Required Reading

This week, Mike Carroll raps poetic about the role a mouse book played in his literary life. We talked about Redwall by Brian Jacques, volume 1 of 22; them mice sure get up to mischief!

Co-hosted: Nic Hoffmann and Mike Carroll

"One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time   The book that inspired a legend—the first novel in the beloved, bestselling Redwall saga. Welcome to ...

We are back, baby! Sorry about the delay, life got in the way, but we are back with a graphic novel, this time the Franco-Belgian super star Tintin with Tintin and the Blue Lotus by Hergé. The world's most famous boy(?) detective helps predict World War II and is highly critical of the Europeans in Asia. Also, comedy! Join us next episode for Redwall by Brian Jacques

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann

Co-Host: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll

From ...

This week we complete the saga and talk The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien. Since the first season, we have had a guest episode with the great Robert von Hagen, but now, in season four we have completed the Tolkien series. "What about the Silmarillion?" You may asked. "WE HAVE COMPLETED THE SERIES." I reply. Enjoy this indepth thematic episode as we crown a king, liberate the Shire, and mourn some hob...

This week on Required Reading, we talk race, mental illness, and the Incredible Hulk. We read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but just want to talk about the rabbits. 

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann

Co-hosts: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll

From the Penguin Classics back cover: "They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "fa...

This week we return to the universe of the Hitchhiker’s Guide as we discuss the sequel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann

Panel: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll

"Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," “Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist.”—The Washington Post Book World Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons? Time for a cup of t...

This week, for our 50th episode, we talk memoirs, the art scene of the 1970s, the late Robert Mapplethorpe, and the incomparable Patti Smith. We talked Just Kids by Patti Smith. 

"WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

“Reading rocker Smith’s account of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, it’s hard not to believe in fate. How else to explain the chance encounter that threw them together, allowing both to blossom? Qui...

This week we deal with an airborne plague that kills everyone to get our mind off of current events. We read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. 

Back of the book from Vintage: 

"NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • Set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattere...

This week we get alllll spooky and cinematic! We talk Zombie apocalypse with World War Z by Max Brooks (also, this one has an incredible audiobook)!

Thanks for reading along with us! Our next book will be Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, because we just can't get optimistic.

Host: Nic

Co-host: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll

"We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have ...

We start this season in earnest with a classic Cold War espionage thriller, but I can't remember which one. We read The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. 

From the Bantam summary: "His memory is a blank. His bullet-ridden body was fished from the Mediterranean Sea. His face has been altered by plastic surgery. A frame of microfilm has been surgically implanted in his hip. Even his name is a mystery. Marked for death, he is racing f...

This month in Required Reading we talk about Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The book that coined the term 'snowflake,' gave us the rules, and made you question fancy soap.  From a philosophical work that came out before 9/11, clearly, join us as we meet Tyler Durden. 

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann

Co-Hosted: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll

From the W. W. Norton book description: "

The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight ...

This week we revisit 2020, I mean the Vichy/Nazi occupation of the south of France. We were infected with The Plague, Camus' longer, somehow, more depressing work. 

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann

Panel: Mike Burns and Mike Carroll 

"The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation, and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person...

This month we start with Mike Burns' choice for the high school book he hated, the not subtly homoerotic Billy Budd by Herman Melville. 

"Billy Budd, Sailor has been called the best short novel ever written. In his brilliantly condensed prose, Herman Melville fashions a legal parable in which reason and intellect prove incapable of preserving innocence in the face of evil. For all those who feel themselves threatened by a hostile a...

This week we revisit the Gothic Horror, Bildungsroman, potential black comedy, Victorian Middle Class novel that is Jane Eyre. This was Nic's selection for the book he read in high school and hated, but will a reread make it better? It certainly won't make it shorter! 

From the back of the Penguin Classics Edition (where the cover art comes from as well): "A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of ...

This week on Required Reading we revisit dental trauma as we talk Smile by Raina Telgemeier. 

From the jacket: "Raina Telgemeier's #1 New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir based on her childhood! Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again br...

This episode of Required Reading we talk about the western classic, Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. This classic of the 1920s is an American novel highlighting the creation of a southwestern diocese, involving interesting characters, good discussions and a crisis of faith. Also, a book we almost couldn't record on we struggled so much with, until we had a great discussion on it. 

Host: Dr. Nic Hoffmann, Mike Burns, ...

This week we read the Christmas Classic that you have been expecting since the beginning, we talk A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The traditional Christmas tale made famous by the likes of Michael Caine, Bill Murray, Patrick Stewart, Alistair Slim, and Mr. Magoo. We talk the ins and outs of poultry factory farming, hauntings, and Nic resists the urge to do a bad Michael Caine impression; though Kermit may escape. 

Please note...