Our Book Bench | Kids and Adults, Reading Together

This week, the season takes its turn — and the kids are on their own.

Lisa and David dig into pages 46–93 of The Neverfear by Katherine Rundell, and the world cracks open. We finally meet Teren, the new immortal Nighthand went searching for at the end of The Poisoned King — and he's a toddler, carrying the memories of every life before him, including Mal's from Impossible Creatures. (David points out a tender illustration of Teren and Christopher holding hands that's worth lingering on.) Christopher starts using his mysterious "golden thread" on purpose — and nearly pays for it. And then the story turns hard: Irian is kidnapped, and the children are handed three impossible tasks to win her back — in secret, or else.

The heart of it is Anya. She fights off masked raiders with everything she has — teeth included — and afterward, when Christopher calls her brave, she says: "I was afraid. I was terrified." That's this whole season in a single line: being brave isn't the same as not being afraid.

And there's a payoff for anyone who's been with us from the start — David opened Season 3 wondering how a book could be named after a ship that got destroyed. This week, we finally got the answer. (It's very Nighthand.) Plus a couple of David's signature cross-book catches — Harry Potter's three-headed dog, a little Percy Jackson — because noticing those connections is exactly why we read together.

We also celebrated our first listener write-ins of the season this week — thank you, Kim and Laura!

A note for families: this is a rich, beautiful series that doesn't shy away from intense moments and difficult themes. This week's reading includes a death and a kidnapping. We explore them together and keep the grim details light — and we trust each reading pair to decide whether this book, and this series, is the right fit for them.

📖 This week's reading: pages 46–93 — "Teren" through "The Island of Giants."
🗓️ Next week: pages 94–135 — "The Obvious Superiority of the Small Over the Unattractively Gargantuan" through "The Vial."
📚 Full reading schedule at ourbookbench.com.

This week's question: The kids have to pluck a golden whisker from each of the three heads of a fearsome hound — and the villains call this the easiest of three tasks. What do you think the other two might be, and what are they all for? 

Tell us your theories — email [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench. We love hearing from you.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

Season 3 is fully underway — this week we're deep into the opening pages of The Neverfear, the brand-new third book in Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures series.

Lisa and David dig into pages 1–45, and there's a lot packed in: Christopher summoned by a unicorn and the mysterious "golden thread" that connects him to a newborn foal — and later, to a rampaging behemoth everyone else is running from. Along the way: an animal sanctuary in the palace at Glimt, Nighthand working up the courage to propose to Irian, and a darker story gathering underneath it all — a village burned, a tiger that steps out of a mirror, and two unsettling newcomers, Astor Morax and Carla Venasque.

David also spots a connection we didn't see coming: the snake bracelets binding Morax's followers reminded him of the Dark Mark in Harry Potter — lining right up with a note his mom had already written in her margins.

Threaded through it all is the question we're carrying all season: being brave isn't the same as not being afraid. From Christopher walking toward a dangerous creature to Nighthand — a berserker who isn't supposed to love, because to love is to fear losing someone — choosing to love Irian anyway.

A note for families: this section includes some genuinely dark moments — a village attacked and burned, a man being attacked by a tiger. We flag it up front so you can decide what's right for your reader, and we talk about what happens without lingering on the worst of it.

📖 This week's reading: pages 1–45 (American hardback) — "The Birth of A Unicorn" through "Carla Venasque."
🗓️ Next week: pages 46–93, "Teren" through "The Island of Giants."
📬 Full reading schedule at ourbookbench.com.

This week's question: Nighthand serves meat-flavored ice cream and drinks that "grow hair on your chest." If you threw a Midsummer Feast, what one wild dish would be on the menu? 

Email [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench — we love hearing from you.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

Season 3 is here! This season, Lisa and David are reading The Neverfear, the brand-new third book in Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures series.

Before we start the book, David, who reread the series to get ready, walks us through the story so far. He recaps the first two books: how an ordinary kid named Christopher gets pulled into the Archipelago in Impossible Creatures, and how the runaway princess Anya joins the story in The Poisoned King. Expect phoenixes, a dragon that fits on your thumb, and one question David can't stop thinking about: how is a whole book named after a ship he's pretty sure got destroyed?

We're also introducing the question we'll come back to all season long: being brave isn't the same as not being afraid. We'll be watching for the moments when a character is scared… and does the hard thing anyway.

📖 This week's reading: pages 1–45 (American hardback edition) — from The Birth of a Unicorn through Carla Venasque.
🗓️ Full reading schedule: ourbookbench.com

This week's question: Who are you reading with this season — a kid, a grown-up, a friend? Email [email protected] or comment on Instagram @ourbookbench. We read every one.

