Book Bound

Capital Area District Libraries

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Capital Area District Libraries is excited to produce the Book Bound podcast which is hosted by some of CADL's literary experts. Content centers around the library and its collection, book recommendations, events, partnerships and services.

MAY 1

Episode 29: The Romance Genre and More

Special guest Meccah from the Lansing Libraries joins us for a dive into favorite romance picks and the romance genre in general, along with our regular diverse range of picks for the month. Cheryl’s Books: Nothing Compares to you: What Sinéad O’Connor Means to Us edited by Sonya Huber and Martha BayneRed Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather ClarkLondon Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden KeefeBeatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places that Inspired the Classic Children’s Tales by Marta McDowell Mentioned: Hanif Abdurraqib writing about Sinéad O’Connor (Instagram post) InstagramSay Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden KeefeEmpire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden KeefeRecollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca SolnitEmily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plants & Places that Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowell Jessica’s Books: Archangel’s Eternity by Nalini SinghGet a life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit Mentioned: Angel’s Blood (first book in series) by Nalini SinghNalini Singh’s wide range of titles.Talia Hibbert titles, “The Brown Sisters” trilogy.The author I blanked on was Jasmine Guillory.Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit Mari’s Books: Love, Sivvy: A Novel Inspired by the Life, Letters, and Diaries of Young Sylvia Plath by R.L. ToalsonThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathThe Poet and the Bees: A Story of the Seasons Sylvia Plath Kept Bees by Amy NoveskyNavigating Night by Julie LeungOur Lake by Angie Kang Meccah’s Books: Before I Let Go by Kennedy RyanMore titles by Kennedy RyanTia Williams titlesTwenty-Four Seconds From Now: A Love Story by Jason ReynoldsWe Go Slow by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie

46 min
APR 14

Episode 28: Teen Books and American History for All

Special guest Kat from CADL Holt joins our hosts to chat about great teen book reads, more America 250 titles, and some other recent gems. Cheryl’s Books: Jellyfish Scientist: Maude Delap and Her Mesmerizing Medusas by Michelle Cusolito Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and The Fight to Save America’s Soul by Matthew F. Delmont Mentioned: The War Within a War: The Black Struggle at Vietnam and at Home by Wil HaygoodHalf American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad by Matthew F. Delmont Jessica’s Books: Vigil by George SaundersDefiant: The Story of Robert Smalls by Rob EdwardsP FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance by Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau Mentioned: Lincoln in the Bardo by George SaundersAmerica 250: https://www.cadl.org/america250Bad Bunny syllabus: https://www.badbunnysyllabus.com/home Mari’s Books: Hail Mariam by Huda Al-MarashiBing’s Cherries by Livia BlackburneMy Bicentennial Summer: True Adventures from the Most Epic Family Road Trip of All Time by G. Neri Kat’s Books: Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon HaleCatfish Rolling by Clara KumagaiI’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker Mentioned:Switch by A. S. KingCostumes for Time Travelers by A. R. CapettaSong For You and I by Kay O’Neill

56 min
MAR 6

Episode 27: March is Reading Month!

Read anything and everything—picture books, memoirs, poetry, novellas or dense, but fascinating history. Cheryl’s Books: Rumpelstiltskin retold by Mac Barnett and Illustrated by Carson EllisThe Company of Owls: A Memoir by Polly AtkinNight Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya MilesEvery Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King Mentioned: Extra Yarn by Mac BarnettAll That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya MilesWild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation by Tiya Miles (Jessica discussed in Episode 3)Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century by Charles King Jessica’s Books: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire (Bk 11)The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza GriffithsDanger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam MorganCustodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein Mentioned: Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman RushdieSquare Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade (Cheryl discussed in Episode 25)Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon Mari’s Books: Words with Wings and Magic Things by Matthew BurgessThe Dream Builder’s Blueprint: Dr. King’s Message to Young People by Alice Faye DuncanA Year Without Home by V.T. Bidania Mentioned:Shel Silverstein PoetryDoug Salati BooksThe Astrid and Apollo series by V.T. BidaniaThe Extraordinary Eliana series by V.T. Bidania He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox

52 min
FEB 9

Episode 26: America 250, Picture Books, and Popular Reads

This episode highlights CADL’s America 250 Reading Challenge, a round up of great picture books, and a mix of extremely popular and under the radar picks. Cheryl’s Books: Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life by Nia SiouxLoved and Missed by Susie BoytIf We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall Mentioned:Books written and/or illustrated by Julie MorstadLessons from Plants by Beronda L. Montgomery covered in Reader's Roundtable Episode 40: Summer Wrap-UpDead and Alive: Essays by Zadie SmithBooks written and/or illustrated by Sophie Blackall Jessica’s Books: Game Changer and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (book one and two of the Game Changer series)When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. MontgomeryHarriet Tubman: Demon Slayer. Vol. 1 by David Crownson Mentioned: The Correspondent by Virgina EvansTheo of Golden by Levi AllenCooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael TwittySouth to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani PerryAll that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles Mari’s Books: Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Chris HsuThis is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Julie MorstadThe Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan GlaserOur Gorgeous Baby by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Eve CoyFloor It! by Bex Tobin Fine, illustrated by Federico Fabiani Mentioned:2026 Newbery Awards CADL’s America 250 landing page including the Reading Challenge and decade reading lists: https://www.cadl.org/america250

42 min
JAN 14

Episode 25: Winter Reading and... Dogs?

