Jeannette Rivera

Episode 50: A Man Called Ove: Is Curmudgeon a Lifestyle Choice?

July 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 15 mins

a man called ove, curmudgeon, fredrik backman, translated books

Susan, Jeannette, and Meredith look into translated books and what makes it a good translation or not. Then they bring out their inner curmudgeon as they discuss A Man Called Ove.

Episode 49: A Discovery of Witches: I’m a Little Sassy This Morning

June 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 4 mins

a discovery of witches, deborah harkness, eclectic readathon, fantasy, rereads, urban fantasy, vampires, witches

Meredith, Jeannette, and Tara talk all about re-reads and what goes into their decision to re-read a book. Then they get sassy while discussing A Discovery of Witches and wish they had a house as cool as the Bishop’s

Episode 48: The Last Black Unicorn: I Listened With My Eyes

May 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 14 mins

last black unicorn, memoir, poc, tiffany haddish

Jeannette, Susan, and Tara discuss free comics, what our memoirs would be about, and give you dates for the upcoming Eclectic Readathon in June! Then we discuss Tiffany Haddish’s memoir The Last Black Unicorn and all the many humorous and not-so-humorous topics it covers.

Episode 47: The Sparrow: This is Why the Prime Directive Exists!

April 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 19 mins

Susan, Jeannette, and Meredith confess the size of their TBR along with habits like how they decide what goes on their TBR and how they remove a book from their TBR. Then they take flight and discuss The Sparrow and how it’s more than just Jesuits in space.

Episode 46: Shadow and Bone: We’re Smart, Okay, We Know Things

March 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 26 mins

fantasy, leigh bardugo, shadow and bone, world building, ya fantasy

Susan, Jeannette, and Meredith talk about what they like and don’t like when it comes to world-building, (hint: food descriptions are always appreciated) and mention some books they think did it well. They then discuss Shadow and Bone, the first book in a Young Adult Fantasy Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and are quite happy with the color-coded science-based magic system. Yay, organization!

Episode 44: Sorcerer to the Crown: He’s Good-looking, I Trust Him, Too Bad He’s Such a Drag

January 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 16 mins

book resolutions, bookolutions, fantasy, regency, sorcerer to the crown, zen cho

In this episode, Susan, Tara, and Jeannette review how they did on last year’s reading resolutions and set new goals for this year. Then they discuss Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown and discuss all the ways Regency romances and fantasy novels both work and don’t work when mixed together.

Episode 43: Her Body and Other Parties: It's OK to Not Be OK

December 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 45 mins

carmen maria machado, feminism, her body and other parties, horror, lgbtq, short stories

All 4 hosts come together to wrap up 2017 with favorite books they have read. Also, 2 fun announcements about the 11th Hour Readathon and the ER Mad Libs reading challenge! Then they dive into the Main Read of Her Body and Other Parties. WARNING: Adult themes and trigger warnings of sexual violence.

Episode 42: Pachinko: I Get It!

November 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 12 mins

historical fiction, holiday, immigration, min jin lee, pachinko, south korea, wish list

The hosts discuss what’s on their holiday wish list because we can always use more bookish things. Then they discuss the characters of Pachinko as well as the symbolism of Pachinko and Korean society in Japan.

Episode 40: This Savage Song: Heavy-Handed But Awesome

September 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 18 mins

authors, auto-buy authors, this savage song, ve schwab, victoria schwab

The hosts discuss auto-buy authors where they can't help but give them our money. They also discuss Schwab's upcoming books. Then they dive in to This Savage Song and cut the discussion short because they could all talk about this book for hours.

Episode 39: The Captive Mind: Finish A Chapter, Eat A Cookie

August 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 7 mins

captive mind, did not finish, dnf, nonfiction, philosophy, political, socialism

Susan, Tara, and Jeannette talk about DNF'ing a book; why do you DNF, what makes you DNF, would you go back to a DNF? All this leads to a discussion of The Captive Mind. We discuss if it has captivated our minds.

Episode 38: Wallbanger: Entertain Me, Please

July 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 15 mins

alice clayton, contemporary, romance, wallbanger

In this episode, Meredith, Susan, and Jeannette wrap up the Eclectic Readathon and ER Madlibs and announce the winners! We speak on the weird happiness of adulthood, and how we overcome reading slumps. Finally, we discuss Wallbanger - its characters, the unreality of Caroline’s cat, and the reality of sex in romance. Disclaimer: Slight Mature Content

Episode 36: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: A YA With Parents!

June 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 28 mins

benjamin alire saenz, coming of age, lgbtq, sexuality, ya

The Eclectic Readers Podcast is two years old! In celebration, we’re gearing up for our next Eclectic Readathon (starting Friday, June 23rd at 8:00pm EST) and the end of our first ER Mad Libs Reading Challenge (submissions due at the end of the Readathon.)

In this episode we talk about books that helped shape us into who we are today and discuss the Young Adult (YA) book “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” which focuses on two teenage boys discovering their personal, cultural, and sexual identities.

Episode 35: Romeo and/or Juliet: Everything Would be Better with a Buff Captain Picard

May 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 5 mins

choose your own path, retelling, romeo and juliet, romeo and or juliet, ryan north, shakespeare

In this episode, Tara, Jeannette, and Meredith discuss what makes a good “retelling” of a classic story as well as share some of their favorite and least favorite (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) retellings of all time. We’re also ramping up for the end of our ERMadlib challenge and the start of our 24 hour readathon! Now with new great prizes! Then we dive into the multiple endings and laughter of Ryan North’s “Romeo and/or Juliet.”

Episode 34: Love Warrior: Mind the Gap

April 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 3 mins

glennon doyle melton, love warrior, marriage, memoir

Susan has updates on our reading challenges, while Jeannette has a stack of new books to recommend. And we’re all excited about the PRIZES we’ll be handing out in June! Then we talk about the memoir Love Warrior and gaps between what we want and what authors give us.

Episode 33: Girl Waits With Gun: Future Historical Fiction

March 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 6 mins

amy stewart, girl waits with gun, historical fiction

Susan, Meredith, and Jeannette discuss historical fiction: what is it, what isn’t it, and do we like it? Then we dig into Amy Stewart’s novel Girl Waits with Gun, and the complicated relationship between sisters, mothers and daughters, and women, sheriffs, and Singer salesmen.

Episode 31: Blood at the Root: Not for the Faint of Heart

February 28th, 2017  |  1 hr 34 mins

In this episode we welcome a new guest host and book blogger: Stacie! We talk about some exciting podcast news, like our new website and upcoming author interview, and then we discuss some of our favorite POC (Person of Color) literary characters and this tough but important read: Blood at the Root.