The Book Report

Question: What makes a story? Is it the characters? The setting? The plot? A combination of all three? 

In this episode, Joel and Stephen begin a journey into literary theory and discuss exactly what it is that makes our favorite stories tick. From the overarching theory of the "Hero's Journey" to the more tried and true "Rag's to Riches" storyline, this episode will enlighten your mind slightly more than the usual drivel churned out on The Book Report. 

Stephen finally read a book Joel recommended, so in this episode, they discuss Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky in excruciating detail. (Don't worry, this book is awesome). 

Oh, and there special outtakes in this episode that you can skip, because our editor in chief has no sense of taste. 

We all remember the books we read for High School English. Some were transformative works of literature that transcended the heights of human experience, while others . . . not so much. 

In this episode, Joel and Stephen discuss the shortcomings of several books now regarded as "Classics" and discuss why these books might not be all they are cracked up to be. 

Pop culture is mindless drivel, the likes of the Twilight Saga, or the books you see in an airport bookstore and think "I'm better than that."  . . . Actually, pop culture is awesome and deserves its place among the hallowed halls of Chaucer, Dickens, and Shakespeare. 

In this episode, we discuss the merits of pop culture and the effects it has on the wider world at large. Tune in to this episode for some surprising insights into how pop culture influences our beliefs about everything from police officers to government propaganda. 

Our first ever guest episode!

Join us as Jennifer tells us about her favorite book,  The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Also enjoy Joel and Stephen, cause they're just so nice to look at. 

We're back with SEASON TWO!!

New Logo. New show format. Same old hosts you know and love. 

We're going way too deep into the expansive epic fantasy that is Brent Weeks' Lightbringer Series. So buckle your seatbelts, strap on a pair of colored spectacles, and plug your ears through all the plot spoilers. 

We're back next Monday! 

Beware of Spoilers for the Lightbringer Series which we will cover in depth next week!!

We've arbitrarily decided this is the final episode of Season 1!

In this, we discuss the origins of the podcast and the absolute best modern fantasy, Patrick Rothfus' Kingkiller Chronicle

Beware of spoilers, as well as fan theories, awkward silences and Joel going full nerd. but enjoy and come back next season when we have guest episodes lined up multi-part episodes and we take on some classics.

Thanks for listening if you like us tell someone else about the podcast!

This is up late due to technical difficulties (Read User Error) but we're back with more book recommendations!

Joel tells us about a Sci-Fi classic; hopefully soon to finally be an actually good feature film: Frank Herbert's, Dune

Stephen takes us on a fun trip involving Ninja's, Monk's, Car chases and magic. (Not totally sure I didn't make up the ninja's) in The Extraordinary Adventures Of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey

We're also back with a new extended Read-Along segment!!

It's our first episode of the new year! It's a birthday episode! Its the return of the read-along segment! 

Oh and we talk about the experimental storytelling of Erin Morgenstern's second book "The Starless Sea" and a Chinese learning book called "Susan You Mafan" by Terry Waltz.