Best Constant Reader Podcasts (2025)

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Episode Forty-Three - The Wastelands w/Kim C (Podcast host "The Year of Underrated Stephen King") 1:15:43

4d ago1:15:43

1:15:43

Hello and welcome back to the Constant Reader Podcast, with me Richard Sheppard. Thanks for your kind words about my last interview with James Michels, author of the Melody of Shattered Gold, which is now available on amazon. It’s well worth picking up, the ending is a real gut punch, and the journey is a wild ride. Speaking of wild rides, today we…

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🔒 "Constant Reader" Weighs In! 15:36

9d ago15:36

15:36

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text In this week’s bonus episode, Amy draws a throughline between the 1970s-era Esquire magazine writing of Nora Ephron and the sharp-witted book reviews of Dorothy Parker. A recent McNally Editions collection of these reviews called Constant Reader: The New Yorker 1927-28 provides a perfect opportunity to explore…

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ENCORE: Ursula Parrott: Ex-Wife with Marsha Gordon 53:22

2d ago53:22

53:22

Send us a text F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby may be the novel everyone’s talking about this month, but let’s not forget another “Jazz Age” novel that took this country by storm. Ursula Parrott’s Ex-Wife, a tragicomic indictment of early 20th-century romance, brought the author immense fame and wealth at the time of its publication in 1929.…

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Angela Carter — The Bloody Chamber 31:18

16d ago31:18

31:18

Send us a text Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Not the heroines from Angela Carter’s 1979 short story collection The Bloody Chamber. The British author tackles dark, primal themes in her spin on classic fables and fairy tales, urging women to eschew victimhood, reclaim their power and bite back! Join us as we dive into this enchanted world of blo…

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🔒 Castaway Follow-up — He Said/She Said 12:49

23d ago12:49

12:49

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text There are always two sides to every story. In last week’s episode we discussed Lucy Irvine’s 1983 memoir Castaway, about her year-long experience on a deserted island. This week, Amy turns her attention to the memoir written by Irvine’s “other half” on that adventure, Gerald Kingsland. Do the two authors’ resp…

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Lucy Irvine — Castaway with Francesca Segal 36:57

1M ago36:57

36:57

Send us a text When Lucy Irvine answered a classified ad to play Girl Friday to a real-life Robinson Crusoe on a remote tropical island, she embarked on an enthralling—and at times harrowing—year-long adventure. The result was her bestselling 1983 memoir, Castaway, a beautifully-written tale of survival. We’re diving into Irvine’s unforgettable sto…

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🔒 Penning Patriotism — Katharine Lee Bates and "America the Beautiful" 15:00

1M ago15:00

15:00

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text The recent hatching of baby eaglets in Big Bear, CA has Amy thinking a lot about patriotism and what it actually means in turbulent times for our country. Lost lady of lit Katharine Lee Bates — a staunch activist for social justice who decried America’s isolationist policies — must have considered the same whe…

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Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich — Religious Mystics with Victoria MacKenzie 47:16

1M ago47:16

47:16

Send us a text Religious mystics Margery of Kempe and Julian of Norwich lived in close proximity to one another in time and place, yet the lives of these two medieval women couldn’t have been more different. One traveled the world in relentless pursuit of spiritual validation, while the other withdrew into a walled cell. One boldly proclaimed her v…

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Episode Forty-Two - Stand By Me w/James Michels (writer 'The Melody of Shattered Gold') 51:05

2M ago51:05

51:05

Welcome back to the Constant reader Podcast, and thanks for bearing with us during our long hiatus. We have gathered up quite a few of our favorite repeat guests for 2025 though, so i am sure you will forgive us. We have lined up Kim C from the year of underrated Stephen King podcast with another step towards the Dark Tower. The gentlemen from King…

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🔒 Luck Be A Lady: Amy Gets an "Honorific" 13:41

2M ago13:41

13:41

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Having been gifted a parcel of land on a Scottish estate, Amy was recently granted the title of “Lady Amy of Blairadam.” Kim joins her in this week’s bonus episode to “bend the knee” and to discuss the fine-print details of this development courtesy of a company called Scotland Titles. Together, they ponder he…

