Among Books

About Among Books

Among Books is a passion project about reading and more. The show brings the spirit of Kouvenda — a Greek word for chat, talk, conversation — front and center. With a focus on reading, guests discuss various books and share aspects of their lives in conversations that unfold from the lighthearted to the profound and everything in between. Produced and hosted by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder, Among Books is recorded in person at the cozy Hilltop Books in Northwest Philadelphia. Show notes for episodes include reading lists based on the conversations. For more about Kouvenda Media: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ For more about Hilltop Books: https://hilltopbooks.org/

Publisher

Kouvenda Media

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 Jul 2025

Latest episode

24 Oct 2025

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Oct 2025

   Among Books with John Lobron | Ep 6

   John Lobron sits down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. John is the librarian and a social studies teacher at Central High School in Philadelphia. To learn more about John: https://centralhighalumni.com/2016/12/students-dont-know-todays-library-can-set-back/ Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ POST-SHOW READING LIST The Underground Railroad By  Colson Whitehead The East Indian By Brinda Charry Curious George By Margret Rey and H.A. Rey The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien Biographies of  Thomas Alva Edison, Ben Franklin, Amelia Earhart, Henry Ford National Geographic Magazine The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck The Pearl By John Steinbeck Two Years Before the Mast By Richard Henry Dana Jr. "There's a Very Good Reason College Students Don't Read Anymore" By Jonathan Malesic Guest Essay published in The New York Times October 25, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/opinion/college-university-students-reading.html The Bible The Quran Billy Budd, Foretopman By Herman Melville ***Additional titles John shared after the recorded conversation: The Name of the Rose By Umberto Eco Meditations By Marcus Aurelius A Farewell to Arms By Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea By Ernest Hemingway The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Heminway The Fire Next Time By James Baldwin Go Tell it on the Mountain By James Baldwin Notes of a Native Son By James Baldwin Native Son By Richard Wright Small Things Like These By Claire Keegan The Hunter By Tana French The Searcher By Tana French In the Woods By Tana French The Heather Blazing By Colm Tóibín Brooklyn By Colm Tóibín Heart, Be at Peace By Donal Ryan The Queen of Dirt Island By Donal Ryan From a Low and Quiet Sea By Donal Ryan The Spinning Heart By Donal Ryan The Thing About December By Donal Ryan All We Shall Know By Donal Ryan A Slanting of the Sun: Stories By Donal Ryan History Through Literature booklist that John discussed on the episode: https://sites.google.com/philasd.org/history-through-literature

2. 

   17 Oct 2025

   Among Books with Daralyse Lyons | Ep 5

   Daralyse Lyons sits down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. Until recently, Daralyse was the publisher and executive director of The Chestnut Hill Local, an independent weekly newspaper serving Northwest Philadelphia and Southeastern Montgomery County. This conversation was recorded earlier this year when she was still in that position. Daralyse is now Chief Revenue Officer for The Bucks County Beacon. To learn more about Daralyse: https://www.daralyselyons.com/ Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ POST-SHOW READING LIST The Red Tent By Anita Diamant Can't Stop Thinking: How to Let Go of Anxiety and Free Yourself from Obsessive Rumination By Nancy Colier Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors By Rudine Sims Bishop *Essay was published in Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom. Vo. 6., no. 3. Summer 1990 https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf Video with Rudine Sims Bishop https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=rudine+bishop+mirrors&mid=31495DB44F953A75790231495DB44F953A757902&FORM=VAMTRV Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person By Shonda Rhimes The Emotional Yoga Experience: Use Your Body to Heal Your Mind By Daralyse Lyons The EFT Manual By Gary Craig A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" By Marianne Williamson *Includes the poem "Our Deepest Fear" The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Englightenment By Eckhart Tolle The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life By Mark Manson Do or Do Not: How to Improvise Like a Jedi By Mary C Carpenter Bridge to Terabithia By Katherine Paterson ***Remember Reading podcast episode about Bridge to Terabithia produced by Kouvenda Media*** https://pod.link/1447897366/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvNjMyMTc5NjY1 Number the Stars By Lois Lowry Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters By John Steptoe Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti By Gerald McDermott The Art of Memoir By Mary Karr Summer Sisters By Judy Bloom

3. 

   10 Oct 2025

   Among Books with David Woo | Ep 4

   David Woo sits down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. David is an actor and serves on the Philadelphia local board of the SAG-AFTRA union. To learn more about David: https://www.southcamdentheatre.org/how-the-light-gets-in/ https://www.sagaftra.org/philadelphia-0 https://whyy.org/articles/audio-of-radio-times-program-featuring-weavers-ways-david-woo/ Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ Post-Show Reading List Democracy in America By Alexis De Tocqueville Jack Ryan Series By Tom Clancy The Brotherhood of War Series By W.E.B. Griffin Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations By John Carver The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander Respect for Acting By Uta Hagen with Haskel Frankel National Cooperative Business Association: NCBA CLUSA https://ncbaclusa.coop/ Weavers Way Co-Operative Association: The First 50 Years, published in The Germantown Crier, 2023 By Thomas F. Boyle *Related article published in The Shuttle, the newspaper of Weavers Way Co-op https://share.google/kD3X0V5XkxdyTwLO0 In Wake of financial scandal, Weavers Way looks to implement additional oversight By Aaron Moselle https://share.google/Mvq8ZS7tTH5l4YEqN Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/ Gen. Robert E. Lee owned slaves https://apnews.com/article/archive-fact-checking-9009420680

4. 

