Victor Hugo’s epic novel of the French revolution is inarguably a classic. Originally published in 1862, it has endured and rightfully been considered one of the greatest novels of all time. It’s long, though– clocking in at 1,662 pages in one version we found– and tangential, which causes a good amount of trouble for Aaron. Rodney and Rebecca are quick to defend Les Miserables, however, and will go to any lengths to prove him wrong, even if Rebecca has to break his brain.

Can Aaron get through this episode without bursting into song? Probably not.

Press “Play” to hear our season 3 premiere!

It’s February!

This week’s episode is a milestone for us, as it is the first episode of our third season. Our very first episode premiered in February of 2023. Here we are– two full years later– with a larger cast, more monthly content, and a decent-sized dent in our list of 1,316 novels. Fun fact: we are actually only 1.6% of the way through the curated list. At our current rate of one novel per month, we should be finished with the list in just over 107 years. Only 105 years left to go!

Our bonus episode this month features a holiday that takes place in February. Naturally, we’re talking about Valentine’s Day. To celebrate, we present another round table discussion. This time, we’ll be discussing love and romance within the literary world. We discuss why some writers just can’t seem to get it right. We don’t stop with books and literature, though: Rodney finally gets to mention Dune, Aaron finds an excuse to discuss Star Trek and Superman, and Rebecca waxes poetic on her favorite sitcom!

Press “Play” to hear this month’s bonus content!

T. C. Boyle has written nineteen novels. He is the celebrated author of more than 150 short stories. He has won the PEN/Faulkner Award and been shortlisted for the National Book Award. He is Aaron’s favorite living novelist, and has been since 1998.

In “Drop City”, Boyle does what he does best– biting satire, sympathetic villains, remarkable sense of place– in a saga about a 1970s hippie commune picking up their California roots and heading north to Alaska. Will Rodney and Rebecca enjoy this book as much as Aaron does?

Push “Play” on the media player below to find out!

The Shining.

The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Gone With The Wind.

Some of the greatest movies ever made started out as novels. A vast majority of contemporary stage plays started their life as a book. Written prose have proven to be a wellspring of inspiration for television shows. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s 1862 epic masterpiece and our selection for discussion in February, by itself has been fodder for comic books, stage plays, television miniseries, feature films, and animated cartoons.

This month, our bonus discussion centers around adaptations. We discuss some of our favorites. We discuss how an adaptation, good or bad, can change a reader’s impressions of the source materials. From Walt Disney cartoons to Elmore Leonard to the current phenomenon of Wicked, January’s bonus material is lively and sure to prompt further discussion.

Press “Play” below!

The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Klaus? No one here has ever heard of it. No one here has ever even heard of the author. This book was approached with a high degree of trepidation.

As it would turn out, this novel was one of the more thought-provoking works to ever be explored on this podcast. By turns amusing and disturbing, Hugo Klaus’s meandering and emotional examination of a childhood spent in Nazi-occupied Belgium is just as confounding as it is enjoyable– all fodder for an in-depth discussion.

This extra-long episode includes the discussion, an examination of recent news about Cormac McCarthy, a look back at the listener statistics from the previous year, and a fantastic finale when Rodney hand-picks our novel for February! Press “Play” below to hear it!

It’s Christmas time!

But it’s also National Read A New Book Month!

Which do we celebrate? It seems strange to make a big deal out of reading new books since the majority of novels the random number generator assigns are new to at least one member of the cast. “New books” are, basically, what they do here every month.

Rodney was inspired to combine Christmas and National Read A New Book Month into one very unique gift exchange. Each member of the cast came to the table with two book recommendations. It had to be a writer or book not on the curated list, a specialized gift based on what they have learned from each other over the last year of broadcast. To wit: Rodney buys a new book for Aaron, one for Rebecca. Rebecca buys a new book for Rodney, one for Aaron. Aaron . . . well . . . you get the idea. As it turns out, the challenge was harder than expected.

To hear the latest episode– with full discussions of six very different stories by six very different writers– push “Play” on the media player below!

The book for November provides a great opportunity for listeners to engage with the cast. They are urging someone out there to read this book and then email them to explain why they believe that this book should be on a list of books that are essential novels to read before we die.

Remembering Babylon, the Booker Prize-winning novel by Australian “master” David Malouf, is, ultimately, nothing more than a book that the cast of Just In Case We Die read because they had to. Be warned if you are a fan of this novel because it gets skewered herein.

Press “Play” on the media player below to hear the latest discussion.

The bonus material this month has its genesis in the book discussion from last month. You may recall that Rodney and Rebecca were less than pleased with the ending of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, citing it as abrupt and implausible. Does the ending ruin an otherwise great book?

This month, the discussion centers around the art of the ending. Are there really great books ruined by a terrible ending? Are some endings too abrupt? What writers, for the cast of Just In Case We Die, too often resort to laziness when it comes to the denouement? What is the greatest ending of all time and why is it The Usual Suspects?

Check out the newest discussion now! Just click “play” on the media player below 👇

This novel– Mark Haddon’s emotional depiction of a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome– meant a lot to Aaron when he first read it back in 2007. He selected it for his choice off of the list because he thought that Rebecca would have a personal attachment to it and he wanted Rodney to appreciate a post-modern novel that wasn’t as complicated as The Recognitions. The end result of this experiment to cater to everyone’s tastes? One of the best books they’ve read so far sullied by a flat and lifeless ending.

Can a bad ending ruin a great novel? Press “Play” on the media player below to see where our cast lands in this discussion.

It’s October!

All three cast members of Just In Case We Die are in agreement that autumn is the best time of the year. It’s not just because of the cool temperatures or the pumpkin spice. It’s not just because of the beautiful changes in scenery as the leaves and foliage change color before winter. Fall is also their favorite season of the year because that’s the best time to break out the dusty books of scary stories!

This month, the bonus discussion centers around horror, some personal favorite creators in the genre, and an exploration into ways you can get your scary story fix without subjecting yourself to blood and guts. From old-school classics to contemporary masters, the podcast offers more than enough suggestions to get through the Halloween season!

To hear the discussion, press “Play” below!