Books and Bites

We’re wrapping up the 2025 Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge with science fiction! Our picks include a prequel from a popular YA dystopian series; a novella for fans of Star Trek: First Contact; and a bittersweet comic novel about an alien sent to Earth to learn about humans.Don’t forget to turn in your completed bingo sheets at the Customer Service, Ask a Librarian, or Teen Desks by June 30, 2025 for a chance to win a $100 Joseph-Beth gift card. Can’t make it into the library? Submit your bingo card online.Thanks for reading along with us! Look for the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge in July.Jacqueline's PickSunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne CollinsPairing: Soft White Dinner RollsMichael's PickThe Scourge Between Stars by Ness BrownPairing: Xenomorph Egg CupsCarrie's PickBeautyland by Marie-Helene BertinoPairing: a sesame seed bagel from Pearl's Pizza

We're in a celebratory mood this April. Not only is it National Poetry Month, it's also our 100th episode! Whether you're a new or longtime listener, we appreciate you tuning in to our podcast.This episode, we discuss books of poetry and novels in verse, a prompt on the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Our picks include a book by a former Kentucky poet laureate, an updated translation of a classic epic poem, and a middle-grade novel in verse.Michael's PickLoad in Nine Times by Frank X WalkerPairing: Tanzania Peaberry Lyamungo, a medium roast coffee from Sunergos CoffeeCarrie's PickBeowulf: A New Translation, translated by Maria Dahvana HeadleyPairing: your favorite bro-ey beerJacqueline's PickAlone by Megan E. FreemanPairing: Crispy Sourdough Grilled Cheese

This month we're getting nostalgic with books set in the 1990s, one of the prompts in the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Teenagers all figure prominently in our picks: a YA mystery, a thriller that celebrates horror's babysitter trope, and a novel where two teens accidentally start a moral panic. Don't miss this episode—it's the bomb! Jacqueline's PickThe Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. CooneyPair with Homestyle Pot RoastMichael's PickMidnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth VeronaPair with Tipsy Chicken Pizza from Big City PizzaCarrie's PickNow is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin WilsonPair with your favorite Little Debbie snack cake

It's time to wrap up the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! On this episode, we discuss books published in 2024. Our picks include a suspense novel that is also an immersive alternate reality game, a National Book Award-winning adaptation of an American classic, and a YA mystery by a bestselling author. Michael's PickWe Used to Live Here by Marcus KliewerEve Palmer answers the door on a cold, snowy night to a family wanting to know if they can take a quick look around since the father, Thomas, used to live there as a child. Eve, still waiting for her partner to get home, reluctantly invites them in. As they’re touring the house, Thomas’s daughter goes missing. Eve and Thomas begin their search in the basement, and that’s when Eve notices some disconcerting things.We Used to Live Here is part of an ever-evolving immersive alternate reality game that allows you to hunt clues and decipher messages in web code, message boards, and social media accounts long after you've finished the book.Pairing: A hot dish of Totchos (Loaded Tater-Tot Nachos)Carrie's PickJames by Percival EverettThis National Book Award-winning novel retells Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the point of view of Jim, the enslaved man who travels down the Mississippi River with Huck. While the novel pays homage to the original, it also challenges some of Twain's nineteenth-century conventions and deepens Jim's humanity. The risks Jim--who prefers to be called James--faces on this journey, his love for his family and for Huck, all make for a compelling, suspenseful read.Pairing: Grilled Catfish with Tomato Blackberry Salsa, a dish that combines the two foods most readily available to James and Huck.Jacqueline's PickThe Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly JacksonIn this YA mystery, 18-year-old Bel Price was just two years old when her mother, Rachel, disappeared. Now, a struggling British documentary filmmaker is making a film about her disappearance.One evening, Bel sees a woman who looks just like her mother stumbling around in front of her house. At first, Bel thinks it's the actor playing Rachel during a reenactment scene, but the woman claims she is the real Rachel. Bel thinks the woman is lying and works to uncover the truth.Pairing: A salty, sweet, rich recipe for peanut butter cookies.