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Frances Wright — A Few Days in Athens with Tristra Yeager and Eleanor Rust 41:16

2M ago41:16

41:16

Send us a text How do you engage with others in a polarized society? Early 19-century writer and freethinker Frances “Fanny” Wright offers an ostensible how-to manual in the witty didactic novel she penned at age 19, A Few Days in Athens. Wright’s radical ideas garnered her the praise of Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette and Walt Whitman, …

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🔒 Marianne Faithfull’s “Lady of Shalott” and Other Doomed Noblewomen 13:03

2M ago13:03

13:03

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text One of the last projects recorded by singer/actress Marianne Faithfull (who passed away in January) was a 2021 spoken word album of English Romantic poetry, including a hauntingly beautiful 12-minute recitation of Tennyson’s “Lady of Shalott.” After exploring Faithfull’s passion for (and family connections to)…

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Flanagan's Wake #6 - GERALD'S GAME (Part 1) 2:06:13

2M ago2:06:13

2:06:13

Hey Kingslingers! We're back again because our newest Podcast Flanagan's Wake just began our first book! Over the next 7 weeks, we'll be reading Stephen King's Gerald's Game in preparation for our episode covering Mike Flanagan's adaptation. We hope you'll check out this episode as we think you'll find this format very very familiar! Hope you enjoy…

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Katharine S. White — Shaping The New Yorker, with Amy Reading 47:46

2M ago47:46

47:46

Send us a text One hundred years ago this week, The New Yorker published its first issue. A few months later, the magazine’s first (and for decades, only) female editor joined the staff. Katharine S. White spent the better part of the next 50 years wielding her pen and her editorial influence there, carefully tending to an ever-growing stable of ta…

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🔒 Dorothy Parker's Last Wish: The NAACP and a Lost Urn 12:00

3M ago12:00

12:00

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text How did Martin Luther King Jr. (and eventually, the NAACP) end up the stewards of Dorothy Parker’s literary estate? A life of bold activism prompted the witty writer to quietly bequeath her body of work to advocates for racial justice. But what happened to her actual body (or rather, her ashes) is another stor…

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Literary Jewelry with Leigh Batnick Plessner 38:05

3M ago38:05

38:05

Send us a text January was dismal, but we’re distracting ourselves with something shiny in this first new full-length episode of the year. Catbird Chief Creative Officer Leigh Batnick Plessner joins us to explore three works by women writers, each of whom used jewelry as a powerful storytelling device. Louise de Vilmorin, Maria Edgeworth and Doroth…

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🔒 Bibliomasochism and "Pieces o' Eight" 10:56

3M ago10:56

10:56

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Octavia E. Butler’s prescient dystopian novel Parable of the Sower may or may not be the perfect book to kick off 2025, as Amy discusses in this week’s bonus episode. On the other hand, if it’s escapism you’re after, consider the cutlass-wielding scalawags of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island an…

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Margaret Oliphant — Hester with Perri Klass 45:00

3M ago45:00

45:00

Send us a text If you’re drawn to the hefty tomes of Victorian authors Anthony Trollope and George Eliot, we can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy this week’s novel, Hester, as much as we did. Margaret Oliphant is said to have been one of Queen Victoria’s favorite novelists, and she counted J.M. Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson among her many fan…

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Flanagan's Wake #1 - ABSENTIA 1:39:43

4M ago1:39:43

1:39:43

Hey Kingslingers! We're so excited to show you the very first episode of our newest podcast: Flanagan's Wake, exploring and analyzing the works of Mike Flanagan. This episode covers Flanagan's first feature film: Absentia, a low-budget, but incredibly impressive horror film that explores two sister's encounters with an evil creature inside a creepy…

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🔒 Adventures in Highgate Cemetery 14:06

4M ago14:06

14:06

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text This week’s episode was born out of Amy’s recent visit to London’s Highgate Cemetery, where fortuitous timing (or, perhaps, the graveside spirit of Christina Rossetti?) revealed a bit of juicy family drama. Find out why the tragic death (and later exhumation) of a pre-Raphaelite muse left another family member…

