This Book Made Me
This Book Made Me is an interview podcast hosted by Kim Middleton in which each episode features a different guest talking about the book that changed their life. Guests explain how a particular read shaped their decisions, pushed them in a new direction, or opened up a universe they hadn't seen before — whether it made them a better partner, a messier thinker, or a self-described nerd. Rather than simple recommendations, the conversations explore the lasting personal impact of reading. The show is a reminder of the many ways that books matter.
Episodes
How To Do Nothing: Curiosity, Attention, and the Book Report
How does writing make you a better reader? Easy: turn a book report into a creative engagement that deepens your attention span and your meaning-making capacity. My guest shows us how she's reimagined an elementary-school assignment into a new way to read and connect with others, inspired by Jenny O'Dell's book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. Christie George is a writer, cura
Go Ask Alice: Gen X Summer School Part 3
It's the 25th anniversary of a combination literary hoax and totem of the "Just Say No" campaign, with a bit of "satanic panic" tossed in for color. Welcome to Go Ask Alice, the supposedly anonymous, supposed journal of a good girl whose life is ruined by drugs (that somehow makes drugs sound great). Join my guests and I as we try to take this book seriously for our final installment of Gen X Summ
Flowers in the Attic: Gen X Summer School 2
Who let us read this stuff?! It's the Gen X classic Flowers in the Attic, V.C. Andrews's introduction to puberty with a side of incest, wrapped in a faux-gothic nightmare. Join my guests for a rip-roaring ride through this book that got passed from girl clique to girl clique, and influenced a generation. My "guest lecturers" for Summer School: Jen Capra is an Emmy nominated Sesame Street writer, a
Stephen King's Night Shift: Gen X Summer School 1
Stephen King, the father of Generation X's nightmares--and an obvious first class for Gen X Summer School! Join my guests and I as we dig into Night Shift, an early compilation of King's short stories. It includes the material for so many of his later masterpieces (Salem's Lot, Children of the Corn, The Stand), along with many of his misfires (Maximum Overdrive, The Lawnmower Man). Who let us read
Gen X Summer School Trailer
Class is in session! Join us for Gen X Summer School: the books that made feral latchkey children into feral adults with no f's to give. Launching this week!
Never Let Me Go: Why Does Our Existence Matter?
Has there ever been a more urgent moment to ask ourselves what it means to be human? And how can a novel help us ask that question better? (Hint: there may be clones...) Thankfully, my guest has all of the right questions and interpretations for the book that made him: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Jinwoo Park is a Korean Canadian writer and literary translator based in Montreal. Born in Seou
The Deep: Making Myths with Trauma and Triumph
Black mermaids?! Say what?! That's just the hook! Join my guest for a deep dive (get it?) into Rivers Solomon's The Deep—a novel that makes a new myth from an American atrocity. Jasmyne Gilbert (she/her/hers) studies the beliefs and stories that shape society. She believes stories are sources of power and tools for critique and transformation, and amplifies those that imagine deliciously, irresis
The Plague: Living with Hope During The Horrors
Everything is terrible! How do we wake up every morning and keep going? My guest makes the very compelling case for an answer in Albert Camus's existential absurdist classic The Plague (La Peste). Kevin Gannon is the director of faculty development and a professor of history at Queens University in Charlotte, NC. He's spent almost 30 years in higher education, yet still maintains hope for the fut
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax: Be Curious and Trust Yourself
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. Pollifax, who decides, in her 60s, to pursue a life-long dream of becoming a spy. In addition to digging into the life lessons of the novel, my guests tell us what it's like to have a book shared across a family, and with the person you love. Sara Scri
Wuthering Heights: This Book Made Us...Better Readers, with some caveats
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 us, my friend Dr. Julie Townsend joins me for a re-read of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel. We dig into the book itself, and puzzle over the continued popularity of Wuthering Heights as a romance, in anticipation of Emerald Fennell's upcoming movie. Julie
Weetzie Bat: A Better, More Magical Los Angeles
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 that lives with the people and places outside the media view. In this episode, my marvelous guest shares the book that showed her THIS Los Angeles: Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat. My guest, Sara Benincasa, is an actress, comedian, TV writer (Myste
Enchanted Realms Festival: Fantasy is Community
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 Realms Fantasy Book Festival in Los Angeles. DJ Diego Dela Rosa and I discuss what we learned about fantasy readers and the community they create, we share some interviews from the folks who attended, and I talk with Brooke Cantrall, the creator of the
The Magic Mountain: Read Great Books with Others
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 help us connect to other books and other people. (In fact, a book can read us. Yep. You heard that right!) Bill McDonald grew up in SoCal, where both his parents and most of his relatives were teachers, and he was not a rebellious child. More-or-less
Books for Resisting Despair and Apathy
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, and especially literature, can remind us that there are many possible futures, and reconnect us to our agency. In this short episode, you'll hear a "book playlist" of speculative fiction that I turn to when I'm feeling despair about the world. On t
Piranesi: Believe in Humanity and Possibility and Kindness
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 a kinder, more magical place. My guest, Liz Andres, lays it all out for us in this episode. Liz Andres is a museum professional and scholar based in Los Angeles. She holds degrees in Art History, Classical Archaeology, and Museum Studies from U.C. B
The Alchemist: To Dream and To Love
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 international bestseller The Alchemist, by Portuguese writer Paulo Coelho, has what you're looking for. And he's VERY convincing! Marq Mervin (he/him) is The Renaissance Man: award-winning creator, educator, TEDx speaker, coach for creative polymaths, an
