Just Dads Reading Books

Here's an odd little episode for you: EJ and Matt took a long road trip in August of 2023 and decided to record their road chat. This isn't a 30 minute episode about a book, it's an hour long conversation with a handful of tangents. Consider it a celebration of 40 JDRB episodes. We talk about growing up, our reading history, disc golf, poker, and being dads. We hope you enjoy it and sorry it sounds like we are in a car. It's only because we were.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We've been referencing this book for week's now as a supposed low point in the series, but it's been years since either of us have read it. Is it a boring, bottle episode of a book, or is there more deep its murky depths? Either way, it's uncharted territory for Matt from here on out!

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

Jon Klassen has a new book out and we're newly inducted Klassenites so we had to check it out. AND BOY WE WEREN'T PREPARED. It is stylistically beautiful, conceptually brilliant, and absolutely hilarious. And critically, we'll be revisiting this book in one year's time...so see you then!

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

The adventure continues with Baudelaires all doing a bit of growing up! We get some big, heavy new themes in the 10th entry of the Series of Unfortunate Events and we couldn't be more excited to see how the story changes as our three protagonists mature and get a bit wiser.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

This week we unexpectedly returned to our "Road to Pratchett" mini-arc by reading the legendary fantasy novel from Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea. The best part is we each had wildly different reactions to the book. One of us listened to it and bounced off it and the other read it with our eyeballs and fell desperately in love...

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We continue our journey through Lemony Snicket's escapades with a sleeper hit! Perhaps the silliest of all of the books is also the one that finally makes the world feel whole and unique and some important ground work is laid for the thickening mystery behind VFD and all it's past and present members.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We've been having a categorically dark and/or bad time on the show recently. Not with bad books but with SAD books, so we asked everyone to tell us about a happy, good time book. Well we were recommended Flora & Ulysses and I hate to report we did not have a good time... Let's talk about why this beloved book didn't quite work for us.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

Our Series on a Series of Unfortunate Events continues in one of the perhaps most patently absurd stories in the set. Why are we at a hospital? How does no one know that's just a baby in a doctor's coat? We're really just going to get someone's head open in front of a crowd of people?

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

**THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION ABOUT SUICIDE. PLEASE TAKE CARE WHEN LISTENING, ESPECIALLY AROUND CHILDREN**

Matt found a book at the library with a fascinating structure and then it ruined his whole day. Thornhill is a horror in the truest sense of the word and analyzing what that means for children might take a bit of work...

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

It's an exciting week because we start to really slow down with Lemony Snicket's sad adventure. We've been burning through the early books in the series mostly out of sheer excitement to get to this arc of it. Vile Village kicks off much bigger mysteries being established and the questions surrounding the VFD become the forefront of each book. So join us as we explore the rest of one of our favorite childhood series!

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