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Hiatus Replay: Ukrainian Poet Lesya Ukrainka’s The Forest Song 16:25

4M ago16:25

16:25

Send us a text In this week's hiatus replay, we’re focusing on one of Ukraine’s best-known poets and playwrights, Laryssa Kosach, who wrote under the pen name Lesya Ukrainka. Her play The Forest Song is a masterpiece of Ukrainian drama. Discussed in this episode: The Forest Song by Lesya Ukrainka Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles Lost Ladies o…

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Episode 274-Stephen King News Roundup and Salem's Lot (2024) Review 1:09:10

4M ago1:09:10

1:09:10

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! In this episode, I look ahead to some 2025 goodies and conclude with a review of the 2024 remake of Salem's Lot.By Constant Reader

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🔒 Simona Kossak, Forest Queen 16:02

4M ago16:02

16:02

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Once upon a time, a young woman escaped to a primeval forest, befriended the animals there (including a lynx, raven and wild boar) and met her handsome prince. Sounds like a fairy tale, but in this week’s episode Amy discusses the enchanting true story of Simona Kossak, a Polish scientist who wrote about her d…

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Episode 273-Baby's First Horror Story 1:30:53

4M ago1:30:53

1:30:53

Hello, everyone and Happy Holidays! I'm back to share 4 wonderful spooky cartoons that you can watch as a family!By Constant Reader

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Alba de Céspedes — Forbidden Notebook with Joy Castro 49:02

4M ago49:02

49:02

Send us a text Novelist and university professor Joy Castro returns to the show to discuss the 1952 novel Forbidden Notebook by Cuban-Italian writer Alba de Cespedes. In a New York Times review of a 1958 English edition of this novel, de Céspedes was called “one of the few distinguished women writers since Colette to grapple effectively with what i…

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🔒 Literary Rx — Books to Beat the Doldrums 24:25

5M ago24:25

24:25

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Books are a time-tested cure-all, so in this week’s bonus episode Amy weighs a few of the titles that have helped her forget life's latest troubles and doubts … (sort of). She leaves no stone unturned in her quest for distraction, from Proust’s meandering sentences to a behind-the-scenes memoir about a beloved…

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Zitkála-Šá — "The School Days of an Indian Girl" with Jessi Haley and Erin Marie Lynch 42:48

5M ago42:48

42:48

Send us a text At the age of eight, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (later known by her pen name Zitkála-Šá) left her Yankton Dakota reservation to attend a missionary boarding school for Native Americans, a harsh and abusive experience about which she eventually wrote a series of articles published in The Atlantic Monthly. Jessi Haley, editorial director …

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🔒 A Christmas Tale From Christina Rossetti’s Speaking Likenesses 20:14

5M ago20:14

20:14

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Forget your troubles, get cozy, grab a cup of tea and curl up to this week’s “storytime” bonus episode as Amy reads the third tale from Christina Rossetti’s Speaking Likenesses. Follow Rossetti’s indefatigable heroine, Maggie, who trudges wearily through a snowy forest at Christmas-time, encountering along the…

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Christina Rossetti — Speaking Likenesses with Bond & Grace's Ayana Christie 38:42

5M ago38:42

38:42

Send us a text Charmed by her friend Lewis Carroll’s children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Victorian poet Christina Rossetti followed suit nearly a decade later with her own children’s book — one that alludes to the “Alice” tale while also offering a more clear-eyed view of girls’ duties, even in topsy-turvy dream worlds. Ayana Christie…

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1: The Gunslinger 1:24:54

5M ago1:24:54

1:24:54

Surprise! We're back for one night only to take another look at Stephen King's The Gunslinger. Get Merch: https://doofmedia.myshopify.com/ Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/doofmedia Stay updated with Kingslingers: @Kingslingerspod Message us at [email protected] Original music created by Matt Freeman: https://soundcloud.com/the-da…

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🔒 Virginia Woolf, Fashion Icon 18:06

