On this special edition of Russell Reads with the Rach(a)els, Russell and Rachel get the opportunity to sit down with National Bestselling Author Alencia Johnson to discuss "Flip the Tables; The Everyday Disruptor's Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change," now available for purchase or at your Danville Public Library. 

For more information, visit www.alenciajohnson.com. 

Click the link to view the library's copy of Flip the Tables

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Susanne Bell, Senior Program Officer at Danville Regional Foundation, about setting realistic reading goals, recommending the right book, and a horrifying movie adaptation of one of our favorite childhood classics.
Susanne created a wonderful reference for the books she shared with us.

Childhood reads:

• “Make Way for Ducklings” by author and illustrator Robert McCloskey
• “Three Little Kittens” by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen 
• “Anne of Green Gables” or anything by Lucy Maud Montgomery 
• “Ozma of Oz” by L. Frank Baum

Novels:

• “Excellent Women” by Barbara Pym 
• “A Spool of Blue Thread” by Anne Tyler
• “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi
• “Should We Stay or Should We Go” by Lionel Shriver

Short Story Collections:

• “Light Action in the Caribbean” by Barry Lopez (especially “Construction of the Rachel”) 
• “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• “Fidelity” by Wendell Berry (especially “Pray Without Ceasing”)

Other titles we discuss:

• “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones
• "Commonwealth” by Anne Tyler
• “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce
• “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our April challenge, childhood favorites, with one of our favorite childhood experts here in the library, Jess McAllister. We discuss how children's literature shaped us, opened our worlds, and continues to delight us to this day!

Books we discuss include:

• “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton
• “The BFG” by Roald Dahl
• “Dear Mr. Henshaw” and “Strider” by Beverly Cleary
• “Freckle Juice” by Judy Blume
• “The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise” by Dan Gemeinhart
• “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
• “Amos Fortune: Free Man” by Elizabeth Yates
• “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• “Grandpa’s Mountain” by Carolyn Reeder
• Wayside School” series by Louis Sachar
• “My Teacher Is an Alien” by Bruce Coville
• “Dog Man” series by Dav Pilkey
• “My Weird School” series by Dan Gutman
• “Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best” by Jennie Egerdie
• “The World of Beatrix Potter” series by Beatrix Potter
• “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
• “Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer
• Everything by Alan Gratz
• “The Complete Brambly Hedge” by Jill Barklem
• “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stuart 

Russell and solo Rachel chat with our guest, Scott Longerbeam, city GIS coordinator, about almost every Stephen King book, filming locations, and the love of a good librarian.

Books we discuss include:

• “Foucault's Pendulum” by Umberto Eco
• “Pet Sematary” by Stephen King
• “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
• “The Demon of Unrest” by Erik Larson
• “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett
• “The Empusium” by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
• “The Bear and the Nightingale” by Katherine Arden
• “A Libertarian Walks into a Bear” by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
• “Extinction” by Douglas Preston
• “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton
• “The Indian Lake Trilogy” by Stephen Graham Jones
• “Cycle of the Werewolf” by Stephen King
• “Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season” by Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King
• “Horns” by Joe Hill
• “Locke & Key” by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez
• “Full Throttle” short stories by Joe Hill, including “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain”
• “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Stephen Gammell
• “Scary Stories for Young Foxes” by Christian McKay Heidicker, illustrated by Junyi Wu
• “Wolfsong” by T.J. Klune
• “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Doulgas Adams

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. 

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our November challenge, books written by an Indigenous author.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Sentence” by Louise Erdrich
• “Where Wolves Don’t Die” by Anton Treuer
• “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
• “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fightfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie
• “Heart berries : a memoir” by Terese Marie Mailhot
• “Crazy brave : a memoir” by Joy Harjo
• “Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band” by Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, Thibault Balahy (Illustrator)
• “The Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley
• “Black Sun” by Rebecca Roanhorse
• “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones

Colleen Barnes, DPS coordinator for ELA and Media Specialists, joins Russell and the Rach(a)els to discuss her favorite books, DPS reading challenges, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. 

