Table of (Mal)Contents

We're back at it this week, discussing all the latest and greatest in our lives (reading, writing, and otherwise), including a possible near-death experience!

Listen in as we discuss:

This week, we're kicking off a Twitter poll for you all to help us in this quest to find the right graphic novel for the team to read together. But there's just one problem: none of the books on our list are going to make the final cut because of a second review for content issues. So, we're back to square one. But hopefully the poll will be helpful, so check it out on Twitter.

We're kicking off the new year in style—although sadly sans Scarlet—as we talk about all kinds of wild and crazy things that have happened in the last week or so.

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A few of the books we mentioned on this episode

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Just as the end of the year brings with it scores of end-of-year book lists, so too does it bring a bevy of plans for how to make this next year the best year ever! Whether it's choosing a theme word (something I'm pretty sure none of us on this show has done), planning to read the Bible 37 times in a year, or reading 1,000,000 books, we often come up with goals and plans that are entirely unrealistic, and suck the joy out of life.

So we thought we'd talk about plans that can make us happier, healthier readers.

Listen in as we discuss:

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Check out another show on the Area Code Network, We Wonder: Advent.

The podcast where we wonder together about the story of God. We Wonder is a contemplative devotional for children.

Find our more here: wewonderpod.com

It's that time of year where every website, podcast, and Twitter-er is spreading holiday cheer with annual favorite book lists. And, as good friends to our listeners and lovers of books, how could we leave you all hanging without sharing our favorites of the year? And so, we present you the inaugural (mal)Contents Book Awards, with categories carefully selected to suit our… unique sensibilities. Be sure to spread the good news and congratulate all the winners by getting copies of their books using the links below.

Books by someone we know

Books by someone we know and like

Books other people love but we gave up on

Books that made us laugh out loud

Books that made us feel feelings

Books that surprised us

Books with pictures

Books we learned from

Books we haven’t finished yet but really enjoy

By popular demand, we've got a brand new bonus episode for you all this week as Abigail Armstrong returns to the show for a quick dad to big kid chat about bad parenting advice, public school, how to get books out of libraries under the COVID-19 protocols, and whether or not cursing in our writing is a good idea.

What makes or breaks an audiobook? Almost as important as the content itself is the narrator. These often unsung heroes of the medium are the people who keep you coming back time and again, carrying the ideas of this or that author into your ears.

One of those narrators is Henry O. Arnold (or as his family calls him, Chip). Henry is a stage actor, writer, and narrator of over 40 audiobooks, including all of John Maxwell's books, Yawning at Tigers by Drew Dyck, and Boundaries by Henry Cloud. He is also the author of a new historical fiction book, A Voice Within the Flame.

Listen in as we discuss:

And, of course, we share a little of what we're reading.

A few of the books mentioned on the show

Sharing and supporting the show

We're about to enter into that special time of year that is full of holiday cheer, and so we are going to try to celebrate it well here on the podcast. But in order to really kick it off well, we felt the best way to do it was to ask the man who loves Christmas more than anyone else to join us for the conversation. This week, Ronnie Martin, pastor at Substance Church, author and co-author of several books, and the co-host of The Happy Rant Podcast and The Art of Pastoring, joins us to talk all things merry and bright. Listen in as we discuss:

A few of the books mentioned on the show

Sharing and supporting the show

Okay, I'll admit: when I see the words "Christian" and "fiction" together, I generally assume the book with that label will be terrible. But that is also totally unfair of me, because while there is a lot of bad fiction written by and for Christian audiences, there are are also really good books that can fall under this label. And our friend Jared Wilson, author of many, many books, has written one of them that's out now called Echo Island. Jared joined Dave and me (while Scarlet was reading the book on a plane) to talk about storytelling, Vermont, and the good news that this is not a Rapture book.

Listen in as we discuss:

• Why Jared wanted to write this story
• Why we can't actually talk about the book too much without giving away pretty much the whole plot
• The honesty of New Englanders about their faith (or lack thereof)
• Why calling Echo Island a good book isn't a throwaway compliment
• How fiction help your imagination as a writer and as a reader
• The relationship between storytelling and close-up magic
• Why people who are jaded or cynical toward Christian fiction (or fiction by Christians) should give this book a shot

Echo Island is available now through your favorite bookseller. Get a copy for yourself

• Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show.
• Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod
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Sometimes a conversation is full of… how can I say this? Tenuous connections. Abrupt changes of topic, subject matter, and tone is often the way a real-life conversation goes. And this week, Dave and I are joined by our friends Nick Rynerson and Richard Clark to talk about, well, pretty much everything—including their new podcast network, Area Code. Listen in as we discuss:

• Conspiracy theories and the power of the word "Consider" to make anything sound sinister
• Finding the Dark Web
• What is the Area Code Network and why are we talking about it on our show?
• Why Nick needs to read our meeting requests
• How good a job I'm doing at being my own executive assistant

• Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show.
• Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod
• Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show.