Grab your copy of The Neverfear, or check it out from your library, and read along with us. New here? Welcome — pull up a spot at the bench.

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Quick note if you're new: we read these a little out of order — we did The Poisoned King in Season 1 and Impossible Creatures in Season 2. For today's recap, though, we're walking through the story the way it was written, first book first, so it all lines up before we start The Neverfear.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

Season 3 is (almost) here — and we could not wait to tell you what's next.

This fall, Lisa and David are heading back to the Archipelago for The Neverfear, the brand-new third book in Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures series.

And David has one very important question going in: last season, he was pretty sure the Neverfear got destroyed… so how does a whole book end up named after it? Time to find out.

Here's your one job this week: grab a copy of The Neverfear and get ready to read it with us. We kick off Season 3 on September 20th — whether you've been with us since book one or you're brand new, pull up a spot at the bench.

Full reading schedule coming soon at ourbookbench.com.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

We did something fun for our final Bridge to Terabithia episode — we finished the book, then watched the movie together. In this mini season finale, Lisa and David talk about what the film got right, why (as always) they think the book is better, and how you get through a story this tender all the way to the end. 

They also look back on the whole summer mini season — the good, the honest, and the surprisingly hard parts of reading together when the routine falls apart — and share a first look at what's coming this fall, as Our Book Bench turns one.

Did you read Bridge to Terabithia with us, or watch the movie? We'd love to hear what you thought. Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

The World Can Be Beautiful and Devastating at the Same Time

Chapter ten is called "The Perfect Day" — and it really is. Then chapter eleven begins. In this episode, Lisa and David sit with the chapters that make this book unforgettable: the joy right before everything changes, the grief that comes in waves, and what Jess Aarons does with it at the very end. David leads the hardest part of the conversation, and they come back to a question from Episode 1 that means something different now.

This week's question: When have you chosen to do something beautiful — or kind, or generous — even when something hard had just happened? We'll be coming back to your answers in our final episode. 

Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench. Full reading schedule at ourbookbench.com.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

In chapters five through eight, Jess Aarons keeps doing something quietly remarkable — he changes his mind. About Janice Avery, the bully who hurt someone he loves. About Leslie's unconventional dad. About what it costs to help someone who hasn't earned it. In this episode, Lisa and David talk about what makes Jess more thoughtful than the people around him realize, what the right Christmas gift says about a friendship, and why Terabithia doesn't work the same when you're there alone. Plus, our first listener write-in of the mini season, from Kim in Nebraska.

This week's question: Has anyone ever given you a gift that said "I see who you really are"? 

We'd love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench. Full reading schedule at ourbookbench.com.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

We're kicking off our summer mini season with Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, and these first four chapters are all about discovery. We meet Jess Aarons, a boy who gets up before dawn to run because he's decided he'll be the fastest kid in school, and who keeps his love of drawing quietly to himself. Then a new girl named Leslie moves in next door and changes everything. 

We talk about who Jess is before anyone really sees him, why he makes the deliberate choice to let Leslie in, and how the two of them build a secret kingdom in the woods called Terabithia. (There's even a Narnia connection that meant a lot to us.)

This week's question: What's your first impression of Jess? Is he someone you'd want to be friends with, and why? 

Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram @ourbookbench.

New episodes every week — find the full reading schedule at ourbookbench.com.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

We're back! And this time with something a little different for the summer.

This is a short teaser episode to announce our Summer Mini Season, and David has a book he's been wanting to get to. He picked it himself, he's read it once before, and he has thoughts on why we should all pick it up this summer. For now we'll just say: it's the kind of book that opens the type of conversations this show exists for.

Pick up a copy of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson at your local library or independent bookstore. More details — including when we start and how to read along — coming very soon.

If you're new to Our Book Bench, welcome. We're a mom and son who read books together and talk about them — and we'd love for you to pull up a spot at the bench.

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench

Season 2 is complete, and before we head into what's next, Lisa and David take a moment to look back at the season and what it meant to them.

In this final episode, they reflect on the moments that stayed with them, the theme of loyalty that ran through Impossible Creatures from beginning to end, and what their first-ever in-person library event revealed about what Our Book Bench is becoming. They also share some exciting news about the next book in Katherine Rundell's series.

This one is a little shorter and a little quieter than a typical episode — and it ends with the same question that opened the season: would you say yes?

📚 Join the adventure at ourbookbench.com
💌 Email us at [email protected]
📷 Follow along on Instagram: @ourbookbench