Episode 158: Kiss Summer Goodbye!

We’re back, Slushies! Did you miss us? We missed being with you. Much of our time this summer was spent reading an array of excellent books and today we share that abundance with you. Our wide-ranging conversation touches on blockbusters, novels, poetry, craft books, and (would you believe), an encyclical from Pope Leo XIV. Kathy gets a gold star, summer-reading-challenge style, for the stack of books she read on the beach. Dagne weighs in on the plus side for audio books. And several editors are fans of book-of-the month style subscriptions, whether from Book of the Month, or indie bookstores like The Lynx and Main Street Books. Joining in on the discussion is special guest, Karen Hildebrand, one of our dedicated PBQ editors.   All this talk of reading has us wondering how or if we ought to keep track of all of our reads. An online platform? A spiral notebook? How do you track your reads, Slushies? Let us know and, while you’re at it, share your summer reading faves with us. We’ll be back at the Slush Pile for our next episode but we hope you enjoy our reading enthusiasms. Thanks, as always, for listening.   At the table: Dagne Forrest, Karen Hildebrand, Jason Schneiderman, Kathleen Volk Miller, Lisa Zerkle, Derek Grebis (Sound Engineer)   PBQ Staff Reading Recs:   Marion Wrenn Teaching Writing Through Journaling: Journaling as a Tool for Learning and Well-Being  by Kathleen Volk Miller Magnifica Humanitas by Pope Leo XIV Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limón   Kathleen Volk Miller Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Gladiola Girls by Marion Wrenn 11/22/63 by Stephen King   Jason Schneiderman Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi Final Slash Boy by Stephen S. Mills Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney   Dagne Forrest Endling by Maria Reva PBQ Issue 5 Chandelier by David O’Meara   Samantha Neugebauer The Au Pair by Teddy Wayne The Enlargement of Life by John Kekes Tutelary Tales by Villy Sorensen   Lisa Zerkle Orbital by Samantha Harvey A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry by Mary Oliver A Stranger is an Animal Who Does Not Sing by Brian Teare from Albion Books: A Poetry Micropress   Karen Hildebrand Her Read by Jennifer Sperry Steinorth A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler by Nathan Kernan Wrong Norma by Anne Carson (Bonus! See PBQ editor Samantha Neugebauer’s review of Wrong Norma here)   Emily Fedon It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories by Sigrid Nunez Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz   Alexa Josaphouitch Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Most Eligible by Isabelle Engel