Each week, freelance writer and lifelong bookworm Alli Hoff Kosik will challenge a guest to reread a literary throwback or to experience for the first time ever...
Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2025 with a conversation with a friend from across the pond, highlighting a series and book that's been a particular favorite for young readers in the U.K. Jacqueline Wilson's Girls in Love takes center stage! Tune into Episode 307 for discussions about fake boyfriends, shifting friendships, diet culture, self-image, and more.TW: attempted assault, body image, diet cultureLucy Jane Wood is an online content creator, avid reader, and coziness-seeker. Her debut novel is Rewitched. Follow her on Instagram @lucyjanewood and YouTube.CHECK OUT LUCY'S BOOK HERE! Rewitched by Lucy Jane WoodCHECK OUT LUCY'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION: The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie LeongMORE READING: "Girls in Love" (Publishers Weekly, 1997)"Are we too young for Jacqueline Wilson's Girls in Love" (The Guardian, 2011)"Book Review — Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson" (Yipee Ki-Yay, Motherbooker)"Jacqueline Wilson to release new adult sequel to Girls in Love book series" (Independent, 2024)"Girls in Love" (Jacqueline Wilson Wiki)"Everything that happened in the Jacqueline Wilson Girls series" (Penguin, 2024)"Review — Girls in Love — Jacqueline Wilson" (Blog of a Bookaholic, 2012)"Why do Jacqueline Wilson's books resonate with young people, especially girls?" (Quora)"'These books captured our hearts': Jacqueline Wilson's Girls series is back—and millennials are rejoicing" (The Guardian, 2024) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
--------
57:45
Episode 306: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) (with Kat Tang)
The Magic Tree House has been making readers, history buffs, and science geeks of kids for more than thirty years—and at long last, SSR dives in! Episode 306 covers all things Magic Tree House with a special focus on the first installment, Dinosaurs Before Dark. Alli and her guest chat about everything from the origin of Magic Tree House and unpopular opinions about the books to the allure of treehouses and time travel. Also... dinosaurs.Kat Tang is a former lawyer turned fiction writer with an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Her debut novel Five-Star Stranger has made most-anticipated and must-read lists by many outlets. Follow her on Instagram @tangkat.CHECK OUT KAT'S BOOK HERE! CHECK OUT KAT'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen HoRevolutionary Road by Richard YatesHalf a Life by Darin StraussMORE READING: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Magic Tree House" (Big Books, Little Ears)"30 years and 65 books later, Mary Pope Osborne reflects on 'Magic Tree House'" (Today, 2022)"Book Reviews: An Unpopular Opinion about the Popular Magic Tree House Series" (Dragon Bite Books & Crafts, 2021)"Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Magic Tree House Collection" (First Book, 2022)"Series Review: The Magic Tree House" (The Starving Artist, 2017)"The Magic Tree House's Magical Popularity" (Pine Reads Review, 2021) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
--------
47:09
Episode 305: WTF #5 | WTF Do You Do to Write a Memoir? (with Molly Roden Winter)
Alli and Abby are BACK for the fifth installment of SSR: WriTing Friends, this time for a conversation with memoirist Molly Roden Winter about the personal, vulnerable, intimate experience of putting one's own story on paper for public consumption. They put their heads together to consider the similarities and differences between writing fiction and writing memoir and tackle some specific aspects of the former: the nature of memory, the ethics of reviewing memoirs, how to edit your personal experience, reading your old journals, having hard conversations, and what we can learn from someone else's story.Molly's New York Times bestselling debut memoir—More: A Memoir of Open Marriage—is available wherever books are sold. Follow her on Instagram @mollyrwinter.CHECK OUT MOLLY'S BOOK HERE!CHECK OUT MOLLY'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
--------
59:09
Episode 304: The Catcher in the Rye (with Beth Kander)
On Episode 304, Alli and her guest right the wrong (???) of somehow missing The Catcher in the Rye in their reading lives. In this juicy, thoughtful episode, they consider the book's place in the American canon and on school reading lists everywhere. They chat about sad boy fiction, Holden Caulfield's complicated character and legacy, love bombing, New York City as a character, teen angst, slut shaming, and more.TW: death by suicide, sexual assaultBeth Kander is a writer with tangled roots in the Midwest and Deep South. Described as a "genre-defying author and playwright" (Oxford American), her work has been called "riveting" and "habit-forming." I Made It Out of Clay is her latest novel. Follow Beth on Instagram @bethkander.CHECK OUT BETH'S BOOKS:I Made It Out of ClayDo Not Eat This Book!CHECK OUT BETH'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:The Husbands by Holly GramazioThe Measure by Nikki ErlickNight Owls by A.R. VishyCleat Cute by Meryl WilsnerMORE READING: "Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — review" (The Guardian, 2012)"The Meaning of The Catcher in the Rye" (Thought Catalog, 2024)"Story Skeleton — The Catcher in the Rye" (The Darling Axe, 2023)"From everyteen to annoying: are today's young readers turning on The Catcher in the Rye?" (The Guardian, 2019)"He's Not Holden!" (Slate, 2013)"I Hated Catcher in the Rye As A Teen — But It's Exactly The Book I Needed As An Adult" (Bustle, 2018) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
--------
1:04:12
Episode 303: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (with Sarai Johnson)
It's our first-ever holiday episode! No matter what you celebrate at this time of year, Episode 303 will get your wheels turning as we unpack The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Alli and her guest chat about the surprisingly religious bent of the book, among other things: the unruly children trope, nativity plays, the book's new adaptation, fatphobia, and disappearing narrators.Sarai Johnson is the author of Grown Women. Follow her on Instagram @sarajwrites.CHECK OUT SARAI'S BOOK HERE!CHECK OUT SARAI'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:Demon Copperhead by Barbara KingsolverGather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory EdimMORE READING:"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Early Review" (Love Thy Nerd, 2024)"Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson" (The Story Sanctuary, 2020)"Book Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (A Journey of Words, 2022)"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever—Book Review" (Simply Learning Together, 2022)"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (Bookology, 2019)"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in Public School?" (Reddit, 2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Each week, freelance writer and lifelong bookworm Alli Hoff Kosik will challenge a guest to reread a literary throwback or to experience for the first time ever a book they may have missed as a kid. After that, they'll be asked to spill all the feels and all the opinions about that book on the air for your podcast-listening pleasure. Every Tuesday, you can find us breaking down an old school read from our tween and teen days on a new episode of the show. We'll cover everything from The Baby-Sitters Club to Holes, Nancy Drew to Harry Potter. This time around, we're a little wiser (yay!), a lot older (ugh.), and of legal age to drink wine... so we'll have a lot to say. Happy Reading! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ireland