Just In Case We Die
In 2006, Quintessence Editions Ltd. published a book entitled "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die". Edited by academic Peter Boxall, this list was a curated selection of novels deemed "essential" for literature lovers. Over time, as books were added and removed to accommodate new tastes, the list has continued to grow into subsequent volumes. As of today, there have been 1,316 novels included in the list. Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca will attempt to read and discuss every single one of them. Sort of.
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 67 minutes
- Episodes
- 54
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
January 2024 -- Bonus Episode ('The Fisherman" by John Langan)
Full disclosure before you listen to this episode: our discussion of this novel does not shy away from spoilers. If you are planning to read this title based on our recommendation, then…
#1,138 ("The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Ann Bronte)
This month Aaron and Rodney learned a valuable lesson about not judging a book by its cover. They also learned to not judge a book by a one-sentence blurb on Google. They were expecting…
December 2023 -- Bonus Episode (Philip K. Dick)
We have made no secret in our discussions for this podcast that we are both tremendous fans of science-fiction. Our collective love for the genre is absolute and actually extends far be…
#991 ("The Recognitions" by William Gaddis)
If Aaron were asked to make a top 10 list of his all-time favorite novels, William Gaddis’ The Recognitions would find a spot somewhere in the top 5. This 900+ page masterwork of the be…
November 2023 - Bonus Episode (Kurt Vonnegut)
For this month’s bonus episode, Aaron and Rodney are going to take a deep dive into the life and works of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Between his humanistic views, his uncanny knac…
#1,082 ("Solitude" by Victor Catala)
In 1898, Caterina Albert won the prize for literature in the Jocs Florals literary competition. This win sparked a considerable scandal when the jury learned that the author was actuall…
October 2023 - Bonus Episode (Banned Books)
The American Library Association has designated the week of October 1 through October 7, 2023 as Banned Books Week. Both Rodney and I are in passionate and adamant opposition to book ce…
#146 ("The Book of Daniel" by E. L. Doctorow)
Of the six books we’ve read for this podcast, only one of them so far has not featured a fictionalized version of a real historical figure. This month’s novel even ups the ante on that …
#139 ("Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West" by Cormac McCarthy)
This month, we decided to take a break from our normal routine of using a random number generator on Google to pick our book. Instead, Aaron hand selected a title from the list to honor…
#832 ("Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro)
Never Let Me Go– one of the more unique coming-of-age novels that either Rodney or Aaron have read in years– follows the residents of a boardinghouse for pre-adolescent children over th…
#910 ("Patterns of Childhood" by Christa Wolf)
Our selection for discussion this month has a few things in common with the book we read for our last episode:
–We had never heard of it before
–The author was unknown to us
–The novel was…
#974 ("The Radetzky March" by Joseph Roth)
At long last, Rodney and I are finally presenting our discussion of The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to trash our first attempt at this…
#272 ("Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson)
Neal Stephenson's justly-lauded Cryptonomicon is more than 900 pages of math, cryptography, techno-thriller intrigue, military shenanigans, and revisionist history. Spanning fifty years…
Introductions
Before Aaron and Rodney can expect you to listen to their new podcast, they need to give you some background information on what it is, who they are, and why the heck you should care ab…