Books we discuss include:

• Books of Essays, especially:
  • “The Best of Me” by David Sedaris
  • “Wow, No Thank You” by Samantha Irby
  • “Here For It: Or, How To Save Your Soul in America” by Eric Thomas
• “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
• “Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions” by Daniel Wallace
• “The Iowa Baseball Confederacy” by W.P. Kinsella
• “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• “Colton Gentry’s Third Act” by Jeff Zentner
• “Monster Hunter Mystery” series by Annelise Ryan
• ANYTHING by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume
• “Bud, Not Buddy” by Christopher Paul Curtis
• “Call of the Wild” by Jack London
• “Small Spaces” by Katherine Arden

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our October challenge, books with a supernatural (or spooky) element. 

Books we discuss include:

• “My Darling Dreadful Thing” by Johanna van Veen
• “‘Til Death” by Jason Anspach
• “Parade: A Collection of Delightfully Odd Stories” by V.R. Christensen
• “Mile 81” in “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” by Stephen King
• “Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales” edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent
• “Rougarou Magic” by Rachel M. Marsh
• “The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society” by C.M. Waggoner
• “Through the Woods” by Emily Carroll
• “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman
• “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman
• “The Haunted Mask: A Goosebumps Graphic Novel” by R.L. Stine, illustrated by Maddi Gonzalez
• “Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Stephen Gammell
• “Under the Dome” by Stephen King

Amanda Paez, assistant to the city manager, and wearer of many hats, talks about her library crimes.

*CORRECTION: A note from Rachael - 
Our Classics book club meets on Monday, September 30 at 5:30 PM to discuss “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. Call 434-799-5195 to register! We hope you join us.

Books we discuss include:
“I Want a Pet - A School Zone Start To Read Book”
“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie*
“Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone” by Benjamin Stevenson
“Throne of Glass” series by Sarah J. Maas
“Monster Hunter Mystery” series by Annelise Ryan
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” by Ian Fleming
“IT” by Stephen King
“Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls 
“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens
“Pippi Longstocking” by Astrid Lindgren 
“Jaws” by Peter Benchley
“Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton
“The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll
“Winnie-the-Pooh” series by A.A. Milne

Russell and the Rach(a)els explore works by authors with Hispanic heritages. 

Book we discuss include:

• “The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
• “Family Lore” by Elizabeth Acevedo
• “Fruit of the Drunken Tree” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
• “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” by Emil Ferris
• “River Woman, River Demon” by Jennifer Givhan
• “Mexican Gothic” and “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 
• “Just for the Summer” by Abby Jimenez
• “Solito” by Javier Zamora
• “Hippie” and “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael welcome our first guest from beyond the library walls, Michelle Larking, IB Literature teacher at Galileo Magnet High School. We discuss how to foster a love of reading through education and whether Russell should have been in the Zebra reading group.

Books we discuss include:

• “Babar” series by Jean de Brunhoff
• “Frog and Toad” series by Arnold Lobel
• “The Boxcar Children” series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• “A Patchwork Planet”, “Digging to America” and others by Anne Tyler
• “Under the Bayou Moon” by Valerie Fraser Luesse
• “The Sound of Waves” by Yukio Mishima
• “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
• “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green
• “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Megan Backus 
• “Little Bee” by Chris Cleave
• “The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo
• “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Agnes Grey” by Ann Bronte
• “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
• “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte
• “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt
• “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson
• “The Witches” by Roald Dahl
• “Sounder” by William H. Armstrong
• “Educated” by Tara Westover
• “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah
• “Devotions” by Mary Oliver
• “Christy” by Catherine Marshall

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael discuss our August challenge, books set by the beach or sea, and regrettably did not prepare any sea shanties.

Books we discuss include:

• “A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks” by David Gibbins
• “The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found” by Martin W. Sandler
• “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton
• “The Wreck of the Medusa” by Jonathan Miles
• “The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier” by Ian Urbina
• “Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter” by Lizzie Pook
• “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck
• “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson
• “Peter & the Starcatchers” by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
• “Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive” by Laura Hillenbrand
• “James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl
• “Earthsea Cycle” series by Ursula K. Le Guin
• “The Sea Wolf” by Jack London
• “And the Ocean Was Our Sky” by Patrick Ness
• “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
• “Whalefall” by Daniel Kraus
• “Goosebumps: Deep Trouble” by R.L Stine
• “Fins: A Shark Incorporated Novel” by Randy Wayne White
• “Refugee” by Alan Gratz
• “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen
• Russell’s Sidetrack - “Woods Runner” by Gary Paulsen

If you would like to suggest a cozy mystery set on a cruise ship or share any other comments, follow us on Facebook @RubyArchieLibrary.

