Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our March challenge, first book in a series, with surprise guest Colton. Consequently there are a lot of dad jokes in this one. Listener beware.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Dark Is Rising” series by Susan Cooper
• “Dragon Masters” series by Tracey West
• “Goosebumps” graphic novel series by R.L. Stine
• “Ghost on Haunted Street” by Colton Carter
• “Done and Dusted” by Lyla Sage
• “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart
• “Leave No Trace” by A.J. Landau
• “Joe Pickett” series by C.J. Box
• “Finlay Donovan Is Killing It” by Elle Cosimano
• “Impossible Creatures” by Katherine Rundell
• “Mummies in the Morning” by Mary Pope Osborne
• “The Emerald Atlas” by John Stephens
• “Wildwood” by Colin Meloy
• “Every Heart a Doorway” by Seanan McGuire
• “Middle Earth” series by J.R.R. Tolkien
• “Spy School” series by Stuart Gibbs
• “The Cricket in Times Square” by George Selden
• “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” by Beverly Cleary
• “Redwall” by Brian Jacques
• “The Green Ember” by S.D. Smith
• “The Great Library” series by Rachel Caine
• “A Death in Door County” by Annelise Ryan

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest, Honorable Doctor Corey Williams about his long title, and many other titles that shaped his love for reading.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Word Bird” by Nicola Davies, Abbie Cameron (illustrator)
• “Darius the Great Is Not Okay” by Adib Khorram
• “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway
• “Moby-Dick or, The Whale” by Herman Melville
• “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
• “The Trumpet of the Swan” by E.B. White
• “Watership Down” by Richard Adams
• “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson
• “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
• “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
• “Congo” by Michael Crichton
• “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire
• “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum
• “The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids” series by Debbie Dadey
• “The Boxcar Children” series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• “The Great Library” series by Rachel Caine
• “Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
• “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our next challenge, love stories and go on an important tangent about 90's teen movies.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman
• “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune
• “The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife” by Anna Johnston
• “The Weight of the Stars” by K. Ancrum
• “A Novel Love Story” by Ashley Poston
• “The List” by Robert Whitlow
• “The Girl Behind the Red Rope” Ted Dekker, Rachelle Dekker
• “Voyage of the Damned” by Frances White
• “All Stories Are Love Stories” by Elizabeth Percer
• “Book of Days” by James L. Rubart
• “Monster” by Frank Peretti
• “The One” by John Marrs

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Catherine Carter, owner of The Dog-Eared Page bookstore and teahouse. We discuss the deep and abiding friendship between libraries and bookstores, books about rabbits, and so much more.

Books we discuss include:

• “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski
• “Manacled” by SenLinYu
• “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James
• “After” by Anna Todd
• “Quicksilver” by Callie Hart
• “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling
• “Dragon Rider” and “Inkheart” by Cornelia Funke
• “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris
• “The Lord of the Rings” series by J.R.R. Tolkien
• “Jaws” by Peter Benchley
• “The Empyrean” series by Rebecca Yarros
• “Watership Down” by Richard Adams
• “Christopher Bunny” by Jane Werner Watson, Richard Scarry
• “Bunnicula” by Deborah Howe
• “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams Bianco
• “The World of Beatrix Potter” series by Beatrix Potter
• "Bunny Trouble" by Hans Wilhelm
• “The Sea of Trolls” by Nancy Farmer
• “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano
• “Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe” by Heather Webber
• “Book Lovers” by Emily Henry
• “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and others by Sarah J. Maas

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)

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with Charles Perkins, known to us as “Jerry Beardman”. Listen to find out why.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley
• “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells
• “Where The Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein
• “The Hardy Boys” series by Franklin W. Dixon
• “Encyclopedia Brown” series by Donald J. Sobol
• “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• “Where Wolves Don’t Die” by Anton Treuer
• “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London
• “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen
• “Holes” by Louis Sachar
• “Shutter” by Ramona Emerson
• “‘Til Death” by Jason Anspach
• “The Empyrean” series by Rebecca Yarros
• “Red Rising Saga” series by Pierce Brown
• “The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife” by Anna Johnston
• “Arlo Finch” series by John August
• “The Book of Doors” by Gareth Brown
• “The Only One Left”, “Home Before Dark”, “The House Across the Lake” by Riley Sager
• “The Ruinous Love Trilogy” series by Brynne Weaver
• “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose
• “A Christmas Story” by Philip Grecian, a play based on the 1983 motion picture
• “Claus: Legend of the Fat Man” by Tony Bertauski (Russell is once again asking you to please read this book.)

Books and Beans meets the second Saturday of each month, 9 AM at Links Coffee House Cafe.
Books and Brews meets the 3rd Wednesday in November and December (usually the last Wednesday of the month), 5:30 PM at Ballad Brewing.
Let’s Make a Scene - Reader’s Theatre Series meets Monday, December 9 from 5 PM to 7 PM to read “A Christmas Story” by Philip Grecian.