There Will Be Books

Hello, friends. We have a fun one this week discussing the 1926 novel, "Lolly Willowes" by Sylvia Townsend Warner. A novel about a woman becoming a witch but is that what it's really about? We had a great time unpacking what makes this novel tick. Also, Peter surprised Matt with a review of the latest from Matt Haig, "The Midnight Train." A novel that doesn't really do...

"You guys never read anything super popular or relevant!" If you've ever yelled that at us in person or online well we have an episode for you. We do our best to discuss, theorize, and dissect the mega super popular romantic fantasy, "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J Maas. Very enjoyable episode! Let us know if you think we should continue on with the series. Contact...

On this week's episode, we review the latest novel by Ben Lerner. We discuss auto-fictions limitations and why we were left frustrated by this potentially thought provoking novel. And, finally, we discussed adding a beach read to our TBR, (since Lerner was so adamant that his latest novel was most definitely not a beach read) If you've read "Transcription" let us know your though...

A jam pack episode this week. We discuss the final Hemingway short story on our TBR, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," a work that is powerful while being elusive. *Side note, Peter feels like he mispronounced this story the whole way through, he barely sleeps #Dadlife. And finally, we have a spirited discussion about Ben Lerner, where he sits in the literary world, and predicting our reaction...

This week we are discussing the popular 2020 novel, "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig. A novel that means well, but does that mean it's a good book? We discuss our thoughts on the book and the genre we think it fits into along with a myriad of other topics* *Other topics include stomach illnesses, Zachary Taylor, copious amounts of cherries, chilled milk, raw milk, and more. As alw...

After more than 40 minutes of tech issues we were finally able to record this weeks episode. (If this episode is bad...blame the tech gods) And after a little bit of a rough start we find our rhythm and discuss the short story "Enoch Soames" by Max Beerbohm. From there we discuss getting into rouble, Peter's backpack full of books, and adding books to the TBR. Books added: The Dog of...

We're back this week to discuss the George Saunders short story, "Victory Lap." (But not before a long intro on the NFL playoffs) We discuss the nuance of the story and give our thoughts on what Saunders is going for with this odd but powerful story. We end the episode with adding a new book to our TBR, this time we selected a favorite of ours, P.G. Wodehouse. *Also, I apologize for...

Happy New Year! We're excited to be podcasting for another year. For our first podcast of 2026 we decided to wrap up our holiday season by talking about the books we received and the holiday movies we watched. In addition, we also decided to offer a glimpse into the content our followers over at Patreon can be expecting. We have Peter's new reading project, plus nominations for the 2026 au...

We are back discussing books and Matt's sauna life. We begin with the latter but focus this week on the 1983 novel, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Ron Hansen. We dive into the myth of Jesse James, and where the story fits into the greater picture of American history. Lots to unpack with this story and a rare time where we disagree about our overall en...

We're back, and this week Peter has a stack of books he is trying to convince Matt to read. Why? Because, Matt's team lost to Peter's team, and that's the breaks of the game. Which sad European book will Matt choose...listen to find out (or just scroll to the bottom). Finally, we decide which Christmas movies to watch this year! Matt has some classic suggestions, while Peter tries...

Welcome back, we are here this week to discuss another Hemingway short story. This time we discuss "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," a short story that highlights Hemingway's style and is a good entry point into his short stories. And finally, we nominate a good selection of books to add to our TBR. Some are spooky, others are depressing and European. Find out what we select! As always...

We're back this week to discuss all things Tom Ripley. The brilliant character, created by Patricia Highsmith, is a favorite on this podcast and this time we're discussing the second book in the series, "Ripley Under Ground." We go through what makes Highsmith such a great writer and compare the second in the series versus the famous first. Let us know your thoughts on Ripley and...

Welcome back, we have a fun episode this week full of banter, humor, and books. We begin with some book news and upcoming book releases, before getting into our prop bets for "A Court of Thorns and Roses." We end, by discussing the novel "Perfection" by Vincenzo Latronico, a very good book that deals with how we navigate our modern lives. As always, thanks for listening. Contac...

