The Four Friends discuss the new name for the 'cast Joe's taste in movies, and six incredible books from four momentous black voices.

• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• James by Percival Everett
• Erasure by Percival Everett
• Deacon King Kong by James McBride
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Joe shares his love for military/espionage/political thrillers and his favorite authors from that genre -- John le Carré, W.E.B. Griffin, Tom Clancy, and Dan Brown. Surprisingly, it's not the action that he finds so fascinating; it's the ethical challenges faced by the protagonists.

From the Cold War to the Drug Wars and beyond, the Four Friends talk about their favorites in the genre...and why they love them.

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
• The Lieutenants (Brotherhood of War series) by W.E.B. Griffin
• Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• The Women by Kristin Hannah
• Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver
• The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
• The List by Steve Berry

Teresa's excitement about the 2026 Winter Olympics cannot be quashed by the lack of participation in this discussion of books that the other three friends didn't read.

Join this spirited discussion about pretty much everything except books about the Winter Olympics or that were Olympic adjacent or had at least something to do with winter sports.

The Four Friends welcome in Patchouli Stephanie, Diane's and Joe's daughter...and, unbeknownst to anyone, former college classmate of Teresa's and David's daughter!

Diane's "Who Was Your First" idea spawned a discussion of the first book everyone read that made them feel connected to books, followed by a discussion of what we're reading now.

The technical wheels came off the train almost from the beginning. Blame was cast on everything from the snow/ice storm in North Texas, the alignment of Mercury, and sun spots. (The reality is that it was probably the incompetence of the producer.)

Somehow the friends muddled through and this episode finally made it to the world, albeit with major post-production editing.

Teresa:

• THEN: Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene (first 5 books) ; Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol (4 book set)

• NOW: The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

David:

• THEN: Call of the Wild by Jack London; White Fang by Jack London; Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

• NOW: Murder at the Front by Lynn Morrison (not available from Patchouli Joe’s)

Diane

• THEN: That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
• NOW: The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Joe:

• THEN: The Rookie by Tex Maule (OUT OF PRINT)
• NOW: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

David, Diane, Teresa, and Joe reassemble after a down week and David brings his A game, talking about Adam Schiff's ⁠Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could⁠.

The group discusses political nonfiction books, dystopian fiction, and everything in between.

The discourse gets a little salty so listener/viewer discretion is advised.

The Hepcats --- Teresa, Diane, David, and Joe --- return from the Holiday break to talk about their favorite "looking forward" books

• Diane: The Joy Diet by Martha Beck
• Teresa: Strong Ground by Brené Brown
• Joe: ⁠The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

And, as it turns out, there's already another podcast called 4 Friends & a Book so the crew is in search of a new name. Drop us your suggestion at [email protected]. If you don't come up with a name, David will come up with one. Nobody wants that.

Teresa, Diane, David, and Joe share their favorite Holiday (and Holiday-adjacent) reads and traditions.

• Diane: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
• Teresa: Maria by Michelle Moran
• Joe: Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
• David: The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore

The Friends take on the big Holiday question: Is fruit cake -- and, by extension, fruit cake cookies -- a sin?

David shares a beloved family Christmas tradition with the very special reading of Clement Moore's classic, The Night Before Christmas and Kooper makes his Four Friends and a Book debut at the 48-ish minute mark.And, of course, the Four Friends wish a Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Teresa, David, Diane, and Joe discuss which books were made into movies they loved, which ones were made into movies they didn't love as much, and which books were so good they couldn't bring themselves to watch the movie at all, lest it ruin the book for them.

Joe expresses his disdain for Mark Wahlberg ("Matt Damon is to Mark Wahlberg as Alec Baldwin is to Stephen Baldwin"), David explains why he believes that Tom Cruise has jumped the shark, and Teresa and Diane try to keep the boys in line. (Good luck with that.)

- Life of Chuck

- The Notebook

- The Hunger Games

- Twilight Saga

- The Godfather

- Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli

- Thursday Murder Club

David regrets having chose Westerns for this week's genre. That is, until Teresa, Diane, and Joe started questioning what exactly makes a Western a Western.

The usual suspects led to discussions of Larry McMurtry, Charles Portis, Louis L'Amour, Cormac McCarthy...but then came Elmore Leonard, John Steinbeck, and even Stephen King.

What makes a Western a Western? Join us to find out!

• Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Done and Dusted: A Revel Blue Ranch Novel by Lyla Sage
• Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
• Buried in the Back Water by Drew Strickland
• Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
• True Grit by Charles Portis
• Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

NOTE: This one gets a little adult language-y, so keep that in mind with the littles around.

Diane, Teresa, David, and Joe get caught up after a week off and discuss their favorite books of 2025 (so far).

Here are their favorites:

Diane:

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
• The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
• The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Teresa:

• The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
• Cat’s People by Tanya Guerrero
• The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
• Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

David:

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• The Bookshop of Secrets by Kerry Barrett
• The Mystic Caravan Mysteries by Amanda M. Lee (latest: Freaky Festivals; first: Freaky Days)

• The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Matthew Bawerman

Joe:

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder