Episode 3 - Blindness

Want to listen to the episode, too? Click here: episode 3

Years ago I was flying back to Seattle by myself and had a layover in Memphis. Before the plane landed my ears became horribly clogged and no amount of chomping on gum or swallowing could pop them. By the time I deboarded the plane I couldn’t hear anything; not the announcements being made in the airport or the excited squeals of kids who were happy to finally stretch their legs or the cashier who patiently attempted to communicate with me using hand signals. It was terrifying to suddenly be deaf, to lose one of the senses I rely on so heavily, and to not know when my hearing would return.

Episode 2 is now available!

I had so much fun putting the 2nd episode together! The whole process of putting a podcast together went much faster this time around and I think I am even prouder of the content. You can click on the episode title to listen to the podcast (so fancy!).

Here's a transcript of this episode, which focuses on middle grade books about the theater:

Episode 2 - The Theater (said very dramatically)

Cue the music! Raise the curtain! Bring up the stage lights! It’s time to talk about middle grade fiction titles that have one thing in common: they all revolve around (dramatic pause) the the-a-ter. Welcome to the 2nd episode of Happy Reading, a podcast about middle grade fiction, with the occasional young adult title and picture book thrown in, where each episode centers around a single theme. I’m Sarah Threlkeld, an elementary school librarian, former middle school reading teacher, and admitted theater nerd.

Someone else was willing to publish me?!

I am lucky enough to be a curator for Readocity, a company that provides a monthly book subscription service and app for teacher and parents. I was honored to be asked to write a blog post for the website. Here it is: Librarian? Or Trailblazer?

Episode 1, at your fingertips

I am beside myself with joy from the number of people who have listened to the first episode of Happy Reading and given me extraordinarily kind feedback. I look forward to putting together many more episodes and hope to have guest contributors as well. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the title below.

Happy Reading episode 1 - Dessert

It probably doesn’t surprise you that membership at gyms is the highest in January, with all that “New year, new you!” nonsense in the air and resolutions being bandied about willy nilly. What may come as a surprise, though, is people who frequent the gym are 18% more likely to eat chocolate. Mmm, glorious, creamy, delectable chocolate. As a runner who justifies stuffing her face with sweets with the fact that I logged a measly 1-2 miles, I completely understand this statistic. Since most of you out in Podcast Land are probably in a sugar coma after the holidays and doing your darndest to avoid the sweet stuff, I thought I’d focus on guilt-free treats that everyone can enjoy - books about dessert.

Waiting with bated breath

I spent New Year's Eve recording (and rerecording) episode 1, New Year's day polishing it, and I just submitted it to iTunes for review. To say I'm excited would be an understatement! Hopefully it will be approved quickly and then available to the whole wide world...or at least Apple users. I'm also hoping to post links on this site for listeners interested in purchasing the books I recommend. My husband goes back to work tomorrow, which leaves me in charge of our 8 month old, so I'm not holding my breath on that to-do item. I guess I need to start working on episode 2!

Here's a link to episode 1 on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-423249151/happy-reading-episode-1-1

Recording a podcast is very glamorous! Um, our kitchen table doesn't usually look like that.