PODCAST · arts
All Books Aloud
by Elizabeth Brookbank & Martha Brookbank
Elizabeth and Martha are two sisters who love reading in all of its forms. Elizabeth is an academic librarian by day and fiction writer by night with a lifelong obsession with all things reading and books. Martha is a busy professional who came to her love of reading later in life, but now she’s an audiobook power user. We chat about the books we’re reading and delve a little deeper into a topic related to reading or publishing. We ask questions like, “Does listening to a book count as reading?” “Are genres a good or bad thing?” and “Do you finish every book you start?” If you love reading, nerding out about books, and sassy millennial hot takes, this podcast is for you!
Episodes
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Are we in a literacy crisis? Part 2
Send us Fan Mail If you haven't listened to part 1 of this episode, we recommend doing so before listening to this episode! In part 2, we continue the conversation about literacy by taking a deep dive into some of the studies that have informed recent articles announcing the doom of literacy and...
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Are we in a literacy crisis? Part 1
Send us Fan Mail If you read the news or look at social media, you've probably heard that the U.S. is in the throes of a literacy crisis. Are we? And what do we even mean when we say 'literacy?' Join as we unpack this topic in a special two-part episode. In this first part, we discuss the history...
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How do you feel about your reading in 2025? A look back at the year in books and reading, and a look ahead at what's coming in 2026
Send us Fan Mail We're back with our annual year-end reading round up. Join us as we talk about our year in reading, our favorite books of 2025, the big stories in the world of books and publishing (probably not a spoiler: AI), and what we're looking forward to reading in 2026. We also talk about...
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Is it cozy? Dark academia? What about the romance? For History Lessons author Zoe B. Wallbrook being cross-genre is not a bug, it's a feature [Interview]
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are lucky enough to talk with author Zoe B. Wallbrook about her critically acclaimed debut novel, History Lessons. It's a clever, witty mystery on its surface that touches on deeper, more challenging issues with what the New York Times calls "a satirical…
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What do you know about a whodunnit? A mystery genre deep-dive
Send us Fan Mail Something about this season of cold weather and long, dark nights makes us want to read mysteries. Whether you like 'em cozy, hard-boiled, or realistic and by the book, there's something in this genre for everyone. Join us as we follow the clues to learn about the history…
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Does your reading change during the summer?
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered why we have "summer reads" but not winter or spring or fall reads? We both had various associations with "summer reading," namely from being kids out of school and having the languorous expanse of the summer stretching out in front of us. But we wondered…
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Would you go on a bookish vacation?
Send us Fan Mail Elizabeth just got back from a trip that included a day in the Original Book Town, Hay-on-Wye in Wales in the UK. It was adorable and she went to more bookstores than you can shake a stick at. It also made her wonder what other bookish vacations she could go on. When we started…
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What is the IMLS and why should we care if it is dismantled?
Send us Fan Mail Have you heard about the IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) in the news lately? An Executive Order in mid-March ordered it be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law" and there has been a lot of conversation about it since. But this agency…
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How is working in a bookstore like playing a video game? Interview with the bookseller and events manager at Fireside Books
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a bookstore? According to Rebecca, bookseller and events manager at the independent bookstore Fireside Books, who we interview for this episode, it's a lot like playing a video game! Join us to find out what she means by…
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Is reading a niche hobby?
Send us Fan Mail We were planning to talk about our reading habits and rituals in this episode...but then Elizabeth heard an NPR podcast about how no one reads anymore, at the same time as Martha read multiple articles about how more people bought Rebecca Yarros' latest book than any adult book...
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Is being an audiobook narrator a dream job? Interview with Laura Horowitz
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an audiobook narrator? Or is it perhaps your dream job like it is for Martha? In this episode, we interview audiobook narrator extraordinaire Laura Horowitz. Laura tells us how she got into the business, what a day in the life for an...
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Fact or Fiction? It's bookish mythbusting time!
