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  • Episode 15: Books We Read in High School

    This episode, we take a trip back to our awkward high-school years to discuss what we read, what we didn't, and what stuck with us.

    Plus, quick thoughts on Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora and Nicole Kornher-Stace's Archivist Wasp.

    Episode Breakdown:

    • 0:00 – 16:00: What We're Reading
    • 16:00 – 1:20:00: Books We Read in High School

      • What Emily's Reading:

      • Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
      • Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
      • Faiths and Furies by Lauren Groff

        • What Kyle's Reading:

        • Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
        • Out on the Wire by Jessica Abel

          • We also discussed classic books that were probably on your high-school reading list.

          What did you read in high school? What books or teachers did you love or loathe? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC. 

          1 hr 20 min
        • Episode Fourteen: Bill Bryson

          This episode, we take a closer look at the bibliography of the amiable travel, science, and memoir writer Bill Bryson. 

          Plus, our quick thoughts on China Mieville, The Devil in the White City, and pop history vs. scholarly history.

          Episode Breakdown:

          • 0:00 – 10:00: What We're Reading
          • 10:00 – 53:00: Bill Bryson

            • What Emily's Reading:

            • Three Moments of an Explosion by China Mieville
            • The Devil and the White City by Eric Larsen

              • What Kyle's Reading:

              • Cuba in Revolution: A History Since the 50s by Antonin Kapscia

                • Bill Bryson Books We Discuss:

                • The Lost Continent
                • Notes from a Small Island
                • In a Sunburned Country
                • A Walk in the Woods
                • I'm A Stranger Here Myself
                • A Short History of Nearly Everything
                • At Home: A Short History of Private Life
                • One Summer: America 1927

                  • Other Works Mentioned:

                  • The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
                  • Gulp by Mary Roach
                  • The Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams

                    • We love hearing from readers! Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC. 

                    54 min
                  • Episode Thirteen: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

                    This episode, we take a hopefully-not-too-grim look at the genre of post-apocalyptic fiction. Emily wonders why the genre attracts so many hyper-masculine writers and Kyle talks about one of his favorite and one of his least favorite novels.

                    No spoilers to speak of in this episode.

                    Episode Breakdown:

                    • 0:00 – 9:00: What We're Reading
                    • 9:00 – 1:00:00: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

                      • What Emily's Reading:

                      • The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
                      • The Incorruptables by John Horner Jacobs

                        • What Kyle's Reading:

                        • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

                          • Other Works Mentioned:

                          • "Sleep Donation" by Karen Russell
                          • "Black Moon" by Kenneth Calhoun
                          • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
                          • The Road by Cormac McCarthy
                          • Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein
                          • A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr.
                          • Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
                          • California by Edan Lepucky
                          • The Stand by Stephen King
                          • "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury

                            • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                            Do you love or hate to read about the end of the world? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                            1 hr
                          • Episode Twelve: The Martian

                            This episode, we take a close look at Andy Weir's hard sci-fi novel The Martian and discuss its unusual publication history, its narrative structure, and how effective we thought the book turned out to be. 

                            Plus, Emily's been on a horror kick and Kyle's been hate-watching True Detective, so he decided to pick up Nic Pizzolatto's debut novel.

                            Warning: This episode contains some coarse language. Maybe don't listen with the kids around.

                            Episode Breakdown:

                            • 0:00 – 15:00: What We're Reading
                            • 13:00 – 45:00: The Martian by Andy Weir

                              • What Emily's Reading:

                              • The Blumhouse Book of Nightmares, edited by Jason Blum
                              • Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten
                              • The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

                                • What Kyle's Reading:

                                • Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto

                                  • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                  Are you an avid eBook or audiobook fanatic? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                  46 min
                                • Episode Eleven: eBooks & Audiobooks

                                  This episode, we're talking about the alternative book formats: eBooks and audiobooks. We talk about our habits with each, our favorite examples of each medium, and what might be stopping these alternative formats from reaching their full potential.

                                  Episode Breakdown:

                                  • 0:00 – 5:00: What We're Reading
                                  • 5:00 – 55:00: eBooks & Audiobooks

                                    • What Emily's Reading:

                                    • The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

                                      • What Kyle's Reading:

                                      • The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James

                                        • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                        Are you an avid eBook or audiobook fanatic? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                        50 min
                                      • Episode Ten: Adaptations

                                        Welcome back to Portable Magic! In this episode, we're talking about adaptations – good and bad. In the mix are The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Princess Bride, The Great Gatsby, Game of Thrones, and many more.

                                        Episode Breakdown:

                                        • 0:00 – 10:00: What We're Reading
                                        • 10:00 – 1:00:00: Adaptations

                                          • What Emily's Reading:

                                          • The Deadlands by Benjamin Percy

                                            • What Kyle's Reading:

                                            • Bird Box by Josh Malerman
                                            • American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

                                              • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                              Which adaptations have burned you in the past? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                              1 hr 2 min
                                            • Episode Nine: Short Stories

                                              We forgot to introduce ourselves this week! If you're new to the show, Portable Magic is hosted by Emily Hughes and Kyle Deas. 

                                              This episode, we take a look at short stories – our favorites, the classics, and the magic and the art behind them. Emily makes the argument that we're living in the golden age of the short story collection and Kyle wonders what happened to all the magazines that used to publish short fiction.