5M ago18:06

18:06

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text When it comes to this year’s fall fashion, Virginia Woolf is having a moment. A number of designers and brands including Anna Sui, Clare Waight Keller, Miu Miu, Burberry and Tod’s have found their inspiration in the iconic Bloomsbury author. In this week’s bonus episode, Amy dives into this sartorial vibe, rea…

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The Clearing at the End of the Path (Series Finale) 1:58:45

6M ago1:58:45

1:58:45

On the series finale of Kingslingers, Matt and Scott sit down to have one final chat about what Stephen King and this podcast have meant to them over the last five years. What a wonderful journey. Thank you to each and every one of you for making this possible. We love you all. We hope you'll all join us in January for the next great journey: Flana…

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Margaret Drabble — The Millstone with Carrie Mullins 36:50

6M ago36:50

36:50

Send us a text Margaret Drabble’s 1965 novel The Millstone offers a nuanced portrayal of single motherhood in 1960s London. Author Carrie Mullins, whose 2024 nonfiction work The Book of Mothers explores literary depictions of motherhood, joins us to discuss Drabble’s fearless protagonist, Rosamund. Together, we explore how The Millstone captures th…

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3.88: Fairy Tale (Overview) 1:50:42

6M ago1:50:42

1:50:42

This week, we take one final look at Stephen King's Fairy Tale. We discuss the book's complaints and our conclusions on what didn't work and what did! Then, we answer your final mailbag questions. Next week is the final episode of the show! Don't forget to us a call and let us know your final thoughts on The Dark Tower, King, or Kingslingers: Call …

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🔒 Wicked Little Letters — The Film and Crime That Inspired It 14:01

6M ago14:01

14:01

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text In this week’s bonus episode Amy discusses the black comedy mystery film Wicked Little Letters starring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, then hones in on the real-life "poison-pen letter" incident the film is based on. Mentioned in this episode: British Airways in-flight safety film Wicked Little Letters tra…

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3.87: Fairy Tale (Part 7) 2:29:38

6M ago2:29:38

2:29:38

This week on the show we reach the end of Stephen King's Fairy Tale. We discuss Chapters 29 through the Epilogue of the novel and chat about what Charlie's arc ended up being, the shocking reveal that both Radar and Charlie's Father survive... and more! Next week is THE FINAL MAILBAG. Send us your questions! Also, we're once again going to invite y…

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Elizabeth Garver Jordan — The Case of Lizzie Borden & Other Writings with Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-Kahan 41:27

6M ago41:27

41:27

Send us a text Elizabeth Garver Jordan’s riveting coverage of the Lizzie Borden trial for The New York World captivated true-crime junkies of the late 19th-century, and her lengthy career as a journalist, fiction writer and literary editor still resonates today. Lori Harrison-Kahan and Jane Carr, editors of a brand new collection of Garver Jordan’s…

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3.86: Fairy Tale (Part 6) 2:18:01

6M ago2:18:01

2:18:01

After an unexpected week off we're back to cover chapters 24 through 28 of Stephen King's Fairy Tale. After the first round of the gladiator tournament, Charlie and company made their daring escape, only to find they have to return to Lilimar and put a stop to Flight Killer once and for all. But what will happen to Prince Charlie? Discussion Questi…

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🔒 Blame it on the Bob (Haircut) 15:13

6M ago15:13

15:13

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text The bob haircut shocked and appalled when it was popularized in the 1920s. A bob devotee herself, Amy has a laugh in this week’s bonus episode as she reads newspaper reports from the era which blame the hair trend for a wide array of societal ills including economic collapse, bigamy and unwanted facial hair. S…

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Sanora Babb — Whose Names Are Unknown with Iris Jamahl Dunkle 43:56

7M ago43:56

43:56

Send us a text Growing up on the Great Plains and witnessing the struggles of migrant workers in California made Sanora Babb uniquely qualified to write the story of the Dust Bowl. Her novel Whose Names Are Unknown was slated for publication by Random House in 1939 until The Grapes of Wrath beat her book to the punch. John Steinbeck actually used B…

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3.85: Fairy Tale (Part 5) 2:22:40