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael welcome guest Jess McAllister, Youth Library Services Specialist, to talk about every book ever written and how to read at light speed.

Books we discuss include:

• “Tracker” by Gary Paulsen
• “Amelia Bedelia” by Peggy Parish
• “Frog and Toad” series by Arnold Lobel
• “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones
• “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by T.J. Klune
• “Legends & Lattes” by Travis Baldree
• “The Great Library” series by Rachel Caine
• “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• “Small Spaces” by Katherine Arden
• “Arlo Finch” series by John August
• “Amari and the Night Brothers” by B.B. Alston
• “Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow” by Jessica Townsend
• “Jurassic Park” and others by Michael Crichton
• “Wolfsong” by T.J. Klune

Russell, Rachel and Rachael discuss our July challenge, books set in another country, and a few extras just for good measure. 

Books we discussed include:

• “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
• “Sooley” by John Grisham
• “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
• “Lady Tan’s Circle of Women” by Lisa See
• “Run Me to Earth” by Paul Yoon
• “City of Thieves” by David Benioff
• “A Man Called Ove” by Frederik Backman
• “What the River Knows” by Isabel Ibañez
• “Birnam Wood” by Eleanor Catton
• “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton
• “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba
• “A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear” by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael welcome guest Jess Austin, Technical Services Librarian, to talk about 'book joy'. 

Books we discussed include:

• “Holy City” by Henry Wise
• “Razorblade Tears” by S. A. Cosby
• “The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook
• “If the Creek Don’t Rise” by Leah Weiss
• “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Michele Richardson
• “Broiler” by Eli Cranor (coming July 2, 2024)
• “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes

P.S. - “Claus: Legend of the Fat Man” by Tony Bertauski - Russell would love if you try it out.

Russell and the Rach(a)els discuss the June reading challenge and what it means to go on an adventure.

Books we discussed include:

• “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
• “The Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis
• “Northwind” by Gary Paulsen
• “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger
• “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London
• “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carrol
• “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• “James” by Percival Everett
• “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson
• “The Madstone” by Elizabeth Crook
• “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
• “The Vaster Wilds” by Lauren Groff
• “Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed!” by Madeleine Roux

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael welcome guest Chrislyn Gardner, Youth Services Librarian, to discuss Summer Reading, literary favorites, and childhood memories.

Books we discussed include:

• “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn
• “A Chair for My Mother” by Vera B. Williams
• “The Vingananee and the Tree Toad: A Liberian Tale” Retold by Verna Aardema
• “The Monster at the End of this Book (Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover)” by Jon Stone
• “Each Peach Pear Plum” by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• “The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat!” by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• “I Am a Bunny” by Ole Risom and Richard Scarry
• “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett
• “Sealed with a Kiss” by Beth Ferry
• “Leonardo, the Terrible Monster” by Mo Willems
• “Big Pumpkin” by Erica Silverman

The reading challenge continues into May with graphic novels. A lot of titles get discussed on the show. 
The many, many books we discussed include:

• “Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History” by Joel Christian Gill
• “Stamped From the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America” by Joel Christian, adapted from the novel by Ibram X. Kendi
• “March” by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
• “MacBeth” by Gareth Hinds - a graphic novel adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare
• “Birds of Prey: Terrifying Talons, Science Comic Series” by Joe Flood
• “Ironheart: Meant to Fly” by Eve L. Ewing
• “Silk: the Life and Times of Cindy Moon” by Robbie Thompson
• “Captain America: The Ghost Army” by Alan Gratz
• “Redwall: the graphic novel” by Brian Jacques
• “The Invasion: The Animorphs Graphic Novel, Book One” by Katherine Applegate
• “The Witches: the graphic novel” by Penelope Bagieu, adapted from the novel by Roald Dahl
• “Animal Farm: the graphic novel” by Odyr, adapted from the novel by George Orwell
• “Kindred: the graphic novel” by Octavia Butler
• “This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
• “Roaming” by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
• “Pumpkinheads” by Rainbow Rowell
• “Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman
• “Skyward” by Joe Henderson
• “Wings of Fire: the graphic novel, Book One: The Dragonet Prophecy” by Tui Sutherland, adapted by Barry Beutsch
• “Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D” by David Kushner
• “Living with Mochi” by Gemma Gene
• “Meal” by Blue Delliquanti, Soleil Ho