Send us Fan Mail [Apologies, listeners! We're re-releasing this one because there was an audio glitch in the original episode. If you've already downloaded the episode from Wednesday, try this one instead!] Happy New Year! There are some beliefs, truisms, urban legends, myths, whatever you want…
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How was your year in reading? 2024 reading round-up
Send us Fan Mail Happy Holidays! We're bringing back our year-end reading round up. Join us as we talk about our year in reading, our favorite books of 2024, and what we're looking forward to reading in 2025. We also talk about how our conversation about goal-setting in January of this year...
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Looking to escape into another reality? Join us for a deep-dive into the fantasy genre!
Send us Fan Mail Romantic fantasies have taken the book world by storm in recent years, but fantasy stories that allow us to break free of the rules and limitations of our own world and reality are as old as human history. We wanted to learn more about the genre's history and its variations and...
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Should you join a book club?
Send us Fan Mail Whether or not you'll enjoy a book club depends a lot on your reading style, habits, and preferences. But if you're interested in joining a book club, there is truly one out there for everyone - different types, communities, themes, modalities, and more. Join us as we talk about...
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How does a little girl from Detroit become a librarian icon? Our interview with Nancy Pearl (finally!)
Send us Fan Mail Season 2 is here and our first episode is a big one! In some ways, we have been building up to this moment since the podcast began: we finally chat with Elizabeth's librarian inspiration and the All Books Aloud unofficial mascot, Nancy Pearl. Nancy has had a storied life and a...
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How does a lifelong literary fiction reader end up writing a romance novel? Interview with Sarah T. Dubb, author of Birding With Benefits
Send us Fan Mail In our season finale we talk with author Sarah T. Dubb about her debut novel, Birding With Benefits. It's a fun, flirty, sexy, and touching fake-dating romance novel featuring two protagonists in their 40s who fall in love while - you guessed it - bird-watching together. But…
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Book adaptations - love them or hate them?
Send us Fan Mail Is the book always better than the movie? If you had asked either of us before this episode, we both would have said unequivocally 'yes!' But our discussion showed us that this topic might actually be more nuanced than we realized. Join as we talk about nearly every Jane Austen...
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How do siblings grow up to be different types of readers? A chat with all four Brookbank siblings!
Send us Fan Mail Two very special guests joined us for this episode - the other half of our sibling quartet, Bekka and Mike. Listen in as we talk about our early experiences with reading, the similarities in how our reading journeys started, where our tastes differ, and how we took different…
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Do you re-read books?
Send us Fan Mail The topic of this week's episode is one of the few book-related topics we've found where we disagree! Martha loves to re-read her favorite books, whereas Elizabeth thinks life is too short to re-tread old ground. Martha begins the episode by setting herself the challenge of...
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What's involved in translating a novel? Interview with Polly Mackintosh, French-English translator for Gallic Books
Send us Fan Mail We have explored a lot of different components of the book publishing industry on the podcast, but neither of us know much about the work of literary translation. So, we were thrilled to get the chance to talk with Polly Mackintosh about her work. Polly is Commissioning Editor…
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What books do you bring on vacation?
Send us Fan Mail This episode was recorded in-person and on location during our sister vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii! We kept our reading choices for the trip a secret from one another and did a live reveal, then we talked all about vacation reading while getting a little tipsy on tropical...
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How has BookTok affected books and publishing?
Send us Fan Mail Even if you don't use TikTok, you've likely at least heard of the phenomenon known as BookTok. Individual videos sometimes get millions of views, and the combined hashtags for these videos on TikTok have had hundreds of billions of views. The publishing industry is paying…
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Is it ever okay to throw away books?
Send us Fan Mail What do you do with books that you're finished with? Books you've read or don't want anymore or spilled coffee on? In this episode we discuss what makes a book valuable - to individuals and to society - and why this can sometimes result in anxiety about how books are disposed of....
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What is it about romance?
Send us Fan Mail Romance novels generate over $1.44 billion (with a 'b!') in revenue and are highest-earning, biggest, and fastest growing genre of fiction in the book industry. And yet, if you're a romance reader, you've probably had to defend it to someone at some point or maybe you've even…
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What are book hangovers and what can you do about them?
Send us Fan Mail If you're a reader, you know the feeling: you turn the last page of a book and want to cry that it's over. You immediately feel bereft. You can't stop thinking (and even talking) about the characters, the story. You wish you could turn back time to when you were still reading or...
