Bubbles and Books

She wrote Amanda & Ellyn's favorite book of 2023, she takes her book on walks around Paris, listens to Bubbles & Books, AND NOW is joining us on this episode of Poppin' Off. If we had created a manifest list at the beginning of 2023, podcasting with Julia Langbein, author of American Mermaid, would be at the top. If you haven't read American Mermaid, get your copy today. Buy American Merma...

Looking for the perfect book to gift or ask for this season? We've got you covered. In this episode we're deep diving into the books we're recommending for every type of reader. We want to make shopping for the holidays easy for you, and we love giving book recommendations. Let us know if you need more book gifting ideas! Please make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And...

We're just a few days past Thanksgiving and we wanted to share all of the things we're grateful for. From everything bookstore related to the silly things. To our listeners, we thank you.  Please make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And don't forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Instagram: @bubblesandbookspodcast Follow Dog-Eared Books on Instagram: @dogea...

Ellyn is giving us a lesson in personality types. She recently introduced the concept of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator to several of our booksellers which prompted the question of readers and their types. Listen to find out if you think they match the type the results concluded. Please note. We are not MBTI professionals and this was all for fun. If you would like to take the same test we did,...

In this episode of Bubbles & Books Poppin' Off, Amanda is joined by the author of Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, Esme Symes-Smith, and Good Books Young Troublemakers book club founder Tanvi Rastogi. We're also joined by Good Books Young Troublemakers board members Ben Schrag.   In the episode Esme shares about the next book in the Sir Callie series, Sir Callie and the Dragon's Roost,...

We asked and you delivered. We wanted to know all your burning questions about the indie bookstore world, Dog-Eared Books and more. Amanda & Ellyn go through and answer some of the questions that were sent our way. We loved doing this with you all, and will definitely be doing it again!  Please make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And don't forget to share it with y...

Amanda is fangirling hard, Ellyn is excited, and we are so happy for this episode of Poppin' Off. Today we have author Claire Lombardo who's debut book The Most Fun We Ever Had became an instant favorite of both our store owners and many others.  Claire, who currently lives in Iowa City, made the drive to join us in the Dog House for Poppin' Off. Listen in to learn more about her debut novel, insp...

How do you feel when a book you love is adapted for TV or Film? Sometimes it's a win, and sometimes a total flop. This week Amanda & Ellyn are discussing recent and upcoming book to film or tv adaptations. Let us know what some of your favorite adaptations have been!  Please make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And don't forget to share it with your friends. Follow...

We're heading back to our time in New York, and bringing you an episode of Poppin' Off with New York City bookseller, Dog Pack subscriber, friend of Rachel, the incredible Pedro Ramirez. Pedro brings wonderful insight to the book world of New York and offers fantastic reading recommendations. Bubbles were popped, and laughs were had. Thank you to Pedro and Lindsay for joining us on this special Bu...

Ellyn, Amanda and Rachel recently visited 13 bookstores in New York. This episode is all about the experiences, bookstores they visited, cocktails and more. One of the best things is when indie support indies, and that's what this New York Trip was all about. Tell us what region we should go explore bookstores next! Please make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And don't...

In honor of Banned Books Week 2023 we're coming to you with an episode of Poppin' Off with Joyce McIntosh of the Freedom to Read Foundation. We are also joined by Dog-Eared's Tanvi Rastogi, a former youth librarian, who faced book banning challenges during her career. The episode focuses on the fight against book banning, what that means in our community and the problematic and dangerous nature of...

It's been an exciting past week since we added another shelving unit on the floor, expanded some much loved sections, AND added new sections for customers to browse! Hear all about the new shelf changes happening and from Bookseller Bailey and Event Coordinator Emily on why they're excited for these changes.  Order a copy of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and help us try and bring her to D...

This episode is inspired by Emily and her fresh new bangs. Ellyn and Amanda discuss everything that is currently bangin'. From books (duh), to movies and they even share what's not bangin'. *cough* book banning *cough*. With this chaotic episode we also get our event coordinator Emily on the episode! It's a fun mix of all things bookish and what we're loving.  Listeners of today's podcast will als...

