Paperback Friends

Does Orwell do the impossible, or will this be the first Orwell book that does not hit? Find out, in another episode of Paperback Friends! Type: Review | Book: Burmese Days | Writer: George Orwell

What is this? A good freaking episode?! I told you 2026 was going to bump up the quality, and this episode is where I started putting even more effort in scripting than ever before. Far from perfect, but this is actually pretty darn good. Hope you like it, and expect more like it from now on, but with a bit more anger and verve ^^ Type: Review | Book: The Dice Man | Writer: Luke Rhinehart

Let's recap the year. If we squint, it's kind of a review episode ^^ Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

Feels about time we have a Charles Dicken's book on the podcast. There is something a bit magical, something unmistakable about this one; despite me not falling headless over heels for it. It's a novel that it feels like a guy like me should have read. Now, I have. Type: Review | Book: Great Expectations | Writer: Charles Dickens

This series has me excited! All Systems Red, novella by Martha Wells, is very enjoyable, and it leaves me hoping for the rest of the series. I will definitely read more of this in the podcast. Type: Review | Book: All Systems Red | Writer: Martha Wells

I wanted to say thanks for 2025, and talk about some goals for 2026. Shorter than last time... Thanks for your time, really. It means the world to me =) /Sam.

Some good points here, but I still need to tighten up, and I promise that this is one of the key focus points for 2026, and I hope that in some of the coming episodes we will see way more signs of that. For now, an okay episode, but I can do way better, and you deserve better. Let's get better =) Type: Review | Book: Queen of Fire | Writer: Anthony Ryan

A bit sloppy on my end, but I feel as if I get a lot better results with more scripted stuff. Sadly, I was a bit distracted at the time of recording this. 2026 is going to start pretty rough, but at least I have you guys! Type: Review | Book: Dragonfruit | Writer: Makiia Lucier

Filler, unhinged? You’ve heard it before, welcome to another episode of Paperback Friends with your host Sam Ögren. Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

Was my pronunciation extra off this week? Seems like I heard way more mistakes than usual. Simple 101 episode, pretty interesting topic, but I don't know how interesting it was to listen to ^^ We have been pushing a lot of reviews, and with audio books in the mix as well; we are not about to slow down! Type: Writing 101 | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

God, I love it when I stumble over something I really, really love. This book was such a treat for me. It had pretty much all I want from a novel like this. This novel was also a perfect return to our normal audio settings. I hated that messed with the quality (the audio quality, I still suck as much as usual ^^) of my other episodes. It feels great to be back, and swinging. Can very much recommen...

At the time of recording I still had not fixed the audio issues, but this was not from a lack of trying. It took me quite a few hours to fix. I finally sorted out the issues before recording the next episode: 64. I'm really sorry about this, but things like this happen. I still think I made this sound okay given the circumstance. I hope you can bare with me for this episode before we are back...

I like what Randy Ellefson does here. He seems like a good dude, and this book is pretty useful for what it is. What is not so good is the sound quality. I had recently made the switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11. This erased all my audio settings and recreated a bunch of old audio problems I had when starting. Sadly, I was not able to get my recording to sound good for this episode and coming e...

Pretty good vibes for a filler episode. I was definitely off my crazy pills for this one, but let's hope that's a good thing =) Type: Writing 101 | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

It’s been a long time coming, but we are finally taking a look at the sequel to Blood Song in Antony Ryan’s Tower Lord. This is part two in this trilogy, and it’s nice to see Ryan flex his skills. He’s really an amazing fantasy writer. Albeit, I can struggle quite a bit with some of his plot devices. Despite grievances on that subject with part one; this time he fares better. This time we won’t pu...

God, I should be a dentist I do so much filling. DERP!! Not, the best, I have a point. Sadly, I don’t do as good a job as I thought conveying that point. Oh, well. You know it by this point; some episodes are going to be a bit like this. At least its short ^^ Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

GABRIELLE (not Gabriella) Zevin’s hit novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is chock full of beauty, passion and humanity. And yet, for me it does not hit the same way as it seems to have done for so many others. Surprised? I don’t hate it, but I do leave this one with a lot of small things bugging me. Join me as I take a swing at this beloved novel. Type: Review | Book: Tomorrow, and Tomorro...

In this episode I talk about Tower Lord and Sorcery of Thorns. One uses the plot device "unlikely allies" well, and the other does not. At least according to the gospel of this old fool; something that is important to always remember heading into one of my episodes ^^ Type: Writing 101 | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

Not much to say here, it's some general thoughts about incorporating audio books into the mix! Spoilers, I have recently finished my first audio book, and I think it works great. It will also mean more reviews, so win-win, unless you hate the podcast, then it's really bad for you ^^ Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

I’ve been thinking about writing again. Yet, I’m not sure how I want to go about it – and exactly what to write? It can be hard to figure out an idea about what to write about, and how to actually find the time, drive and committing to an idea. It’s scary, but it’s part of it. I like the subject for this episode. Alright for a filler! Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A

Let's try a new episode format, and see how we feel about this one =) Type: Expectations and impressions | Book: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Writer: Gabrielle Zevin

We are closing in on the end of quadrilogy. One more to go, and I’ll likely start reading that pretty soon. Sadly, this part was not on par with the other parts. I struggled to connect to the characters although the world-building is solid as usually with Chambers. Don’t let that scare you away from part one, and especially part two. They are very much stand-alone after all! We’ll see where the fi...

I’m not going anywhere… But if you think my usual episodes have a small audience this update is made for no one, maybe Flink ^^ Solid if you picked up on the tone in episode 52 already, it was an elaborate joke.

Yes, I know. I mispronounce Beltik in the episode. It happens like two times, I know it’s annoying, and I know you want to yell at me. Besides that… This was cool to do, and this is a special episode to me – perfect for a special novel. This story, and I say story to include the show, makes me feel good. It makes me yearn and hope. It’s a story where the quiet dork is the hero; we so rarely get to...

I like the goofy ones. I found a poll, at least on Spotify? Make your voice heard =) Type: [General] | Book: N/A | Writer: N/A