Booking Back

Penn and Quinn talk maybe too much about their own gardens when covering this classic children's book. Perhaps "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett planted the seeds of owning their own garden some day. 

Join new co-host JJ as she and Penn delve into a Millenial classic, "Looking For Alaska" by John Green.  Published in 2005, right during peak Manic Pixie Girl times, the podcast delves into this trope as well as reminiscing about the times of post-9/11, Dubya, and how little guidance school counselors would give us. 

Get your tissues ready as Penn and Eeyore discuss the best-selling novel "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. They talk plot, true crime, and some vital Pennsylvania trivia. While the movie came out a few years later and involved the wonderful Peter Jackson, it doesn't hold a candle to the beautiful telling by the book. 

Penn and Scrapple discuss a formative book series "Sideways Stories From Wayside School," "Wayside School is Falling Down," and "Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger" by the wonderful Louis Sachar. Since the books are short stories that weave in an out, telling a tale is tricky, so if you're lost, just hope you're not lost on the 19th floor and get to your local library. 

Join Penn and her sister Sugarplum as they discuss a classic, "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. Despite a couple hundred year difference, the sisters find some similarities with the Marches. Ultimately they decide who is the Meg and who is the Amy.  

Have you ever worried about when your period was gonna start, why boys were shorter than you, and if it was time to start wearing a bra? If you have, you were probably at one time a preteen girl that understands a lot of what Margaret is going through. Join Penn and new cohost Eeyore as they discuss how relatable the book is to their own childhoods. 

Quinn Dyer returns to discuss Sylvia Plath's only novel "The Bell Jar" with her pal Penn.  They delve into how Sylvia's own life was mirrored in the novel, particularly her struggles with mental health. The book is a feminist classic and relatable to generations of women. 

Scrapple and Penn discuss the Roald Dahl classic, "Matilda" while going on many delightful tangents to bring a smile to your face.  We also discuss the movie as an independent work and in comparison to the brilliant book. 

This week has Rocky, Penn, and Mac reveling in a true classic, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. They discuss iconic scenes, the television series, and how some of these topics foreshadowed current events. 

Penn and Scrapple dig into the last book of the trilogy, "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins.  While they do talk about pickles and Pittsburgh, they ultimately do talk about the inspirations behind the Hunger Games and how they feel about how it all ended.