Despite being fairly well-versed in 20th-century fantasy, Mervyn Peake and his Gormenghast series has flown completely under our radar until now. It's a strange, florid, disjointed book with some fascinating character portraits, and also the most detailed description of a dude taking a bite of a pear that we have ever read. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed...

Our previous show-within-a-show concludes! In this longread project, we worked our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters got these episodes monthly, but every two months we combined them for general consumption. If you haven't heard, our current longread project is Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's ILIAD. That's right - STOP! HOMER TIME is back! But first, our final Sandman episodes. In Episode 9: THE KINDLY ONES, things come to a...

In this episode, two gamers sit down to talk about one of the buzziest books of 2022. Zevin's blockbuster novel spans 30 years of advancement in technology and in the friendship of Sadie and Sam, two gifted game designers working out how they fit into each other's lives. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you make an AI too smart, you also give it anxiety and depression and an appetite for serialized television. These are the things that motivate Murderbot, the protagonist of the many Murderbot Diaries stories that Martha Wells has released in the short time between 2017 and now. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on...

Percy Jackson and his pals are back in another mythology-packed middle-grade adventure story, this time (mostly) patterned after the voyages of our old pal Odysseus. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mssr. Merseault only likes a few things, unfortunately he must live his life doing plenty of other things for people he doesn't particularly care about. Such is the story of this seminal work of 20th-century fiction and absurdist philosophy. Join us as we grapple with an indifferent universe (and a compelling translation by Matthew Ward). Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

What if a dog was your POV character? What if that dog's owner was JACK THE RIPPER? What if there was a game but you didn't know who was playing? All of these questions and more get asked in our Spooktober bonus episode. To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We joined Melody and Sabrina for episode 300 of Heaving Bosoms, where we all chatted about the made-to-order, big-on-TikTok, new-adult romantasy that is Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing. (It may be about the fourth wing, but it's the first of a planned five books). Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will be revisiting Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. This episode is a free teaser for our Stop! Homer Time project. Patreon supporters can get new Stop! Homer Time episodes monthly (Episode 1 is up right now!), but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption. On this...

Based on the hit film--just kidding. Blatty's novel was swiftly turned into a landmark film adaptation just a few years after its release. And it's easy to see why: hauntings, sad priests, the patriarchy's fears about the social mobility of women. People couldn't get enough of that stuff. So let's dive in and hope we don't get possessed! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

How would the "breakdown" phase of an apocalypse novel function if the characters involved had already survived through multiple apocalypses? That's the perspective that this week's book brings, in addition to the subtle spooks that come from anticipating the end of the world. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if H.G. Well's classic tale of humanimals created by a mad scientist were recontextualized in southeast Mexico? Would you find yourself saying that the Yucatan is less an island and more of a peninsula? Sure, you might say that - but why waste time on pedantry when you can engage with Moreno-Garcia's themes of colonialism, paternalism, and class conflict! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California...

If you've ever done surgery on a dog to make it more like a guy, only to set it loose in the wilderness and gradually watch it shift back into being a dog, maybe you'll have some sympathy for Doctor Moreau. Otherwise it's pretty hard to get fully onboard with his whole badly-make-animals-into-people gambit. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Welcome to Spooktober 2023! We've all been through a bad break-up, right? We've all moved away to start fresh, we've all started a new job, we've all befriended witchy spider-ladies and felt a strange new power growing within us. Right? Tale as old as time. We're joined this week by Natasha from the UNspoiled! podcast family, hear more of her work at unspoiledpodcast.com. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to...

Welcome to our current show-within-a-show! We're working our way through Neil Gaiman's signature graphic novel series THE SANDMAN. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption. In Episode 7: BRIEF LIVES, Gaiman digs deep into the concept of lifetimes while following Delirium and Dream on a quest to find their missing brother.  In Episode 8: WORLD'S END,  a reality storm leaves people from multiple worlds stranded at a...

This novel was the genesis of the Blade Runner film franchise, which means like many books it gets eclipsed a bit by its adaptation. But does the movie have a gadget you can use to make yourself feel specific emotions, including the emotion that makes you want to use the gadget more? I didn't think so. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Our September bonus episode about the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis

This "Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream" is a landmark of Gonzo journalism, a sensational writing style of which Thompson is the OG. Thankfully, we did not have to journey to Las Vegas on our own. We're joined this week by Mel and Dave from Strong Sense of Place, a website and podcast dedicated to literary travel and books we love. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our...

What if you got playing cards in the mail? Playing cards that told you to help random people in your community? Would you do it? Could you do it? What does "helping" mean? And who is even sending these cards?? We answer MOST of these questions as we discuss Markus Zusak's The Messenger (aka I Am the Messenger). This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC go to Microdose.com and use code Overdue. Our theme music was composed by Nick...

Our friends Renata and Kait are back to talk with us about Colleen Hoover and her debut novel Slammed. We dive into her recent reign as Queen of BookTok, the appeal of slam poetry, the lack of dads, and whether or not this work of New Adult Fiction worked for us. Find more episodes of The Worst Bestsellers at worstbestsellers.com. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was...

It's time to meet the Queen of Suspense! To kick off her reign, Mary Higgins Clark spins a tale about a wrongfully accused women trying to reinvent herself -- only to be nearly caught by the monster she thought she'd left behind. It's more thrilling than mysterious, so it shouldn't be a surprise that we DO get an answer to the novel's titular question. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy...

You don't end up liking everyone by the end of Madame Bovary, but in kind of a funny way? Come for the book talk, stay for the butchered French pronunciation.  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who is Mr. Benedict? And why did he recruit four outstanding orphans to uncover and stop a madman's secret plot to takeover the world? Solve the puzzles hidden in this episode to find out! (Don't worry, you can just listen. There aren't any puzzles...or ARE there?!?)  Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a book's plot and characters don't break a ton of ground in and of themselves, you're left hoping that the writing and the perspective will be enough to make a book interesting—luckily for us, Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation is insightful and entertaining despite its narrow scope and well-trod material. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick...

Bring on the battalion of Dad Books! Cornwell started writing the Richard Sharpe novels because he wanted something like Horatio Hornblower on land. Well, we haven't read any Hornblower yet but we can attest that this book sure is about a British rifleman fighting in the army during the Napoleonic Wars! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.