It's the post-holiday lull, which luckily gives us plenty of time to plan our 5th Birthday party! Hannah's buying the cake, Sam is DJing. Don't miss it. You have to listen to find out when it is. When you arrive, we can talk about these books (and others):
- "Dream Count," by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Hannah is a little perplexed by this much-awaited big deal, with its women being idiots about men; the marketeers are struggling)
- "Good Girl," by Aria Aber (this book is going to be hot; maybe even as good as Morgan Talty's cover blurb, but not because of the sex stuff, which is, in fact, done well)
- "A Sea of Unspoken Things," by Adrienne Young (there's a twin-magic thing that Hannah is not really feeling)
- "Heartbreak is the National Anthem," by Rob Sheffield (this is music-writing at its best, a celebration of what we love about pop music as a collective thing)
- "The Queens of Crime," by Marie Benedict (featuring much discussion of when, exactly, Agatha Christie disappeared and then reappeared)

And, of course, so much more.

The Shop is bursting at the seams here at Christmas-time, but Hannah and Sam haven't stopped reading! With their favorites of the year behind them, they look to the past and future for new things to consume (such as "Minority Report" and "The Dream Hotel"). But you'll have to wait for the full discussion on that. On the full agenda this episode is:

- "Age of Innocence," by Edith Wharton
- "The Quiet American," by Graham Greene (from 1955, NOT the 1970s, Sam)
- "Rental House," by Weike Wang
- "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," by Susanna Clarke
- "What the Chicken Knows," by Sy Montgomery (much giggling ensues)
- "Persepolis," by Marjane Satrapi
- "What Happened to the McCrays," by Tracey Lange (with much middle school hockey discussion)
- "The Last Dragon on Mars," by Scott Reintgen