On this episode of Bookin', host Jason Jefferies and longtime Bookin' guest Dan Hawkins continue their Cormac McCarthy read through with The Crossing, volume two of The Border Trilogy. Also discussed is the condition of the United States of America in the moment of recording on January 22, 2025, before the murder of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis.  

This week, Jason and Dan continue their Cormac McCarthy readathon with the first book of The Border Trilogy, All the Pretty Horses.  Topics of conversation include the yin and yang of Blood Meridian, terrible films, the candleflame and the image of the candleflame, and Jesus on Mars (doesn't it make you want to cry?).  Happy reading, friends!

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes Kraig Finstad, author of Problem Play and The Inn at the Crossroads. Topics of conversation include cognitive psychology and statistics, ghosts and pirates, Florida novels, that guy at the bar, historical fiction, Shakespeare and much more.  Copies of The Inn at the Crossroads and Problem Play can be ordered from bookshop.org.

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes David Haynes, author of Martha's Daughter, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include workshopping short stories vs. novels, novellas, relationships, mother/daughter dynamics, whether we should let co-workers into our personal lives, rhetorical education, America's underbelly, and much more.  Copies of Martha's Daughter can be ordered here.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Pat Lipsky, artist and author of Brightening Glance: Art and Life, which is published by our friends at the University of Iowa Press. Topics of conversation include duck and cover drills, "Russia", Proust, Kafka & Chekhov, a life filled with art, artist's parties, printing your own currency and more.  Copies of Brightening Glance can be purchased here. Happy reading! 

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by David Levithan and Jens Lekman, authors of Songs for Other People's Weddings, which is published by our friends at Abrams Press.  Topics of conversation include touring, singing at a wedding vs. singing at a music hall, albums about books (and books about albums), change in the music industry, collaborative art, and much more.  Copies of Songs for Other People's Weddings can be ordered here.  Happy reading!

This week, Dan Hawkins and Jason Jefferies continue to read through the works of Cormac McCarthy with The Stonemason. Child of God is also discussed (by way of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita), and Dan and Jason answer a listener question about Blood Meridian. Happy reading, friends!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Gary Graff, editor of 501 Essential Albums of the 80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide, which is published by our friends at Quarto Publishing Group. Topics of discussion include Alice Cooper, lists, what people think of when they think of the 1980s (hair), Walkmans and boomboxes, CDs and cassettes, MTV, and much more.  Copies of 501 Essential Albums of the 80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide can be ordered from your favorite local, independent bookstore.  Happy reading!

On this episode, host Jason Jefferies and award-winning poet Dan Hawkins continue their read through of the works of Cormac McCarthy, this time with his first screenplay, The Gardener's Son. Further, Jason and Dan start their discussion about film adaptations of McCarthy's works with PBS's The Gardener's Son and James Franco's Child of God. Happy reading, friends!

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes back Bookin' favorite Dan Hawkins, librarian at The Citadel and Cormac McCarthy aficionado. This time, Jason and Dan talk about Blood Meridian, and oh boy is it a big one. Copies of Blood Meridian can be purchased from your favorite local independent bookstore. Happy reading!

On this week's Bookin', host Jason Jefferies interviews Professor Keon West, author of The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know But Probably Don't--Yet, which is published by our friends at Abrams Press.  Topics of conversation include the state of the world, Michelle Obama, how to teach a population to vet its sources, Star Trek, bias and racism in hiring practices, the UK vs. the USA, and much more!  Copies of The Science of Racism can be purchased from your favorite indie bookstore.  Happy reading!