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Do young people still read for fun?
Send us Fan Mail The idea that "the kids just don't read anymore" is a tale as old as time. And, it is something that Elizabeth decided to investigate head-on in her role as an academic librarian. The results of the research study she designed and ran, interviewing just under 100 university...
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Should you set a yearly reading goal?
Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! Who doesn't love a good year-end round up?! Join us as we talk about our year in reading, our favorite books of 2023, and what we're looking forward to reading in 2024. We discuss the pros and cons of setting reading goals, complete with research that will not…
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Are books good holiday gifts?
Send us Fan Mail We say yes! But there's a way to do it well. As with any type of gift-giving, there are some pitfalls to avoid... For example, arbitrarily giving a book to someone because you like it, or because you've latched on to one detail about them and thus neglected the bigger picture.…
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How do you read so much?
Send us Fan Mail If you're a reader, you've probably had someone ask you this question. We unpack what this question sometimes really means (How do you have so much free time? Must be nice having no obligations! I'm so busy I could never find time to read. You must be some kind of a superhero!)…
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Could reading doorways be a substitute for genres?
Send us Fan Mail In this bonus episode, we talk about something that didn't come up in the genres episode but should have. It’s a concept called the four reading doorways. Could it be an alternative to genres? Nancy Pearl thinks so! Join as we talk about what the four reading doorways are, learn...
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Can you separate the book from the author?
Send us Fan Mail CW: discussions of sexual assault and other crimes, racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry, as well as Zionism (all in reference to books and authors from the 19th/20th centuries, rather than to current news). Can you separate the book from the author? The art from the...
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What makes a good audiobook narrator?
Send us Fan Mail What makes a good audiobook narrator? Is it enough to have a good voice? To be a good reader? A good actor? Something else? What about on the side of the reader? There are certainly things that make the experience of listening to an audiobook narrator better or worse for people....
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Do genres help or hinder your reading?
Send us Fan Mail Do genres help or hinder your reading? Some people are very loyal to their genres of choice. Genres can be a way to connect with other readers, provide a language to talk about books you love using tropes, and help steer you in the direction of books you may like when you visit a...
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Do you finish every book you start?
Send us Fan Mail Do you finish every book you start? Why or why not? Some people feel a strong moral imperative to finish a book once they've started reading it. Other people will mark a book DNF (Did Not Finish) after a few pages if they're not able to get into it and move on to the next book....
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Do audiobooks count as reading?
Send us Fan Mail Do audiobooks count as reading? And does it really matter? Why do some people seem to care so much about making this distinction? Where do the moral overtones surrounding reading that underlie this question come from? Arguments around this topic are often centered on the benefits...
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Trailer
Send us Fan Mail Welcome to All Books Aloud. Here is a short intro to the show. Subscribe for more from us soon! Support the show ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Support us! If you liked this episode, please consider becoming a monthly supporter of the show:...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Elizabeth and Martha are two sisters who love reading in all of its forms. Elizabeth is an academic librarian by day and fiction writer by night with a lifelong obsession with all things reading and books. Martha is a busy professional who came to her love of reading later in life, but now she’s an audiobook power user. We chat about the books we’re reading and delve a little deeper into a topic related to reading or publishing. We ask questions like, “Does listening to a book count as reading?” “Are genres a good or bad thing?” and “Do you finish every book you start?” If you love reading, nerding out about books, and sassy millennial hot takes, this podcast is for you!
HOSTED BY
Elizabeth Brookbank & Martha Brookbank
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does All Books Aloud have?
All Books Aloud currently has 37 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is All Books Aloud about?
Elizabeth and Martha are two sisters who love reading in all of its forms. Elizabeth is an academic librarian by day and fiction writer by night with a lifelong obsession with all things reading and books. Martha is a busy professional who came to her love of reading later in life, but now she’s an...
How often does All Books Aloud release new episodes?
All Books Aloud has 37 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to All Books Aloud?
You can listen to All Books Aloud on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts All Books Aloud?
All Books Aloud is created and hosted by Elizabeth Brookbank & Martha Brookbank.
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