The Dust Jacket
A husband and wife talk about books
Episodes

Nov 14, 2025
Nov 14, 2025
41 min
We discuss Deadly Animals, by Marie Tierney, in which a young precocious girl helps solve the mystery of who's killing all her classmates. We both loved some parts of this book and were irritated by others.
Trigger warning for mentions of violence and sexual assault against children. Spoilers from 24 mins in

Nov 7, 2025
Nov 7, 2025
50 min
Special guest Jules returns to talk about Sky Daddy with us. This is a truly weird novel about a woman with a sexual fixation on planes, who wants to "marry" one by dying in a plane crash.
Warning: This episode has a LOT of talk about sex. If you're around children or just don't want to hear about sex, skip this one.
Spoilers not until 41 mins

Oct 31, 2025
Oct 31, 2025
26 min
Happy Halloween! For the end of Spooktober, we're talking about the cult hit Slewfoot, by Brom. We discuss why Puritans make great horror villains, why this book is actually two books, and the power and pitfalls of witch hunts in fiction.
Spoilers from 15 minutes.

Oct 24, 2025
Oct 24, 2025
34 min
We talk about a haunted house book that just got published, Play Nice, by Rachel Harrison. It features an interesting premise, but we didn't care much for the execution...
Spoilers from 17 minutes in

Oct 17, 2025
Oct 17, 2025
34 min
We discuss the very popular horror novel The Last House on Needless Street, by Catriona Ward. Controversially, we didn't like it much...
Spoilers from 15 minutes in, and these are very real, will-spoil-the-book-for-you type spoilers.

Oct 10, 2025
Oct 10, 2025
57 min
This week we're talking about The Frequency of Living Things, and for the first time ever, we have the author on to discuss his book with us!
Nick Fuller Googins shares stories about the ins and outs of publishing, the real-life activist inmate who inspired one of the characters in this book, and how his writing process takes him on unexpected journeys.
This episode is spoiler-free

Oct 3, 2025
Oct 3, 2025
30 min
To kick off Halloween month, we're reading the disgusting horror novel Tender Is the Flesh, by Argentinian author Agustina Bazterrica.
Warning: this book is about cannibalism, and our discussion of it mentions a lot of stomach-turning violence, including to pregnant women and animals. Skip this one if you have any reservations about that subject matter.
Spoilers from 19 mins

Sep 26, 2025
Sep 26, 2025
34 min
We discuss the Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping, which depicts Haymitch's Hunger Games. How does it hold up next to other Hunger Games books and next to other dystopian YA books?
Spoilers from 14 minutes in, but honestly, if you read the Hunger Games, you already know them

Sep 19, 2025
Sep 19, 2025
40 min
We bring in our Irish friends, Róisín and Claire, to help us discuss Aisling Rawle's The Compound. Billed as "Love Island meets Lord of the Flies," The Compound deals with a vacuous main character on a vapid TV show... but can it meet its goal to rise above vacuousness and vapidity?
Spoilers from 30 mins in

Sep 12, 2025
Sep 12, 2025
26 min
We discuss the first in a series of historical mysteries set in 1920s India. Somehow no spoilers?