On this week's Bookin', host Jason Jefferies welcomes Elaine Neil Orr, who discusses her new novel Dancing Woman, which is published by our friends at Blair.  Topics of discussion include people who are perfectly logical all the time, Nigeria, 1963, Harry Belafonte, mixed feelings about the church, how writing a novel is like painting, USAID, and more!  Signed copies of Dancing Woman can be ordered here (while supplies last).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Mark Kingwell, professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine.  His new book is Question Authority, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include current affairs in Canada, super-cycle elections, demonization, what trustworthy leadership looks like, cultural and institutional achievements, skepticism, rhetorical education, professional wrestling and more.  Copies of Question Authority can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by frequent guest and Librarian at The Citadel Dan Hawkins, who discusses Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.  Topics of conversation include Vanity Fair, James Joyce and William Faulkner, existentialism, Walker Percy and much more.  Copies of Suttree can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Andy Corren, author of Dirtbag Queen, which is published by our friends at Grand Central Publishing.  Topics of conversation include bookstores in New York, obituaries, the right side of Fayetteville, nice furniture rooms, a child's perception of enormous riches, Donnie and Marie Osmond vs. RuPaul, and much more.  Signed copies of Dirtbag Queen can be ordered here from Page 158 Books (while supplies last).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Julian Zabalbeascoa, author of What We Tried to Bury Grows Here, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of discussion include the Two Dollar Radio tattoo club, the Spanish Civil War, parallels between pre-WWII Spain and the United States of America in 2025, individual liberties as great threats, James Joyce's Ulysses, research, priests vs. soldiers, whether a person who has never been in a war can truly understand a war, and much more.  Copies of What We Tried to Bury Grows Here can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by the legendary poet Paul Jones, who discusses his new collection Something Necessary, which is published by our friends at Redhawk Publications.  Topics of conversation include the Arch Mission Foundation, support for an author community, musical writing, the place of poetry in a bookstore, seeing a poem in a piece of bread, and much more.  Copies of Something Necessary can be purchased here or by calling Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, Dan Hawkins and Jason Jefferies talk about Cormac McCarthy's Child of God by way of the recent Vanity Fair article that exposes Cormac McCarthy's relationship with Augusta Britt, which started when she was age 14-16.  Discusses are issues of art vs. the artist, artists versus politicians, thinks that are "of their time" and many more minefields.  Copies of Child of God can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy listening!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning journalist David Aldridge in a discussion about The Basketball 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA History, which is published by our friends at William Morrow.  Topics of conversation include the shot clock, ACC basketball, analytics, how to accurately rank active players, Steph Curry vs. Larry Bird, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, Wes Unseld, the Charlotte Hornets and much more.  Copies of The Basketball 100 can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Gaelan Bergstrom and Ben Diehl is a conversation about Berserk by Kentaro Miura.  Topics of conversation include the first arc of Berserk, Japanese pop-culture, radiation, the place of manga in a bookstore, and much more!  Copies of Berserk can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Waker Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Andrew K. Clark, author of Where Dark Things Grow, which is published by our friends at Cowboy Jamboree Press.  Topics of conversation include growing up in the midst of the eternal battle between good and evil, ancestry, the years between World War I and World War II, wulvers, magic, genre fiction vs literary fiction, monsters and Jesus, tall tales, and much more.  Copies of Where Dark Things Grow can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning and bestselling writer and illustrator John Hendrix, who discuss his new book The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, which is published by our friends at Abrams.  Topics of conversation include Missouri, friendship, Norse Mythology, methodologies, genre fiction, lions and wizards, The Great Departure of the Buddha, portals, World War I, Christianity, and much more!  Copies of The Mythmakers can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Sam Sax, author of Yr Dead, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include ITALIC lecturers, trigger warnings, queer planets, a myth buried in blood, Apple stores, books as objects, text message conversations in literature, laser discs, the human ritual, belonging, and much more.  Copies of Yr Dead can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Dan Hawkins for a conversation about Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark, the second episode in an ongoing series that will feature a read through of McCarthy's works.  Topics of conversation include second novels, imagery, hell, the most American religion, brothers and sisters, how you know when a book is a western, and much more.  Copies of Outer Dark can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by bestselling author Charles Bock, who discusses his new book I Will Do Better, which is published by our friends at Abrams Books.  Topics of conversation include New York, James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, the nature of memoirs vs. fiction, raising a child after a spouse's death, the physical laws of reality and Haruki Murakami, the male's capacity to feel sorry for himself, fitted sheets and much more!  Copies of I Will Do Better can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Georgann Eubanks and Debra Kaufman, editor and contributors to Paul Green: North Carolina Writers on the Legacy of the State's Most Celebrated Playwright, which is published by our friends at Blair.  Topics of conversation include the Paul Green Foundation, Blair, Playwrights in North Carolina, political activism, how Paul Green's activism translates to an audience in 2024, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and more!  Copies of Paul Green: North Carolina Writers on the Legacy of the State's Most Celebrated Playwright can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Chris Koslowski, author of Kayfabe, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, amateur professional wrestling, the physical demands of professional wrestling, sleazy showmen of the southeast, Becky Lynch, Gunther, Jimi Hendrix and Hulk Hogan, Rock Hill, SC and much more.  Copies of Kayfabe can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Kwame Mbalia, who discusses his new book Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek, a Freedom Fire title.  Topics of discussion include Freedom Fire, young adult literature vs. middle grade literature, Freeman as a name, North Carolina in literature, the significance of Chicago, trains, Moses, the Chicago Bulls vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, and much more.  Signed copies of Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Scott Reintgen, who discusses his new book The Last Dragon On Mars, which is published by our friends at Aladdin, a division of Simon and Schuster.  Topics of conversation include the intersection of sci-fi and fantasy, young adult novels versus middle grade novels, Mad Max and Fallout, school visits, relocation clinics, dragons in space and more.  Copies of The Last Dragon On Mars can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Bookin' favorite Dan Hawkins in a discussion about The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy, the first in a Bookin' read-through of McCarthy's works.  Topics of discussion include William Faulkner, the Tennessee Valley Authority, bootleggers and blockaders, first novels, nature vs. technology, and much more.  Copies of The Orchard Keeper can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities fellow Nora Lange, who discusses her new novel Us Fools, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, the future as a capitalist scam, unreliable narrators, house projects meant to temper drinking, portraits, confusing liberalism/socialism/capitalism, similarities between internet dating and fad diets, and much more.  Copies of Us Fools can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning journalist and 2024 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate Steven Petrow, who discusses his new book The Joy You Make, which is published by The Open Field and Penguin Life, and imprint of Penguin Random House.  Topics of discussion include The Open Field, crowdsourcing, half-empty glasses vs. half-full glasses, life as a Piedmont Laureate, being too busy for your own good, joy as a whole wheat muffin, The Last First Day by Carrie Brown and much more!  Copies of The Joy You Make can be purchased here from Page 158 Books!  Steven Petrow will be appearing at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC on October 22, 2024 at 6pm.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Marguerite Sheffer, who discusses her new collection The Man in the Banana Trees, which is published by our friends at University of Iowa Press. Topics of discussion include writing groups, the Iowa Short Fiction Award, student behavior, sequencing, the difference between workshopping a story and talking about one in an interview, resiliency, rain theft, being the first at something, lost snakes, sacrifice, and much more.  Copies of The Man in the Banana Trees can be preordered here (and purchased here after 11/5/24).  Happy reading!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud, who discusses his new novella Crypt of the Moon Spider, which is published by our friends at TOR Nightfire.  Topics of discussion include Asheville, Dale Bailey, treatment for the melancholy, the dark side of the moon, dead gods, the relationship between the moon and madness, spousal behaviors, the 1920s, Frankenstein and much more.  Copies of Crypt of the Moon Spider can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jon Sealy, who discusses his new novel The King Street Affair, which is published by our friends at Haywire Books.  Topics of conversation include South Carolina, Graham Greene, Charleston, Wuthering Heights, signals in the noise, gangsters, popular media, newspapers, AI, ChatGPT and more!  Copies of The King Street Affair can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi, who discusses his new novel Navola, which is published by our friends at Alfred A. Knopf Publishers.  Topics of conversation include the intersection of The Godfather and Game of Thrones, items with mythological powers, dragon eyes, Renaissance Italy, doubting one's parents, reliable narrators, servants, and much more.  Copies of Navola can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week is Bookin's 300th Episode!  Host Jason Jefferies is joined by Suzanne Lucey and Dave Lucey--owners of Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC--in a discussion of The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, a collection they contributed to, which is edited by James Patterson, Matt Eversmann and Chris Mooney, and which is published by our friends at Little, Brown and Company.  Topics of conversation include the origin of Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, James Patterson, personal service vs. shopping online, the 'WTF Did I Just Read' book club, the future of bookselling, and much more.  Copies of The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians can be ordered here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, I am joined by T. Shawn Long, host of the Horror Book Club at Page 158 Books in a discussion about all things Stephen King!  Topics of discussion include The Dark Tower, the Holly novels, 11/22/63, automobile accidents and more!  Stephen King's books can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by music journalist Corey du Browa, who discusses his new book An Ideal for Living: A Celebration of the EP-Extended Play, which is published by our friends at HoZac Books.  Topics of conversation include EPs vs LPs, vinyl vs. CDs vs. streaming, Britt Daniel from Spoon, Frances the Mute by the Mars Volta, double EPs, genres, lists, how history colors the music industry, and much more.  Copies of An Ideal for Living: A Celebration of the EP-Extended Play can be ordered here from Hozac Records (extremely limited edition), and your other book needs can be fulfilled here by Page 158 Books!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by the busiest reader on the planet, Dan Hawkins!  Topics of discussion include Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles and Circe, James Joyce's Ulysses, C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, and much more.  Copies of all of these books and more can be purchased at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC. 

