Table of (Mal)Contents

We're back at it this week, discussing all the latest and greatest in our lives (reading, writing, and otherwise), including a possible near-death experience!Listen in as we discuss: Scarlet's tales of adventure over the Christmas break My first stab at the graphic novel reading challenge options My incredible progress on my reading challenge for the year Reading dry spells and ultimatums This week, we're kicking off a Twitter poll for you all to help us in this quest to find the right graphic novel for the team to read together. But there's just one problem: none of the books on our list are going to make the final cut because of a second review for content issues. So, we're back to square one. But hopefully the poll will be helpful, so check it out on Twitter.A few of the books we mentioned on this episode Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire Sentient by Jeff Lemire & Gabriel Hernandez Walta The Big Book of Barry Ween, Boy Genius by Judd Winick Forward curated by Blake Crouch American Gospel by Lin Enger Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We're kicking off the new year in style—although sadly sans Scarlet—as we talk about all kinds of wild and crazy things that have happened in the last week or so.Listen in as we discuss: Whether or not a publisher has the right to cancel a contract and why they might How we feel about the events of this past week Ideas for how to organize our bookshelves Teasers for a few upcoming items and events that we hope we can share more about in the future A few of the books we mentioned on this episode Big Truths Bible Storybook (available for preorder) American Gospel by Lin Enger A Promised Land by Barack Obama Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Clanlands by Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish CSB Every Day With Jesus Daily Bible Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Just as the end of the year brings with it scores of end-of-year book lists, so too does it bring a bevy of plans for how to make this next year the best year ever! Whether it's choosing a theme word (something I'm pretty sure none of us on this show has done), planning to read the Bible 37 times in a year, or reading 1,000,000 books, we often come up with goals and plans that are entirely unrealistic, and suck the joy out of life.So we thought we'd talk about plans that can make us happier, healthier readers.Listen in as we discuss: What we're thinking about in terms of how we want to be reading in 2021 How many books Scarlet's going to read this coming year The problem with Goodreads' Reading Challenge, despite us all using it The next big shared reading plan for the three of us Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Check out another show on the Area Code Network, We Wonder: Advent.The podcast where we wonder together about the story of God. We Wonder is a contemplative devotional for children.Find our more here: wewonderpod.com

It's that time of year where every website, podcast, and Twitter-er is spreading holiday cheer with annual favorite book lists. And, as good friends to our listeners and lovers of books, how could we leave you all hanging without sharing our favorites of the year? And so, we present you the inaugural (mal)Contents Book Awards, with categories carefully selected to suit our… unique sensibilities. Be sure to spread the good news and congratulate all the winners by getting copies of their books using the links below.The CategoriesBooks by someone we know Hoping for Happiness by Barnabas Piper (Aaron) A Voice Within The Flame by Henry O. Arnold (Dave) Iron Lake by Kent Krueger (also Dave) Sick of Me by Whitney Capps (Scarlet) Books by someone we know and like Echo Island by Jared Wilson (Aaron) Hoping for Happiness by Barnabas Piper (Dave & Scarlet) Books other people love but we gave up on Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Aaron) North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson (Dave—who stresses that this is only due to competing priorities) Miracle Creek by Angie Kim (Scarlet) Books that made us laugh out loud So, Anyway… by John Cleese (Aaron) Wild and Crazy Guys by Nick de Semlyn (Dave) Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (also Dave) Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld (Scarlet) Books that made us feel feelings This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (Aaron) Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (also Aaron) Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (Dave) The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby (also Dave) The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis (Scarlet) Books that surprised us Death Without Company by Craig Johnson (Aaron) The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (Dave) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (Scarlet) Remember God by Annie F. Downs (also Scarlet) Books with pictures Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert (Aaron) The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson (Dave) But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton (Scarlet) Books we learned from Range by David Epstein (Aaron) Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks (also Aaron) The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt (Dave) Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk MD (Scarlet) Books we haven’t finished yet but really enjoy American Gospel by Lin Enger (Aaron) A Promised Land by Barack Obama (also Aaron) A Time for Mercy by John Grisham (Dave) Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Scarlet)