This past weekend, we had one of the great rivalries happen, Iowa State vs. Iowa football game. So in honor of the CyHawk game Ellyn brought bookseller Mariah onto today's episode to discuss some of the great bookish rivalries. Let us know if we missed any! Listeners of today's podcast will also hear about an exclusive offer Bookshop has given us. Order a copy of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingso...

The Literature Map. A phenomenon discovered by Bookseller Amy to help guide readers towards finding the perfect book. But is this odd little website accurate for suggesting authors similar to authors you already love? Amanda & Ellyn test the system out and discuss the accurate and strange recommendations from the Literature Map. Try the Literature Map for yourself today here ! Listeners of tod...

This is a really exciting episode for Bubbles & Books because we have Bookshop.org 's Senior Partnerships Manager Sarah High on as today's guest. We first met Sarah at Winter Institute and again at the Midwest Booksellers Spring Road Trip and are continually grateful for her work she does with indie bookstores. Bookshop.org is a great way to support your local indie bookstore even if you don't...

Are you ready for Love Unleashed? This week we have Bookseller Katie on the podcast and she's sharing with us all about our newest subscription offering Love Unleashed. This subscription will feature spicy love stories featuring different genres, time periods, tropes, and identities delivered to its readers in a monthly paperback book. The books selected may be a much anticipated new release or an...

Introducing the two middle-est readers, the "Jans" if you will, the glue that holds the sandwich together, the middle children of Dog-Eared Book's co-owners, Flora and Atticus.  These two bring not only hilarity to today's episode, but we are blessed with the musical stylings of Atticus, Flora's great bookish questions, as well as a cameo from her dog Posy. They share with us some of their favorit...

The foundation of Dog-Eared Books was built on Amanda and Ellyn and their reading tastes. But what are the books they absolutely agree on and the books one loved and the other didn't. Amanda & Ellyn take a dive into their list of finished books and see where the venn diagram comes together and where it doesn't.  

We have the mini versions of Ellyn and Amanda are on the podcast. Holden and Margot, both 7 years old, are joining Bubbles & Books for the first time. They ask each other questions about books, movies and hot dogs. Then all four together write a story live on the podcast!!  It's a crazy week with RAGBRAI coming through and we'll have author Genevieve Gornichec in the store for Cocktails &...

In this episode of Poppin' Off Amanda and Ellyn are joined by former Ames Middle School Principal Yonas Michael. Yonas not only was Ellyn's boss at one time, but is also an advocate for education, creating change, and doing work towards eliminating barriers that educators face every day. He shares insight into his article Course Correction: Teaching Critical Consciousness in an Anti-CRT State. If...

Ellyn has brought back the fun game of quizzing Amanda on whether the title of a book is a romance or a thriller. It may seem like it's an easy game, but don't be so sure! Listen and play along, and share with us a title we should guess if it's romance or thriller! Don't miss finding out about the poppin' new releases coming out this week, there are so many good ones your tbr list is going to be o...

In today's poppin' off episode we have author Joe Milan Jr. on the podcast. We first met Joe in St. Louis at Heartland Fall Forum, an industry conference. Joe happened to land at our table during the moveable feast where we quickly learned not only that he lives in Forrest City, IA but we learned all about his debut book "The All-American". We are drinking Somaeks, a drink that mixes soju and beer...

Happy birthday to both Amanda and Ellyn. To celebrate they are sharing 41 collective book and book-adjacent wishes. This episode is a fun one full of all the biggest book dreams we could ask for. Find out what they are, and let us know what you biggest book wish would be! Volunteer for the Downtown Ames RAGBRAI festivities here! https://discoverames.com/ragbrai/ragbrai-volunteers/

It's been crazy town over here at Dog-Eared Books, and Ellyn decided to play a game that unfortunately involved Rachel. Amanda and Ellyn battled it out to see which of them knows Rachel better, or as they like to put it, which of them is the favorite parent. The game quickly dissolved into a game of Amanda or Ellyn while being asked specific questions. This fun episode is the perfect way to get th...