This Book Made Me
Episodes
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax: Be Curious and Trust Yourself
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever dreamed of doing the extraordinary, but thought it was too late, this episode is for you. Meet Dorothy Gilman's The Unexpected Mrs. Pol...
Wuthering Heights: This Book Made Us...Better Readers, with some caveats
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Wuthering Heights is coming! The movie, anyway. What do you need to know about the book, and why has it become such a cultural touchstone? Lucky for u...
Weetzie Bat: A Better, More Magical Los Angeles
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do you think you know Los Angeles? Beyond the fantasy images that television and movies have fed us for decades, there is an even more magical city th...
Enchanted Realms Festival: Fantasy is Community
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We took the podcast on tour, and we learned so many things about the state of reading! In this episode, we report back from the inaugural Enchanted Re...
The Magic Mountain: Read Great Books with Others
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we read hard books anymore? Is it worth the time and effort? My guest is here to make the case for how hard books make us better readers, and h...
Books for Resisting Despair and Apathy
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you're finding yourself shellshocked and paralyzed by the times that we're living through, you're not alone! It's a great time to remember how art,...
Piranesi: Believe in Humanity and Possibility and Kindness
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A small book can pack a big punch, and Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke, is a terrific example of this phenomenon. It just might make you see the world as ...
The Alchemist: To Dream and To Love
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Does conventional reality feel much smaller than the size of your dreams? My guest this month is here to convince you that the prize-winning and inter...
Inciting Joy: More Capacity, More Access, More Poetry
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is joy, and how do we access it in a moment that feels so overwhelming? For two years, my guest and I have been studying the practices of a compl...
Written on the Body: Words as Art Object
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a thrill to talk with Jen Capra, whose hilarious, GenX social media content gives us a backstage look at the wonders of Sesame Street. She's wr...
Why I Hate Saturn: Anything Goes
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you need a reminder that you can write anything you can conceive of, this interview is for you. My guest, Bryan Thao Worra, explains how his experi...
Voltaire's Candide: Coping in Impossible Times
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you think that classic novels are irrelevant, my guest is here to change your mind. In this conversation, Diego Dela Rosa explains how the French n...
The English Understand Wool: We Can All Do a Little Bit Better
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you're looking for a short book that packs a wallop, we have just the one for you! In this episode, my guest Matt Davis happens upon a book at his ...
Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye: A Story of Survival
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's Black History Month and we are celebrating!! My guest, Kat Calvin, does a deep, personal dive in to The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and we wres...
The Story of Ferdinand: Smell the Flowers
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you be yourself when everyone around you wants you to be something else? My guest, author Marjetta Geerling, AKA Mara Wells, walks me through the ...
Ghosts of Books Past and Future (AKA 2024 Wrap-up and Look Ahead)
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What did we read in 2024, and what are we reading next? In this end-of-year episode, I invite 5 former TBMM guests to reflect on their reading past an...
Love in the Time of Cholera: Life Will Never Be the Same
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's a book about love! But is it, really? In this episode, acclaimed fantasy author Robert V.S. Redick explains how Gabriel García Márquez's novel ...
The Hotel New Hampshire: Grief, Hope, and Making Better Humans
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, a book meets you at exactly the right moment in your life. My guest this week, Russ Finkelstein, tells us how John Irving's The Hotel New H...
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking and Being a Better Communicator
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can a book help us have more meaningful conversations? Can we learn how to hear each other better, even, or especially, when we don't see eye to eye? ...
The Giver: Memory, Community, Love... and Banned Books
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What can literature--especially dystopian, young adult literature--teach us? My guest—artist, LGBTQIA+ mentor/activist, and makeover maven Dice More...
Watchmen, Part II: I Want to Write Like That
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Looking for a master class on Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's canonical graphic novel? You've come to the right place. This snack-sized, quick...
The Big Leap: Genius and Purpose with Dr. Robin
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Season Two! You know the magical feeling when something you do is easy and fantastic? Or, maybe you know the feeling of doing something tha...
Watchmen, Part 1: This Book Made Me Want To Write Like That
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's a return to full nerdgasm here on TBMM! My guest is Pat Harrigan, a writer, podcaster, and reader extraordinaire. We talk at length about Alan Mo...
This Book Made Me...Be Myself Around Others/Set the Bar for Writing
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this Mother's Day-inspired episode, I interview mother/daughter, reader/writer team Lisa Metzgar and Sadie Forkner. They talk about Virginia Woolf...
This Book Made Me...Courageous
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hi there! I'm delighted that you're joining us today. In this episode, I interview documentary filmmaker, artist, and dancer Mary Trunk. We talk about...
This Book Made Me...A Nerd Community
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hi there! I'm delighted that you're joining us today. In this inaugural episode of the podcast, I explain how This Book Made Me sets out to discover...