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Happy 2025! We're looking forward on this edition of Your Next Great Read by sharing some books we're excited to check out in the coming year. We also talk about some things we've been reading and Hannah gets mad at me about a book she can't believe I've never read.
Get ready to fill your TBR !

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Books Discussed:
Hannah
The One - John Marrs
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Three to look forward to
Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros
Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins
The Unseen - Ania Ahlborn
Backlist
The Winter People - Jennifer McMahon

J
Gutshot Straight - Lou Berney
Children of the Neon Bamboo - B. Glynn Kimmey
Three to look forward to
King of Ashes - S.A. Cosby
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones
Jade City - Fonda Lee
Backlist
11/22/63 - Stephen King

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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It's Volume 11 of Behind the Rain! I've got poems from 14 Oklahoma poets cued up and ready for you to enjoy. Be sure to connect with the poets across their social media (linked below) to let them know how much you appreciate their work.

You can check out previous volumes at okiebookcast.com/behindtherain

Here's the lineup:

Supernatural - Andrew Morris Gilman

• Instagram: @andrewmorrisgilman

Twelfth-Hour Lightning Strike Piano Tunes Itself to Midnight - Michelle Lark

• Instagram: @fairylarks

The Land We Belong To - Brand Rackley

• Instagram: @brandrackley 

The Songbird - Shy Norton

• Instagram: @shylascribblesart

Haboob - Scott LaMascus

• Instagram: @scott_lamascus

An Aroma - Jake Spann

• Facebook: @jake.spann.9

The Waving Wheat Can Sure Smell Bittersweet - Sydney Aerin

• Instagram: @sydneysometimes

To Someone I Can't Fall With Again - Seth Copeland

• Instagram: @sethtcope
• Website: https://neutralspaces.co/seth_t_copeland/

The Halls of Snow and Sleep - Kristen Grace

• Instagram: @_kristen_grace

You Were But a Batch of Bones and Fur - David Jennings

• Facebook: @DJennPhotos
• Website: davidjenningsartinphotographyandpoetry.com

Nocturne - Aubrey Green

• Instagram: @bluecloverediting

What I've Learned from Watching Yes Men Win - Durell Carter

• Instagram: @durell.carter

Gather - Alice Vile

• Instagram: @alice.a.vile

So Little Time - Linda Neal Reising

• Instagram: @nealreising

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 67!
My guest is indie author Luke Swanson. Luke has been a part of a couple of different shows, but this was my first chance to interview him and we had a blast!
Luke is an author with five published novels under his belt, each in a vastly different genre. He says that Much like Oklahoma's weather, what he's reading and what he's writing could change within the hour. If you want someone who can recite "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" from start to finish but also gets really nerdy about Civil War history, he's your guy.

Connect with Luke: website | Instagram | TikTok

After the interview - I give some updates about where the show is heading in 2025, so be sure to stick around for that.

Mentioned on the Show:
Alex Rider series - Anthony Horowitz
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon
Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
The Pawn - Steven James
Havah - Tosca Lee
Mystic River - Dennis LeHane
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
My Thoughts Be Bloody - Nora Titone
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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We're wrapping up 2024 with a conversation about our favorite reads of the year! Hannah and J talk about what they're reading and then get into their 3 favorite reads of 2024. Check out our list and then let us know your favorite books of the year. 

Fave Five From Fans episodes: J | Hannah

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Books Discussed:
Hannah

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
The Family Game - Catherine Steadman
Fave 3
Episode 13 - Craig Dilouie
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
Horror Movie - Paul Tremblay
Backlist
Hell House - Richard Matheson

J

Dark Age - Pierce Brown
Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Fave 3
Starter Villain - John Scalzi
Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone - Benjamin Stevenson
Chain Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah
Backlist
The Running Man - Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman)

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 66!
I got to sit down with Russ Fellows to talk about his new book - Children of the Ancient Heroes: Dreams and Nightmares - the first in a new middle grade fantasy series. We also talk about writing for middle grade readers and his podcast project, Enchanted Stories, that focuses on sharing great stories with kids.

List of Oklahoma Independent Bookstores: okiebookcast.com/bookstores

List of Oklahoma Children's Authors: okiebookcast.com/kidlit

Connect with Russ: website | Linktree
Enchanted Stories Podcast on YouTube

Mentioned on the Show:
Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Jules Verne
Neil Gaiman
The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
The Patron Thief of Bread - Lindsey Eagar
Nevermore series - Jessica Townsend
The Thirteenth Child - Erin A. Craig
Story Thieves - James Riley
Stephen King
Dean Koontz

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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This month, we're joined by Emma Jackson to talk about what we're reading and why you might love it! We've got thrillers, romance, books on creativity, scifi, lots of YA, horror, and even a western. You're going to find a book or two to love in this fun conversation.

Connect with Emma: Instagram | Threads | Twitter | TikTok

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Discussed on the Show:
Emma
Inheritance of Scars - Crystal Seitz
Royal Blood - Aimee Carter
Jade City - Fonda Lee
An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

Hannah
The Paradise Problem - Christina Lauren
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
Here One Moment - Liane Moriarty
The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

J
The Butcher’s Masquerade - Matt Dinnimann
The Cannibal Owl - Aaron Gwyn
I Was a Teenage Slasher - Stephen Graham Jones
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 65!

