Kylie makes Dan read Dean Koontz's murder-clown-prophecy-thriller-comedy Life Expectancy (2004). As they sort through the novel's many, many twists, The NewlyReads discuss Koontz's big imagination, identify the common elements and themes in his diverse collection of work, and weigh in on the longstanding divide between popular and literary fiction. Also, they announce a special upcoming episode on pandemic literature!

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Dan makes Kylie read Cheryl Strayed's bestselling memoir Wild (2012). They discuss the book's reputation in backpacking and literary communities, the craft of the book as it narrates both trauma and a sport that typically isn't action-packed, Strayed's description of being a woman in a hyper-masculine space, and why Edward Abbey might be a druid. Also, tales from Dan's wilderness ranger days and Kylie's confession of her greatest fear!

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Kylie makes Dan read Steinbeck's masterwork social novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Kylie reveals the argument of her Masters' thesis, Dan tries out an Okie accent, and together they explore the unfortunate relevance of the American social inequality that this 1939 novel critiques.

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What better time to talk about a world in which everyone is trapped inside a silo? In this accidentally relevant episode recorded before Corona isolation, Dan and Kylie discuss the self publishing industry, the traditional academic bias against genre fiction, Hugh Howie's world building, and what the movie trailer for Wool would look like!