Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss the May Reading Challenge to read books that we MAY or MAY NOT have read in the past. This could include books you lied about for an assignment in school, books you’ve been too embarrassed to read, or books you just cannot remember if you have actually read. We chat about the delightful discoveries we made delving into books we may have missed in the past!

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London
• “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy
• “This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
• “Old Yeller” by Fred Gipson
• “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls
• “Pippi Longstocking” by Astrid Lindgren
• “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• “One Heart To Win” by Johanna Lindsey
• “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
• “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand
• “The Courtship Plan” by Kathleen Fuller
• “Walden or, Life in the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau
• John Muir

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Bailey Cline, Program Coordinator at Ballou Recreation Center and our certified number one fan. We discuss finding your way back to reading despite the responsibilities of adult life, the joy of audiobooks, and our strong opinions about movie adaptations.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister
• “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett
• “How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay” by Jenny Lawson
• “I Know What You Did Last Summer” by Lois Duncan
• “His & Hers” by Alice Feeney
• Freida McFadden
• “The Menagerie” Series by Tui T. Sutherland, Kari H. Sutherland
• “Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA” by Jimmy Fallon
• “The Night Before Christmas” allegedly by Clement Clarke Moore
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss
• Carl Hiaasen
• “The Green Ember” series by S.D. Smith, illustrated by Zach Franzen
• “Hamlet” by friend of the pod, William Shakespeare

Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss the April Reading Challenge to read a dystopian or alternate history novel. Oppressive governments, controlling factions, structured existence and more, we discuss the tropes and themes that define this often bleak, but always profound genre. **Correction: George Orwell died 6 months after the release of 1984, not before.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “Zoo” by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge
• “1984: The Graphic Novel” by George Orwell, adapted/illustrated by Fido Nesti
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
• “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• “The Giver” by Lois Lowry
• “Legend” by Marie Lu
• “Divergent” by Veronica Roth
• “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
• “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
• “Parable of the Sower” by Otavia E. Butler
• “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown
• “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
• “The Last Christian” by David Gregory
• “Automatic Noodle” by Annalee Newitz
• “The Electric State” by Simon Stålenhag
• “The Dream Hotel” by Laila Lalami
• “Our Missing Hearts” by Celeste Ng
• “The City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau
• “The Long Walk” by Stephen King
• “The Shadow Road” by K.D. and Kurt Kirchmeier