The Bookening

In this episode our heroes finally tear into the meat of War and Peace, talking about all those wonderful characters, Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, Boris, the professor, and Mary Ann. Many wise things are said. You should really read this book. Seriously. It's the best. Next week we begin a little Tolkien! Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hey, folks! We're finally talking about the nitty gritty of War and Peace. First we open some absolutely great presents from a friend, in our patented mailbag segment. And then ... this episode is a little over a place, but it's because we love the book so much, we just kinda jump in and start gabbing about it. You'll hear our thoughts on which is better, Anna Karenina or the novel in question. An...

In this episode of The Bookening podcast, Nathan says something silly near the beginning, Brandon says something nerdy about a book  somewhere in the middle, and Jake says something impassioned and pastoral somewhere near the end. It's a pretty unique episode that way. What is the subject you ask? Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace , Baby. One of the top three books our heroes have done on The Bookening....

Leo Tolstoy was a colossal genius of the first order, and War and Peace is one of the best books that The Bookening has ever or will ever do. So that's why you should listen to this episode, in which Brandon provides some much needed context on Russian history, the life of Tolstoy, and more. Listen today. Yay! Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here! You have six days to get the "year of Tolkien" thing we've been promising. Merry Christmas! Our heroes read two Russian Christmas stories: Tolstoy's “Where Love is God is there also” and Dostoyevsky's “Beggar Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree." Um, they weren't that great. But it's still a fun little Christmas episode with some discussion of short stories. So yay! Next week War and P...

What would happen if Jane Eyre teamed up with Reepicheep the Mouse, or the White Witch fought King Henry from Shakespeare? You'll find out in this very episode of The Bookening, as our heroes finish up their fantasy draft of different characters and objects and settings from 2019's booklist. Be sure to go to our Twitter or Instagram this Friday after 12pm to vote on which of the novels our heroes...

Our heroes announce their entire booklist for 2020. Yay! Then they begin an awesome fantasy draft of all the characters and objects from the novels this year. It's a lot of fun, don' skip it.  Here's our list:  Feb—Sense and Sensibility March—Johnny Tremain/ Trumpet of the Swan  April—Moon and Sixpence  May—Waiting for Godot  June— To Kill a Mockingbird  July— Dangerous Laughter  August — The Holl...

Let's get this out of the way. This episode was recorded late at night and is fairly slaphappy. But once it gets going, our heroes do discuss their individual top 7 things about Narnia, and, we daresay, provide some good insight into what makes Narnia so darn magical. Support us here!  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

A novel that's profane and silly and over the top and pretty much a masterpiece-- Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Our heroes have plenty of thoughts about this one, as they finally delve into the nitty gritty. Is this an angry novel? Is it political? Is it good for Christians to read the darn thing? Will it become part of the canon? Why does Brandon like it so much? Listen to find out. Next...

It's part 2 of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Kind of. Also the story of how Nathan got married. You'll hear a disclaimer at the beginning of this show. Not because there is anything bad, but because we ended up spending an hour being friends and getting all personal and stuff. This book holds a dear place in more than one of our lives, for reasons you will hear. So, yeah, not a lot of lit...

Now with audio glitch corrected! The Bookening discusses one of the most important books of the latter half of the twentieth century, and one that they are pretty excited to talk about, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Postmodernism, magical realism, the history of India, and more inform a Contextual Texan that Brandon had a lot of fun preparing, and you should have an equal amount of fun lis...

Okay, so, let's get this out of the way. There is a huge run of positive energy coming up very soon with Midnight's Children , War and Peace, and then Sense and Sensibility. But today is not that day. Today our heroes are discussing midcentury theater, as represented by two behemoths, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Yay! Support us here! (Get us up...

Our heroes recorded this episode at the end of a long session and they may or may not have been a little stir crazy, as you'll hear. However ... Now THIS is how you write a horror story. After a weeklong foray into scary short stories, our heroes finally hit gold with Algernon Blackwood's much-anthologized "The Willows." And believe us, it's much-anthologized for a reason. The reason being that .....

"Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness. Wretched is he who looks back upon lone hours in vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books, or upon awed watches in twilight groves of grotesque, gigantic, and vine-encumbered trees that silently wave twisted branches far aloft." Oh brother. It's Part 4 of our Halloween Spook-tacula...

Sredni Vashtar went forth, His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white. His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death. Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful. Happy All Hallow's Eve Eve, fiends! Here's a truly weird little item for ya! In this episode The Bookening reads Sredni Vashtar by Saki (H. H. Munro). It's a good story by a good writer who people aren't as familiar with as they...

"Lo, there ye stand, my children," said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. "Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to...

"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable...

In this episode of The Bookening, our heroes discuss Henry V. It is a good episode. Listen to it. Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hooray, it's our episode on William Shakespeare's Henry IV. Which part you ask? We're doing both parts in one amazing episode. You'll hear our heroes' theories on whether Hal was faking it or he really loved Falstaff, whether Falstaff is still funny in 2019, and whom to reward and whom to punish when you suddenly become king, or manager of McDonalds for that matter. Plus Brandon goes to Washington...

Yay, it's our longest episode ever! (Pretty sure.) And we're closing the loop on C. S. Lewis (for now at least) and Narnia, discussing The Last Battle. Did our heroes like The Last Battle? Spoiler alert, they liked it a lot. They didn't even mind the depiction of heaven at the end. So settle in for our final thoughts on Lewis, those who can't handle criticism of Lewis, and the wonderful land of Na...

The Bookening really enjoyed The Magician's Nephew . That's right, they liked it a ton. Did you know this was the last Narnia book that C. S. Lewis wrote? Even though it was the second to last published, and now some dumb publishers label it as the first book that kids should read? Well, it was. And you can tell, because it feels like C. S. Lewis has the kinks worked out, and is just chillaxed and...

Thanks, Patrons! The Bookening is returning to Narnia with The Horse and His Boy, a book that is a personal favorite of many a boy and girl. But will it be the personal favorite of The Bookening crew? Our heroes also provide their final thoughts and rankings for The Silver Chair. This could be a controversial episode, beware! But also a big, good, fun one. In our humble opinion. Listen right now....

In this episode our heroes discuss Richard II . More specifically  The Hollow Crown  version, which they find to be absolutely delightful and awesome and, in a word, good. Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here! Please! Our heroes take what they hope is a very short hiatus from Narnia, and begin discussing the Henriad by one William Shakespeare. They will be talking about Richard II, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V, specifically keying off 'The Hollow Crown' production that the BBC did a few years ago. Onward and upward! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroines (what???) review Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★