Meredith Bartlett

Episode 54: Special interview: V. E. Schwab

October 31st, 2018  |  32 mins 49 secs

author interview, v.e. schwab, vengeful, vicious

Jeannette and Meredith sat down with Victoria Schwab to discuss everything from her writing process, to morally gray characters, monsters, comics, and... The Princess Bride! Whether you’re already a fan of her books or new to her work, you’ll get something out of this interview. (Plus, it’s spoiler-free, so listen away!)

Episode 53: The Round House: All the Silver Badges

October 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 19 mins

fiction, louise erdrich, national book award winner, native american, round house, trigger warning

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape, Violence Against Women. Tara, Meredith, and Susan meet to talk about award-winning books. Does it matter? Do they care? Are award winning books reflective of the current culture? Then they discuss The Round House; not just about the terrible event, but how the government had affected their society and their sense of justice.

Episode 52: The Bear and the Nightingale: Two Rants for the Price of One

September 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 14 mins

book to movie, fantasy, female protagonist, katherine arden, russian folklore, the bear and the nightingale

Susan loves Crazy Rich Asians, so we had to discuss film adaptations! Are they ever better than the book? Jeannette and Meredith may have Feelings about this. Then we talk The Bear and the Nightingale, Vasya’s house elves, and country bumpkins who end up in cities.

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 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 45: American War: We're the Old Guy on the Bus

February 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 6 mins

american war, dystopian, fiction, just trust me, weird books

Party for 2 with Meredith and Susan! They discuss weird books that they love to recommend and just needs people to trust them on it. Then they discuss Sarat from American War on how war changes a person and how likely another American Civil can be.

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 41: Dark Matter: My Brain Hurts!

October 15th, 2017  |  1 hr 9 mins

banned books, blake crouch, dark matter, scifi

Meredith, Susan, and Tara discuss book banning along with some of their favorite banned books. Do you think books should ever be banned? Then they take a deep dive into the novel Dark Matter and leave with headaches after talking about the multiverse...though, there’s probably other versions of the co-hosts out there that have a total grasp on this science…is your head spinning yet?

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 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 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.