A Deadman's Books

Janie Crawford's grandmother has a plan for her life, and it's one that Janie doesn't agree with. After attempting to make the plan happen, she leaves her arranged marriage with Logan Killicks for the sweet talking Joe Starks. Starks takes Janie to Eatonville, Florida where Janie seems to be living her dream life. However, before long, she sees she is still in the same relationship she was before. After Starks dies, Janie comes across someone younger than her in Tea Cake. While Tea Cake may seem like someone you don't write home about, he gives Janie the life she has always dreamed of. One of true love. However, a storm is brewing, and things will change. Today, we cover our 2025 best read of the year: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. This episode is split into two parts. In part one, we're asking the tough questions. Is Hurston's dialogue harmful or authentic? Would we let our daughters date Tea Cake? Did the dog bite her? Jason Crockett joins us as we answer these and much more in today's episode. Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episdoe:Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #hurston #ZoraNealeHurston Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a stranger and his daughter are stranded, single mother Collie Wright welcomes them into her home. Little does she know that those walking up to her house will be the future half of her family, and also reveal a deep secret through an accidental murder that she has been covering up. We're asking the tough questions: What sacrifices are parents willing to make for their children? How should we as parents react if our children turn into people we didn't expect them to be? Why are those in Appalachia so connected to the land? Amy Hawkins joins us as we talk about this and more in today's episode.Thanks for listening! Resources for today's episode:The Winter People by John EhleTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For 25 years, a local television show captured time that defined a region. WBIR's The Heartland Series began as a way to showcase the most beautiful place in the world: The Great Smoky Mountains. However, the show evolved into much more as it expanded in documenting the culture and people of East Tennessee, the Upper Cumberland, and parts of Western North Carolina. On the heels of our fantastic interview with the icon and host of The Heartland Series Bill Landry, Jason Crockett joins us as we take a walk back through some of our favorite episodes of The Heartland Series. We also play a little Appalachian vocabulary quiz, and this or that Appalachia edition.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's show:The Heartland SeriesFoxfire: StoryTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #Appalachia #appalachian #easttn #Tennessee #BillLandry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the heart of an adventurer and the soul of a poet, Bill Landry climbed a ridge and found below him the heartland. Our land. A land of the principal people. A land full of storytellers, deep thinkers, and hard workers. Today, we have a very special guest. The legendary Bill Landry joins us and talks about his life of doing the Heartland Series on WBIR in Knoxville, the people he met, the lessons he learned, and the books he's written. Bill even talks with us about his career in theater as actor and playwright. Jason Crockett joins us as we get the chance to sit down and talk with childhood hero and East Tennessee icon, Bill Landry.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episode:WBIR's The Heartland Series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gPCpuxCodY)Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures by Bill LandryTellin' it for the Truth by Bill LandryEinstein the Man by Bill Landry#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #heartland #heartlandseries #BillLandry #appalachia #easttennessee #EastTN #tennessee #appalachianTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bootlegger Marion Sylder kills a man on his way home from Atlanta back to East Tennessee. He carries the body with him back to the mountains, and dumps the body in an abandoned concrete pit. Little does he know that he end up crossing paths with the dead-man's son and becoming a mentor type figure. All the while, an old man of the mountains witnessed Sylder dump the body of the man that was murdered, and he has tended to the body the last seven years. Cormac McCarthy's debut novel follows the comings and goings of three characters with the backdrop of East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. There's bootlegging, there's mink trapping, and there are Wampus cats. We're asking the tough questions. Did McCarthy try too hard in his first go? How authentic are the characters that are presented in the book? Why are the Appalachian people so afraid of cats? Jason Crockett joins us today as we answer these and more.