On this special comeback episode:

Peter brings:

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, art by Boulet: https://bit.ly/3OwRGpJ

Extreme Canvas by Ernie Wolfe III

The Punisher: Epic Collection Return to Big Nothing: https://bit.ly/45o6Mof

The Unfortunates by B.S. Johnson

Meagan brings:

To The Edges of the Earth : 1909, the race for the three poles, and the climax of the age of exploration by Edward J. Larson: https://bit.ly/3OzUMtd

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes: https://bit.ly/3ORIbmj

Aliens, the essential comics: script, Mark Verheiden ; art, Mark A. Nelson, Denis Beauvais, Sam Kieth ; covers, Denis Beauvais & John Bolton: https://bit.ly/3Yw9F4a

Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews: https://bit.ly/3OVF0uc

We’re back with 8 more titles, 4 discussed in-depth, 4 discussed in a lesser amount of depth!

This time, Peter brought

101 Things I Learned in Film School by Neil Landau https://bit.ly/45TfEn6

Radioactive Dreams: The Cinema of Albert Pyun by Justin Decloux (this one isn’t available in HPLD’s collection, but you can get it here: https://bit.ly/3WWX4pO)

Mr. Burns by Ann Washburn https://bit.ly/3MTyHow

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski https://bit.ly/42Bbcqk

As an add-on to that one, here’s a link to a great video discussing the Doom Wad, My House. https://bit.ly/3MWiChT

Meagan brought:

Human Monsters by Various https://bit.ly/3Cdndrb

The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish Swish Swish by Lil Miss Hot Mess https://bit.ly/3X1XU4P

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher https://bit.ly/43tx8ER

A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver https://bit.ly/3Nio93I

We're back with 8 books to chill your bones or possibly warm your hearts or possibly change the temperature of some portion of you, but in a good way.

This time around, Meagan brings to the table 2 Ilona Andrews titles, a 50% reduction in Ilona Andrews recommendations from last time (I asked, she's okay, just excited about a couple other authors at the moment):

Blitz by Daniel O'Malley https://bit.ly/42KAQsW

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews https://bit.ly/42waUle

Not That Duke by Eloisa James https://bit.ly/42QxLaR

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews https://bit.ly/42ORzeD

And Peter managed to bring 4 alternatives to classic books:

Astro City Confessions by Kurt Busiek instead of Phantom of the Opera https://bit.ly/44UiibC

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt instead of As I Lay Dying by WIlliam Faulkner https://bit.ly/3VVIFKj

Penny Nichols by M.K. Reed instead of The Scarlet Letter https://bit.ly/3O08eb6

Tenements, Towers and Trash by Julia Wertz instead of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn https://bit.ly/42YjSHS

In this episode, we talk about 4 books in-depth, 4 in-shallow.

One of our hosts, Meagan, went hard in the paint on a new favorite author, Ilona Andrews, and brought FOUR books by the same author! But they sound like bangers, so all is good.

Meagan's Books:

1. Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews (Hidden Legacy #1) https://bit.ly/438bdU0

2. Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews (Hidden Legacy #3.5) https://bit.ly/3UfpytV

3. Sapphire Flames (Hidden Legacy #4) https://bit.ly/415i5Q9

4. Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #1) https://bit.ly/436Wgl8

Peter's Books

1. A Movie Making Nerd by James Rolfe https://bit.ly/3mdnCoU

2. NBA Jam by Reyan Ali https://bit.ly/40FZ5rE

3. Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell https://bit.ly/3ZM5FMb

4. Fantastic Four Full Circle by Alex Ross https://bit.ly/3zypn3l

In this episode, our hosts each pick four books, we select a couple to talk about in-depth, then cover the rest very briefly at the end.

"Which books?" you might be asking?

Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin

Liar City by Allie Therin: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2319104

Rain by Joe Hill, adapted by David M. Booher & illustrated by Zoe Thorogood: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2322521

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2316588

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes by Jeff Strand

Supergirl: World of Tomorrow by Tom King: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/15254841

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2237187

Batman: The Dark Knight Detective by Mike W. Barr: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12095430

In this episode, we discuss:

Attack of the Stuff by Jim Benton (https://bit.ly/3X7Wjst)

And Yet by Kate Baer (https://bit.ly/3Y647MQ)

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso (https://bit.ly/3DF88ja)

Pregnesia by Carla Cassidy (https://bit.ly/3l9NLEa)

We didn’t quite get to:

Giant Days by John Allison (https://bit.ly/3Rz6ENi)

Deadpool vs. Thanos by Tim Seeley (https://bit.ly/2L4j7G1)

Galatea by Madeline Miller (https://bit.ly/3l2f9UJ)

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (https://bit.ly/3DEahvs)

Meagan's Most Anticipated for 2023

1. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (1/17/23)

2. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (8/15/23)

3. The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro (4/18/23)

4. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (1/3/23) – but really a hopeful placeholder for the Skybriar series of Jane Austen retellings, which will hopefully be released sometime in ’23.

5. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (6/13/23)

6. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas (8/29/23)

7. Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn (1/24/23)

8. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes (2/7/23)

9. The Davenports by Krystal Marquis (1/31/23)

10. The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter (8/8/23)

Peter's Most Anticipated for 2023

1. Greener Pastures by Chuck Palahniuk (??)

2. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (1/17/23)

3. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune (4/25/23)

4. The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (5/2/23)

5. The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (5/9/23)

6. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (1/17/23)

7. Where Are Your Boys Tonight? By Chris Payne (6/6/23)

8. Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams (4/25/23)

9. The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley (1/10/23)

10. The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei (7/18/23) This is Peter: I forgot to talk about this one in the excitement of all the books and the new year and whatnot, but it promises to be an exciting, space-based whodunit? with vibes straight out of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine!

HPLD Writer in Residence Rob Walker treated us with a live reading of UTOPIA!, and we were lucky enough to record the audio. We present it to you here along with some AI-generated art that was cycling in the background.

The reading is a little over an hour, and there's a bonus Q&A at the end as well.

Special thanks to Atlas Theater and the cast of UTOPIA!:

Teresa Sugi

Daniel Mothershed

Seth Willis

Kimberly Destree

Brent Buckingham

Andrea Camacho

Emory Gillespie

Heather Hughes

Miguel Munoz

Rob Hageman

Rob Walker

In this episode, we discuss books that are perfect for gifting! We’ve linked to them in the library catalog when possible, but all are available wherever books are sold.

Peter’s top five:

The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Alan Moore’s Writing for Comics by Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows

The Internet Is a Playground by David Thorne

Ed Emberley’s Make a World by Ed Emberley

Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society by John Law, Kevin Evans, & Carrie Galbraith

Meagan’s top five:

Creature: Paintings, Drawings and Reflections by Shaun Tan

City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948 by Peter Doyle

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff https://bit.ly/3B3sGAu

(Bonus suggestion: Swansong, 1945by Walter Kempowski https://bit.ly/3B421U8)

Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide by Cecily Wong https://bit.ly/3B3rayp

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson https://bit.ly/3Vto4fb

In this episode, we discuss:

Audience-ology by Kevin Goetz https://bit.ly/3EfPj5K

Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories by Jeff Kinney https://bit.ly/3GpTONt

Hide by Kiersten White https://bit.ly/3OeZFHo

Resident Alien by Peter Hogan https://bit.ly/3EfQ9zq

We didn’t quite get to:

The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda https://bit.ly/3GqgoWh

Bird Planet by Tim Laman https://bit.ly/3EhfwRh

The Day My Butt Went Psycho by Andy Griffiths https://bit.ly/3AoHNnR

Your Pal Fred by Michael Rex https://bit.ly/3AoldMi