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Ari Honarvar, who discusses her novel A Girl Called Rumi, which is published by our friends at Forest Avenue Press.  Topics of discussion include refugee advocacy, Colorado, growing up in a war-torn region, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, mothership in Iran, ants, how to hide a horse, the concept of Home, the Iran/Iraq war, and much more.  Copies of A Girl Called Rumi can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by writer, activist, pastor and storyteller John Pavlovitz, who discusses his book Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage and Compassion When Cruelty is Trending, which is published by our friends at WJK Books.  Topics of conversation include the dual roles of activist and pastor, bad news, the default mode of existence in a capitalist society as antithetical to human nature, waiting for a superhero or savior when one isn't coming, the toxic cocktail of outrage addiction and cultivated worry, mistaking activity for productivity, legislative goals, and much more.  Signed copies of Worth Fighting For can be ordered here from Page 158 Books, and each purchase comes with a signed print.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jordan Elgrably, editor of Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction, which is published by our friends at City Lights Books.  Topics of conversation include The Markaz Review, City Lights Books, the Middle East as the center of the world, the partitioning of land, Israel vs. Palestine, cats, "No terrorist ever found inspiration in Kafka", The Catcher in the Rye, book recommendations, and much more.  Copies of Stories from the Center of the World can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Professor of Sociology at Boston College and noted public intellectual Charles Derber, who discusses his new book Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It, which is co-written with Siren Moodlier and published by our friends at Routledge.  Topics of discussion include the abolition of fossil fuel emissions, focusing on today at the expense of tomorrow, post-scarcity economics, the USA's contribution to potential extinction, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, and much more.  Copies of Dying for Capitalism can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author and Bookin' favorite Mesha Maren, who discusses her new book Shae, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of discussion include teaching athletes, the nature of memory, moments that change our lives, Tool as a Christian rock band, relationships with parents, diving when you don't know how to swim, Oxycontin, artists in West Virginia, theft at The Pink Pony, and much more.  Copies of Shae can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Amanda Bellows, who discusses her new book Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions, which is published by our friends at William Morrow.  Topics of conversation include UNC-Chapel Hill, Kentucky, westward expansion in the United States of America, Sacagawea, James Beckwourth, reconciling amazing deeds with the terrible people responsible for them, Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Dakota territories, John Muir, and much more.  Copies of Explorers can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by baseball writer Eric Vickrey, who discusses his new book Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians and a Tragic Bus Crash that Changed Everything, which is published by our friends at Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.  Topics of discussion include post-World War II conditions in the United States of America, PCLs, formatting, curses and averting disaster, the rationing of oil and gas, Babe Ruth's radio show, and much more.  Copies of Season of Shattered Dreams can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by North Carolina Music Hall of Famer and former Squirrel Nut Zipper Tom Maxwell, who discusses his new book A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999, which is published by our friends at Hachette Books.  Topics of conversation include North Carolina musical history, the Cat's Cradle, the temptation to label something as 'the next' something else, Dexter Romweber and the Flat Duo Jets, the desire for profit vs. the desire to document, Jimbo Mathus, Metal Flake Mother, and much more.  Copies of A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999 can be purchased here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  SIGNED COPIES ARE AVAILABLE (while supplies last).    

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Brad Balukjian, author of The Six Pack: On the Open Road to Wrestlemania, which is published by our friends at Hachette Books.  Topics of conversation include being in an open relationship with your VCR, professional wrestling, the Iron Sheik, MTV, Captain Lou Albano, driving your childhood hero to buy drugs, the line between fact and fiction, journalists methods, and much more.  Copies of The Six Pack can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes award-winning author Alex Pugsley back to the program!  Alex discusses his new novel The Education of Aubrey McKee, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include novels about art and artists, worshipful beginners, people who are not active participants in their own lives, heartbreaking naïveté, comedy vs. horror, pirates, interesting problems, young adult love, loving someone as they become famous, and much more.  Copies of The Education of Aubrey McKee can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by R.A. Cramblitt, author of Like Printing Money, which is published by our friends at BC Publishing Inc.  Topics of discussion include music, self-publishing, Baltimore, 3D printing, sports fandom, the Charlotte Hornets, America being built by alcohol and drugs, oil and gas and sustainable alternatives, the type of person who rocks out to AC/DC while kidnapping someone, and much more.  Copies of Like Printing Money can be ordered here from Page 158 Books.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Freeman Vines and Timothy Duffy, who discuss Hanging Tree Guitars, which is published by our friends at Piedmont Press in association with Music Maker Foundation.  Topics of conversation include guitar craftsmanship, mysticism and philosophy, lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, out of body experiences, gifts, and much more.  Copies of Hanging Tree Guitars can be ordered from Page 158 Books and the Music Maker Foundation website.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by author, lecturer, and consultant on terrorism and political violence Jeffrey D. Simon, who discusses his latest book The Bulldog Detective: William J. Flynn and America’s First War Against the Mafia, Spies, and Terrorists, which is published by our friends at Prometheus.  Topics of conversation include terrorism, spies, growing up as the child of a celebrity detective, crime fiction, Eliot Ness, Al Capone, and much more.  Copies of The Bulldog Detective can be purchased here from Page 158 Books.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Cally Fiedorek, who discusses her new novel Atta Boy, which is published by our friends at University of Iowa Press.  Topics of conversation include tattoos, New York exhaustion, MFA programs, working in a bar, pleasure as a pathology, Colorado, extremism, catnip for cult leaders, being smart (but not about the things that matter), and much more.  Copies of Atta Boy can be ordered here from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Georgann Eubanks, who discusses Song Keepers: A Music Maker Foundation Anthology, which is co-published by our friends at No Depression and the Music Maker Foundation.  Topics of discussion include working with non-profits, the Emmys, SoLaTiDo, Music Maker Foundation, the world's happiest bluesman, Jimi Hendrix, writing in North Carolina, and much more.  Copies of Song Keepers can be ordered from Page 158 Books and the No Depression website.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Daniel Wallace, who discusses his newest book This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of discussion include teaching overseas, delineations between before and after, digesting an idea over decades, suicide prevention, cartooning, North Carolina vs. Alabama, Walker Percy and James Joyce, writing as a cathartic exercise, and much more.  Copies of This Isn't Going to End Well can be purchased here or downloaded from Libro.fm for FREE with the promo code BOOKIN (new members only).  

