Celebrating 100 Episodes of Book Dreams with Book Recs from Past Guests

Book Dreams is a podcast for everyone who loves books and misses English class. Co-hosted by Julie Sternberg and Eve Yohalem, Book Dreams releases new episodes every Thursday. Each episode explores book-related topics you can’t stop thinking about—whether you know it yet or not.

*

We did it! We reached our 100th episode of Book Dreams! In celebration, we went back to our guests and asked them this question: What’s one book you love and why do you love it? And so now, have we got book recommendations for you! Twenty-eight beloved books from 24 of our beloved guests. From old favorites to new discoveries, from short stories to epic doorstoppers, we’ve got your reading list mapped out for you for at least the next 100 episodes. Enjoy! And thanks, as always, for book dreaming with us.  

From the episode:

Eve Yohalem: Now, usually on Book Dreams, we use books as a way to explore topics that fascinate us. But this week is different because this right here is our 100th episode.

Julie Sternberg: Unbelievable. Starting way back in March of 2020, when we shared our thoughts and fears and hopes about what we were reading and not reading during the earliest days of COVID lockdown, to our very first guest interview—

Eve Yohalem: Thank you, Jim Mustich. 

Julie Sternberg: Yes, thank you, Jim. We’ve talked about everything from what’s bibliotherapy and how can we get some, to feral cows in Scotland, to the truth about the gospel of Jesus’s wife. We couldn’t have done it without all of you, our wonderful listeners. It just wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you so much for listening. And we couldn’t have done it without our phenomenal producer, Gianfranco Lentini, who’s been with us from the very start and has shared all of our highs and lows and in-betweens. He remembers all the things we forget, including the things we don’t even think about in the first place. And he knows how to do all the things we’re clueless about. Thank you so much, Gianfranco. 

Eve Yohalem: Or maybe thank God for Gianfranco is more like it. 

Julie: That too! 

Eve Yohalem: Hosting Book Dreams has been among the greatest joys of our lives. Julie and I marvel at how lucky we are to get to talk to so many interesting, passionate people and to read their incredible books. So in celebration, and as a gift to you, dear listeners—and, let’s be honest, as a gift to ourselves—we went back to our guests and asked them this question: What’s one book you love and why do you love it? 

Julie Sternberg: And, oh, the answers we received! Just sit back and relax, because we’ve got your reading list mapped out for you for at least the next year. And don’t worry about writing anything down because we’ve listed all the guests and the books they love in our show notes.

Eve Yohalem: Right now all you need to do is enjoy. So let’s start with Marlon James, author of Moon Witch, Spider King, among several other extraordinary novels. We ask Marlon to tell us one book he loves during our interview with him, and as always happens to Julie and me whenever we’re asked this question, at first, his mind drew a total blank. But not for long. Take a listen.