By popular demand, we've got a brand new bonus episode for you all this week as Abigail Armstrong returns to the show for a quick dad to big kid chat about bad parenting advice, public school, how to get books out of libraries under the COVID-19 protocols, and whether or not cursing in our writing is a good idea.Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

What makes or breaks an audiobook? Almost as important as the content itself is the narrator. These often unsung heroes of the medium are the people who keep you coming back time and again, carrying the ideas of this or that author into your ears.One of those narrators is Henry O. Arnold (or as his family calls him, Chip). Henry is a stage actor, writer, and narrator of over 40 audiobooks, including all of John Maxwell's books, Yawning at Tigers by Drew Dyck, and Boundaries by Henry Cloud. He is also the author of a new historical fiction book, A Voice Within the Flame.Listen in as we discuss: How being a stage actor makes Henry a better writer The value of biblical fiction What it takes to read an audiobook well How Aaron's boss is treating Aaron And, of course, we share a little of what we're reading.A few of the books mentioned on the show The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk MD No One Asked For This by Cazzie David A Promised Land by Barack Obama The Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We're about to enter into that special time of year that is full of holiday cheer, and so we are going to try to celebrate it well here on the podcast. But in order to really kick it off well, we felt the best way to do it was to ask the man who loves Christmas more than anyone else to join us for the conversation. This week, Ronnie Martin, pastor at Substance Church, author and co-author of several books, and the co-host of The Happy Rant Podcast and The Art of Pastoring, joins us to talk all things merry and bright. Listen in as we discuss: The question Aaron's been saving for Ronnie for more than a year When is the appropriate time to start celebrating Christmas (and for how long) How to pronounce "accreditation" The best Christmas books and authors Ronnie's favorite type of Christmas persecution Defining what makes a Christmas movie (and why they only make superhero movies) The start of a grassroots campaign to get Ronnie's future festive book, The Christmas Tree Farm, published The godfather of Christmas stories A few of the books mentioned on the show The Best Gift Ever Given by Ronnie Martin The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk MD Every Moment Holy by McKelvey Davis No One Asked For This by Cazzie David A Promised Land by Barack Obama Batman: The Three Jokers by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Okay, I'll admit: when I see the words "Christian" and "fiction" together, I generally assume the book with that label will be terrible. But that is also totally unfair of me, because while there is a lot of bad fiction written by and for Christian audiences, there are are also really good books that can fall under this label. And our friend Jared Wilson, author of many, many books, has written one of them that's out now called Echo Island. Jared joined Dave and me (while Scarlet was reading the book on a plane) to talk about storytelling, Vermont, and the good news that this is not a Rapture book. Listen in as we discuss: Why Jared wanted to write this story Why we can't actually talk about the book too much without giving away pretty much the whole plot The honesty of New Englanders about their faith (or lack thereof) Why calling Echo Island a good book isn't a throwaway compliment How fiction help your imagination as a writer and as a reader The relationship between storytelling and close-up magic Why people who are jaded or cynical toward Christian fiction (or fiction by Christians) should give this book a shot Echo Island is available now through your favorite bookseller. Get a copy for yourself Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Sometimes a conversation is full of… how can I say this? Tenuous connections. Abrupt changes of topic, subject matter, and tone is often the way a real-life conversation goes. And this week, Dave and I are joined by our friends Nick Rynerson and Richard Clark to talk about, well, pretty much everything—including their new podcast network, Area Code. Listen in as we discuss: Conspiracy theories and the power of the word "Consider" to make anything sound sinister Finding the Dark Web What is the Area Code Network and why are we talking about it on our show? Why Nick needs to read our meeting requests How good a job I'm doing at being my own executive assistant A few of the books we mentioned on this episode Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann Weather by Jenny Offill Make Russia Great Again by Christopher Buckley Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Sell Montana by Steve Gilreath Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus The Varieties of Religious Experiences by William James The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer Privilege the Text by Abraham Kuruvilla Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.