Paperback Readers

Paperback Readers, Episode 70

Joe and Julie

We have so many books to share with you this week! Our shared read was The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns. All the books we discussed are listed below, as well as our next shared read with our friend Haley: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.

The Life Council by Laura Tremaine

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate by John J. Thompson

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

Chuck Berry: An American Life by RJ Smith

The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Paperback Readers, Episode 69

Joe and Julie

Happy Easter! Joe and Julie are finishing up two weeks of spring break reading, and we are excited to tell you all about it. Our shared read was Alan Maimon’s Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning. Whether you are from Appalachia or not, this book has truths for understanding the region.

Join us next time when our shared read will be The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns.

All books we discussed are listed below.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Super Bowl Monday by Adam Lazarus

I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Almost There: A Twisted Tale by Farrah Rochon

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Twilight in Hazard by Alan Maimon

The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns

Paperback Readers, Episode 68

Joe and Julie

A huge welcome to our friend Nathan, here today to talk with us about The Mayor of MacDougal Street, by Dave Van Ronk with Elijah Wald. We loved this book, and we had so much fun getting to talk to Nathan about it.

All the other books we discussed are listed below. Our next shared read will be Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Alan Maimon.

Julie’s books:

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan

Joe’s book:

Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Alan Maimon

Nathan’s books:

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Paperback Readers, Episode 67

Joe and Julie

We’re back with an unusual episode for us: neither of us was a fan of the shared read for this week. Listen in as we explain why, and what we do when a book isn’t working for us.

All the books we talked about are listed below. Join us next time when we talk about The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir with our friend Nathan!

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel

Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the NBA by Bob Ryan and Terry Pluto

To America: Personal Reflections of An Historian by Stephen Ambrose

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Aida Donald

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir by Dave Van Ronk

Paperback Readers, Episode 66

Joe and Julie

We had so much fun talking to our friend Andy tonight! As our first guest on Paperback Readers, Andy chose an excellent book: Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown, the story of Jim Abbott’s life in baseball. It was a great conversation about books and about baseball, and we look forward to having Andy back on the show, as well as future guests.

Here are all the books we talked about on this episode.

Joe’s books:

Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz

The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits that Reveal the History of Pop Music by Tom Breihan

Andy’s books:

Unmasked by Paul Holes

Just Ask by JD Greear

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Shoedog by George Pelecanos

Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski

Undelivered by Jeff Nussbaum

Julie’s book:

Maame by Jessica George

Join us next time as Joe and Julie talk about The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.

Paperback Readers, Episode 65

Joe and Julie

Welcome back to Monday night, when the kids go to bed, and Joe and Julie talk about books. This week, we’re talking about Drew Magary’s memoir Someone Could Get Hurt, a hilarious story of parenting.

Next time, we’ll be introducing our first podcast guest: our friend and longtime listener, Andy. Our shared read will be Imperfect by Jim Abbott, chosen by Andy, and we can’t wait to read it and talk to him about it…and to all of you.

All the books from this week are below.

Blood From a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back From the Dead by Adam McHugh

Begin Again by Emma Lord

Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes

Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages from Great Books to Teach Writer’s Craft by Penny Kittle

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs by Greil Marcus

William McKinley by Kevin Phillips

Cracking the Show by Thomas Boswell

Sum It Up by Pat Summitt with Sally Jenkins

Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First Century Parenthood by Drew Magary

Imperfect by Jim Abbott

Paperback Readers, Episode 64

Joe and Julie

It’s almost February, and we should be finishing the slow process of taking down the Christmas tree, but instead, we’re talking books with you! Thanks for listening and giving us an excuse to let the ornaments wait one more day.

Our shared read was Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry, aka Julie’s favorite Friend. Join us next time when we talk about Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary.

Comeback Season: My Unlikely Story of Friendship with Greatest Living Negro League Baseball Players by Cam Perron

The Night the Lights Went Out by Drew Magary

Belichick by Ian O’Connor

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist

Mad Honey by Jodi Piccoult

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry.

Paperback Readers, Episode 63

Joe and Julie

Welcome to the new year of reading with Joe and Julie! We’re back to tell you all about our latest reading, and to talk about our shared read: Dickens and Prince, by Nick Hornby.

All the books discussed are listed below. Join us next time when our shared read will be Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry.

Homemade by LIz Hauck

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

My First Popsicle edited by Zosia Mamet

Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah

The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen

The Cap: How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA by Joshua Mendelsohn

Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America’s Presidents by David Stabler

Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich

Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America by Cody Keenan

The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters by Karl Rove

Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

Paperback Readers, Episode 62

Joe and Julie

Happy New Year! We’re here to talk to you about our favorite books of 2022, from over 250 that we read and shared with you over the past year. Thanks for being with us for another year, and thank you for talking about books with us!

Our favorite books are listed below. Stay tuned in 2023, as we are planning some changes to the podcast. We’ll keep you posted.

God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson

Learning in Public: Lessons for a Racially Divided America from My Daughter’s School by Courtney E. Martin

Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working by Shauna Niequist

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends on It by Tabitha Carvan

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The Confidence to Write: A Guide for Overcoming Fear and Developing Identity as a Writer by Liz Prather

Southernmost by Silas House

Start With Hello: (And Other Simple Ways to Live as Neighbors) by Shannan Martin

Will the Circle Be Unbroken: A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay by Sean Dietrich

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Music Is History by Questlove

The Ninetines: A Book by Chuck Klosterman

Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz

Basketball: A Love Story by Jackie McMullen, et al.

Grant by Ron Chernow

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood by Jane Leavy

Showtime by Jeff Pearlman

(Demon Copperhead, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and Booth are repeats)

Paperback Readers, Episode 61

Joe and Julie

Hello! It’s Joe and Julie, back again to talk about books with you as we wind down this year of reading. We loved Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel Demon Copperhead, the shared read we’re discussing this week, and we’re catching up on everything else we’ve read in all the busyness of the holiday season.

Join us next time to talk about our top books of the year!

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist

Love Your Life by Sophie KInsella

Out of My League: A Rookie’s Survival in the Bigs by Dirk Hayhurst

A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland by Troy Senik

The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 by Harvey Sachs

Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver