Category Archives: Uncategorized

S.8 E.7 — Fines, Ghosts, and Young Adult Horror! Oh My!



In this episode we interview Central’s Young Adult Librarian, Neda, about YA horror as well as JMRL’s Circulation Manager, Brittany, about the Food for Fines food drive.

Check out our staff made Young Adult horror find it list for more recommendations. 

Know of a haunted place you want to visit? Don’t forget to check out JMRL’s new Ghost Hunting Kit!

Love reading books set in Charlottesville? Check out Nancy Drew’s Hidden Window Mystery.

Here’s a comprehensive list of Neda’s recommendations:

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Darcy Coates

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

Dead Mall by Adam Cesare

Your Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer

The list of the books mentioned in our Young Adult Horror Book Cover Art segment: 

The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Cain

Saga of Darren Shaw by Darren Shan

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

Clown in  a Cornfield Adam Cesare

Gallant V.E. Schwab

Wilder Girls Rory Power

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

Here are the books mentioned in this episode’s Readers Advisory Corner:

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

Tangerine by Christine Mangan

Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefluer

Visit JMRL’s calendar for information on upcoming programs & events.

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else related to the podcast or JMRL. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website. 

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.8 E.6 — Banned (and Band) Books 2024



This episode features several JMRL staff and patrons talking about their earliest memories when it comes to music and giving recommendations for books written by famous musicians. Don’t forget to check out the American Library Association’s list of most banned books in the 2000s. Miranda and I are sure going to miss Abby and EJ but we’re both thrilled to be here!

Are you looking for a particular segment? Here are the timestamps to jump ahead!

0:28 Who are Acacia and Miranda and what happened to Abby and EJ
1:39 Banned Books Week
2:30 Virginia’s banned book, Jurgen by James Branch Cabell
4:25 Part one of interviews 
7:49 Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton
8:31 I Am Brian Wilson: The Memoir by Ben Greenman and Brian Wilson
9:46 Part two of interviews
14:44 More Myself by Alicia Keys
15:24 The Beautiful Ones by Prince
16:58 What a Fool Believes by Michael McDonald
18:52 Virginia Vignette: Charlottesville’s Human Flies
22:56 JMRL Program Highlights

Visit JMRL’s calendar for information on upcoming programs & events.

Here is a list of books mentioned:

Here is a list of artists mentioned:

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website. 

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com.


S.8 E.5 — Reading Resolutions for 2024



Visit JMRL’s calendar for information on upcoming programs & events.

This episode features several JMRL staff talking about their reading experiences of 2023, and outlining a few reading resolutions for 2024. If you aren’t already familiar with Libby, be sure to check it out. A completely free and user-friendly app (and webpage) for reading eBooks and listening to electronic audio books, Libby is a fan favorite among JMRL librarians. 

Consider the questions posed to JMRL staff, and let us know how you would answer them by emailing podcast@jmrl.org

  • What was your favorite book you read in 2023, and why?
  • Is there a book that exceeded your expectations or surprised you in 2023?
  • Are you eagerly anticipating any specific books being released in 2024?
  • What are your reading goals for 2024?

One way to enhance your reading life is to make use of the What Do I Read Next? service offered by JMRL. After filling out the form with your preferences, JMRL librarians will hand-select titles that we believe you will love! 

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else related to the podcast or JMRL. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.8. E.4 – Genre Deep Dives – Manga! (Part One)



Visit JMRL’s calendar for information on upcoming programs & events.

This episode features several JMRL staff talking about what they love about Manga and Anime, there’s even more to the conversation with a part two of this episode dropping with our next episode! Below are several Find It Lists to help you all find your next great Manga read! 

Manga: Young Adult (13-17 yr. old) 

Manga: Adult

Manga: Middle Grade

If you can’t find a particular title that you would love to read, please fill out the Suggest a Purchase form! Or if you would like a specific list crafted just for you please check out the What Do I Read Next? service offered by JMRL. 

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.8 E.3 – Book Club Deep Dive & the Five Year Survey



Please participate in the Five Year Survey here!

Visit JMRL’s calendar for information on upcoming programs & events.

This episode features book club members from two of our longstanding book clubs: the Brown Baggers book club and Books on Tap book club. Brown Baggers meets on the third Thursday of every month at noon, at the Central Library, and Books on Tap meets on the first Thursday of every month at 7 pm, at Beer Run. Both groups are open to all adults, and always happy to welcome new members! 

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.8 E.2 – Listening to Audiobooks Always Counts as Reading



Visit JMRL’s calendar for more information on upcoming programs & events.

We’re pitching new podcast book club titles! Which book would you like to read along with us in our next Overbooked series?

101 Ways to Go Zero Waste by Kathryn Kellogg 
Matrix by Lauren Groff 
Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh 
Fuzz: When nature breaks the law by Mary Roach 

Vote here! 


Book chat titles:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland

Continue reading S.8 E.2 – Listening to Audiobooks Always Counts as Reading


S.8 E.1 – Short Story Deep Dive



Welcome to the 8th Season of On the Same Page!

Visit JMRL’s calendar for more information on upcoming programs & events.

In today’s episode, we talk about a short story by Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour,” written and first published in 1894. We use the five C’s to dissect this very telling short story: 

Circumstance
Curiosity
Characters
Conversations
Conflict

Find the full of “The Story of an Hour” text here.

Mini book chats:
The Maid by Nita Prose 
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

Continue reading S.8 E.1 – Short Story Deep Dive


S.7 E.12 – All About Self Publishing with Nedra Brown



Visit JMRL’s calendar for more information on upcoming programs & events.

Nedra’s books featured in JMRL Local Voices Collection: 

Nedra’s most highly recommended publishing resources:

More from the JMRL collection: 

Other episode mentions: 

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.7. E.11 – Summer Reading Hype



Welcome to JMRL’s summer challenge! Find everything you need here

Episode mentions including Reader’s Advisory Corner – Summer Reading Suggestions from Abby & EJ:

Ghost Music by An Yu (Choose a new book read to read just by looking at the cover – August)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; a graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings (Read a book you can finish in one day – August) 

Kindred by Octavia Butler; a graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings 

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint (Read a retelling of a myth, fairytale, or folktale – June) 

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (Read a book set in a country other than the US – August) 

The Gilded Wolves series (Read a Book that is part of a series – June) 

Richard Wright: the life and times

Native Son by Richard Wright (Learn about an author or illustrator – July)

Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman (Read a Book About Nature – August)

Wildlife Anatomy by Julia Rothman

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg (Read a book about friendship or community – July) 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


S.7 E.10 – Are You Smarter than a Librarian?



Thanks for joining us for an exciting game of trivia!

Check out the JMRL calendar for more information on Summer Reading kickoffs!

Here are some of the memorable mentions from today’s segment: 

During our geography trivia section, we remembered fondly the origins of our podcast book club, Overbooked, which first began with the title The Glass Ocean, which we discussed throughout season six of the podcast!  

Intrigued by the sound shirt

As always, please email podcast@jmrl.org with comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you. 

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends, you can head to their website

Sound effects & music obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com