7M ago2:22:40

2:22:40

It's a surprise Prison and Gladiator Combat Arc! Where did this come from!? We're chatting about chapters 19-23 of Stephen King's Fairy Tale. Discussion Question: What is your favorite prison arc and/or Gladiator competition? Next week, Fairy Tale continues with chapters 24-28 Check out the show schedule: https://tinyurl.com/yxa7lojv Get Merch: htt…

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🔒 How a "Lady of Lit" Inspired the Band Green Day 9:22

7M ago9:22

9:22

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Look closely enough, and you can find “lost ladies of lit” almost anywhere — including at a rock concert! In this week’s bonus episode, Amy explains how a Saturday night spent attempting to sing along with Green Day on their world tour concert stop in Los Angeles started her down a lyrical rabbit hole that led…

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3.84: Fairy Tale (Part 4) 2:25:52

7M ago2:25:52

2:25:52

Our journey through Stephen King's Fairy Tale continues with chapters 15-18! Charlie finally enters the Emerald City of Lilimar where he manages to save Radar, returning her to a dog in the prime of her life. Unfortunately on the way out, Charlie and Rader get lost. Uh oh. Discussion Question: What is your favorite creepy city? Next week, Fairy Tal…

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Eliza Haywood — The Female Spectator and Betsy Thoughtless with Kelly J. Plante 34:44

7M ago34:44

34:44

Send us a text Details of Eliza Haywood’s life may be murky today, but in the early 18th century, she was a literary force—writing plays and bestselling novels, editing periodicals, and ruffling the feathers of male contemporaries like Alexander Pope. Academic Kelly J. Plante joins us this week to discuss Haywood’s anonymous wartime writing for The…

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3.83: Fairy Tale (Part 3) 2:18:22

7M ago2:18:22

2:18:22

At long last Charlie heads into the land of Empis! It's a beautiful but sad place. We're chatting about chapters 11 through 14 of Stephen King's Fairy Tale! Discussion Question: What is your "favorite" curse? Next week, Fairy Tale continues with chapters 15-18 Check out the show schedule: https://tinyurl.com/yxa7lojv Get Merch: https://doofmedia.my…

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🔒 The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff 19:08

7M ago19:08

19:08

Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Amy springboards off our discussion of last week’s “lost lady,” Mary MacLane, to further investigate the woman whose diary inspired her. From the age of 12 until her death at 25, Russian-born painter Marie Bashkirtseff detailed her daily life, frustrations, flirtations and family drama. First published in 1887…

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3.82: Fairy Tale (Part 2) 2:30:09

7M ago2:30:09

2:30:09

Our journey through Stephen King's Fairy Tale continues as we read and discuss chapters 6-10 of the novel! Charlie's time with Howard Bowditch comes to a sudden end, but not before he learns about the Well of the World and the land that exists beyond it. Discussion Question: What is your favorite Old Man befriends a kid and then dies leaving him al…

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Mary MacLane — I Await the Devil's Coming with Cathryn Halverson 33:13

8M ago33:13

33:13

Send us a text Long before 'Brat Summer,' America was taken with Mary MacLane, a defiant and wildly egotistical 19-year-old resident of Butte, Montana, whose confessional diary implored the “kind devil” to deliver her from a life of bourgeois boredom. Professor Cathryn Halverson from Sweden’s Södertörn University joins us for this episode to discus…

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Episode Forty-One - Paul Inman (writer/director Dollar Baby 'That Feeling') 47:29

8M ago47:29

47:29

As the Dollar Baby experiment comes to its close, i would like to shine a spotlight on some of the more successful films made from the treasure trove of Stephen King's short stories. 'That Feeling' by Paul Inman expertly captures the dark, guilt-ridden themes of the 1998 short story 'That Feeling, You Can Only Say What it is in French'. It's being …

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3.81: Fairy Tale (Part 1) 2:42:10

8M ago2:42:10

2:42:10

For the final time on Kingslingers, it's new book week! For our last book of the show, we've decided to read Stephen King's 2022 novel: Fairy Tale. This is a new read for both Matt and Scott. This week we're introduced to our characters as we read chapters 1-5. So far, we're loving it! Discussion Question: What is your favorite fairy tale? Next wee…

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