Overdue Podcast

If you're a frequent visitor of Top Shelf Text, then you know that I've recently gotten into listening to podcasts. Ever since I fell for Serial, I've been hooked on finding new things to listen to. I'm a fan of audiobooks (particularly this one), but I'm pretty picky about the narration. A lot of narrator's voices just irk me and I find myself distracted from the actual plot; I find that I'm less picky when it comes to podcasts. I've been sharing a few of my recent favorites from TED (you can find them here, here, and here) but I've recently found another great series that I think you'll really enjoy!

I stumbled upon Overdue purely by chance, and it's had me hooked ever since! It's a weekly podcast by two best friends, Craig and Andrew, who are both bookworms. Each week, they discuss a book that one of them has recently read. The other person starts out asking questions to find out more about the book, and from there they have a discussion about the book. There's no real formula for the conversation, as it usually turns towards whatever they think is most worthy of discussion. 

What I love about the podcast is that it feels like you're sitting on your best friend's couch, just chatting about books, but your best friend also is super-well read and has the ability to really pull out the important aspects of a story without getting pretentious. Tangents are pretty common, but they're also usually hilarious. I've listened to a handful of episodes already and find that I'm interested in their discussion whether or not I've read the book.

They take recommendations from listeners, too, so if you have a book that you want them to discuss, all you need to do is send them a message! I think it's pretty neat that they're open to suggestions. The idea behind the podcast is that these are books you should have read already, so many of them are classics, but others are popular, newly published titles. (I'm averse to the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy, but loved listening to that episode). I'd recommend this series to anyone who just likes to chat about books in general; I promise that it's worth checking out! I have lots of travel popping up for this summer and I'm looking forward to listening to more episodes on the plane and in the car.

If you're interested in reading more about the podcast itself, you can read an interview with the hosts here.

Once you've given it a try, let me know what you think!