"I think all of us had the experience after reading the book of looking in maybe our grandparents' wardrobe, our parents' wardrobe, and like knocking on the back of the wardrobe and being like, maybe this is my time. Maybe they're gonna call me in here."

— Mychal Threets

For this week’s episode, we are testing out a slightly different format, something we have named a “Mixtape” episode. Rather than making the reading challenge the last bit of an author’s show, we have made the reading challenge the show itself.  We could not be more excited to welcome the biggest spot of joy on the web, Mychal Threets, to the podcast. 

In this episode, we learn about Mychal’s playlist, the books that shaped him, and when he was a young library kid. As someone who grew up in the stacks and eventually made his calling his career, Mychal walks us through the books that sparked what he calls his "book joy."

As it happens, Jordan will be doing a full interview with Mychal during a live recording at the upcoming American Association of School Librarians meeting (AASL) in St. Louis this October. But who wants to wait for the joy that Mychal brings? Nobody! 

Content Note: This episode includes discussion of mental health and suicide, which come up in Mychal’s reading passage. If you’d prefer to skip this portion, it runs from [19:50-23:35].

Tune in for an episode that will brighten your day and give you insight into the early life and times of someone who has shined a light on the joy and importance of libraries (and librarians!).

We have set up Mychal’s mixtape “playlist” as a reading challenge that can be downloaded for free or activated on your Beanstack site. Learn more and download Mychal’s reading challenge at thereadingculturepod.com/mychal-threets

Show Chapters

Chapter 1 - Holes by Louis Sachar

Chapter 2 - Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

Chapter 3 - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Chapter 4 - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

Chapter 5 - Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

Chapter 6 - The Giver by Lois Lowry

Chapter 7 - Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris

Chapter 8 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Chapter 9 - Letters to You by Jazz Thornton

Links

• The Reading Culture
• The Reading Culture Newsletter Signup
• Follow The Reading Culture on Instagram (for giveaways and bonus content)
• Mychal Threets Instagram
• Mychal Threets TikTok
• 2025 AASL National Conference
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture
• Jordan Lloyd Bookey
  
  

Host and Production Credits

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey
Producers: Mel Webb, and Lower Street Media
Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Mel Webb, Jordan Lloyd Bookey