This week, I am joined by Dan Hawkins, librarian at the Citadel and repeat Bookin' podcast guest (see the Emergency Cormac McCarthy episode).  Dan discusses Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, one of the greatest novels of all-time.  Topics of discussion include Robert Frost, J.R.R. Tolkien, unreliable narrators, the very loud amusement park right outside of Charles Kinbote's lodgings, Lolita, chess problems, Hopscotch, and much more.  Copies of Pale Fire can be purchased here.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Katya Apekina for a discussion of her new novel Mother Doll, which is published by our friends at The Overlook Press.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, the Overlook Press, baby bedtime routines, visitations, September 11th, video stores, physical media vs. digital media, organization, ghost stories, self-deception, knowledge and education, and much more.  Copies of Mother Doll can be ordered here.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival and libro.fm audiobooks for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Andy Lee Roth, one of the editors--along with Mickey Huff--of Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2024, which is published by our friends at The Censored Press and 7 Stories Press.  Topics of conversation include the upcoming election cycle, propaganda, China and North Korea, media literacy,  centered and accurate news organization, sensationalism, news deserts, muckraking, and much more.  Copies of Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2024 can be purchased from your favorite independent bookstore.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival and libro.fm audiobooks for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Roger D. Rapoport, who discusses his latest novel Searching for Patty Hearst, which is published by our friends at Lexographic Press.  Topics of conversation include filmmaking, travel guides, Lexographic Press, Rupert Murdoch, Succession, music of the decades, William Randolph Hearst, the difference in the news cycles over the years, and much more.  Copies of Searching for Patty Hearst can be purchased here.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival and Libro.fm for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Aspen Words finalist and Wonderland Book Award-winner Brian Allen Carr, who discusses his latest novel Bad Foundations, which is published by our friends at Clash Books.  Topics of conversation include Muncie, Indiana, Taylor Swift, crawl spaces, Mary Louise Kelly, missed opportunities, living to work vs. working to live, presidential text messages, and much more.  Copies of Bad Foundations can be purchased here.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Zachary Pace, author of I Sing to Use the Waiting: A Collection About the Women Singers Who've Made Me Who I Am, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, pronouns, fathers, The Rolling Stones, Richard Dyer, voices, Madonna, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, anxiety, MySpace, Hop Along, and much more.  Copies of I Sing to Use the Waiting can be ordered here from Page 158 Books is Wake Forest, NC.  Thank you to the North Carolina Book Festival for presenting this episode.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by bestselling and North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame-author Jill McCorkle, who discusses her new collection Old Crimes and Other Stories, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of conversation include friendships and mentorships, North Carolina State University, creative writing classes and prompts, blood sacrifices, whether Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy are vegetables, the Blackout, artificial intelligence, Frankenstein's monster, technological cycles, and much more.  Copies of Old Crimes and Other Stories can be purchased here.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Paul Andersen, who discusses his new book Moonlight Over Pearl: Ten Stories from Aspen, which is published by our friends at Roaring Fork Press.  Topics of conversation include the Aspen Times, Kathryn Thalberg, the "definitive Aspen novel", black ice, first tracks, Goethe, nightlife, the lives that other people lead, and much more.  Copies of Moonlight Over Pearl can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Matthew J.C. Clark, author of Bjarki, Not Bjarki: On Floorboards, Love, and Irreconcilable Differences, which is published by our friends at the University of Iowa Press.  Topics of conversation include Maine, floorboards, the correlation between possession of material goods and personal happiness, Checkov, the Tree of Liberty and its need to be refreshed by the blood of patriots, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, January 6th, guns, Al Gore, and much more.  Copies of Bjarki, Not Bjarki can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  More on Matthew here: https://www.matthewjcclark.com/

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Ben Goldfarb, who discusses his new book Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, which is published by our friends at W.W. Norton and Company.  Topics of conversation include how cliff swallows are like cockroaches, how more bird deaths are caused by roads than are caused by oil spills, the routes of all evil, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, early rebellions against roads, reclamation by nature, and much more.  Copies of Crossings can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Kate Brody, author of Rabbit Hole, which is published by our friends at SOHO Crime.  Topics of conversation include publishing one's first novel, covered bridges in Maine, why humans focus on the things they don't have vs. the things they do, capitalism, book design, drugs and addiction, Dave Matthews Band cover bands, inspirational works of literature, reddit, and much more.  Copies of Rabbit Hole can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Angela C. Sutton, author of Pirates of the Slave Trade: The Battle of Cape Lopez and the Birth of an American Institution, which is published by our friends at Prometheus books.  Topics of conversation include making a career out of writing about pirates, research, Black Bart, captured slaves who became pirates, the African King who drank out of a chalice made from dutchmen’s skulls, playing European powers against one another, muskets, and much more.  Copies of Pirates of the Slave Trade can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Leonard Grob, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and John K. Roth, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College.  Their new book is Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy, which is published by our friends at Cascade Books.  Topics of conversation include Russia and Ukraine, why we are still talking about Donald Trump, Don Winslow and the 11th hour, the effect of COVID-19 deaths on the American economy and job market, Socrates, Trump vs. Putin vs. Hitler vs. Mussolini, using a poor educational system to control a populous, the potential for World War III, and much more.  Copies of Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by bestselling author Joshua Mohr, who discusses his new novel Farsickness, which is published by our friends at House of Vlad.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, Aspen Words, art, voices in our heads, simile and metaphor, David Lynch, psychopath computers, what happens when someone pulls a knife around a child, and much more.  Copies of Farsickness can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Brooke Lockyer, who discusses her new novel Burr, which is published by our friends at Nightwood Editions.  Topics of conversation include books that are like tarot cards, towns as POV characters, a young sibling death, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, trousers vs. pantaloons, the Wrestler's Code, self-realization, flat-earhters, and much more.  Copies of Burr can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes back Ray Robertson, author of All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include how a Grateful Dead concert is like life, the Grateful Dead vs. Taylor Swift and Beyonce, Bob Weir's approach to guitar vs. Jerry Garcia's, Phil Lesh as a cantankerous guy, tribute bands, the Grateful Dead's decision to record their shows, and much more.  Copies of All the Years Combine can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+. 

