The NewlyReads

The NewlyReads

By Daniel Fladager and Kylie ReganEducationArtsBooks
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The NewlyReads episodes

  • Dean Koontz's Life Expectancy

    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!

    Follow us on Instagram @thenewlyreads, drop us a line at [email protected], or visit our website www.thenewlyreads.com. We'd love to hear from you!

    1 hr 22 min
  • Cheryl Strayed's Wild

    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!

    Check out our website at www.thenewlyreads.com, follow us on Instagram @thenewlyreads, or drop us a line at [email protected]! We'd love to hear from our listeners!

    1 hr 15 min
  • John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

    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.

    Check out our new website, www.thenewlyreads.com and drop us a line at [email protected]. We'd love to hear your takes on the books we've covered or suggestions for what to read next! 

    1 hr 26 min
  • Hugh Howie's Wool

    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!

    1 hr 16 min
  • Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass
    Kylie makes Dan read the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, The Golden Compass. They discuss Pullman's commentary on other great British fantasy writers, Lyra as a girl protagonist, what makes a gobbler, and of course, dem...
    1 hr 22 min
  • Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch
    A long book deserves a long episode! Dan makes Kylie read Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Goldfinch. They talk about the difficulty of writing first-person narrators, rate Tartt's portrayal of New York and Las Vegas, and why even...
    1 hr 25 min
  • Zadie Smith's NW
    Kylie makes Dan read Zadie Smith's 2012 novel NW. They discuss NW's tepid critical reception, Kylie finally gets to share her theories about character development, and Dan tries out a British accent. Together the NewlyReads decide whether Smith's most...
    1 hr 16 min
  • Thomas Hardy's Two on a Tower
    In this B-side Thomas Hardy novel, an astronomer confronts the sublimity of the heavens and of love... In this episode, Dan LOSES IT over how much he loves old novels, and Kylie tempers his excitement. Will we get the first book to live on the Shelf of...
    1 hr 15 min
  • Frank Norris's McTeague
    In the debut episode of The NewlyReads, Kylie makes Dan read Frank Norris's 1899 dentist drama McTeague. This book has everything you wouldn't expect from an old story about a street in San Francisco--a man ripping teeth out with his giant hands,...
    1 hr 16 min

About The NewlyReads

From the publisher's feed

The history of literature through book recommendations. Two newly-married English teachers discuss a book that one loves and the other is reading for the first time. Will it take its place on the…