On this episode, we discuss Southern Gothic books, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Southern Gothic is a sub-genre of Gothic fiction--or, as Michael says, it's "Gothic with a twang." According to Book Riot, some of the characteristics of Southern Gothic include, “eccentric, flawed characters, sinister events, elements of the supernatural or fantastical, and themes relating to race, class, decay, violence, and isolation.”Our picks for this month include a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a YA mystery, and a haunting, surprisingly spicy novel.Carrie’s PickThe Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora WeltyIn this 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning novella, Laurel McElva Hand, a widow in her mid-forties, travels from her home in Chicago to New Orleans, where her father is having a routine eye operation that proves fatal. Laurel and her crass, young stepmother accompany his body back to Mississippi.After the funeral, Laurel is left alone in her childhood home to reckon with her past and the loss of her mother, father, and husband.Pairing: Pat Nixon’s Hot Chicken Salad, a comforting and nostalgic casserole that was popular in the 1970s.Jacqueline’s PickLosing Brave by Bailee Madison and Stefne MillerPayton Brave is a popular high school girl whose twin sister Dylan has been missing for more than a year. Payton was mentally devastated by the disappearance of her sister and cannot remember anything about the day Dylan disappeared at the train station. As Payton slowly attempts to recover the events in her mind, strange, unexplainable things begin happening. Set in a small Mississippi town, this young adult mystery focuses on death, social interaction, and terror.Pairing: Air Fryer Donuts. Enjoy with coffee for a modern equivalent of tea and crumpets.Michael’s PickHouse of Cotton by Monica BrashearsAlone and practically broke in the East Tennessee mountains, nineteen-year-old Magnolia meets Cotton, a well-dressed man with blood on his hands who offers her a modeling job. The catch? Cotton has discovered a niche market where people who have missing loved ones will pay a lot of money to see them again. His aunt Eden can transform Magnolia to look like just about anyone.Pairing: Nashville Hot Chicken, because a spicy book calls for a spicy dish.

On this episode, we discuss books that are hybrids of at least two genres, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Jacqueline's favorite romantasy novels are a good example. They combine elements of romance and fantasy. Other books mash up elements of science fiction and horror or, in the case of both Michael's and Carrie's picks, Westerns and dystopian fiction.Some nonfiction titles blend different genres, too, such as A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa or The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock. Both mix the authors' personal memoirs with biographies of historical women.Jacqueline's PickMy Lady Janeby Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi MeadowsNot only is My Lady Jane a hybrid romantic comedy, it is also a fantastical historical fiction novel. The novel is a re-imagined account of England’s shortest ruling monarch, Lady Jane Grey. The novel is told in the alternating perspectives of our three main characters and narrator historians who often break the fourth wall to set the historical record straight.This book brings in fantasy aspects from the beginning while still interweaving history from the sixteenth century.Pairing: Old-fashioned Blackberry PuddingMichael's PickThe Great State of West Floridaby Kent WascomPublished just this year, The Great State of West Florida blends Southern Gothic with Western, dystopian, and coming of age with hints of sci-fi thrown in for some added flavor.This book is told by Rally Woolsack, a 13-year–old in 2026. Rally is raised by his aunt after his spurned mother conspires with Rally’s other aunt to wipe out the rest of the Woolsack clan. After a violent confrontation, Rally's uncle Rodney takes Rally to meet his aunt Destiny, aka the Governor, who now has a golden robotic arm and is working to fulfill her grandfather’s grandiose dream of establishing the state of West Florida. Pairing: Shrimp Po'Boys with Pineapple SlawCarrie's PickUpright Women Wanted by Sarah GaileyUpright Women Wanted blends dystopian and Western fiction with a touch of romance. While it's set in the unspecified future, the Arizona landscape feels very Old West.When we're first introduced to main character Esther Augustus, she's hiding in the back of the Librarians' wagon. Esther is on the run from a marriage her father arranged after he executed her best friend and secret lover, Beatriz, for possessing insurgent reading material.Esther gradually learns that the Librarians aren't exactly the government agents she'd imagined. They're part of the resistance movement, working to protect people like Esther and Beatriz.Pairing: Tuscan Stewed Beans

No matter the genre, when you read a book with a map, you're in for an adventure. This month, we share a YA historical fiction meets fantasy novel; a mystery set in 1920s Bangalore; and a dystopian novel set during a future American Civil War.Don't forget to turn in your bingo sheets for the Winter-Spring 2024 Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge by June 30, 2024! If you still need book suggestions, check out the book lists on our Books & Bites page. Jacqueline's PickDivine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is book one of the YA Letters of Enchantment series. After centuries of sleep, two ancient gods are warring again, using human armies in this fantasy set during World War I. Pairing: Simple Plum Pudding, a World War I-era recipe.Carrie’s PickSet in colonial Bangalore, India, in 1921, The Bangalore Detectives Club is the first book in a mystery series by Harini Nagendra. If you like your mysteries on the cozy side and enjoy learning a little history and culture while you’re at it, this might be the book for you.Pairing: Lemon rice, the perfect South Indian dish for a picnic. Michael's PickAmerican War by Omar El Akkad takes place over two decades, beginning in 2075, during the outset of the second U.S. Civil War. Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia have seceded from the United States after vehemently opposing the Sustainable Future Act that outlawed oil production. Pairing: Mississippi Mud Pie, a delicious Southern dessert that will take the edge off this sobering book.