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by National Book Award winner William T. Vollmann, author of Shadows of Love and Shadows of Loneliness, which are published by our friends at An Unnamed Press and Rare Bird Books.  Topics of conversation include mortality, the price of convenience, hearts that are or are not troubled by atrocity, the perception of global warming in Bangladesh, American and Serbian views of Muslims, police with virtual recognition goggles, facing your problems vs. not facing them, writing vs. painting vs. photography, esoteric means of film development, how a photograph never ceases to be a fountain of questions, and much more.  Copies of Shadows of Love and Shadows of Loneliness can be ordered from Explore Booksellers with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Lexi Freiman, author of The Book of Ayn, which is published by our friends at Catapult.  Topics of conversation include Australia, Ayn Rand, cancel culture, narcissism, The Fountainhead, Michelangelo's David, Succession, yoga pants, and much more.  Copies of The Book of Ayn can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Bennett Sims, who discusses his new book Other Minds and Other Stories, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include the University of Iowa, flash fiction, mummies, zombie novels, David Foster Wallace and Carmen Maria Machado, cell phones, Alfred Hitchcock, and much more.  Copies of Other Minds and Other Stories can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Meredith Ritchie, author of Poster Girls, which is published by our friends at Warren Publishing.  Topics of conversation include acute empty nest syndrome, raising triplets, the World War II-era in Charlotte, NC, attitudes towards women and minorities in the 1940s, church, book clubs, and much more.  Copies of Poster Girls can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Nikki Marmery, author of Lilith, which is published by our friends at Alcove Press.  Topics of conversation include Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Adam as a man who was never satisfied, Diablo IV, Lilith Fair, Lilith as the first woman, logic and the Tower of Babel, The Matrix, and much more.  Copies of Lilith can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by coach Jeff Patterson, who discusses his new book The Big Thing Effect: How to Transform Your Life Forever, which is published by our friends at Aspen Success Press.  Topics of conversation include big things, how death can lend a new perspective to life, the Denver Nuggets and winning something vs. watching someone else win something, climbing a mountain, Worms, challenging authority, ESPN and Nickelodeon, Matt Rhule, second guessing, and much more.  Signed copies of The Big Thing Effect can be ordered from Explore Booksellers with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Farah Ali, author of The River, The Town, which is published by our friends at Dzanc Books.  Topics of conversation include geographical locations with no source of water, why a mother hates her son, men who hide themselves behind television, propaganda, religion, more money more problems, poetic deaths, and much more.  Copies of The River, The Town can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by former NC Piedmont Laureate David Menconi, who discusses his new book Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, which is published by our friends at UNC Press.  Topics of conversation include IBMA and Wide Open Bluegrass, the Union Grove Old Time Fiddler's Convention, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, the connection between music and politics, starting a record label in the 1960s vs. in 2023, concert going fashion, Russian literature, James Michener, the Grateful Dead, and much more!  Copies of Oh, Didn't They Ramble can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Christine Evans, author of Nadia, which is published by our friends at University of Iowa Press.  Topics of conversation include writing a novel vs. writing a play or an opera, Bosnia and Sarajevo, the perception of Russians in 1997 vs. 2023, working for temp agencies, Y2K, parenting with ghost stories, Nick Cave, immigration and immigrants, and much more.  Copies of Nadia can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Christine Lai, who discusses her new novel Landscapes, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of discussion include novels about art, what you can learn about a character based on their attitude towards another character's art (through the lens of Nabokov's Pale Fire), whether a critic can ever become a part of the art they are criticizing, Penelope as a name in literature, documentation, climate fiction, capitalism and possession, and much more.  Copies of Landscapes can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Nathan Hill, bestselling author of The Nix, who discusses his new novel Wellness, which is published by our friends at Alfred A. Knopf.  Topics of discussion include Florida, voyeurism, neckties as a positive or negative, present day internet vs. internet 1.0, hypertext literature, video games, reality vs. the ideal, Kidz Bop, Minecraft, truthiness, and much more.  Copies of Wellness can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Adam Bessie, author of Going Remote: A Teacher's Journey, which is published by our friends at Seven Stories Press and The Censored Press.  Topics of conversation include teaching in the COVID-era, the education system as a waterway, surviving brain cancer, the Matrix, Literature of the Apocalypse, the state of public education, and much more.  Copies of Going Remote can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes back New York Times bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk, who discusses his new novel Not Forever, But For Now, which is published by our friends at Simon & Schuster.  Topics of discussion include book tours, changing publishers, shock value, punk rock, nature films, kangaroos, Portland, OR, Amy Hempel, Winnie the Pooh, serial killers as pen pals, Pericles and Agamemnon, Kurt Cobain and Jonestown, and much more.  Copies of Not Forever, But For Now can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Hugh Hodges, author of The Fascist Groove Thing: A History of Thatcher's Britain in 21 Mixtapes, which is published by our friends at PM Press.  Topics of conversation include Bob Marley, music as a unifier, Margaret Thatcher, the BBC, Donald Trump, Heaven 17, mixed tapes, Chumbawamba, Rage Against the Machine, and much more.  Copies of The Fascist Groove Thing can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week is Bookin's 250th episode!  Host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning & bestselling author Sarah Rose Etter, who discusses her new novel Ripe, which is published by our friends at Scribner.  Topics of conversation include moving, the smell of a train in San Francisco, class divides, tech industry Believers, screen time, Voyager, parental relationships, black holes, panic attacks, religion, abortions, and more.  Copies of Ripe can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Stephen Markley, who discusses his new novel The Deluge, which is published by our friends at Simon and Schuster.  Topics of discussion include remarkable reading experiences, methane hydrates, Easter as a "lesser holiday", text abuse, LOST, audiobooks, Tom Cruise, using Blood Meridian to pick up dates, Tinder, Opie, Kanye West, Nikola Jokic, and much more.  Copies of The Deluge can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Ben Purkert, author of The Men Can't Be Saved, which is published by our friends at The Overlook Press.  Topics of conversation include Hanif Abdurraqib, jobs and what they do to our souls, 15 minutes of fame, adult men's diapers, David Foster Wallace, Nabokov, non-profits, workplace romances, video games, and more!  Copies of The Men Can't Be Saved can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Wilton Barnhardt, who discusses his new novel Western Alliances, which is published by our friends at St. Martin's Press.  Topics of conversation include North Carolina, William T. Vollmann, bourbon, travel, photography, the 2008 financial collapse, the bond market, Henry Miller, European elevators, Zelda Fitzgerald, Norway, and much more.  Copies of Western Alliances can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, who discusses her new novel Lady Tan's Circle of Women, which is published by our friends at Scribner.  Topics of discussion include foot binding, medicine as practiced in China vs. the USA, suffering as love, gender roles in 15th century China, concubines, lavish homes, the Chinese zodiac, and more.  Copies of Lady Tan's Circle of Women can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week's Bookin' features bestselling author, founder of Zoetrope, and Executive Director of Aspen Words Adrienne Brodeur, who discusses her new novel Little Monsters, which is published by our friends at Simon & Schuster.  Topics of discussion include Aspen Words, the nature of secrets, possession, privilege, the Barnes & Noble Book of the Month, art and science in literature, friends as editors, mania, choosing one's own family, and much more.  Copies of Little Monsters can be purchased from Explore Booksellers here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week's Bookin' features Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya, author of The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include Two Dollar Radio, the relativity of time, sports novels, pain pills, basing one's decision to have or not have children on the news cycle, birds flying into windows, Colombia, dating teachers, the value of literature, and much more.  Copies of The Holy Days of Gregory Pasos can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Jim Ruland, who discusses his newest novel Make It Stop, which is published by our friends at Rare Bird.  Topics of discussion include Bad Religion, Keith Morris, the intersection of music and literature, bars that offer tattoos, cults, hospital bills, shopping mall culture, work colleagues as family members, and much more.  Copies of Make It Stop can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Kevin Gosztola, author of Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case against Julian Assange, which is published by our friends at 7 Stories Press and The Censored Press.  Topics of discussion include the Shadowproof news outlet and Unauthorized Disclosure podcast, Julian Assange, whistleblowers and the prosecution of whistleblowers by the United States of America, Barack Obama's approach to governmental leaks vs. Donald Trump's, Joe Biden's assertion that journalists should not be in jail, citizenship, and much more.  Copies of Guilty of Journalism can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies discusses one of the greatest authors to ever put pen to page, Cormac McCarthy, with Dan Hawkins, Librarian at the Daniel Library at The Citadel.  Topics of conversation include the author as celebrity, violence, genre fiction vs. literary fiction, writing for film and the stage, the Coen Brothers, Faulkner vs. Hemingway, new year's resolutions, fatherhood, Oprah's Book Club, mythological underworld narratives, and a whole lot more.  Cormac McCarthy's novels, including The Passenger and Stella Maris, can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author and host of Jeopardy Ken Jennings, who discusses his new book 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife, which is published by our friends at Scribner.  Topics of conversation include religious skepticism, Dante and Milton vs. George Lucas and George R.R. Martin, the afterlife as the DMV, the Bardo (both traditionally and as written by George Saunders), The Leftovers vs. LOST, Grim Fandango, whether rivers made of milk and honey are supposed to appeal to vegans, and much more.  Copies of 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by legendary author T.C. Boyle, who discusses his new novel Blue Skies, which is published by our friends at Liveright.  Topics of discussion include using animals as jewelry, pets as substitutes for children, narrative structures, the desire to save the earth vs. the desire to keep consuming, raising insects as sources of food, Florida vs. California, "influencer" as a job title, writers as mentally disturbed individuals, cli-fi novels, and much more.  Copies of Blue Skies can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Junior Burke, author of Buddha Was a Cowboy, which is published by our friends at Gibson House Press.  Topics of conversation include zen koans, mindful instruction, gurus, the concept of Jesus of Nazareth rooting for a football squad, key holders, hypocrisy, writing for a market, Colorado Springs as the evangelical Vatican, and much more.  Copies of Buddha Was a Cowboy can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jinwoo Chong, author of Flux, which is published by our friends at Melville House.  Topics of discussion include Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, fake television shows, art that is ahead of its time, whether a relationship can succeed if one person is intolerant of the other person's passions, subscription rate hikes, whether society can handle a glitch in the infrastructure, retail therapy, fanny packs, social media influencers, and much more.  Copies of Flux can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by David Hollander, who discusses his newest book How Basketball Can Save the World, which is published by our friends at Harmony.  Topics of discussion include advising ESPNW, basketball as an existential matter, how basketball can save us from climate destruction, Nikola Jokic, the MVP award, James Naismith, Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain, Ja Morant, Draymond Green, and much more.  Copies of How Basketball Can Save the World can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Shelley Read, author of Go as a River, which is published by our friends at Spiegel & Grau.  Topics of discussion include long-term projects, how the bottom of a lake is like the moon, peaches in Colorado vs. peaches in the southeastern USA, parenting towards Judgement Day, farming, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, differing concepts of home and place, rooting for drama, and much more. Copies of Go as a River can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Kathryn Bromwich, who discusses her new novel At the Edge of the Woods, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include Richard Powers' The Overstory, wilderness narratives that captivate our imaginations, a female protagonist living off the grid, how one's mind works first thing in the morning, a mountain as a sentient being, practicing one's smile in the mirror, guilt over not attending church, and much more.  Copies of At the Edge of the Woods can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by prize winning author Rita Zoey Chin, who discusses her new novel The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern, which is published by our friends at Melville House Publishing.  Topics of conversation include writing in the COVID-era, carnivals, elephants, South Carolina, the confederate flag, 21st birthdays, Eddie Murphy, contemplating infinity, midterm elections, and much more.  Copies of The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by American Poets Prize and Pushcart Prize-winning author Maggie Smith, who discusses her new memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, which is published by our friends at One Signal Publishers.  Topics of conversation include the literary scene in Columbus, the phrase "tell-all", the evolution of the creative process, how to tell when something seems off, growing apart, fried pickle spears with ranch dressing, and much more.  Copies of You Could Make This Place Beautiful can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Janice Obuchowski, who discusses her new short story collection The Woods, which is published by our friends at the University of Iowa Press.  Topics of discussion include authors in Middlebury, Vermont, the challenges of basing a book's setting on a town where one lives, feral cats, the spectral, confusion, the nature of time, Robert Frost, capital 'T' Truth, the Vermont Book Shop, the difference between a short story and a novel, and much more!  Copies of The Woods can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Emmy award-winning author Kate Manning, who discusses her new novel Gilded Mountain, which is published by our friends at Scribner.  Topics of conversation include Colorado, poodles in hair parlors and society clubs, similarities between Colorado and Vermont, selling beauty, writing about snow, unions in the early 1900s and in the current era, newspapers, and much more.  Copies of Gilded Mountain can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Robert Lopez, who discusses his new novel Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio. Topics of discussion include the American experience in 2023, dispatches and Dispatches, whether Puerto Rico is a part of the United States in popular opinion, turning an insult into a word of power, tennis, the pledge of allegiance, and much more.  Copies of Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Pushcart Prize winning author Bill Cotter, who discusses his new book The Splendid Ticket, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include the difference in writing books for children vs. writing books for adults, towns that the world has moved on from, gamblers, whether women tend to marry their fathers, the question of why Texas loves guns, the principle of Checkov's gun, gun safety, moving on from tragedy, and much more.  Copies of The Splendid Ticket can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Marjorie Hudson, who discusses her new novel Indigo Field, which is published by our friends at Regal House Publishers.  Topics of conversation include the act of reading poetry to trees, giant clouds of pollen, recognized crabbiness, whether you can ever really know someone, witchcraft, foster children' rights, and much more.  Copies of Indigo Field can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

