What would happen if a group of 60 boys were stranded on an island with no adults? Today, guest host Jason Crockett will explore that, give his takeaways, and a lengthy curation to go along with it.

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John Pearson meets the love of his life, Lucy, and begins his life with her as a preacher and contractor. Unfortunately, John's weakness for women lead him to a tumultuous experience between he and Lucy, and his next wife who captures him through voodoo.

This week's curation:

• Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
• Sweat by Zora Neal Hurston
• Zora Neal Hurston on Zombies (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmKPjh5RX6c)
• Meet the Past featuring Zora Neal Hurston (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=023WLvot4Y8)

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When a school shooting takes place in a small southern town, Sheriff Titus Crown begins to pull a string that unravels a much deeper and sinister plot. S.A. Cosby's All the Sinners Bleed is dark, moody thriller that will have you reading until the very end.

This week's curation:

• Silence of the Lambs (film)
• Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
• Double Indemnity by James Cain
• L.A. Noire (video game)

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Mooney and Imy Wright take a chance on creating a life in the unsettled mountains of Appalachian Western North Carolina. As they enter this Eden, they are faced with many challenges that look familiar to all of us and our human experience. John Ehle's novel gives us the dramatic telling of the settling of Appalachia and her people in a brutal, realistic way.

This week's curation:

• Winter People by John Ehle
• Cades Cove by Durwood Dunn
• The Heartland Series by Bill Landry / WBIR (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gPCpuxCodY)
• He Man Du - Celtic Folk Song

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This week we are looking at Barbara Kingsolver's novel Demon Copperhead. In her book, Kingsolver examines the opioid crisis that is ongoing and how those involved are effected. She also takes a look at life in Appalachia and the people that inhabit it.

This week's curation:

• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Dubliners by James Joyce
• Raised for a Future that No Longer Exists (YouTube mini-documentary) by Vice // Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_6G9gab_f4
• The Damage is Terrifying by Hannah Marriott of The Guardian // Link: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/05/the-damage-is-terrifying-barbara-kingsolver-on-trump-rural-america-and-the-recovery-home-funded-by-her-hit-novel

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This week we look at Percival Everett's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, James. Everett writes a companion piece to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective and point of view of James.

Our curation this week:

• Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• I, Too by Langston Hughes

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This week, we are reviewing and curating Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. We'll take a brief look at his style, dialect use, and his craft of contrasts to pull out his message. We will also talk about how Twain uses this as a mirror for not just the America of his time but the America of today, and the importance of reading this with your child.

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In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a shepherd named Santiago has a dream interpreted and is sent on a journey to find his treasure at the Pyramids of Egypt. Before leaving, he runs into a mysterious king who tells him about omens and his Personal Legend. The story then follows the boy's expedition for that Personal Legend while teaching us along the way how to seek our own.

Our curated list for The Alchemist:

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• The Story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
• Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks
• Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

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