In which two cranky old men discuss older books that are fun to read, for listeners who want to reconnect to a traditional popular culture.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/8/31/20/1d4a647e-e430-4a28-a4c1-edebea6ceb59_wbwf021.mp3

In which we discuss The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton and City of Illusions (1967) by Ursula LeGuin, and consider how a novel of high society New Yorkers and moral problems related to love and marriage parallels a novel of a not quite human man navigating problems on an alien dominated future Earth. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 021: 19th Century New York and 30th Century North America

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In which we discuss Twelve Years a Slave (1853) by Solomon Northrup and This Hallowed Ground (1956) by Bruce Catton, non-fiction accounts of slavery and the civil war it engendered, and consider their ongoing relevance in the 21st century. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 020: Slavery and the Civil War

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In which we discuss Barchester Towers (1857) by Anthony Trollope and consider how a comedy regarding situations unfamiliar to modern readers (in this case, 19th century Anglican Church politics) can nonetheless be funny and fun to read for its handling of timeless aspects of human nature and social interactions. Relevant to anyone ever affected by office politics. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 019: Church Warfare

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In which we discuss Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39) by Charles Dickens and Just William (1922) by Richmal Crompton and consider the comedy of suffering dire circumstances and dire characters versus normal 11 year-old suffering. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 018: Boys in Trouble

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In which we discuss The Coral Island (1857) by R M. Ballantyne and The Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding and consider the differing worldviews of authors and critics regarding boys shipwrecked on tropical islands. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 017: Shipwrecked

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In which we discuss Of Mice and Men (1937) by John Steinbeck and take a return visit to Penrod by Booth Tarkington (1914) and consider how changing social mores affect the reading of realistic novels from the past. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 016: A Tragedy and a Comedy (rerun)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/7/27/20/cc49307f-296e-4c9f-8806-0b10170b1b80_wbwf015.mp3

In which we discuss And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians) (1939) by Agatha Christie and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by John le Carre and consider another Christie mystery as well as the roles of mystery and betrayal in spy novels. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 015: Murder and Spies

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In which we discuss A Night to Remember (1955) by Walter Lord, a non-fiction account of the Titanic disaster, and The Cruel Sea (1951) by Nicholas Monsarrat, a novel by about British convoys in the North Atlantic during World War II, and reflect on icebergs, U-boats, and hypothermia.  <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 014: Death in the North Atlantic

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In which we discuss Farewell My Lovely (1940) by Raymond Chandler and The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1916) by Agatha Chrisie and contrast the sub-genres of gritty urban mystery and genteel English country house mystery. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 013: Murder - Gritty and Genteel

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/6/25/21/2b0e7eb1-7476-4ae7-b2af-88c7eeaf53e6_wbwf012.mp3

In which we discuss the Tarzan stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, particularly Tarzan of the Apes (1912), The Return of Tarzan (1913), The Son of Tarzan (1915), and Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1919). <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 012: Tarzan

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In which we discuss The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (1923) and The Mouse That Roared by Leonard Wibberley (1955) and contrast the faux Edwardian humor of the Jeeves stories with Wibberley’s social satire regarding power politics and nuclear weapons. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 011: Comedy -  Jeeves and Grand Fenwick

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In which we discuss The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895) and The Admirable Crichton (1902) by J. M. Barrie, noting the humor of the trivial, and the relevance of these two plays to modern society. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 010: Comedy - Ernest and Crichton

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In which we discuss the plays of William Shakespeare and why reading these plays can often be more entertaining and instructive than seeing them performed. whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 009: Reading Shakespeare

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In which we discuss The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749) and Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser (1969) and discuss how tales of adultery and misbehavior might actually be moralistic, most definitely so in Tom Jones, and somewhat indirectly in Flashman and its sequels. <a href="mailto:whenbookswerefun@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">whenbookswerefun@gmail.com</a> Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 008: Comedy - Tom Jones and Flashman

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In which we discuss novels about childhood, Penrod by Booth Tarkington (1914) and The Golden Age and Dream Days by Kenneth Grahame (1895 and 1898) and ponder what aspects of childhood are determined by historical time and place, and what aspects are eternal.whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 007: Children - Before World War I

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In which we discuss Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome (1889) and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908) and contrast a (somewhat) factual account of three men (and a dog) boating on the Thames with a child’s fantasy of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Mr. Toad, and their adventures along a river and the English countryside.whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 006: The English Riverside

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In which we discuss Homer’s Odyssey and why reading a poem that’s several thousand years old might be more entertaining that watching its movie adaption.whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun Episode 005: Homer’s Odyssey

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In which we discuss some of the Freddy the Pig books of Walter R. Brooks and their depiction of the Bean farm and a traditional 20th century America, Freddy’s vocation as a detective, and his relationships with the other animals, not to mention Freddy and the Baseball Team from Mars. whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun 004: Freddy the Pig

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In which we discuss children’s picture books in general, focusing mostly on the works of Dr. Seuss, and emphasize the importance of reading to children. whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun 003: Dr. Seuss and More

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In which we discuss the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, focusing mostly on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). whenbookswerefun@gmail.com Check out Al’s stories at sonrisestories.com. Check out Jeff’s upcoming book at perebruinpress.com.

When Books Were Fun 002: Sherlock Holmes

In which two cranky old men discuss older books that are fun to read, for listeners who want to reconnect to a traditional popular culture.