On this week's Bookin', host Jason Jefferies is joined by Origins Hall of Famer and one of Pyramid's most influential people of the millennium, and co-creator of the Dragonlance saga Margaret Weis, who discusses her latest novel Dragons of Deceit, which is published by our friends at Del Rey.  Topics of conversation include the growth of the fantasy genre, the popularity of D&D in the Stranger Things-era, planning for a trilogy vs. a single book, the process of co-writing with someone for 40 years, keeping up with four decades of lore, female protagonists in the fantasy genre, Huma, and much more.  Copies of Dragons of Deceit can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by multi-platinum record producer and cognitive neuroscientist Susan Rogers, who discusses her new book This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You, which is published by our friends at Norton.  Topics of discussion include seeing Led Zeppelin in concert, producing Prince, jamming with Miles Davis, record pulls and Listmas, Bach vs. The Shaggs, what happens in a person's mind when they listen to music, how DAWs changed music production, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and the novel popularity curve, the question of art vs. the artist, and much more.  Copies of This Is What It Sounds Like can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Courtney Zoffness, who discusses her new book Spilt Milk, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include memoirs, parental advice, anxiety, "Hot for Teacher", ownership of one's body, organized religion, Roe v Wade, raising a boy in the current political climate, truth vs. fantasy, and much more.  Copies of Spilt Milk can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Louise Willder, author of Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion, which is published by our friends at OneWorld.  Topics of conversation include T.S. Eliot, snowflakes, unfortunate titles that were left on the cutting room floor, bookselling during COVID-19, Stephen King as an underrated writer, Nicole Krauss, book cover trends, and much more.  Copies of Blurb Your Enthusiasm can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jody Rosen, author of Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle, which is published by our friends at Crown.  Topics of discussion include bicycling in the COVID-era, space travel, traveling vs. being traveled, women's emancipation movements throughout the world, bicycle pornography, e-bikes, climate change, bicycling in the winter, and much more.  Copies of Two Wheels Good can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Oregon Book Award winner and Emmy nominee Jon Raymond, who discusses his new book Denial, which is published by our friends at Simon and Schuster.  Topics of conversation include Portland's Literary Arts, the climate crisis, whether every revolution is destined to become a bureaucracy, the future of newspapers, beef and factory farming, bookstores in 2052, Mark Twain, Diego Rivera, and much more.  Copies of Denial can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Kevin Maloney, author of The Red-Headed Pilgrim, which is published by our friends at Two Dollar Radio.  Topics of conversation include the line between fact and fiction, the fear of routine in adulthood, virginity and sex, Howl, Robotussin-induced spirit journeys, Pearl Jam vs. Sufjan Stevens, wanderlust, and much more.  Copies of The Red-Headed Pilgrim can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for member of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by award-winning author Dan Chaon, who discusses his latest novel Sleepwalk, which is published by Henry Holt and Co.  Topics of conversation include unreliable narrators, Hunter S. Thompson, aliases, burner phones and the desire to be untraceable, eccentric billionaires who start cultish non-profits, sperm banks, what amnesia would look like if it were a country, QAnon, and much more.  Copies of Sleepwalk can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.    

