This month Bookish takes on S. A. Cosby’s gripping crime thriller, Razorblade Tears. After their gay sons are brutally murdered, two ex-cons from vastly different worlds must set aside their prejudice and partner up to confront their shared tragedy. Join Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura as they explore race, sexuality, and classism in this powerful, relentless story of grief, fatherhood, redemption, and a desperate pursuit of justice in the face of deep-seated hate.

The summer is over, the pages are settled, and it’s time for Bookish to check in! In this highly anticipated follow-up episode, Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura revisit their ambitious Summer Reading Lists. They’ll discuss which books lived up to the hype, which ones got shelved for later, and how their seasonal reading expectations measured up to reality. Whether you’re into literary fiction, poetry collections, or “long reads,” join this honest, casual look at the joy (and occasional failure) of summer book challenges.

What’s on your summer reading list? In this episode of Bookish: A Casual Bookclub, Howard Community College English professors Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura share their top book picks for summer 2025 and unpack why summer reading just feels different. From urgent poetry and experimental memoir to international fiction and visionary manifestos, the trio offers a vibrant set of book recommendations for every kind of reader. Whether you’re tackling a summer reading challenge or just looking for your next beach read, this episode is packed with literary gems and thoughtful takes on the idea of “seasonal reading.” Sylvia’s picks include: Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo Bluff by Danez Smith Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown Find Me As the Creature I Am by Emily Jungmin Yoon Laura’s list features: There There by Tommy Orange Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Bluff by Danez Smith Kofi recommends: The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz Guapa by Saleem Haddad In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Listen now to discover new authors, unpack the power of summer reading rituals, and get inspired to start your own reading list. More episodes of Bookish are available here. Produced by Dragon Media Podcasts at Howard Community College

This week, join Laura, Sylvia, and Kofi as they dive into Claire Keegan’s acclaimed novella, ”Small Things Like These.” The trio explores the book’s themes, characters, and the powerful storytelling that has captivated readers worldwide. They also debate whether the book truly deserves the title of ”the perfect book” as touted on TikTok. Tune in for thoughtful insights, lively discussions, and a few laughs along the way. Follow us on socials for more updates & episodes on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

This week, hosts Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura take a deliciously taboo deep dive into the books that mess us up—in the best way. From Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! to Nabokov’s Lolita, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Yanagihara’s A Little Life, we’re talking about the reads that leave you gutted, haunted, and somehow... wanting more. Why do we love books that break all the rules? What do these messy, morally complex stories say about the world—and about us? Buckle up for a bumpy ride through trauma, obsession, broken systems, and beautiful prose. Because let’s be honest: the more f’d up the book, the deeper the obsession. Produced & edited by Matt Jackson

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura discuss Dave Eggers’ novel, The Parade (2019). They dive into the allegorical story about two men, Four and Nine, who are charged with paving a road between two cities in a country that had been ravaged by war.

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura discuss The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith. They talk about the novel's themes and the controversy around its translation. Han Kang is a South Korean author. She is the recipient of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature.

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura share their thoughts on readings that inspire joy or delight. They mention The Book of Delights by Ross Gay, What Comes Next and How to Like it by Abigail Thomas, One Man’s Meat by EB White, An Alphabet for Gourmets by MFK Fisher, and “Vertigo” by Les Murray.

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura report back on their summer reading and dive into a discussion of James by Percival Everett. Spoiler Alert: We do talk about the ending of James! 

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about their summer reading lists. In addition to a variety of books on their individual lists, they will be reading James by Percival Everett. Be sure to read along with them. Books they mention in this episode: Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown, Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy by April Baker-Bell, Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature by Sarah Hart, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling, These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit: Poems by Hayan Charara. 

In this episode of Bookish, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura explore the fantasy genre and its many subgenres, such as high fantasy, magical realism, Wuxia fantasy, and sci-fi fantasy. They discuss The Wings of Fire (the graphic novel) by Tui T. Sutherland, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and “La Héron” by Charlotte Ashley from Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar/Apr 2015.  Correction: The short story “Axolotl” that Laura mentions is written by Julio Cortazar, not Jorge Luis Borges.

  Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about "grocery store reads" or so-called "trashy novels" that range from romances like The Single Dad Project and Fifty Shades of Grey to crime thrillers like Reckoning. 

Kofi, Laura and Sylvia discuss the 2001 novel, Erasure, by Percival Everett. They also talk about the film based on the novel, American Fiction. American Fiction is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. The film has received five Oscar nominations.

Kofi, Sylvia and Laura discuss graphic literature. They review "Abina and the Important Men," a compelling and powerfully illustrated "graphic history" based on an 1876 court transcript of a West African woman named Abina, who was wrongfully enslaved and took her case to court. 

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about memoirs, including a discussion of Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu, HCC’s Bauder Lecture book for this year.

In this episode, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura talk about scary stories! What is scary? Why do we write and read scary stories? Happy Halloween! The stories discussed: “The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, “Survivor Type” by Stephen King, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, “Free Jim’s Mine” by Tananarive Due, and “Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe.

In this episode of Bookish, Kofi, Sylvia, and Laura share their summer reading adventures. Listen to find out how they fared in their the summer reading challenges!   

Come listen to Sylvia, Laura, and Kofi's chat about their summer reading lists, which consist of a wide range of novels, poetry, and memoir. Listeners are invited to join in and read with the hosts. 

Listen to Sylvia, Laura, and Kofi's wonderful discussion of Noor Naga's micro-novel If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, which follows the story of two nameless characters---one an "American" girl, the other an Egyptian "boy". Naga situates her story in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2010s, using unique storytelling techniques to question the limits of identity, identity politics, and shared humanity.