!

Actually this could be a coven meeting right now... Fellow Welcome to Flatch cast member Taylor Ortega joins me to discuss the first book of the Sweep series from 2001: Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan! Seventeen-year-old Morgan thinks witchcraft is laughable when her best friend Bree drags her to a meeting of the Cirrus Coven. But during a cermony led by new kid Cal, Morgan feels a shock. Morgan d...

This episode was recorded November 4 2024 Comedian and writer Niles Abston joins me to discuss Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, often referred to as America's first (and greatest?) novel. Young Huckleberry Finn escapes his abusive father and embarks on an adventure down the Mississippi. Beside him is the escaped enslaved person Jim. Follow Niles! Watch Niles' Huckleberry Finn joke...