Tara Newman

Episode 67: The Importance of Being Earnest: Bumbleberry

July 15th, 2019  |  50 mins 59 secs

importance of being earnest, oscar wilde, play, satire

All 4 ladies are in one place celebrating the book club’s 10th anniversary! We talk a little about the Good Omens TV show on Amazon Prime, a little about how we love the theater, and a lot about being earnest.

Episode 66: A Thousand Mornings: I Was Told There'd Be Food?

June 15th, 2019  |  1 hr 6 mins

a thousand mornings, mary oliver, poetry

Tara finally gets her poetry episode! Jeannette and Meredith talk with her about their favorite poets, poetry memories from school, and then they discuss Mary Oliver’s poetry collection A Thousand Mornings.

Episode 59: City of Ghosts: Un-Veiled

March 15th, 2019  |  1 hr 1 min

city of ghosts, ghosts, middle grade, victoria schwab

Tara, Susan, and Jeannette discuss Middle-Grade books and how they may be subject to 'middle child syndrome'. They discuss what makes a middle-grade book and what their favorites were. Then they go into City of Ghosts and this could be a solid middle-grade book.

Episode 58: Good Omens: I Will Do A Seance For That

February 15th, 2019  |  1 hr 10 mins

Susan, Tara, and Meredith talk about the ineffable. But before that they discuss books that have been co-authored. Have they really not read that many? And the most important question: Who would they love to see team up on a book. Then, they go into the ineffable event of the apocalypse.

Episode 57: Educated: Let Me Get My Serious Face On

January 15th, 2019  |  1 hr 14 mins

All four ladies are here to set their 2019 reading resolutions and to look back on how they did with their 2018 ones. Then they discuss the life of Tara Westover as told in her memoir “Educated.”

Episode 56: The Drunken Botanist: Fantastic Booze and Where to Find Them

December 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 13 mins

amy stewart, drunken botanist, nonfiction, reference

ALL FOUR OF US are here to review the year and pick our favorite books and episode discussions! We talk The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart - the facts we found intoxicating and the drinks we found tempting. Meredith also has gift discounts, Jeannette goes sleuthing, Tara shares her travels, and Susan sneaks new books between rereads! Last but not least, we’ve got a new Readathon coming at you (with a prize!)!

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 51: America's First Daughter: Foiled Again!

August 15th, 2018  |  1 hr 6 mins

america's first daughter, historical fiction, laura kamoie, patsy jefferson, stephanie dray, thomas jefferson

School is back in session! Tara, Susan, and Jeannette talk about prepping for the school year, Harry’s 20th (31st) Birthday, and the American Revolution. Listen in as they talk about their fav Harry memories and whether Jefferson was kind of… you know… a manipulative $#^!

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 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 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 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 37: Interview with Patrick Phillips

June 30th, 2017  |  45 mins 50 secs

author interview, blood at the root, patrick phillips, race, racial cleansing

Tara interviews Patrick Phillips, author of Blood at the Root. They talk about his experience as he researches, writes and promotes his book. We also get his Eclectic Pick!