                                              Plus, we talk about Jon Krakauer's Missoula and a new, extended interview with Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson.

                                              Episode Breakdown:

                                              • 0:00 – 13:00: What We're Reading
                                              • 13:00 – 1:05:00: Short Stories

                                                • What Emily's Reading:

                                                • Missoula by Jon Krakauer
                                                • Voices in the Night by Steven Millhauser

                                                  • What Kyle's Reading:

                                                  • Exploring Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

                                                    • Short Stories / Collections We Discuss:

                                                    Stories:

                                                    • "The Bad Graft" by Karen Russell
                                                    • "Tenth of December" by George Saunders
                                                    • "They're Made of Meat" by Terry Bisson
                                                    • "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov
                                                    • "John, For Christmas" by Ethan Rutherford
                                                    • "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin
                                                    • "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
                                                    • "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever

                                                      • Collections:

                                                      • Tenth of December by George Saunders
                                                      • Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
                                                      • This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
                                                      • The Peripatetic Coffin by Ethan Rutherford
                                                      • Jaganath by Karin Tidbeck

                                                        • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                                        What's your favorite short story collection? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                                        1 hr 4 min
                                                      • Episode Eight: Horror Fiction

                                                        This episode, Kyle and Emily take a close look at horror fiction – why we read it, how it scares us, and what our favorite horror novels are. Kyle tells us what his pick is for the scariest Stephen King book and Emily talks about the books that got her into horror in the first place.

                                                        Plus, Emily follows up on her impressions of Beautiful Darkness, Kyle's pick for A Gift For A Child You Hate from Episode 2!

                                                        Episode Breakdown:

                                                        • 0:00 – 7:00: What We're Reading
                                                        • 7:00 – 1:05:00: Horror Fiction

                                                          • What Emily's Reading:

                                                          • After Birth by Elisa Albert

                                                            • What Kyle's Reading:

                                                            • Wodehouse on Crime by P.G. Wodehouse

                                                              • Horror Fiction that We Discuss:

                                                              Short Stories / Essays:

                                                              • "Skeleton" by Ray Bradbury, from October Country (Click on "Readable PDF")
                                                              • "Supernatural Horror in Literature" by H.P. Lovecraft
                                                              • "I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison

                                                                • Novels:

                                                                • Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann
                                                                • Zone 1 by Coulson Whitehead
                                                                • The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
                                                                • Hell House by Richard Matheson
                                                                • The Troop by Nick Cutter
                                                                • The Shining by Stephen King
                                                                • Pet Sematary by Stephen King
                                                                • Bag of Bones by Stephen King
                                                                • The Stand by Stephen King
                                                                • NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
                                                                • Birdbox by Josh Malerman

                                                                  • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                                                  What's your favorite horror novel? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                                                  1 hr 7 min
                                                                • Episode Seven: Literary Fanfiction

                                                                  This episode, Kyle and Emily talk about "literary fanfiction": the sub-genre of books by established authors that inhabit the world of older works of literature. We couldn't find a good term to refer to these sorts of books, but think of works like Ahab's Wife or Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead.

                                                                  Plus, they talk about the Suvudu cage match and the challenges of writing fanfiction.

                                                                  Episode Breakdown:

                                                                  • 0:00 – 14:00: What We're Reading
                                                                  • 14:00 – 35:00: Suvudu Cage Match
                                                                  • 35:00 - 1:00:00: "Literary Fanfiction"

                                                                    • What Emily's Reading:

                                                                    • The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

                                                                      • What Kyle's Reading:

                                                                      • Stories of Your Life And Others by Ted Chiang
                                                                      • The Bullseye Interview with Nick Hornby

                                                                        • Other Works that We Discuss:

                                                                        For all the cage-match books and characters we discussed, please refer to Suvudu's web site. And here's a link to the cage match post that Kyle wrote. 

                                                                        • Ahab's Wife by Sena Naslud
                                                                        • The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
                                                                        • Q-Squared by Peter David
                                                                        • The Final Solution by Michael Chabon
                                                                        • Wicked by Gregory Maguire

                                                                          • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                                                          What's your favorite example of "literary fanfiction"? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                                                          1 hr
                                                                        • Episode Six: In the Woods

                                                                          This episode, Kyle and Emily devote the whole show to discussing Tana French's debut novel In the Woods. 

                                                                          The discussion prior to 26 minutes or so is spoiler-free, so if you're interested in the book but haven't read it, feel free to listen that far. After that point, though, spoilers abound!

                                                                          Episode Breakdown:

                                                                          • 0:00 – 4:30: What We're Reading
                                                                          • 4:30 – 26:00: In the Woods (spoiler-free)
                                                                          • 26:00 - 1:05:00: In The Woods (spoilers!)

                                                                            • What Emily's Reading:

                                                                            • Mystery book! 

                                                                              • What Kyle's Reading:

                                                                              • Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in Modern China by Evan Osnos 

                                                                                • Other Works that We Discuss:

                                                                                • In the Woods by Tana French
                                                                                • The Likeness by Tana French
                                                                                • Secret History by Donna Tartt

                                                                                  • Buying books at Powell's by using these affiliate links helps support the show!

                                                                                  Are you a huge Tana French fan? Email the show at [email protected] or tweet us @PortableMagicPC! 

                                                                                  1 hr 8 min