Between The Covers

Between The Covers

Jay Ruud and Stacey Margaret Jones

Episodes 87
Avg. Duration 39m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.9 (15)
Since Jul 2024
Latest Episode Jun 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Weekly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
39%
Hosting
feed.podbean.com

About This Podcast

Author Jay Ruud has read every ”100 Best Book” list there is, so it’s only natural that he would create his own. Listen to each episode as he and his wife, author Stacey Margaret Jones discuss a book from his carefully cultivated ”100 Lovable Books” list. Stacey interviews Jay on what makes the book ”lovable” and where it ranks on the master list. They’ll also discuss current books in the CHAOS READER segment.

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Recent Episodes

The Genius of Toole’s Ignatius J. Reilly

Jun 02, 2026 49m

Jay’s choice this week is John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces, a premier novel of southern American literature and a predictor of the "male loneliness epidemic." Jay talks about how this novel…

Ellison’s Novel Shouldn’t Be Invisible on Your TBR List

May 26, 2026 45m

Jay chooses Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man for his list this week. The celebrated novel addresses the Black experience in the first half of the twentieth century in America, but it hasn’t lost its…

A Prime Novel of Ms. Muriel Spark's

May 19, 2026 42m

Muriel Spark’s iconoclastic education novel is Jay’s pick this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. Set in 1930s Edinburgh, the novel focuses on six girls who are…

In a World of Nurse Ratcheds, Be The Chief …?

May 12, 2026 49m

This week Jay’s entry on the list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is Ken Kesey’s seminal novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which grapples with the power of systems against…

A Good Book of Short Stories is Hard to Find

May 05, 2026 48m

But not this week! Jay names The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor to his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and—spoiler alert!—he LOVES talking about them. Stacey won’t…

The Jewel of Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet

Apr 28, 2026 49m

It’s fitting for Jay to follow up last week’s pick of A Passage to India with Paul Scott’s novel The Jewel in the Crown, as this first novel of Scott’s Raj Quartet has definite references to…

A Passage to Colonialism

Apr 21, 2026 47m

E.M. Forster’s 1924 novel A Passage to India is Jay’s pick this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. The nuance and opacity of this unflinching look at…

The Continuing Relevance of LORD OF THE FLIES

Apr 14, 2026 43m

Jay kicks off Season 3 of Between the Sheets with William Golding’s 1954 novel about boys stranded on a remote island, and their collective and individual responses to their situation. The novel’s…

Who is Really the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?

Feb 10, 2026 47m

In the final episode of Season 2, Jay names Mary Shelley’s 19th century gothic-horror novel FRANKENSTEIN to his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and Chaos Reader checks in…

I want, I want, I want… to read Henderson the Rain King

Feb 03, 2026 42m

Saul Bellow’s comic, yet philosophical novel Henderson the Rain King is Jay’s most lovable novel this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. Henderson’s mid-life…

That Epic Book By That One New Jersey Guy

Jan 27, 2026 49m

Jay’s lovable novel this episode is AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth, in which the hero, Seymour “Swede” Levov, struggles to understand his life in late 20th  century America, and how the 1960s still…

Postmodern Suspense in The Crying of Lot 49

Jan 20, 2026 42m

Jay makes his case that The Crying of Lot 49 is the most lovable of Thomas Pynchon’s novels as he dives into the plot of the 1966 conspiracy-theory, suspenseful novel. (It’s also Pynchon’s shortest…

The Black Comedy of A Clockwork Orange

Jan 13, 2026 44m

This week, Jay’s pick is the 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, which focuses on a violent teen subculture and a dystopian society’s attempt at reformation. Chaos Reader updates her…

Tess of the D’Urbervilles: Hardy’s Take on 19th Century Values

Jan 06, 2026 48m

Jay’s entry this week to his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is Thomas Hardy’s 1892 novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and it raises issues 21st century readers are still…

A Novel without a Hero? Vanity Fair!

Dec 30, 2025 46m

This week’s entry on Jay’s list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is William Makepeace Thackeray’s VANITY FAIR, often considered the Victorian domestic novel that kicked off this…

A Wacky-Sounding Book Can Be Great in the Hands of the Right Writer

Dec 23, 2025 48m

Jay chose Anthony Doerr’s CLOUD CUCKOO LAND for this episode’s lovable novel.  While the plot sounded a bit wackadoodle to Stacey, Doerr’s deft ability to link the book’s different narratives to a…

Exploring Gulliver’s Travels

Dec 16, 2025 52m

Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel GULLIVER’S TRAVELS is Jay’s pick this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and Stacey admits she had a very narrow view of what the…

Ivanhoe Walked so Frodo Could Run

Dec 09, 2025 44m

Walter Scott’s IVANHOE: A ROMANCE is Jay’s choice for his 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language list this week. A 19th century example of medievalism, the book takes readers back to England…

Kick off the Christmas Season with some Little Women

Dec 02, 2025 57m

Jay chose Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN for this week’s lovable novel (which is also a lovely Christmas read) and surprises Stacey with the backstory of how it got written and how some savvy young…

The Call of London’s The Call of the Wild

Nov 25, 2025 50m

This week Jay enters Jack London’s 1903 naturalist fiction novel The Call of the Wild, which Stacey was surprised to learn is not a children’s or young-adult novel. London’s dog hero Buck and his…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Between The Covers have?

Between The Covers has published 87 episodes since July 2024, covering topics in Arts, Books.

Is Between The Covers still active?

Between The Covers is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 39m.

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