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episode:The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthyTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #mccarthy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Mary leaves Bill for another man, Bill becomes bitter towards women. However, when the two cross paths fifteen years later, their love lives have taken completely opposite roads. In our first review of a short-story, we look at Langston Hughes's micro-story, Early Autumn which was first published in 1950 for The Chicago Defender. We're asking the tough questions. Is micro-fiction overlooked? How can such a short story pack such a huge punch? Is this the perfect story? Hannah Randolph joins us as we answer these and more. Thanks for listening! Resources for today's episode:Early Autumn by Langston HughesTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The number four book in 2025's top 5, In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a shepherd named Santiago has a dream interpreted and is sent on a journey to find his treasure at the Pyramids of Egypt. Before leaving, he runs into a mysterious king who tells him about omens and his Personal Legend. The story then follows the boy's expedition for that Personal Legend while teaching us along the way how to seek our own.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episode:The Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoStar Wars Episode IV: A New HopeThe Story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn BrooksGreenlights by Matthew McConaugheyTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for thei first annual Deadman's Books awards, The Deadies. In this episode we will hand out awards to our books from 2025 in categories such as, the longest, the grossest, and the worst book of the year amongst others. We will also reveal our Top 5 reads from 2025, revealing our favorite book we read from the previous year. Live from Frankfurt, Germany, it's The 2025 Deadies!Thanks for listening!Theme song for A Deadman's books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Crockett sits down with us as we look back over our favorite moments of the year. We are thankful for one year of podcasting, and are looking back at the many memories we have made this year. We have interviewed authors, discovered new books, and asked the tough questions. Also, we want to thank you all for listening along with us. Thanks for a great first year. We are looking forward to what this next year has in store for us. Thanks for listening! Theme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today at the movies, we continue looking at A Christmas Carol through the adaptation performed by the one and only Muppets. Michael Caine stars next to Kermit the Frong, Gonzo, and Rizzo in this Christmas classic. The kids sit down and talk about their favorite parts, songs, and what message they got out of this timeless story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacob Marley was dead...and so was his partner Scrooge's heart. After denying his nephew's invitation to Christmas dinner, refusing to give to charity, and reluctantly giving his worker's Christmas Day off, Scrooge heads back to his home where his old partner is waiting for him. Marley's ghost tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts in an effort to get Ebenezer to change his ways so that his afterlife would not be the same or worse than Jacob Marley's. After being taken to Christmases of the past, present, and future, Scrooge realizes that he can change. We're asking the tough questions: Has A Christmas Carol been adapted as many times as Shakespeare's work? Is it impossible to view A Christmas Carol without taking in its heavy social comments? Is A Christmas Carol even more relevant today than it has ever been? Is A Muppet's Christmas Carol the best adaptation? Jason Crocket joins us for a our Christmas special as we answer these questions and more.Merry Christmas!Theme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #Classic #ClassicLit #Christmas #ChristmasCarol #Muppets #Dickens #charlesdickens Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A chase begins as The Gunslinger chases the Man in Black across a desert landscape. Seemingly the old west at first, we soon find out that this chase could be taking place in some sort of variant dimension that the Man in Black is pulling people into as a way to distract the Gunslinger from his ultimate mission: killing the Man in Black. Or is that the mission? We're asking the tough questions. Could Randall Flagg be the villain in most of Stephen King's novels? How can we conversate sometimes with our biggest enemies? How should we take it when authors go back in later publications and change their stories? Jason Crockett joins us as we answer these questions and more.Thanks for listening! Resources for today's episode:The Gunslinger by Stephen KingTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #stephenking Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Jason Crockett joins us as we sit down and talk about Appalachian literature. We have curated a starter pack for you if you love Appalachia like we do. We're talking what defines Appalachia as a region, what are true trademarks of the people of Appalachia, and the harmful stereotype that has been created. We also will discuss what makes Appalachian authors so fantastic, and why they are deep storytellers. We hope you enjoy this starter pack!Lord yes, thank you for listenin'Today's resources:The Land Breakers by John EhleCold Mountain by Charles FrazierThe Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthyDemon Copperhead by Barbara KingsolverCades Cove: The Life and Death of an Appalachian Community by Durwood Dunn#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #author #appalachia #eastTN #appalachianmountains Theme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's bonus episode, we bring in our in-house Richard Nixon expert Dr. Russ Witcher to take us on a field trip to the past and discuss one of the key, pivotal figures from our book this week: Hogs, Horns, and Nixon Coming. We're asking the tough questions: Is today's political climate comparable to the Nixon's? What can we take from Nixon's legacy apart from Watergate and Vietnam? Where does Nixon rank on the all-time POTUS list? Dr. Witcher lends his expertise to answer these and more on today's episode.