David regrets having chose Westerns for this week's genre. That is, until Teresa, Diane, and Joe started questioning what exactly makes a Western a Western.

The usual suspects led to discussions of Larry McMurtry, Charles Portis, Louis L'Amour, Cormac McCarthy...but then came Elmore Leonard, John Steinbeck, and even Stephen King.

What makes a Western a Western? Join us to find out!

NOTE: This one gets a little adult language-y, so keep that in mind with the littles around.

Diane, Teresa, David, and Joe get caught up after a week off and discuss their favorite books of 2025 (so far).

Here are their favorites:

Diane:

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
• The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
• The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Teresa:

• The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
• Cat’s People by Tanya Guerrero
• The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
• Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

David:

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• The Bookshop of Secrets by Kerry Barrett
• The Mystic Caravan Mysteries by Amanda M. Lee (latest: Freaky Festivals; first: Freaky Days)

• The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Matthew Bawerman

Joe:

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

Diane and Joe join the 'cast from the road, in Las Vegas, as Teresa leads the discussion of legal thrillers, like Phillip Margolin's latest, FALSE WITNESS, and John Grisham's latest, THE WIDOW.

The friends discuss the unforgivable sins of legal thrillers and the things that make great thrillers great.

Listen to hear what's coming next, as bibliophilia moves into the holiday season!