Interested in buying a copy of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues"? Support local bookshops and this podcast by purchasing here: https://bookshop.org/a/79981/9780553349498 - A full list of books discussed on this podcast can be perused here: https://bookshop.org/lists/what-re-you-reading-podcast - Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle and @panic_kyle_booktok); Guest: Ryan Berger (@ryanberger); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); - Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

A hallmark of modernism, 'Ulysses' by James Joyce is often considered one of the most daunting works in the canon of Western literature. I speak today with a reader who took on the challenge and found it worthwhile. Buy the book here to support local bookstores and this podcast! https://bookshop.org/a/79981/9780679722762 ; Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle and @panic_kyle_booktok); Guest: Matthew Kostmayer (@sonofchamnse); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

Arlan Hess, owner of City Books in Pittsburgh, PA, discusses her reading of "Children of War" by Martin Walker, a mystery novel that features a reoccurring main character named Bruno, Chief of Police. We talk about Arlan's styles of and reasons for reading, as well as literary elements found in Walker's novel. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle and @panic_kyle_booktok); Guest: Arlan Hess (@citybookspgh); City Books: https://citybookspgh.com/ ; Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Support local bookstores and this podcast by buying from my bookshop.org book list, featuring the books discussed on 'What're You Reading?': https://bookshop.org/lists/what-re-you-reading-podcast ; Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

Michael Quinn, a New York-based writer, reads "We Play Ourselves" by Jen Silverman, who is known primarily as a playwright. We discuss the plot of the novel, how to perceive new works when put alongside classics, and the power of James Joyce and other modernist prose. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Michael Quinn (@saintcignatius); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Buy "We Play Ourselves" and help independent bookshops: https://bookshop.org/a/79981/9780399591525 ; Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

Daniel Backer is a New York-based author whose book "Lionel Lancet and the Right Vibe" was released in 2021. He sat down to speak with me about "The Shadow of the Torturer," a science fiction work published in 1980 to great acclaim. We talk about the novel, the genre, and how different books affect one's writing style and technique. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Daniel Backer (@danielbackerauthor); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Daniel's book, Lionel Lancet and the Right Vibe, can be found here: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/daniel-backer/lionel-lancet-and-the-right-vibe/paperback/product-jm7eem.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

Today's book is "Untold Night and Day" by Bae Suah, a South Korean author. In addition to the novel itself, we discuss certain aspects of reading translated literature and how it can convey a different kind of truth, compared to a non-fiction or more culturally familiar work. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Jeff Pettis (@lowercasepoet); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

The topic of discussion today is Patti Smith's memoir about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Smith was a prominent singer-songwriter, poet, and punk icon in the 70s. She and Mapplethorpe formed an iconoclastic duo within the era of American social revolution. She published her memoir "Just Kids" in 2010; it went on to win the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Anna Tesch (@cinnamon.puns); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Get in touch with the show! [email protected]

@fictionalsociallife speaks today about his reading of Bernard Malamud's Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Fixer," a gripping and harrowing story that is based on true events. Buy the book: https://bookshop.org/a/79981/9780374529383 ; Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: @fictionalsociallife (IG, Twitter, TikTok, Youtube); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Get in touch with the show: [email protected]

College counselor Eli Clarke speaks about reading the memoir of Tarana Burke, a founder of the #MeToo movement, as well as the usefulness of developing a proclivity for reading more generally. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Eli Clarke (@mr.c_collegecounselor); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Get in touch with the show: [email protected]

Jenni Johnson, a writer and Californian, is reading a story about a man's search for spirituality. What he finds within the legacy of Saint Francis offers hope and renewal –– two feelings that readers may experience, as well. Host: Kyle Johnson (@panic_kyle); Guest: Jenni Johnson (@jennijohnson @thejennijohnson); Music: Julian Loida (@julianloida); Inquiries: [email protected]