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episode:Hogs, Horns, and Nixon Coming by Terry Frei Theme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In college football's centennial year of 1969, a game is chosen at the beginning of the year that will represent a celebration of the sports first 100 years. Move forward to December 6 and this game has become all that it was hoped to be as the number one and two teams in the nation would face off against each other in Fayetteville, Arkansas with none other than sitting President of the United States Richard Nixon choosing to attend the game. However, while the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks were getting ready to meet on the field, there was another game that was happening outside of it. Terry Frei walks us through in his book the political upheaval of the time that was looking to gather at the University of Arkansas to use the game as a chance to get their message out. From war protests over the war in Vietnam, to the civil rights movement continuing its fight, this game shows how whether we want them to or not, sports and politics will always meet at some point.Thanks for listening!Resources for today's episode:Hogs, Horns, and Nixon Coming by Terry FreiTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #football #collegefootball #CFB #sportsbooks #sportslit #nonfiction #texas #arkansas #longhorns #razorbacks #Nixon #politics #richardnixon #vietnam #civilrights Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A group of kids are left stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. While there, the children begin to form society. In that society come contrasting ideas which leads to two dividing factors. At what point does the straw snap? Jason Crockett joins us, and we're asking the tough questions. At what point do people feel as if they have been pushed far enough? How do you keep doing what is right when the other side is winning and it looks so good? Where does Lord of the Flies land in British canon? Is it comparable to The Hobbit? Narnia? Harry Potter? We talk about these and more in this week's episode.Thanks for listening!Today's resources:Lord of the Flies by William GoldingTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #author #LOTF #lordoftheflies #british #classic #britishlit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A sudden worldwide plague strikes ending the lives of all creatures with a Y chromosome...except for two. Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand have found themselves in a post-apocalyptic world. While being the last man on Earth may seems like a dream scenario, Yorick is about to find out that there is more trouble ahead than pleasure. Jason Crockett joins us as we ask the tough questions. Can graphic novels be literary? If you had the chance to create a literary graphic novel, what would the necessary elements be? We answer these and more in today's episode.Thanks for listening!Theme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #author #graphicnovel #comicbook #dc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson sits down with us to talk about a variety of topics including his latest novel, Run for the Hills. In this episode, Kevin talks to us about the value and longevity of books, how his ideas and characters find their way to his writing, and his writing process & how the writing process could look completely different not just for each person, but also for the stage of life they are in.Thanks for listening! Resources for today's episode:Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson Run for the Hills by Kevin WilsonTheme song for A Deadman's Books: Surfing! by automaticbananas#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #author #NYT #newyorktimes #NYTbestseller #KevinWilson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Cutter family is mysteriously murdered, a small town is shaken. The police work patiently to hunt down their murderers before eventually bringing them to justice. Truman Capote's famous true-crime novel looks back at his jailhouse interviews that he conducted to put together one of the most popular narrative-nonfiction novels of all-time, and giving birth to one of the most popular genres of today.#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #truecrime #murder #capote #trumancapote #infamous Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you are not a big reader of horror, our horror expert Jason Crockett will walk you through a curated starter pack fo those interested in starting the genre. From short stories to novels and podcasts, Jason gives us the right tricks and treats this Halloween to begin your horror journey.#booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendations #BookReview #BookLovers #Lit #Literature #horror #creepy #spooky #halloween #horrorstory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.