Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat with our guest Michelle Larking, Secondary ELA teacher at Galileo Magnet High School and enthusiastic supporter of reading and literature. Michelle shares her recent reading journey in pursuit of meeting her Goodreads goal, Galileo’s new library at the John M. Langston campus, and whether humans will ever run out of new stories to tell. Russell certainly won’t and we don’t think authors will either.

Books we discuss include:

• “My Friends” and others by Frederik Backman
• “Monster in the Moonlight” by Annelise Ryan
• “The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans
• “Dear Mr. Henshaw” by Beverly Cleary
• “You Know Me All” by Ring Lardner
• “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea” by Yukio Mishima, translated by John Nathan
• “The Elephant Vanishes” by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, Alfred Birnbaum
• “We All Want Impossible Things” and “Sandwich” by Catherine Newman
• “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, “Evidence of the Affair” and others by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• “Abscond” by Abraham Verghese
• “Transcendent Gardening” by Ed Falco
• “We Are All Guilty Here” by Karin Slaughter
• “Blob” by Maggie Su
• “Poor Deer” and “Choette” by Claire Oshetsky
• “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
• “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler
• “The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Tony Moore
• Poetry by Langston Hughes
• “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto
• “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah
• “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
• “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko
• “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson
• “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop

Russell, Rachel, and Rachael chat about our February reading challenge, books based solely on loving the cover. Listen in as we delve into our personal aesthetic, poorly describe colors, and make a lot of fish puns.

Books we discuss include:

• “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna
• “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger
• “The Revenant” by Michael Punke
• “Bog Queen” by Anna North
• “My Vampires” series by Jenna Levine
• “Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon” by Monte Burke
• “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko
• “Book Nooks: Inspired Ideas for Cozy Reading Corners and Stylish Book Displays” by Vanessa Dina, Claire Gilhuly, photography by Antonis Achilleos
• “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
• “The Overstory” by Richard Powers
• “Direct Descendant” by Tanya Huff
• “The Eyes are the Best Part” by Monika Kim
• “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger
• “The Guide” by Peter Heller

In this final installment of a special 5-episode weekly series, Russell, Rachael, Rachel, and Jess M. share meaningful quotes from favorite authors. Take just a few moments out of your day to "Be Inspired in 2026!"

Quotes from:

• "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• "Time Piece" by Andrea Gibson
• "What You Are Looking for Is in the Library" by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
• "Where Wolves Don't Die" by Anton Treuer
• "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein
• "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss
• "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T.J. Klune
• "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin