Middle Ground Books: After Hours cover art

Middle Ground Books: After Hours

Middle Ground Books: After Hours

Written by: Middle Ground Books LLC
Listen for free

About this listen

Welcome to Middle Ground Books: After Hours. We’re Lance, Megan, and Debra, and after a long day at our bookstore in Emporia, Kansas, this is where we kick back, grab a few drinks, and talk about everything from books and life to the wild corners of the Nerdosphere. Every topic is fair game and every drink is welcome. We try to keep things family friendly if the drinks allow it. This is our space to unwind, laugh, and connect with each other and the community we love.


Come by the shop, say hi, and tell us what’s on your mind. Who knows, maybe it will end up in an episode. And as always, we’ll meet you in the middle.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cosmic Atom Sound Studios LLC
Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Chapter Nine: The 2025 Epilogue
    Jan 1 2026

    Lance, Debra, and Megan look back at their favorite reads from 2025 and share what they’re excited to read in 2026. The episode touches on what’s ahead for the store, including new events and activities, and ways they’re hoping to make the shop an even more active place for readers to spend time together in the year ahead.


    📖 The Covered Pages


    Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss

    The Everlasting by Alex E. Harrow

    Whitewash by Carey Gillam

    Poisoning the Well by Sharon Udasin and Rachel Frazin

    The Call by Yannick Murphy

    Fast Like a Girl by Mindy Pelz

    The Menopause Reset by Mindy Pelz

    Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire

    The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

    Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe

    The Torchlight by Mura Bofini

    Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear by Daniel Bernstrom

    If this caught your ears, you can find it through the links in the section below.


    Stay connected with Middle Ground Books After Hours by following the store on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The team shares new arrivals, staff picks, community updates, and behind the counter moments.


    Explore upcoming events, book recommendations, and new releases at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.


    If you are near Emporia Kansas, stop by Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street to shop local, meet the hosts, and find your next great read.


    If you cannot visit in person, you can support the store through their Bookshop page at https://www.bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks.


    Every purchase through Bookshop helps keep the shelves full and the community growing. You can also browse expanded reading lists curated by each host.


    Middle Ground Books After Hours is remotely produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. Learn more about creative audio, music production, and media services at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.


    Follow @CosmicAtomSounds on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. If you have a podcast or creative idea waiting to be heard, Cosmic Atom Sound Studios helps bring your vision to life and make it sound. Let us come together and build something new.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    35 mins
  • Chapter Eight: A Dungeon Crawler Carl Christmas
    Dec 25 2025

    This is the final part in the Christmas Special trilogy, closing out the holiday season with a conversation about Dungeon Crawler Carl and how it can actually be attuned to Christmas, kind of like Die Hard.


    📖 The Covered Pages


    Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman


    If this caught your ears, you can find it through the links in the section below.


    Stay connected with Middle Ground Books After Hours by following the store on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The team shares new arrivals, staff picks, community updates, and behind the counter moments.


    Explore upcoming events, book recommendations, and new releases at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.


    If you are near Emporia Kansas, stop by Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street to shop local, meet the hosts, and find your next great read.


    If you cannot visit in person, you can support the store through their Bookshop page at https://www.bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks.


    Every purchase through Bookshop helps keep the shelves full and the community growing. You can also browse expanded reading lists curated by each host.


    Middle Ground Books After Hours is remotely produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. Learn more about creative audio, music production, and media services at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.


    Follow @CosmicAtomSounds on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. If you have a podcast or creative idea waiting to be heard, Cosmic Atom Sound Studios helps bring your vision to life and make it sound. Let us come together and build something new.


    A Thank You to Listeners and Followers:


    The cast of Middle Ground Books would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours, and to say thank you for joining them for the laughter and the in depth conversations about the books they have come to love and wanted to share with you, the listening audience, After Hours once the store is closed for the day. There is more to come, but in the meantime they wish you a safe closeout to the year and an even safer time bringing in the new year.


    Cosmic Atom Sound Studios would also like to thank you, the listener, for the interaction and support, and hope you enjoy every moment of hearing these three voices come through your speakers, headphones, or even your TV. Here’s to many more episodes ahead and, one day, to you visiting their shop in Emporia.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
  • Chapter Seven: Tales for Tots
    Dec 18 2025

    Part two of the three part Christmas special finds the group talking through children’s Christmas books and how those stories land differently now than they did growing up.


    The Covered Pages


    • How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss
    • Jan Brett Christmas and winter titles: The Mitten, The Hat, The Christmas Sweater, Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker, Gingerbread Baby, and The Night Before Christmas
    • How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney by Mac Barnett
    • That Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
    • Elmore the Christmas Moose by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt
    • Murray Christmas by E. G. Keller
    • The Twelve Days of Christmas by Greg Pizzoli
    • A Stickler Christmas by Lane Smith
    • Let it Glow by Marissa Meyer
    • The Christmas Murder Game series: The Christmas Cracker Killer by Alexandra Benedict
    • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
    • A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz
    • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg



    If any of these caught your ears, you can find them through the links in the section below.


    Stay connected with Middle Ground Books After Hours by following the store on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The team shares new arrivals, staff picks, community updates, and behind the counter moments.


    Explore upcoming events, book recommendations, and new releases at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.


    If you are near Emporia Kansas, stop by Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street to shop local, meet the hosts, and find your next great read.


    If you cannot visit in person, you can support the store through their Bookshop page at https://www.bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks.


    Every purchase through Bookshop helps keep the shelves full and the community growing. You can also browse expanded reading lists curated by each host.


    Middle Ground Books After Hours is remotely produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. Learn more about creative audio, music production, and media services at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.


    Follow @CosmicAtomSounds on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. If you have a podcast or creative idea waiting to be heard, Cosmic Atom Sound Studios helps bring your vision to life and make it sound. Let us come together and build something new.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
No reviews yet