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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
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Welcome to Your Next Great Read for September 2024! J and Hannah are joined by author, Tyler Lenz, to talk books. We cover a ton of ground - everything from rocky aliens to bridezillas to saber-toothed tigers. And a lot of love for Matt Haig. Something for every reader!
Get ready to fill your TBR list with more great books.

Connect with Tyler: Facebook
Get Tyler's Books: The Seam | Beyond the Seam

Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram

Discussed on the Show:
Tyler
Scythe - Neal Shustermann
Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinnimann
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
11/22/63 - Stephen King

Hannah
Hell House - Richard Matheson
Incidents Around the House - Josh Malerman
The Wedding People - Allison Espach
The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

J
The Life Impossible - Matt Haig
The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley
The Seam - Tyler Lenz
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O - Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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Welcome to Chapter 63! My guest should be a familiar voice to long-time listeners - Rilla Askew joined me for Chapter 30 to talk about her novel, Prize for the Fire. She's back to talk about her new collection of short stories: The Hungry and the Haunted, available from Belle Point Press on September 17.

Rilla is the author of multiple novels, story collections, and creative non-fiction. She's the recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award and the American Book Award, among other honors.

In our conversation we talk about her short fiction and her novels, her use of place in her fiction, and we spend some time celebrating the incredible literary culture of Oklahoma.

Connect with Rilla: website | Instagram

Conversation with Casie Dodd from Belle Point Press (C. 55)
Conversation with Rob Roensch (C. 53)

Mentioned on the Show:
Prize for the Fire - Rilla Askew
Belle Point Press (order The Hungry and the Haunted)
In the Morning, the City is the Prairie - Rob Roensch
Ben Myers
Best American Short Stories (2023)
I Can Hear Everything from Here - Mark Walling
Bruce Springsteen
William Faulkner
James Baldwin
Wolf Hall Trilogy - Hillary Mantel

okiebookcast.com/bookstores - The list of Oklahoma independent bookstores

Connect with J: website | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Shop the Bookcast on Bookshop.org
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We celebrated the second anniversary of Your Next Great Read by recording this show in front of a live audience at Second Story Books in OKC! In addition to the second anniversary of this show, this is also the 100th episode of the Okie Bookcast!

We talk about a ton of books with our guest, Magen Runyan, and also get quick reviews from a couple of special guests and recommendations from the crowd for our backlist category.

Connect with Magen Runyan: Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Connect with Luke Swanson: website | Instagram | TikTok
Connect with Garrett Queener: Instagram | TikTok
Connect with Hannah: website | Twitter | Instagram
Second Story Books in OKC: website | Instagram

Mentioned on the Show:

Magen
Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You To Hate - Anna Bogutskaya
The Orchard - Jeffrey Stepakof
I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore

Luke
The Reappearance of Rachel Price - Holly Jackson

Garrett
The Mist - Stephen King

Hannah
We Used to Live Here - Marcus Kliewer
The Handler - Garrett Queener
Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

J
The Hungry and the Haunted - Rilla Askew
The Last Murder at the End of the World - Stuart Turton
Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Visit okiebookcast.com for links to all of the crowd backlist recommendations!

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