We are back this week with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We start with Matt courting self help readers to read fiction and from there we dip our toes into the works of Saki. A very clever and funny writer from the last century who is well worth checking out. And finally, we end the show by adding some works to our TBR...but the only caveat is that the books must have been hugely p...

Published in 1960, "The Singularity" by Dino Buzzati is a thought provoking, prescient, and creepy story that makes the reader wonder what our future holds. We often like to discuss the implications of A.I. on society and books and Dino Buzzati's story is a great exploration of what it means to be human, how far A.I. can go to replicate/replace human behavior, and where do we draw th...

This week we are discussing the fantastic novel "Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead. A novel which spurned a discussion on mixing genre fiction and literary fiction. We also discussed why people read and write, A.I. novels, and pitching an oral history on George R. R. Martin writing the Game of Thrones novels. Lots of fun banter. Enjoy! Contact Us: Instagram @therewillbbooks Twitter @th...

We don't normally read bestsellers but this week we discuss the 2022 bestseller "Lessons in Chemistry." And we're normally a pretty positive podcast but one of us had some very strong opinions about this novel and the other had an interesting "theory." Let us know what you thought of this book and whether you agreed with our thoughts. As always thanks for listening! Con...

Hello! It's been awhile but we are back to talk books. We start by knocking off the rust with random observations (longtime listeners will know this a ruse to not become too successful) before we delve into Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants." After that we nominate a great collection of books to add to our famous TBR. (We add more than one...) As always t...

This week we celebrate the best in the books we read in the past year. It's time for the Book Oscars!! We debate fun categories such as best villain and best scene before announcing the winners for best book, best character, and best author. We love doing this episode and this year was no different. Also, if you like upcoming book news we have a bit of that in the beginning. Thanks for listeni...

Since we started this podcast we have read one Flashman book a year. This year we read book five, "Flashman in the Great Game." This time we follow Flashman to India as he becomes involved in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. But before we discuss our latest Flashman book, Matt makes a point about Christmas and Peter discusses texting Matt's Dad about books. Thanks for listening! Contact...

This week we're adding and subtracting. First, we nominate some new books to add to our TBR. I always say this but lots of interesting titles. Lastly, the main attraction, a new game called, the bookshelf purge. Each of us brought a stack of books to discuss this week, revolving around the question of should I keep this book? Let us know if you liked this segment, and do you agree with the boo...

This week we begin with a little AI chat before discussing a fantastic novella. In 1977, Lady Caroline Blackwood published, "Great Granny Webster," a biting, bleak, hilarious take down of a "great" house. Full of fantastic characters and brilliant prose this book impressed us both immensely. Contact Us: Instagram @therewillbbooks Twitter @therewillbbooks Email willbebooks@gmail...

We're back after winter break to talk about a books! We begin by discussing "The Spectre of Alexander Wolf" by Gaito Gazdanov. A book with a tremendous premise but we discuss why the book fails to build on that. Next we add a bunch of short stories to our TBR. Lots of interesting selections to look forward too. Short Stories added to TBR: -”The Reticence of Lady Anne” by Saki -”Mrs....

This week we're discussing the successful debut from Rachel Joyce, "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." A charming, sad, and poignant novel that surprised and pleased us greatly. We had a great time discussing this novel...spoilers ahead! Contact Us: Instagram @therewillbbooks Twitter @therewillbbooks Email willbebooks@gmail.com Goodreads: Therewillbebooks ko-fi.com/therewillbbooks patreon.com...

This week we are discussing the much taught and discussed 1927 novel by Hermann Hesse, "Steppenwolf." Going in we didn't quite know what to expect but we both agreed we were pleasantly surprised by this enlightening, thought provoking, and surreal novel. We discuss our favorite quotes and passages. Also, what we each took away from the book. Finally, we answer the question, "is this book only for...