Beyond the PhIrst Page

This weeks episode kicks of the first book in Chapter One, our chapter on detective novels! We are starting off with a book by Anthony Horowitz called The Word is Murder. The unique aspect of this book is that Horowitz himself is a character in the book. The siblings discuss this nontraditional take on a detective novel, the parallels between this book and Sherlock Holmes and if red herrings are a cope out in mysteries. The siblings guest is an Oklahoma City Librarian and she gives great tidbits on using your local library and book clubs.

Happy 2026! This year the Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast is breaking up their segments into Chapters. Each Chapter will have a theme giving the second pagers a couple of really good options to read within a specific theme of book. To start of the siblings read 3 different detective novels and are going to discuss them for chapter one. Listen to this episode first to see which of the 3 you would be most interested in reading and then come back later in the chapter to hear the discussion about the books you read!

On the final episode of Season Two of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast, the siblings discuss The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book is a great New Years book since it is all about following your dreams and achieving your goals. The siblings discuss the religious aspects of this book as well as the overwhelming amount of life lessons packed into the pages of this short novel. As always at the end the siblings give book recommendations and rate this read. 

This club meeting the siblings discuss Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These. A short story set in a small Irish town. They discuss how they saw the actions of the main character differently from each other. They also talk about how much they enjoyed Keegan's writing and were happy to read a second book by her for the podcast. As always they closed with their ratings and suggestions if you are looking for more books like this fabulous short story.

This week on the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings talk with the one and only Evan Cornell or as they like to call him "Dad." Evan talks with them about one of his favorite children's books "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate Dicamillo. They discuss how great the characters are, how well executed the writing is and how deep and poignant the message is. This episode really shows where the siblings got their love of books from. As always they end with ratings and their book recommendations.

In episode 50 of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings discuss Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe with Summer Boismier. Summer is currently a doctoral candidate and was a former English teacher who resigned in protest of the HB1775 bill that was passed in the state of Oklahoma which mandated the censorship of some reading materials. To comply with this law, she covered those reading materials with the message books the state does not want you to read with a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library Banned Books Initiative.  In the episode they discuss censorship and the importance of represenatioin in literature as well as the uniqueness of this memoir format because it is a graphic novel.

The siblings discuss one of their favorite reads this year. Project Hail Mary is a feel good sci-fi that had their attention from start to finish. The siblings discuss how Andy Weir makes all the scientific aspects of the book seem easy even to readers like them with no scientific background. They also discuss the amazing character development and how the story is a great balance of suspense and successes. As always they end with ratings, 5 stars all around, and recommendations for books like Project Hail Mary.

This book and club meeting gave the siblings quite the fright! We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer was the perfect horror/thriller to tee up the Halloween season. The siblings discussed what differentiates a horror and a thriller as well as talked about how men writing female characters can be a total smash or a swing and a miss. As always the siblings discuss what books you would like if you liked this suspense filled book and closed out with their ratings for We Used to Live Here.

Don't have time to read a 1,200 page long book? Don't worry Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast has you! We read Mark Twain by Ron Chernow and are discussing the highlights of the book from the authors potential bias towards Twain to all the hilarious quotes the great American Author had. As always listen to the end for our ratings and recommendations if you liked Mark Twain!

This episode is a fan pick and surely a fan favorite! The siblings talk with their friend Kevin about the timelessness of this C.S. Lewis masterpiece. It has the bones of the ideal fantasy and you can look into the allegory of Christianity or just enjoy it for all the fantastical elements it offers. The siblings laugh about funny quotes and Turkish delight as well as discuss the merits of audio books for those who have busy lives but love to read! As always the siblings finish off with book recommendations and their ratings.