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The Big Book Club Podcast from Arlington Public Library

Feb 23, 2024

Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel "Beloved" takes place in Cincinnati after the Civil War and is loosely based on the life of Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman who escaped Kentucky in 1856 with her extended family. Subject to capture under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Garner was so determined to protect her children from...


Jun 23, 2023

“Johnny Got His Gun” is an anti-war novel written in 1938 by American novelist Dalton Trumbo and published in September 1939. There have been radio, stage and screen adaptations of the novel, including Trumbo’s own 1971 film, and Metallica recorded a song – titled One – based on the book. In March of 1940, the...


Feb 28, 2023

For this episode we read the 1958 novel by debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. The novel became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series in the UK, starting in 1962. “Things Fall Apart” is the first book in Achebe’s trilogy about African history, and has been read by high schoolers...


Jan 3, 2023

For season four we're going back to school with books we read - or didn't read - in high school. We started with "Pride & Prejudice," by Jane Austen. Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the text first and come back later.

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Oct 14, 2022

For this episode we read three Holmes stories. The first is Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 original “A Study in Scarlet,” the first Sherlock Holmes work. The second is is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse’s 2015 “Mycroft Holmes,” and the third is “A Study in Scarlet Women,” by Sherry Thomas. 

Reminder:...