We're joined by several of the Barrelhouse editors for our annual holiday episode. This year we're reading the David Baldacci novel The Christmas Train, which follows a salty, Mark Twain-loving writer on a cross-country train trip filled with heartwarming hijinks. There's a boa constrictor. There's an Aretha Franklin stand-in. There's an old guy who loves to lecture people about the magic of train travel. And maybe ... love?

You can learn more about Barrelhouse here: https://www.barrelhousemag.com/

If you like the podcast, and would like more of it, we're releasing two bonus episodes a month to our Patreon subscribers, for only $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight

We're joined by Siân Griffiths (author of Scrapple, and The Heart Keeps Faulty Time) to discuss a short story she regularly teaches and that her students often dislike, in large part because it involves killing cats. And it turns out Mike might be on Team Siân's Students, though for somewhat different reasons (not that he cares for cats being killed, either!). We talk about the pedagogical benefits of having your students read something they may not like, and debate where the line is between a good description and an overwrought, show-offy one. Plus: horse stuff!

You can read the story, "Breatharians," here, via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/breatharians

And learn more about our guest, and her work, here: http://www.sbgriffiths.com/

If you like the podcast, and would like more of it, we're releasing two bonus episodes a month to our Patreon subscribers, for only $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight