Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Book Bound
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Book Bound episodes
- Episode 34: Spirits, Craft, and Quirky Characters
We wend from crafting to Gothic horror, through quirky humor and lyrical verse.
Cheryl’s Books:
Story Telling: A Writing Life—Isabel Allende
Bogland: The Secret World That Defies Death and Protects Life—Meritt Turetsky
The Juniper Tree—Barbara Comyns
Cloud Runner: Poems—Joy Harjo
Mentioned:
Other books by Isabel Allende including My Name Is Emilia del Valle and The House of the Spirits
The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara ComynsJessica’s Books:
Stitched—Eli McCann
A Year of Marvelous Ways—Sarah Winman
The Glowing Hours—Leila Siddiqui
When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice —Ilse S. Carter
Mentioned:
Chirstopher Guest Movies
Works of Wade Rouse / Viola Shipman
P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance—Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau
The Keeper of Lost Things—Ruth Hogan
The Ferryman and His Wife—Frode GryttenMari’s Books:
La Bandera: Poems of Resistance and Pride—Anika Aldamuy Denise
Who Knows the Way to Mr. Grimley’s Classroom—Chris Priestley
The House of Gardenias—Isabel Cañas
Mentioned:
Where is Puerto Rico?—Tracy Vonder Brink
The Night—Mariachiara Di Giorgio
Bog Bodies, Human Sacrifices, and other Natural Mummies—Megan Cooley Peterson
The Hacienda—Isabel Cañas52 min - Episode 33: Legacy, Gathering, and NatureThis month we touch on books that explore heritage, community, and the natural world.One Grand Read
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif AbdurraqibCheryl’s Books:
A Fortune for Your Disaster: Poems by Hanif Abdurraqib
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
Bees by Wojciech Grajkowski
Story Rug by Sophie Blackall
Mentioned:
OneGrandRead.com and more books by Hanif Abdurraqib
Books written by Wendell Berry
The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson (discussed in Episode 53 of our Reader's Roundtable podcast)
Books written and/or illustrated by Phoebe WahlJessica’s Books:
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters
The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman
Mentioned:
The Dead Don't Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit by Julian Randall
The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict by Priya Parker
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (discussed in Reader's Roundtable Episode 88)
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman aka Practical Magic 2Mari’s Books:
My Sugar Beet Summer by Rachael Elisa Moreno
Shook by Julian Randall
A Riddle of Eels by Nicholas Day
Stone by Stone: A Rock’s Journey Through Time by Melissa Koch
Mentioned:
Love and Basketball written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander50 min - Episode 32: End of Summer ReadsCheryl, Jessica, and Mari discuss selections from their summer reading adventures.One Grand Read
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif AbdurraqibCheryl’s Books:
Python’s Kiss: Stories by Louise Erdrich
Riding Magic by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by E.B. Lewis
At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Mentioned:
The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
The Master Butcher’s Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
The Black Cowgirl website – Catlin Gooch
Works written and/or illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Works by Nina Mingya Powles, Jessica J. Lee, Deborah Moggach, Margaret Drabble, Esther Freud, and Katherine May
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975 film)Jessica’s Books:
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America's Most Radical Revolutionary by Nina Sankovitch
Country People by Daniel Mason
Mentioned:
Perdido Street Station by China MiévilleMari’s Books:
Holloway by Elana K. Arnold
The Rare Bird by Elisha Cooper
Oh Brother: A Graphic Memoir by Georgina Chadderton
Mentioned:
Bat series by Elana K. Arnold
What Girls are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold
River by Elisha Cooper52 min - Episode 31: Dinosaurs and Compelling FictionWe’re joined by Mark N., from our Tech Services department, to talk fun finds and fascinating reads.Cheryl’s Books:
Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter by Ada Ferrer
Mare: A Novel by Emily Haworth-Booth
Mentioned:
Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer
Books by Stephen “Steve” Brussatte
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broome
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth RushJessica’s Books:
The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present by Steve Brusatte
Whistler by Ann Patchett
Mentioned:
Mother Tongue by Sara Nović
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Trash!: A Garbageman's Story by Simon Pare-PoupartMari’s Books:
Landslide by Betty Culley
Chickens and Other Dinosaurs: How Dinosaurs Became the Birds We Know Today by Ben Lerwill
Mentioned:
I Used to Be a Dinosaur by Casey Lyall and Laurie Keller
Lena the Chicken: (But Really a Dinosaur!) by Linda Bailey
Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones: A Book about Animals that Lay Eggs by Ruth HellerMark N.’s Books:
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart
A Good Animal by Sara Maurer
The Monuments of Paris by Violaine Huisman
The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
Mentioned:
The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman
My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley55 min - Episode 30: Summer Reading, Pride, and AudiobooksJune brings the start of CADL’s summer reading program, plus we talk Pride picks and listens for Audiobook Month.Cheryl’s Books:
Lolly Willowes: Or, the Loving Huntsmen—Sylvia Townsend Warner
Mother Tongue: A Memoir—Sara Nović
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Marjane Satrapi
March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women—Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado and Jane Smiley
Mentioned:
A Room of One’s Own—Virginia Woolf
Catherine, Called Birdy—Karen Cushman
True Biz—Sara Nović
Persepolis (Film)
Persepolis 2—Marjane SatrapiJessica’s Books:
Dearly Departed—Chip Pons
Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History—Helen Zoe Veit
Let Us Play: Winning the Battle for Gender Diverse Athletes—Harrison Browne & Rachel Browne
Mentioned:
Heated Rivalry—Rachel Reid
Under the Whispering Door—TJ Klune
In the Lives of Puppets—TJ Klune
Deaf Utopia—And a Love Letter to a Way of Life—Nyle DiMarco
The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir—Raymond Antrobus
Avi has a few medieval titles including: The Book Without Words and the Crispin series.Mari’s Books:
Rock Star: How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites—Sandra Neil Wallace
The Queen’s Granddaughter—Diane Zahler
The Mystery of the Stolen World Cup Trophy—Angela Cervantes
Mentioned:
The Silent Child—Chris Overton
Give Me a Sign—Anna Sortino48 min - Episode 29: The Romance Genre and MoreSpecial guest Meccah from the Lansing Libraries joins us for a dive into favorite romance picks and the romance genre in general, along with our regular diverse range of picks for the month.Cheryl’s Books:
Nothing Compares to you: What Sinéad O’Connor Means to Us edited by Sonya Huber and Martha Bayne
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places that Inspired the Classic Children’s Tales by Marta McDowell
Mentioned:
Hanif Abdurraqib writing about Sinéad O’Connor (Instagram post) Instagram
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
Recollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit
Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plants & Places that Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowellJessica’s Books:
Archangel’s Eternity by Nalini Singh
Get a life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit
Mentioned:
Angel’s Blood (first book in series) by Nalini Singh
Nalini Singh’s wide range of titles.
Talia Hibbert titles, “The Brown Sisters” trilogy.
