BiblioFiles: A CenterForLit Podcast about Great Books, Great Ideas, and the Great Conversation

Emily and Megan join Ian for a conversation about our culture's fascination with the monstrous. They discuss how we progressed from the beasts of Greek and Anglo-Saxon mythology all the way to love-struck vampires and werewolves, and they ask why it is that humans remain so intrigued with the mystery and danger of the Other.

Referenced Works:

You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

• The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

  
  



• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

  
  



• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

  
  



• Dracula by Bram Stoker

  
  



• Ovid’s Metamorphoses

  
  



• Beowulf

  
  



• Grimm’s Fairytales

  
  



• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

  
  



• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

  
  



• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

  
  



• Coraline (2009)

  
  



• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

  
  



• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

  
  



• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

  
  



• The Oath by Frank Peretti

  
  



• The Cooper Kids Adventures by Frank Peretti

  
  



• This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

  
  



• The Dark by Lemony Snicket and John Klassen

  
  



• Macbeth by William Shakespeare

  
  



• Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories

  
  



• The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

  
  



• Fairytale by Stephen King

  
  



• Stranger Things (Netflix original)

  
  



• Wednesday (Netflix original)

  
  

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Ian and Megan sit down to talk about what is arguably the most popular genre among young readers today: fantasy literature. They discuss the history leading up to the state of fantasy today, the unique thematic features of world-building, and their own childhood obsession with these books.

Referenced Works:

You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

• The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

  
  



• The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald

  
  



• The Light Princess by George MacDonald

  
  



• Phantastes by George MacDonald

  
  



• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

  
  



• “The Quangle Wangle’s Hat” by Edward Lear

  
  



• Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

  
  



• The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison

  
  



• The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

  
  



• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

  
  



• The Space/Ransom Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

  
  



• The Shanara Chronicles by Terry Brooks

  
  



• The Pendragon Series by D.J. Machale

  
  



• The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen

  
  



• Eragon by Christopher Paolini

  
  



• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

  
  



• Redwall by Brian Jacques

  
  



• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

  
  



• “On Fairy-Stories” by J.R.R. Tolkien

  
  

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

The first corner of juvenile literature we are exploring this season is historical fiction! Adam (our resident historian) and Missy (the one who stuffed the Andrews shelves full of historical fiction titles) join Ian for a conversation about what makes a good contribution to this genre, how the art of literature relates to the study of history at this age level, and which titles stand out as family favorites.

Referenced Works:

You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

  
  



• Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts

  
  



• The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty

  
  



• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

  
  



• The How to Eat an Elephant podcast

  
  



• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

  
  



• The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

  
  



• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

  
  



• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

  
  



• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

  
  



• Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield

  
  



• Paradise Lost by John Milton

  
  



• “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  
  



• The Lost King (2023)

  
  



• Richard III by William Shakespeare

  
  



• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

  
  



• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

  
  



• The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

  
  



• Anson’s Way by Gary D. Schmidt

  
  



• The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

  
  



• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff

  
  



• The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff

  
  



• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

  
  



• The Chosen (2019-)

  
  

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

BiblioFiles is back! To launch our season on Juvenile and YA Fiction, Adam and Missy join Ian for a conversation about the state of literature for young readers today. What is the difference between a “juvenile” and “YA” classification? Should such a differentiation between genres exist in the first place? The CenterForLit Directors talk about the history of the split, their concerns for such specialization in the publishing industry, and a few ways they also see YA fiction currently being used for good.

Referenced Works:

You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our Bookshop.org affiliate program!

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson


• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder


• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton


• Divergent by Veronica Roth


• “The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Literature” by Meghan Cox Gurdon


• Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt


• Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Please join the Facebook group and ⁠⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

BiblioFiles is back at long last with a new season on juvenile and YA fiction! Look for our first episode to drop on Friday September 15th.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this wrap-up episode to our season “At the Moves,” the CenterForLit crew members take turns casting their own literary film adaptations and offering final thoughts on the genre.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shop

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

This week we’re talking about what differentiates a film from a miniseries. Using our beloved BBC production of War and Peace, we discuss the strengths that this increasingly popular form brings to the art of adaptation.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shop

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

British director Joe Wright has a unique ability to use cinematography in his film adaptations to convey what is otherwise only communicable in words. The CenterForLit crew discuss his use of the medium, the great Pride and Prejudice debate, and more in this episode of BiblioFiles.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shop

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

n this episode, we form a mutual admiration society around a CenterForLit hero: Sir Kenneth Branagh. We talk about his directorial principles on the topic of film adaptation, why we think he’s great, and why some people disagree with us. Conversation ranges from Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing to Cinderella and Branagh’s Agatha Christie ambitions.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shop

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Missy presents the CenterForLit crew with what is, in her opinion, a bad film adaptation: the visually stunning 2008 rendition of The Tale of Despereaux. We try to pinpoint what it is that actually causes an adaptation to fail, even when the cinematic elements are on point.

Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shop

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe