Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our January challenge, Memoirs and Autobiographies, and new Rachael lore just dropped.

Books we discuss include:

• “Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood” by Gary Paulsen
• “Sonny Boy” by Al Pacino
• “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey
• “Pageboy” by Elliot Page
• “Officer Clemmons” by Dr. Francois S. Clemmons
• “Sociopath” by Patric Gagne
• “Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood” by Trevor Noah
• “Educated” by Tara Westover
• “Just as I Am” by Cicely Tyson
• “The Twenty-Ninth Day: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in the Canadian Tundra” by Alex Messenger
• “Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir” by Natasha Trethewey
• “The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book” by Wendy Welch

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our first two-time guest, Chrislyn Gardner, about our favorite winter holiday reads past and present.

Books we discuss include:

• “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Robert L. May
• “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell
• “The Christmas Tree That Grew” by Phyllis Krasilovsky, Kathy Wilburn
• “The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree” by Amye Rosenberg
• “Turkey Claus” by Wendi Silvano
• “Night Tree” by Eve Bunting
• “Letters from Father Christmas” by J.R.R. Tolkien, Baillie Tolkien
• “Snowmen at Night” by Caralyn Buehner
• “The Christmas Day Kitten” by James Herriot
• “The Christmas Pig” by J.K. Rowling
• “Bulldozer’s Christmas Dig” by Candace Fleming
• “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson
• “Home Alone: the Classic Illustrated Storybook” by Jason Rekulak
• “A Die Hard Christmas: The Illustrated Holiday Classic” by Doogie Horner
• “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
• “Cathedral Mouse” by Kay Chorao
• Bonus Song: “Wilbur the Christmas Mouse” by Ralph Emery

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our December challenge, award winning books, and learn a lot about the fortitude of the human spirit.

Books we discuss include:

• “James” by Percival Everett (National Book Award for Fiction 2024)
• “Notes on an Execution” by Danya Kukafka (Edgar Award for Best Novel 2023)
• “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand (Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography 2010)
• “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” by Laura Hillenbrand (William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021)
• “North Woods” by Daniel Mason (The Rachel Timm Pulitzer Prize Award 2024)
• “Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2024)
• “Yonder” by Ali Standish (Kirkus Best Book of the Year 2023)
• “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey (The Booker Prize 2024)
• “Forrest Gump” by Winston Groom (New York Times Top Best Seller 1994)
• “Gump and Co.” by Winston Groom (The Rachael Miller Award for Best Book No One Has Heard Of)