Overdue

"What if the Napoleonic Wars but with magic?" is a great elevator pitch for Susanna Clark's sprawling novel, but it only scratches the surface of what Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has to offer. Footnotes, Farnums, and factoids abound in this fun work of historical/alternate fiction. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-n...

CW: This week’s book revolves around sexual assault, which we discuss in the episode. We don’t read the specific passage and we try to be as general as possible, but feel free to skip this one if you’re not up to it. Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak is a pitch-perfect account of what it’s like to be Awkward In High School, in ways that are both funny and sad. That a two-decade-old novel still feels s...

This episode, instead of a book we read YOUR questions! Topics range from the five characters you'd meet at an Overdue dinner party to what makes a great diaper. We also have a blast chatting with our livestream audience. As always, thanks to our Patreon supporters for making these bonus episodes possible! Visit patreon.com/overduepod to find out how you can support the show. See Privacy Poli...

Michel Faber's 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White has been hailed as a Dickensian novel with a saucy, modern narrator. How exactly does he pull that off in an epic story steeped in the history of Victorian London? And how does he play with our own expectations of the period? Find out in this week's episode! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at ht...

In this week's episode, we talk about the very nature of what makes a superhero (or an anti-hero, or a supervillain) a superhero (or anti-hero, or supervillain), in between talking about our ideal Father's Day and how Harry Potter and the D&D alignment chart informs how people of a certain age think about all fictional characters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California...

Lorraine Hansberry's classic play A Raisin in the Sun endures for its insightful portrait of a black family in Chicago fighting for a better life. Inspired by her own family's experience with racial housing discrimination, it's a complex piece about who gets to get ahead, how, and why. And of course, we had to balance the gravity of this gem from Hansberry's brief but momentous career with a deep...

Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle shares some qualities with her best-known short story The Lottery; both feature small New England towns that are the site of some unfortunate mob action. Join us for a conversation about non-supernatural creepiness, unreliable narrators, and early flights. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://a...

Our voyage ends with Book 24, which includes one more amazing Odysseus lie and a heaping serving of deus ex machina. Then it's time to reflect on our journey from high school English students enduring a long reading assignment to olive-oiled men who love a good epic poem. Thanks for joining us on this trek through Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's Odyssey! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.c...

Caveat lictor: this episode contains mild spoilers for Drowning Ruth . Christina Schwarz's debut novel weaves together three main threads: historical fiction, melodramatic mystery, and sisterhood. The result is an interesting portrait of women in Depression-era Wisconsin striving for self-determination. Additional talking points include knock-knock tips, Jonathan Franzen's Oprah complaints, and th...

Madeline Miller's Circe is a great chaser for Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, and it's an excellent exploration of a mythological character who has often been maligned. Miller's Circe is modern but also instantly recognizable and easy to reconcile with her classical depictions. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-...

We're almost at the end of our long journey, but before we wrap up with Book 24 and our closing thoughts, we took some time to sit down with Emily Wilson and chat about her wonderful translation of Homer's Odyssey. Among other topics, we talked with her about her process, Telemachus' entertaining whining, and why all these boys are oiling themselves up all the time. See Privacy Policy at https://a...

Look...if you had one shot (or one opportunity) to undo everything Lee Harvey Oswald ever wanted - in one moment - would you capture it or just let it slip? Stephen King's time-traveling doorstop of a novel 11/22/63 takes us back to the good ol' days when men were men who made plans to assassinate presidents. Discussion points include time travel rules and how much time travel rules, past slang an...

We kick off May by looking back to the middle of March, courtesy of George Eliot's brick of a novel about an insular English community. Discussion topics include: marriage, weird inheritance rules, and the phrase "pleased as Punch." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Just a heads up - this one has explicit language! David Wong's John Dies at the End is a slacker comedy-slash-cosmic horror adventure that may not be for everyone. Talking points include our own hangups as readers of comedy writing, political incorrectness, and the legacy of Cracked magazine's SHUT UP jokes. Oh - and ska. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notic...

This year's Children's Book Week - on the eve of the podcast's first child, no less - is about Raymond Briggs' weirdly existential and British Fungus the Bogeyman, and the much lighter and sillier Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Scott Lynch's 2006 debut novel is a "sword and sorcery crime novel" about a gang of thieves who get caught up in a power struggle for the fate of their city. The Lies of Locke Lamora bumps up against issues of class and privilege, but it's mostly a story about cool thieves doing cool cons. Talking points include Omar Little, fantasy theatrics, and crossing the double-crossers. See Privacy Policy a...

Ironically, running out of time to read George Eliot's Middlemarch gave us the time to get to H.G. Wells' foundational sci-fi novella The Time Machine, in which he invents the very concept (or at least the modern nomenclature) of a time machine. Wells' protagonist is, surprisingly enough, able to make guesses about sentient life from 800,000 years in the future that just happen to align with his p...

Our journey through Stephenie Meyer's world of werewolves, vampires, and teens has come to a close! We wrap up the story of Bella, Edward, and Jacob with Breaking Dawn . It's a book that could probably be at least two books and definitely suffered by the odd pacing of the series' prior entries. Join us for a discussion of the mind internet, fan fiction and world-building, and just how much we HATE...

In Slaughterhouse Five , Kurt Vonnegut uses surprising humor and sci-fi wit to portray one man's experience of the horrific bombing of Dresden. But don't worry - you needn't have read Slaughterhouse One through Four to keep up with our episode on this classic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Here we go! We're closing in on the end, talking about Books 20-23 of Emily Wilson's Odyssey translation. Odysseus and Penelope pray before the Suitor Bowl. Athena eggs on the suitors. Telemachus yells at his mom. Everyone competes in an archery contest. Then it's time to kill some suitors! Our Heroes' utter lack of mercy doesn't play especially well in Wilson's translation, but that's by design.&...

This week's book takes us up to space, where the human race fights sentient lizards and hamsters and befriends a fast-talking all-powerful AI. It's sometimes as fun as it sounds! Sometimes not. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

It may not be that classic Audrey Hepburn joint, but Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's quite the fun, poignant portrait of a young socialite named Holiday Golightly. Join us for a morning feast of names, symbolism, and crimes - the three food groups! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Our SECRET SURPRISE BOOK this week is related to a SECRET SURPRISE LIFE EVENT for one of your co-hosts! Which one? You'll have to listen to find out!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Nnedi Okorafor's magical teen story Akata Witch centers on a young woman named Sunny who discovers that she has magical powers. She then enlists in an after-school magic club with the rest of her coven and sets off to play soccer and save the world. Join us for a discussion of buckeyes, magic schools, and more -- all with the help of a very rowdy patron chat. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.co...

What if kids could live in a world where it was Christmas every day? What if the only way to get there was in a creepy car driven by a deathless vampire man? Joe Hill's NOS4A2 asks these questions and more! It's also the first of his books to engage more directly with the work of his father, a little guy named Stephen King. Other talking points include The Post 2 (spoilers), beard secrets, and And...