Okemos Library Assistant Laura joins the group to talk Mysteries, winter reading, enthralling history and dogs. Cheryl’s Books: Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca WadeNever Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Mentioned:Never Let Me Go movie The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (book)The Remains of the Day movieThe Secret History by Donna Tartt Jessica’s Books: All of Us Murderers by KJ CharlesWater Moon by Samantha Sotto YambaoQueer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers Lawbreakers, and Homemakers by Anthony Delaney Mentioned: Gentleman Jack by Anne Choma The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao (Jan 20th release)Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Mari’s Books: Whodonut? : A Holiday Mystery by Josh FunkAgatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Marci Kay MonsonWhy Did the Chicken Cross the Road? A Hard-Boiled Mystery by Brianna Caplan SayresBeth Is Dead by Katie Bernet Mentioned:The Case of Old MacDonald and His Farm by Mark Teague (coming soon) Lauras’s Books: The Finders by Jeffrey B. BurtonAt First Light by Barbara NicklessNettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher Mentioned:The Dead Years by Jeffrey B. BurtonDark of Night by Barbara NicklessThe Twisted Ones by T. KingfisherA House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

42 min
12/08/2025

Episode 24: Year End Wrap Up

Cheryl, Jessica, and Mari talk CADL Best Books of 2025 (our staff voted picks) and their last reads for 2025.Cheryl’s Books: Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie SmithBread of Angels: A Memoir by Patti SmithWhiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Jackson TaffaMentioned:White Teeth by Zadie SmithJust Kids by Patti SmithM. Train by Patti SmithJessica’s Books: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El AkkadWhy I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature edited by Becky Siegal SpratfordCinder House by Freya MarskeChristmas at the Women’s Hotel by Daniel M. LaveryMentioned: Women's Hotel by Daniel M. LaveryLast Binding series by Freya Marske Mari’s Books:The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel NayeriHunger’s Bite by Taylor RobinHow To Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel MiyaresWind Watchers by Micha ArcherMentioned:Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel NayeriWonder Walkers by Micha Archer

38 min
11/03/2025

Episode 23: Indigenous Stories, Character Studies, and Unexplained Phenomena

This month Cheryl, Mari and Jessica talk fiction and non-fiction picks touching on Native American Heritage, our relationships with food and the kitchen, writing featuring deep character studies, as well as a few unexplained mysteries. Cheryl’s Books: Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age by Joy HarjoThe Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects by Bee WilsonHamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’FarrellLove Forms: A Novel by Claire AdamMentioned:Nomadland (film)Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood2025 Booker Prize LonglistJessica’s Books: Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff ChuFerryman and His Wife by Frode GryttenWolf Bells by Leni ZumasMidnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories by Bora ChungMentioned:Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans, Lincoln in the Bardo by George SaundersRed Clocks by Leni ZumasCursed Bunny by Bora ChungMari’s Books: Why We Dance A Story Hope and Healing by Deidre HavrelockDead Ends! Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels by Lindsey FitzharrisIs it Real? The Loch Ness Monster by Candace FlemingNessie by Ilse De KeyzerMentioned:Plague Busters! Medicine’s Battles with History’s Deadliest Diseases by Lindsey Fitzharris

51 min
10/03/2025

Episode 22: Resilience and Humor

Gaming, memoirs, and weathering storms with special guest Christine Martin-Resoko from CADL Mason. Cheryl’s Books: Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende Mentioned: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus Eva Luna by Isabel Allende Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco Jessica’s Books: Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir by Raymond Antrobus Ew, It’s Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman Mentioned: The Peacekeeper by B. L. Blanchard Kitemaster by Jim C. Hines False Knees: An Illustrated Guide to Animal Behavior by Joshua Barkman Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay Mari’s Books: The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi Island Storm by Brian Floca Thunderland by Maggie Edkins Willis Another by Paul Tremblay Christine’s Books: Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e Coyote & Crow: Core Rule Book by Connor Alexander et al. House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

51 min

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

Capital Area District Libraries is excited to produce the Book Bound podcast which is hosted by some of CADL's literary experts. Content centers around the library and its collection, book recommendations, events, partnerships and services.

Creator

Capital Area District Libraries
Years Active

2017 - 2026
Episodes

275
Rating

Clean
Show Website

Book Bound