Our Home Libraries

This book, set in a dystopian future, focuses on Wade Watts and his hunt for the Easter egg that was left by James Halliday upon his death. Finding the Easter egg would make Wade the inheritor of Halliday’s fortune and the OASIS itself, a virtual reality that basically everyone on the planet uses to escape from their reality of poverty, energy crisis, and global warming. Wade spends all his time combing through films, music, TV, and videogames from the 80s, and repeatedly reads Anorack’s Almanac, written by Halliday himself. All in the hopes of decoding the clue to the Copper Key, the first of three that must be found to find the egg. Wade finds himself in a race against other players and Innovative Online Industries (IOI), a corporation that wants to control to OASIS and is willing to play real dirty to win.

Is our world heading toward a fully virtual culture? Would you want the opportunity to participate in a thing like the OASIS? Will Wade ever push the big red button? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode eight of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions we used for this episode come from the website for Hey Let’s Make Stuff. → https://heyletsmakestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ready-Player-One-Discussion-Questions.pdf

Great music huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout using our referral code and we'll both get a $20 amazon gift card! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1894341

With Karey's busy work schedule, we decided to do something a little different today. We found some book related questions after a Google search and thought it would be a blast!

What author(s) have we read the most from? What book most recently kept us up WAY too late? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode in episode ten of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode come from bookshelfjourneys.com. This "tag" may have been originally created by The Perpetual Page Turner back in 2013, but I see it popping back up every now and then on YouTube. -> https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/a-z-bookish-questions

Great music, huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, which was assessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout using our referral code and we'll both get a $20 amazon gift card! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1894341

This memoir tells the story of Piper Kerman, who was charged with 15 months in a minimum security federal correctional facility for drug-related money laundering. As a reckless young woman, she got mixed up with drug runners and delivered one suitcase of money. Ten years later, her past catches up with her and she is arrested. Piper looks back on her time in prison and tells her story from her arrest to her release, detailing the relationships she built with women from all walks of life.

How do Piper’s circumstances compare with those of the women she meets in Danbury? Should low-level nonviolent drug offenders be put in prison? Does Piper’s race, education, and/or socioeconomic status make you question the credibility of her story? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode nine of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode come from the author’s website. We eliminated some questions for the sake of time. → https://piperkerman.com/orange/discussion-questions/

Great music huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: A-Z Bookish Questions

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout using our referral code and we'll both get a $20 amazon gift card! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1894341

It Ends With Us is about Lily Bloom, a florist, who happens to meet a neurosurgery resident named Ryle Kincaid on the day of her father’s funeral. Throughout the first half of the book, we see some flashbacks to Lily’s first relationship with Atlas when she was in high school, and to the relationship between her parents, as she’s working through some of the questions and concerns that she has about Ryle. Here’s where the spoiler comes in...Ryle was physically abusive to her, mirroring the abuse that her mother suffered at the hands of her father, and yet, she still married the guy after a six month "relationship" (you can tell I'm not very enthused). In a touching final chapter, Lily gives birth to their daughter and decides to break the cycle.

Do we think that Ryle's childhood trauma was justification for his abusive behavior? How did Lily's vulnerability affect her choices? Is it "right" to keep mementos from past relationships? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode eight of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode come from Princeton Book Review. → https://www.princetonbookreview.com/book_pages/discussion/it-ends-with-us.php

Great music, huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Up Next: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout using our referral code and we'll both get a $20 amazon gift card! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1894341

Normal People focuses on the key events between two characters, Marianne and Connell, sometimes jumping forward, minuted, weeks, or months. It starts with the two of them in secondary school when they initiate a relationship that Connell wants kept secret from everyone. We also see them together at university, as their social dynamic shifts. What we REALLY see is a whole lot of miscommunication.

