Merry Christmas! We're opening the Patreon vaults to all our listeners this year. 

Brick cranks up the EIME machine and churns some classic Christmas tunes through its innards. Learn all about the Peehoe Child, the Three Little Kings, and the Horse-Christ!

The pals discuss the pull between reading new books, and re-opening trusted, known reads.

The gang talk about nostalgia and how it influences what we choose to read. Aaron makes up a word.

The gang discusses book reviews and wonders if they still have value in the age of aggregate reviewing and entrenched marketing. Dave supposes a difference between reviewing and criticism.

The personal pals discuss the moments in which they realized literature and/or writing would be a part of their life paths.

The personal pals discuss their preferences on avoiding spoilers and spoiler panic on the internet. Nico mostly wants to talk about Game of Thrones.

The pals all read the same book, National Book Award Winner The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. Two interpretations of the ending are discussed, and a mind is changed. Not all contemporary books about writers are horrible.

The pals share what they've been reading in comics. Books touched on: Vision, by Tom King; House of X and Powers of X, by Johnathan Hickman; Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson, by Matt Fraction; Super Mario Adventures, by Kentaro Takakuma; The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, by Shotaro Ishinomori.

The pals discuss the surge in popularity for an author's books immediately following his/her death.

The pals discuss the evolution of YA and children's books and explore a theory of three ages of YA. They also discuss the influence the rise of the genre has had on writers, particularly young writers.