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by William MacAskill, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University, Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneur, and author of What We Owe the Future, which is published by our friends at Basic Books.  Topics of discussion include thought experiments, longtermism, clean energy, climate change, artificial intelligence, professional gambling, Roe vs. Wade, value lock-in, technological stagnation, and much more.  Copies of What We Owe the Future can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Guggenheim Fellow, NEA Fellow, MacArthur Fellow and National Book Award winning author Andrea Barrett, who discusses her new short story collection Natural History, which is published by our friends at W.W. Norton and Company.  Topics of discussion include preparing to write a novel vs. a short story collection, whether you can judge a book by its cover or not, color in literature, History, weather balloons in the Civil War, the role of butterflies and moths in literature, scissors, and much more.  Copies of Natural History can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Danny Ramadan, author of The Foghorn Echoes, which is published by our friends at Canongate.  Topics of conversation include growing up as a gay man in Syria, thoughts and prayers, military indoctrination, the perception of the American military in Syria, literary ghost stories, parental shaming, Randy Orton, video games as art, and much more.  Copies of The Foghorn Echoes can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author Silas House, who discusses his new novel Lark, Ascending, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of discussion include "With or Without You", maritime novels, the Trump-era, fundamentalists, dual-citizenship, Ireland, climate fiction, dogs, beliefs, and much more.  Copies of Lark, Ascending can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Edgar Award-winning author and host of The Moth George Dawes Green, who discusses his new novel The Kingdoms of Savannah, which is published by our friends at Celadon Books.  Topics of discussion include Savannah as a fairy-tale city, Omar from The Wire, mothers, Southern facades, slumlords, Thomas Wolfe, support for independent bookstores, and much more.  Copies of The Kingdoms of Savannah can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Jeff Wagner, author of Destination Onward: The Story of Fates Warning, which is published by our friends at FYI Press.  Topics of conversation include buying records in the pre-Napster/streaming-era, Fates Warning, living a life defined by music fandom, the plight of the Native American, progressive metal, Radiohead, England's influence on popular music, the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, and much more.  Copies of Destination Onward can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Scott Gates, author of Gone, the Redeemer, which is published by our friends at Blue Ink Press.  Topics of conversation include Page 158 Books, sunsets, Cuban history, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Oprah Winfrey, A Picture of Dorian Gray, Colorado, and much more.  Copies of Gone, the Redeemer can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Ray Robertson, author of Estates Large and Small, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include Biblioasis, the Grateful Dead, Hunterisms, virtual bookstores, leadership in the COVID-era, the used book business, the value of literary fiction in contemporary society, impersonations, and much more.  Copies of Estates Large and Small can be ordered here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by legendary literary icon Michael Parker, author of I Am the Light of This World, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of conversation include Randall Kenan, Chris Stamey, pawn shop guitars, clotheslines, Leadbelly, turnstiles, the word "world", differing perceptions of sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and much more.  Copies of I Am the Light of This World can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING for members of Explore More+.

