Overdue

If you've ever read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and thought to yourself "this book is an interesting read except for the part at the end where Tom Sawyer shows up" then buddy I have a book podcast for you (it's this one). Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

This week we choose our own lunar adventure! Join us as we learn some moon facts, climb on moon rocks, and make some choices about whether or not to meet Moon Separatists. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Carolyn Keene wasn't a real person, and we suspect that the Secret of the Old Clock might not actually meet the technical definition of a "mystery"? But dang if that plucky Nancy Drew and her confident stride aren't fun to talk about anyway. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...

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 15-27. In Episode 3, Don Quixote, the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, and his companion Sanc...

It's disorienting to read the tenth book in a longrunning detective fiction series without reading any of the books that came before, but Gaudy Night is noteworthy because its heroine Harriet Vane is a precursor to many many women found in today's mystery novels. Just come prepared for the romantic parts and the parts about English high society that all make it take longer to figure out who did th...

Tom Sawyer, a 19th-century amalgam of Zack Morris and Dennis the Menace, has much to teach us about the joys of boyhood and adventure in the pre-Civil War United States. Twain, by extension, has plenty to teach us about racial stereotypes and how they can bog down even the most charming of adventure stories. Check out our previous Mark Twain episode on The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Coun...

April's bonus episode uses Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton’s illustrated sort-of-memoir Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology as a springboard to talk about being a Cat Person, loss, pandemic brain, and the fact that more books for adults should be illustrated. Find out more about our bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod . Our theme music was composed by...

What is Pippi Longstocking? A precocious nine-year-old child with a healthy disregard for The System? A Terminator? An elder god who dabbles in mortal affairs, eternally developing tests for us and finding us wanting? The answer might be "all of the above. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://...

Téa Obreht's award-winning debut novel is about a doctor in a war-torn Balkan country, piecing together her grandfather's life one story at a time. Is it a magical realism? Is it mostly about animals? Is it surprisingly resonant with our Current Societal Moment™? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this week's episode. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Priva...

Join us as we journey down a dark corridor to a parallel world where we are friends and host a book podcast together but our eyes are shiny black buttons and we give you a vaguely uneasy feeling when we invite you to listen to us... forever. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...

This isn't an episode of Overdue, it's a Feed Drop! We wanted to share with you an episode of The History of Literature, a podcast about great stories and why we love them. To use host Jacke Wilson's words, the show "takes a fresh look at some of the most compelling examples of creative genius the world has ever known." It's brought to you by the folks at the Podglomerate. You can find more i...

Clearly it is time we covered Beverly Cleary! In addition to her numerous books starring Ramona Quimby, the late titan of children's fiction penned several novels about a mouse named Ralph who rides a motorcycle. Not quite sure what else you need to know, to be honest. There's a kid named Keith. He and Ralph become friends. Also, we solve the energy crisis thanks to Ralph's motorcycle. Our theme m...

"What if the Axis Powers won World War II?" is one of the most-asked questions in all of speculative fiction, but Jo Walton's Farthing asks "what if Britain didn't exactly LOSE World War II, but ended up sliding into fascism anyway?" Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-no...

This isn't an episode of Overdue, it's a Feed Drop! We wanted to share with you an episode of Storybound featuring Tommy Orange reading his short story "Copperopolis" with sound design by Ryan Dann. Storybound is a radio theater program from the folks at Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate. Each episode is a chance to hear a contemporary author read their own work, designed with immersive sound env...

What if Cinderella didn't fall for Prince Charming? What if she developed a rich, endearing relationship with the King's Huntress instead? Malinda Lo's retelling of Cinderella blends cultural traditions and remixes key tropes, but also remains true to the folk tale's reverence for love and magic. (Listen, the big boat was floated while we were recording this episode. Our jokes were timely when we...

Welcome to 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 1-14. In Episode 1, we do some table-setting on the author and translation, and then we dive into the fi...

What if Death was a job, that a guy did? On a Pale Horse has an interesting theology and viewpoint on morality, even if the book's women characters are paper-thin and Piers Anthony is kind of a jabroni. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

It's time to post at the top of the key and shoot some literary hoops! Pick and roll with us into a poetic novel about brotherhood, family, and passing the rock. Alexander's poetry in The Crossover is eclectic and energetic, which makes for a fun read whether you stan LeBron James or Nikki Giovanni or both! Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.c...

We don't actually get to the center of the earth this week, but we do TRY to get there, and that has made all the difference. Fans of Craig's French accent get a lot to chew on in this one. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

It's been a couple of years, so we figured it was time for another listener Q&A! This time we tackle hard-hitting questions like "what kind of books does your baby like" and "what is the best pasta shape."  For more information on our bonus episodes, visit patreon.com/overduepod . Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Cal...

What if the celebrated author of a classic children's novel wanted to write about Adult issues like spinsterhood, pariah-hood, and being told you only have a year to live? L.M. Montgomery asked this question of herself as she sat down to write The Blue Castle . Join us for a discussion of obnoxious families, fairy tales, and botched diagnoses. Check out our previous L.M. Montgomery episode on Anne...

Returning guest Kamille Washington joins us this week to chat about A Promised Land, the first in former President Barack Obama's (planned) two-part presidential autobiography. We talk about the functions these books serve, both for the writer and the reader, and whether this book's recounting of Obama's early presidency squares with our experience with and memory of it a decade later (apologies t...

N.K. Jemisin's award-winning Broken Earth trilogy concludes with two powerful magic users trying to harness the moon to bring about an apocalypse to end all apocalypses. We discuss how this book decides to stick its landing, including the impressive detour it takes to do an audacious amount of world-building for a closing entry in a series. Just coming to the series now? Check out our episodes on...

Gene Wolfe is a sci-fi author's sci-fi author, best known for his descriptive language and a penchant for unreliable narrators. To attempt to discover the REAL meaning of The Ziggurat, we take a break in the middle of this episode to read the story again. It only sort of helps. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv...

We're celebrating the fiction-filled and fictional holiday of Short Story Week by sharing two short stories with y'all this week. First up is The Comet, a speculative sci-fi tale by civil rights activist and writer W.E.B. DuBois from his collection Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil. After that is Woeful Tales from Mahigul, a short story collection within a short story collection by Ursula K....