Inciting Joy: More Capacity, More Access, More Poetry
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 complex-but-easeful joy, using Ross Gay's book of essays "Inciting Joy" as an inspiration and a template. In this episode, we talk about what continues to shape our practice of experiencing joy in this moment. We invite you to join us, and practice joy i
Written on the Body: Words as Art Object
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 written for the program for years! In this episode, we celebrate Pride Month by talking about our shared love of Jeanette Winterson and her beautiful 1992 novel Written on the Body. It's a love letter from an ungendered narrator to the beloved, as well
Why I Hate Saturn: Anything Goes
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 experience as a first generation Asian American, reading his way through high and low American culture, made him the writer he is. Along the way we talk about poetry, democracy, and Kyle Baker's under-examined graphic novel Why I Hate Saturn. Bryan Thao
Voltaire's Candide: Coping in Impossible Times
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 novel, from the 18th century, provides hope against impossible circumstances, and makes the case for irreverent humor and community. Diego Dela Rosa is your classic Los Angeles based multi-hyphenate: arts programmer, writer, archivist, playlist maker
The English Understand Wool: We Can All Do a Little Bit Better
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 local bookstore, and it grounds our conversation about the state of reading in our current attention economy, the perils of the publishing industry, and how we can push ourselves to break out of our reading ruts. If you're not familiar with Helen DeW
Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye: A Story of Survival
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 wrestle with this question: How do we learn to survive in a hostile world, and with a generational history of violence? We talk about the world of 1960s America, who is protected and who is not, and Morrison's authorial gift, which encourages us to wrest
The Story of Ferdinand: Smell the Flowers
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 deep wisdom of the classic children's book The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. We talk about how children's books use language and art to teach us how to be ourselves, and let others be without judging or trying to change them. In doing so, Marjett
Ghosts of Books Past and Future (AKA 2024 Wrap-up and Look Ahead)
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 and future. We've got book recommendations, a list of our best reading experiences, and what we're doing to read more and better in the new year. Join me, Sadie Forkner, Dice Moreno, Pat Harrigan, Mary Trunk, and Lisa Metzgar to reflect and to look ahe
Love in the Time of Cholera: Life Will Never Be the Same
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 Love in the Time of Cholera exploded his previous ideas about what writing can and should do. Author Robert V.S. Redick's most recent epic fantasy, Sidewinders, has been called "a brilliant fever dream of a novel that is bound to impress" by Grimdark
The Hotel New Hampshire: Grief, Hope, and Making Better Humans
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 Hampshire found him, and surfaced some foundational truths: that life, and people, are messy; that we can find ways to persevere in the face of great tragedy; and that books can make us better humans along the way. Russ Finkelstein is a social entrep
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking and Being a Better Communicator
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? What could we need more, as we enter election season?! My guest—Learning and Development leader Brandon Roberson of Riot Games—explains how the strategies in the best-selling Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High, have hel
The Giver: Memory, Community, Love... and Banned Books
What can literature--especially dystopian, young adult literature--teach us? My guest—artist, LGBTQIA+ mentor/activist, and makeover maven Dice Moreno—takes us through Lois Lowry's best-selling novel The Giver, and talks about its sneakily complex and moving themes of memory, community, and love. As we dig in, we can't help but discuss why these ideas are so dangerous, and how book bans are on the
Watchmen, Part II: I Want to Write Like That
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 and dirty epsiode is part two of an earlier interview with Pat Harrigan, writer and Dr. Who podcaster extraordinaire. Here, we do a deep dive into the plot and artistry of the novel itself, and how it made Pat want to write like Moore. If you need a
The Big Leap: Genius and Purpose with Dr. Robin
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 that everyone says you're good at, but it makes you exhausted? Dr. Robin L. Owens visits to discuss the difference between excellence and genius, and how to know when your life could be more your own. The book that makes her think hard about life purpo
Watchmen, Part 1: This Book Made Me Want To Write Like That
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 Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel Watchmen. Along the way, we discuss how narrative form works, the stakes of contemporary comic books/superhero culture, and there's a special audio appearance by a can of Guiness. I hope you'll follow the show so
This Book Made Me...Be Myself Around Others/Set the Bar for Writing
In this Mother's Day-inspired episode, I interview mother/daughter, reader/writer team Lisa Metzgar and Sadie Forkner. They talk about Virginia Woolf's canonical novel Mrs. Dalloway, and the enduring impact that it has had on them as individuals, and together. Along the way, we discuss: writing, and reading a shared consciousness the transcendence of everyday life how NOT to fight a book, a
This Book Made Me...Courageous
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 the profound effect that the book Yvonne Rainer, Work 1961-73, has on Mary's artistic process, and how it gave her the courage to experiment early on in her development as an artist. Along the way, we discuss: Yvonne Rainer as a choreographer and
This Book Made Me...A Nerd Community
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 the books that have changed people's lives--how they work, and why they matter. I'm joined by Drew Urbanek, a librarian/potter/game master from Auburn, New York, to talk about the impact that the 1982 fantasy classic The Elfstones of Shannara has had
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