Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us

By Jen Nails

Las Vegas-Clark County Librarian/author Jen Nails chats with authors, actors, comedians and librarians

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FAQs about Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us:

How many episodes does Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us have?

The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.

Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us episodes:

May 14, 2025 "Pulling Down the Journals," Micaela Blei reaches for the past to decode the present with Arcadia (Tom Stoppard, 1993).
Multi MOTH-grand-slam champ, author and storyteller, Dr. Micaela Blei (You Will Not Recognize Your Life, Audible, 2024, Secret Life of Your Third Grade Teacher, HarperOne, 2027), assembles bits and pieces of wisdom on writing, love, and life.
Book recs based on our conversation!
Micaela's site
You Will Not Recognize Your Life on Audible
My favorite Micaela MOTH story
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56min
May 14, 2025 "I Wanted to Be a Cartoon Character," Billy Allen animates his journey from nursing major to library school, starting with Lean Mean Urkell Machine (Bonnie Worth, 1992).
Branch Manager, Mr. Billy (Queer Eye, James Partridge Award winner) jumps into Steve Urkell's time machine as a 9-year-old and emerges 30 years later along with his team at the Whitney Library, as a rising library star.
Book recs based on our conversation!
Whitney Library
Daily Beast covers Billy's Queer Eye episode
Billy's IG
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58min
May 14, 2025 "Pickled In It," Jeff Hiller gets brined in Paul Monette's Becoming a Man (1992).
The absolutely amazing actor, comedian and author Jeff Hiller (HBO's Somebody Somewhere) talks about finding the right book at exactly the right time.
Book recs based on this episode!
Jeff on IG
Somebody Somewhere
Link to purchase Jeff's memoir, Actress of a Certain Age (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
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53min
May 14, 2025 "Unaccustomed Earth," Mark Ciccone roots the meaning of life in The Razor's Edge (W. Somerset Maugham, 1944).
As a teen, Mark (Obelisk Odyssey) observes his parents watching the 1946 film The Razor's Edge and his mom is crying and his dad is like, "huh?" Mark decides that he wants to get in on that conversation and picks up the novel.
Book recs based on our conversation!
Purchase Mark's memoir Obelisk Odyssey (Amplify, 2024)!
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50min
May 14, 2025 "When She Walks Into A Room," a 9-year-old Ms. China Hudson begins climbing the stairs of creative living with "Mother to Son" (Langston Hughes, 1922).
Writer, director, performer and community advocate Ms. China (West Las Vegas Library Theater) tracks her career from performing Langston Hughes in 4th grade to being gifted a visit to Ghana on the cultural trip of her dreams.
Book recs based on our conversation!
West Las Vegas Library
Ms. China receives Trailblazer Award
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47min
May 14, 2025 "Stop, Think, Observe," Kathy Erskine defines her formula for success at any volume with Encyclopedia Brown (Arnold J. Sobol, 1963).
National Book Award winning author Kathy (Mockingbird, Mama Africa, Seeing Red) revisits her love for solving problems bad, bad Leroy Brown style.
Book recs based on our conversation!
Kathy's website
Core Knowledge, one of Kathy's publishers
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45min
May 11, 2025 "High Vibrational Energy" reverberates throughout Charlie and Rachelle Luster's three faves: Charlotte's Web (White, 1952), People Could Fly (Hamilton, 1985) and Sting's Lyrics (2007).
Owners of the Analop Dope bookstore share how their joint dedication to music and books brought them together, and how their touchstone shop connects all of the Las Vegas community.
Book recs based on our conversation!
Analog Dope bookshop
Charlie Muse's album, "Saturn"
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51min
May 11, 2025 "The Think Tank," Jen joyfully reverse-ages to seventh grade while re-reading The Glad Man (Gloria Gonzalez, 1975).
A weird and wonderful book conjures seventh grade Jen in "the library" of her home.
Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
Jen's website & IG
Jen's novel, One Hundred Spaghetti Strings (HarperCollins, 2017), will represent Nevada at the National Book Festival in DC on September 6, 2025!
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11min
December 21, 2024 "The Heartwarming Story of a Boy and his Cookbook," Dana Snyder and the ham loaf (Betty Crocker, 1969)
Comedian/voice actor Dana Snyder (SpongeBob, Aqua Teen Hunger Force) discusses his attachment to the Foxfire Books, ham loaves, vintage menus, and collecting books that he's written in, inside the margins.
Book recommendations based on this episode!
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43min
December 21, 2024 "The Frog-March," Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and the Tasha-Tudor-illustrated Secret Garden (1911)
Newbery winner Kim (The War That Saved My Life, Fighting Words) recalls taking the ten bucks her grandma sent her during freshman year at Smith and buying a copy of the Secret Garden (instead of beer or ramen).
Book recommendations based on this episode!
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46min

FAQs about Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us:

How many episodes does Revisions, How Our Favorite Books Change Us have?

The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.