My guest today is James Cooper. James is the Oklahoma City Councilman for Ward 2 and an Artist in Residence for the English department at OCU, where he teaches courses on writing and horror. His work has been published in the Oklahoma Gazette and the Huffington Post and he was named a Champion of Pride by Advocate Magazine and received the Rising Star Award from the OSU College of Arts and Sciences.
We're talking about James' debut novel - Moonlit Massacre - a horror novel about a mass murder following in the vein of the infamous Sirloin Stockade murders in Oklahoma City in the 70s. Over the course of the conversation we also talk about Care Bears, Nightmare on Elm Street, Lil Wayne, jazz, a little OKC politics, and a particular influence that you'll have to hear to believe.
As you can imagine, the conversation turns to violence a bit, so be advised as you decide to listen.

Connect with James: website | Instagram | Facebook

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Mentioned on the Show:
Lou Berney
Stephen Graham Jones
Men, Women, and Chainsaws - Carol Clover
A Single Man - Christopher Isherwood
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
OKC: Second Time Around - Steve Lackmeyer
Funny Money - Mark Singer
Reconstructing the Dreamland - Alfred L. Brophy
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Moffie - Andre Carl Van Der Merwe

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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We are so excited to welcome back author Stacey Kade (S.A. Barnes) for this edition of Your Next Great Read! We talk about plenty of Spooky Season reads, but also some science fiction, romance, and thrillers.
Get ready to fill your TBR list with more great books!

Connect with Stacey: website | Instagram | Threads

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Discussed on the show:
Stacey
So Thirsty - Rachel Harrison
White Line Fever - KC Jones
Four Weekends and a Funeral - Ellie Palmer
The Return Man - V.M. Zito

Hannah
Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night - James Patterson (ed.)
Mary - Nat Cassidy
Like It Never Was - Faith Gardner
It - Stephen King

J
The Mountain in the Sea - Ray Nayler
Red Rising - Pierce Brown
Worst Case Scenario - TJ Newman
Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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It's Volume 10 of Behind the Rain! I've got 14 poems from 13 Oklahoma poets cued up and ready for you to enjoy. Be sure to connect with the poets across their social media (linked below) to let them know how much you appreciate their work. 

Here's the lineup:

At Home In the Hills (for Paul Askew) - Paul Austin

• Website: paustin.net

Future of Sound - Sydney Aerin

• Instagram: @sydneysometimes

Noise and Haste - Andrew Morris Gilman

• Instagram: @andrewmorrisgilman

Early - Ruth Key

• Instagram @ruthkeypoetry

American Night - James Thomas Fletcher

• Facebook: James.Thomas.Fletcher
• Website: jamesthomasfletcher

In a Children's Museum - Paul Juhasz

• Facebook: Paul Juhasz Author

Silent Jubilee - Alicia Daggs

• Instagram: @solatidont

Cimarron - Brand Rackley

• Instagram: @brandrackley 

To the Spur-Throated Grasshopper, My Dog is a Villain and An Occasion When Summer Rain was too Severe for Outside Play - Lydia Renfro

• Instagram: @lyd.fro
• Website: https://lydiarenfro.com/

Whalefall- Hallie McGrath

• Instagram: @jackrabbit_soul

North for You - Seth Copeland

• Instagram: @sethtcope
• Website: https://neutralspaces.co/seth_t_copeland/

Work - Rilla Askew

• Instagram: @rilla_askew
• Website: rillaaskew.com

Barren Ground - David Jennings

• Facebook: @DJennPhotos
• Website: davidjenningsartinphotographyandpoetry.com

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 64 of the Okie Bookcast! It’s a huge week for us as we celebrate our third anniversary! All I can say is thank you - I appreciate you more than you know, now onward to year four!

Speaking of anniversaries, my guests for this episode are from Best of Books, an independent bookstore in Edmond that is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week! I’m joined by Nan Hight and Dani Terrell to talk about the store, their huge anniversary celebration on October 10, and the incredible relationship the store has developed with authors through the years. 

Nan is a former educator who, along with her husband Joe and daughter Elena, has owned Best of Books since 2014. 

Dani is also a former educator who joined Best of Books two years ago and works on events and social media for the store. 

Enjoy our conversation as we celebrate 40 years of this fantastic Oklahoma bookstore!

Connect with Best of Books: website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Twitter

Mentioned on the Show:
Unnecessary Sorrow - Joe Hight
Camino Ghosts - John Grisham
Scarlett St. Clair
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Ruta Sepetys
Steve Sheinkin
Ordinary Grace - William Kent Kruger
Touch of Darkness series - Scarlett St. Clair
The Dead Guy Next Door - Lucy Score
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Kwame Alexander
Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond - Henry Winkler
Stick Dog - Tom Watson

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Shop the Bookcast on Bookshop.org
Music by JuliusH