This week, Host Jason Jefferies is joined by Bookin' favorite Alex Pugsley, author of Shimmer, which is published by our friends at Biblioasis.  Topics of conversation include the James Joyce of Canada, 7-11, flip-phones, the Friends drinking game, pornography, Marlboro Ultra Lights, Courtney Love, guitar tablature, and much more.  Copies of Shimmer can be ordered here.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by New York Times bestselling author B.A. Shapiro, author of Metropolis, which is published by our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.  Topics of conversation include self-storage units, the process of writing multiple protagonists, research, artistic mediums, street photography, writing what you know vs. writing what you don't know, embezzlement, whether commercial success changes the artist's approach to creation, an much more.  Copies  of Metropolis can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Ellyn Gaydos, author of Pig Years, which is published by our friends at Knopf.  Topics of conversation include writing about pigs, growing up in Vermont, small farms vs. factory farms, snakes on the bathroom floor, consuming pig hearts, acts of desecration, stock car speedways, global warming, and much more.  Copies of Pig Years can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers, Aspen's trusted community bookstore.  

This week, Host Jason Jefferies is joined by Davey Davis, author of X, which is published by our friends at Catapult.  Topics of conversation include Roe v. Wade, waterboarding, Abu Ghraib, Matt Riedl, whether sexiness is political, small talk about climate change, practiced dishonesty, bodily confusion, whether change is ever really possible, and much more.  Copies of X can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Lydia Millet, author of Dinosaurs, which is published by our friends at W.W. Norton and Co.  Topics of conversation include books that take place in Arizona, short novels, Batman, new places vs. old places, A Children's Bible and climate change legislation, glass houses, basketball & skateboarding, Fox News & Football, dinosaurs, and much more.  Copies of Dinosaurs can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Timothy C. Baker, author of Reading My Mother Back: A Memoir in Childhood Animal Stories, which is published by our friends at Goldsmiths Press.  Topics of conversation include Babar the elephant, Baltimore, Ronald Reagan, animal industries, Frog & Toad, The Lord of the Rings vs. Chronicles of Narnia, Watership Down, and much more.  Copies of Reading My Mother Back can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies welcomes Victoria Shepherd, author of A History of Delusions: The Glass King, a Substitute Husband, and a Walking Corpse, which is published by our friends at Oneworld.  Topics of discussion include the difference between a fairy tale and a delusion, QAnon, paranoid schizophrenia, the connection between Fyodor Dostoevsky and Edgar Allen Poe, melancholy, the idea that one's body may be made of glass, and much more.  Copies of A History of Delusions can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Lara Williams, author of The Odyssey, which is published by our friends at Zando Projects.  Topics of discussion include The Odyssey as a title, wabi sabi, cruise ships, David Foster Wallace, boredom/inertia, oblivion, infantilization, scientology, designing your own money, shopping malls, and much more.  Copies of The Odyssey can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Christy Alexander Hallberg, author of Searching for Jimmy Page, which is published by our friends at Livingston Press.  Topics of discussion include Led Zeppelin as a rite of passage, Four Sticks, omens, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant's sandwich, Hammer of the Gods, Liv Tyler, and much more.  Copies of Searching for Jimmy Page can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers!

Welcome to Bookin's 200th Episode!  Host Jason Jefferies is joined by legendary award-winning author John Kessel, who discusses his newest collection The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel, which is published by our friends at Subterranean Press.  Topics of discussion includes the literary scene in North Carolina, Kim Stanley Robinson, birth, education, genre writing vs. non-genre writing, the current state of science-fiction, gatekeeping in the sci-fi community, and much more.  Copies of The Dark Ride can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Internationally bestselling author Corban Addison, who discusses his new book Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country On Trial, which is published by our friends at Alfred A. Knopf.  Topics of discussion include John Grisham, narrative non-fiction, the silencing of Smithfield Food's employees and lawyers, what is wrong with NC politicians, hog growers as "family farmers", community activists vs. environmental extremists, Mona Lisa Wallace, eating bacon, and much more.  Copies of Wastelands can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers!

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Peter C. Baker, author of Planes, which is published by our friends at Alfred A. Knopf.  Topics of conversation include shops with regulars, cooking for pleasure vs. cooking by necessity, compulsive gossip, people who are overwhelmed by surprises, redactions, whether a coffee habit is a path to financial ruin, and much more.  Copies of Planes can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers, Aspen's trusted community bookstore.   

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Ruthanna Emrys, author of A Half-Built Garden, which is published by our friends at Tor.com.  Topics of conversation include unsolicited advice, climate catastrophe, first-contact scenarios, alien races the look like spiders, children, diplomatic relations, the influence of media on human development, space colonization, and much more.  Copies of A Half-Built Garden can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers!  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Booker Prize finalist Steve Toltz, author of Here Goes Nothing, which is published by our friends at Melville House.  Topics of conversation include worrying about other people's perceptions, the desire to be invisible, vegetarians who eat fish, the afterlife, fake smiles, newlyweds, Satanists, and much more.  Copies of Here Goes Nothing can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers!  THIS PODCAST FEATURES EXPLICIT CONTENT.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home, which is published by our friends at Mulholland Books.  Topics of conversation include Austin murderous tendencies, what an accent signals in media, waking dreams vs. daydreams, patience, genre fiction vs. literary fiction, cartels, El Paso/Ciudad Juárez, Cormac McCarthy, violence, and much more.  Copies of The Devil Takes You Home can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.  

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Matthew Ball, author of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, which is published by our friends at Liveright Publishing Company.  Topics of conversation include Vannevar Bush, Walter Benjamin, Neal Stephenson, Satoshi Nakamoto, video games, Netflix and other streaming technologies, the metaverse vs. metaverses, Mark Zuckerburg, and much more.  Copies of The Metaverse can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Isaac Fitzgerald, author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts, which is published by our friends at Bloomsbury. Topics of discussion include McSweeney's, happy accidents vs. sin, whether it is possible to read too many books, baseball, a child's perspective on financial security, books as religion, whether a parent should be their child's friend, shady priests, and much more.  Copies of Dirtbag, Massachusetts can be ordered here from Explore Booksellers.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Shelly Oria, editor of I Know What's Best For You: Stories on Reproductive Freedom, which is published by our friends at McSweeney's.  Topics of conversation include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Margaret Atwood and The Handmaid's Tale, anti-abortion abortion clinics, Roe v. Wade, baby formula, aggression within the context of oppression, optimism, and much more.  Copies of I Know What's Best For You: Stories on Reproductive Freedom can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.

This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Dave Pell, author of Please Scream Inside your Heart: Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns in the Year that Wouldn't End, which is published by our friends at Hachette.  Topics of discussion include 826 Valencia, Japanese amusement parks, Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump, Jeopardy vs. Wheel of Fortune, the royal family, "Do as I say not as I do", binders full of women, and much more.  Copies of Please Scream Inside your Heart can be purchased here from Explore Booksellers.