By Arlington, VA Public Library
5
55 ratings
The podcast currently has 34 episodes available.
Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel "Beloved" takes place in Cincinnati after the Civil War and is loosely based on the life of Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman who escaped Kentucky in 1856 with her extended family. Subject to capture under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Garner was so determined to protect her children from being returned to slavery that she killed her youngest daughter – and was attempting to kill her remaining children – when US Marshalls broke into the Ohio cabin where the family was sheltering, awaiting further passage north.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
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“Johnny Got His Gun” is an anti-war novel written in 1938 by American novelist Dalton Trumbo and published in September 1939. There have been radio, stage and screen adaptations of the novel, including Trumbo’s own 1971 film, and Metallica recorded a song – titled One – based on the book. In March of 1940, the book was serialized in the Daily Worker, which was published by the Communist Party USA - to which Trumbo belonged. For people on the political left, including the American Communist Party, the book became a rallying point in their opposition to involvement in World War II. But when Hitler invaded the USSR in 1941, Trumbo and his publishers decided to suspend reprinting the book until the end of the war – so long as the US stayed allied with the Soviet Union.
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Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our Facebook group, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag. If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
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For this episode we read the 1958 novel by debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. The novel became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series in the UK, starting in 1962. “Things Fall Apart” is the first book in Achebe’s trilogy about African history, and has been read by high schoolers for generations as the archetypal modern African novel in English. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa, is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world, and continues to be listed on included on “most important books” lists whenever they’re published.
Episode Links
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag. If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
We're Reading
For season four we're going back to school with books we read - or didn't read - in high school. We started with "Pride & Prejudice," by Jane Austen. Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the text first and come back later.
Episode Links
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag. If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
We're Reading
For this episode we read three Holmes stories. The first is Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 original “A Study in Scarlet,” the first Sherlock Holmes work. The second is is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse’s 2015 “Mycroft Holmes,” and the third is “A Study in Scarlet Women,” by Sherry Thomas.
Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the texts first and come back later.
Episode Links
Reading
Jennie – “Boyfriend Material” by Alexis Hall and “The Final Revival of Opal and Nev” by Dawnie Walton
Pete – “The Nineties” by Chuck Klosterman
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
This is the final episode of Season 3. We're going to take a short break, and come back to you with the reading list for Season 4.
Happy Reading!
For this episode we read both Maria Headley’s translation of the Old English epic poem "Beowulf" and “The Mere Wife,” Headley's 2015 retelling of Beowulf, which is set in present-day New York.
Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the texts first and come back later.
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Reading
Jennie – “Amongst Our Weapons” by Ben Aaronovitch and “In a New York Minute,” by Kate Spencer
Pete – “How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius” by Nick Greene
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
Up Next
For this episode we read both the play "King Lear," written by William Shakespeare, and the 2009 book “Fool,” by Christopher Moore. King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s tragic plays, and is based on a legendary 8th Century BCE king of Britain (which would have been around the founding of Rome), as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudohistorical 12th-century History of the Kings of Britain. “Fool,” on the other hand, is a comedy. Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the books first and come back later.
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Reading
Jennie – “Collective” Documentary on DVD
Pete – “Dead Mountaineer’s Inn” by Boris & Arkady Strugatsky
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
Up Next
"Beowulf: a New Translation” by Maria Headley and “The Mere Wife” by Maria Headley
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Reading
Jennie – “The Eighth Life (for Brilka)” by Nino Haratischvili
Pete – “Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers” by James Miller and “Final Girl Support Group” by Grady Hendrix
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
Up Next*
“Fool” by Christopher Moore and “King Lear” by William Shakespeare
*Note: this is a change from the original schedule; "Beowolf" and "The Merewife" will be next.
Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the book first and come back later.
Episode Links
Reading
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
Up Next
“Sex and Vanity” by Kevin Kwan and “Room with a View” by E.M. Forester
For December we read the 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë, “Jane Eyre.” Originally published under the pen name Currer Bell, as “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography,” the novel follows the experiences of the eponymous heroine, including her growth into adulthood and love for the brooding Mr. Rochester.
In January, we're reading “The Eyre Affair” by Jasper Fforde, the first Thursday Next novel.
Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the book first and come back later.
Episode Links
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë
“The Eyre Affair” by Jaspar Fforde
"Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys
Reading
Tell us what YOU think about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our GoodReads or Facebook groups, or talk to us on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.
If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.
The podcast currently has 34 episodes available.