The author I blanked on was Jasmine Guillory.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca SolnitMari’s Books:
Love, Sivvy: A Novel Inspired by the Life, Letters, and Diaries of Young Sylvia Plath by R.L. Toalson
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Poet and the Bees: A Story of the Seasons Sylvia Plath Kept Bees by Amy Novesky
Navigating Night by Julie Leung
Our Lake by Angie KangMeccah’s Books:
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
More titles by Kennedy Ryan
Tia Williams titles
Twenty-Four Seconds From Now: A Love Story by Jason Reynolds
We Go Slow by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie46 min - Episode 28: Teen Books and American History for AllSpecial guest Kat from CADL Holt joins our hosts to chat about great teen book reads, more America 250 titles, and some other recent gems.Cheryl’s Books:
Jellyfish Scientist: Maude Delap and Her Mesmerizing Medusas by Michelle Cusolito
Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and The Fight to Save America’s Soul by Matthew F. Delmont
Mentioned:
The War Within a War: The Black Struggle at Vietnam and at Home by Wil Haygood
Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad by Matthew F. DelmontJessica’s Books:
Vigil by George Saunders
Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls by Rob Edwards
P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance by Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau
Mentioned:
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
America 250: https://www.cadl.org/america250
Bad Bunny syllabus: https://www.badbunnysyllabus.com/homeMari’s Books:
Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi
Bing’s Cherries by Livia Blackburne
My Bicentennial Summer: True Adventures from the Most Epic Family Road Trip of All Time by G. NeriKat’s Books:
Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale
Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai
I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker
Mentioned:
Switch by A. S. King
Costumes for Time Travelers by A. R. Capetta
Song For You and I by Kay O’Neill57 min - Episode 27: March is Reading Month!Read anything and everything—picture books, memoirs, poetry, novellas or dense, but fascinating history.Cheryl’s Books:
Rumpelstiltskin retold by Mac Barnett and Illustrated by Carson Ellis
The Company of Owls: A Memoir by Polly Atkin
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles
Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King
Mentioned:
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation by Tiya Miles (Jessica discussed in Episode 3)
Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century by Charles KingJessica’s Books:
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire (Bk 11)
The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam Morgan
Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein
Mentioned:
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie
Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade (Cheryl discussed in Episode 25)
Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana GabaldonMari’s Books:
Words with Wings and Magic Things by Matthew Burgess
The Dream Builder’s Blueprint: Dr. King’s Message to Young People by Alice Faye Duncan
A Year Without Home by V.T. Bidania
Mentioned:
Shel Silverstein Poetry
Doug Salati Books
The Astrid and Apollo series by V.T. Bidania
The Extraordinary Eliana series by V.T. Bidania
He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox52 min - Episode 26: America 250, Picture Books, and Popular ReadsThis episode highlights CADL’s America 250 Reading Challenge, a round up of great picture books, and a mix of extremely popular and under the radar picks.
Cheryl’s Books:
Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life by Nia Sioux
Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
If We Were Dogs by Sophie BlackallMentioned:
Books written and/or illustrated by Julie Morstad
Lessons from Plants by Beronda L. Montgomery covered in Reader's Roundtable Episode 40: Summer Wrap-Up
Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith
Books written and/or illustrated by Sophie BlackallJessica’s Books:
Game Changer and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (book one and two of the Game Changer series)
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery
Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer. Vol. 1 by David Crownson
Mentioned:
The Correspondent by Virgina Evans
Theo of Golden by Levi Allen
Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael Twitty
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry
All that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya MilesMari’s Books:
Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Chris Hsu
This is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Julie Morstad
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
Our Gorgeous Baby by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Eve Coy
Floor It! by Bex Tobin Fine, illustrated by Federico Fabiani
Mentioned:
2026 Newbery Awards
CADL’s America 250 landing page including the Reading Challenge and decade reading lists: https://www.cadl.org/america25042 min - Episode 25: Winter Reading and... Dogs?
Okemos Library Assistant Laura joins the group to talk Mysteries, winter reading, enthralling history and dogs.
Cheryl’s Books:
Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiguroMentioned:
Never Let Me Go movie
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (book)
The Remains of the Day movie
The Secret History by Donna TarttJessica’s Books:
All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
Queer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers Lawbreakers, and Homemakers by Anthony DelaneyMentioned:
Gentleman Jack by Anne Choma
The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao (Jan 20th release)
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo IshiguroMari’s Books:
Whodonut? : A Holiday Mystery by Josh Funk
Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Marci Kay Monson
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? A Hard-Boiled Mystery by Brianna Caplan Sayres
Beth Is Dead by Katie BernetMentioned:
The Case of Old MacDonald and His Farm by Mark Teague (coming soon)Lauras’s Books:
The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton
At First Light by Barbara Nickless
Nettle & Bone by T. KingfisherMentioned:
The Dead Years by Jeffrey B. Burton
Dark of Night by Barbara Nickless
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher43 min
About Book Bound
From the publisher's feed
Capital Area District Libraries is excited to produce the Book Bound podcast which is hosted by some of CADL's literary experts. Content centers around the library and its collection, book recommendations, events, partnerships and services.