Do we blame Connell for his treatment of Marianne during secondary school? How might the story have changed if Connell and Marianne were better communicators? How does this book help destigmatize mental health issues? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode seven of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode come straight from the publisher, which is Penguin Random House. We did pick and choose the questions we like from the entire list of questions. -> https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/592625/normal-people-by-sally-rooney/9781984822185/readers-guide/

Great music, huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout using our referral code and we'll both get a $20 amazon gift card! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1894341

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew who survived Auschwitz concentration camp by tattooing numbers on new arrivals. This story focuses on the ethical compromises that were required of many people imprisoned in the camps in order to survive one of the greatest atrocities in human history.

What qualities did Lale have that influenced the way he was treated in camp? What greater implications do small acts of kindness have? Is Lale a hero? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode six of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode are from LitLovers, but there was a statement at the end of the post saying that the questions originally came form the publisher. You can find them here -> https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/11363-tattooist-of-auschwitz-morris?start=3

Great music, huh?! The music for the intro and outro segments are from a song titled "Busy City" by TrackTribe, and was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Hollow's Edge was once a private and quiet neighborhood...until Brandon and Fiona Truett were found dead in their home. All the evidence pointed to Ruby Fletcher. With her conviction overturned after 14 months, Ruby returns to Hollow's Edge, where it soon becomes clear that not everyone told the truth about what they saw and heard the night of the murders. Why did Ruby come back? What do we make of all the secrets in the neighborhood? We'll answer these questions and more in our fifth, spoiler-filled episode of Our Home Libraries.

Questions: The questions for this episode were either made up by Kayla or came from bookmovement.com.

Check out the music! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled “Busy City” by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Up Next: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Reviewers call Circe by Madeline Miller a feminist masterpiece about a woman trying to overcome the limitations imposed by a male dominated society. We love that. Circe is born of the god Helios and a naiad and is constantly belittled in her fathers house. She soon discovers that she has the power of transformation when she turns the mortal she loves into a god and the nymph he loves into a six-headed monster. After committing these atrocities against the gods, Zeus banishes her to an island for the rest of her life (she's immortal, by the way). Over time, she encounters many famous mythological beings, like the Minotaur, Daedalus and his son Icarus, Medea, and Odysseus.

How does this portrayal of Circe compare to her portrayal in The Odyssey by Homer? What makes this story feminist? How did her various romances affect and change her? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode four of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, abuse, arranged marriage, suicidal ideation, childbirth with complications, death, and bestiality.

Questions: The questions discussed in this episode were written by Emily Martin. You can find them here -> https://bookriot.com/circe-book-club-question/

Great music, huh?! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled “Busy City” by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: Such A Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

2002, one year after the events of 9/11, is a politically turbulent time in the United States. This is especially true for someone like Shirin, a teenage Muslim girl who is constantly stereotyped by others - rude stares, hateful comments, and even physical violence. When she and her family move to small-town America, she’s determined to keep her head down and get through each day as quickly as possible. Until she meets Ocean (it’s a good kind of meeting).

How do the actions of others cause lasting emotional harm? What are the smells, sounds, tastes, or people that make you feel safe? Join us as we discuss these questions and more in episode three of our spoiler-filled podcast.

Trigger warnings: racism, bullying, trauma, discrimination, complicated relationships.

Questions: The questions discussed in this podcast were distributed to the public by HarperCollins Publishers.

Check out the new music! The music for the intro and outro are segments from a song titled “Busy City” by TrackTribe, which was accessed through the YouTube audio library.

Coming up next: Circe by Madeline Miller

Evelyn Hardcastle will die everyday until Aiden Bishop can solve her murder. Each day for eight days, he wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor and some hosts are more helpful than others. The first day, he wakes up with no memory but a name, Anna. Come hang out with us as we talk about the many twists and turns, in a place where no one is who they seem. What puzzle pieces did we struggle finding a place for? If you knew someone you loved had a devastating secret, would you want to know what it was? We'll answer these questions and more in our second, spoiler-filled episode of Our Home Libraries.

Trigger Warnings: Child death, murder, mental illness, rape/sexual abuse, substance abuse, suicide, torture.