   3 Oct 2025

   Among Books with Marlene Patterson and Nadine Patterson | Ep 3

   Marlene Patterson and Nadine Patterson sit down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. They are mother and daughter and run a film production company called HipCinema, which stands for Harmony Image Productions Cinema. To learn more about Marlene Patterson and Nadine Patterson: https://hipcinema.net/ https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/marlene-patterson-and-nadine-patterson/ Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ POST-SHOW READING LIST Don Quixote By Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra The Good Earth By Pearl S. Buck Various speeches and writings by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including: Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Green Eggs and Ham By Dr. Seuss The First Hidden Figure: Lewis Latimer By Steve Mitnick Popular Mechanics Magazine Nancy Drew Mystery Stories By Carolyn Keene History/Biography of George Washington Carver The Oz Books By L. Frank Baum Biographies/African American History Golden Legacy Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Legacy The Foundation Trilogy By Isaac Asimov The Illustrated Man By Ray Bradbury Kindred By Octavia Butler Lovely One: A Memoir By Ketanji Brown Jackson Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family By Pauli Murray The Short: Personal Writing Tools to Free the Imagination By Rae Shaw God Bless the Child By Kristin Hunter Zamani Goes to Market By Muriel Feelings Moja Means One By Muriel Feelings Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book By Muriel Feelings Beloved By Toni Morrison The Salt Eaters By Toni Cade Bambara The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Women's Political Culture in Antebellum America Edited by Jean Fagan Yellin and John C. Van Horne Aurora Reading Club of Pittsburgh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Reading_Club_of_Pittsburgh Nadine Patterson's collaboration with Emiko Tonooka, a Japanese American photographer and writer at Scribe Video Center: https://scribe.org/catalogue/shizue Anna Russell Jones documentary produced by HipCinema with Toni Cade Bambara. https://hipcinema.net/work/

5. 

   26 Sept 2025

   Among Books with PA State Senator Art Haywood | Ep 2

   Pennsylvania State Senator Art Haywood sits down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. Senator Haywood represents the state's 4th Senatorial District, which includes Montgomery & Philadelphia Counties. To learn more about Senator Haywood: https://www.palegis.us/senate/members/bio/1689/senator-art-haywood Senator Haywood's Book Campaigns for COMPASSION: A Story of Community Change https://outskirtspress.com/arthaywood Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ POST-SHOW READING LIST Lovely One: A Memoir By Ketanji Brown Jackson Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland By Jonathan M. Metzl The Bible Gandhi: An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments With Truth By Mahatma Gandhi Clyde: The Walt Frazier Story By Walt Frazier and Joe Jares Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 By Thomas E. Ricks Campaigns for COMPASSION: A Story of Community Change By Art Haywood The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters By Priya Parker The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership By Harold Cruse Dusk of Dawn: An Essay Toward an Autobiography of a Race Concept By W.E.B. Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk By W.E.B. Du Bois The Negro's Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union By James M. McPherson

6. 

   19 Sept 2025

   Among Books with Lauren Cristella | Ep 1

   Lauren Cristella sits down at Hilltop Books for an Among Books conversation with Stephanie Marudas. Lauren is the President and CEO for the Committee of 70, a nonpartisan good government watchdog group in Philadelphia. To learn more about Lauren: https://seventy.org/staff-board/lauren-cristella Episode hosted and produced by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder. For more about Kouvenda Media and Hilltop Books: https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kouvendamedia/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia (https://www.facebook.com/kouvendamedia) https://hilltopbooks.org/ https://www.instagram.com/hilltopbooksphilly/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hilltopbooksphilly/ POST-SHOW READING LIST Harry Potter By J.K. Rowling Little Women By Louisa May Alcott Madame Secretary: A Memoir By Madeleine Albright Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir By Madeleine Albright Sideways Stories from Wayside School By Louis Sachar ***Remember Reading podcast episode about Sideways Stories from Wayside School produced by Kouvenda Media*** https://pod.link/1447897366/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvNjE0MzE2MDg0 The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency By Chris Whipple A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety By Jimmy Carter Churchill: Walking with Destiny By Andrew Roberts Grant By Ron Chernow The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III By Peter Baker and Susan Glasser Romney: A Reckoning By McKay Coppins Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning By Liz Cheney The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House By Nancy Pelosi Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life By Jim Murphy Chain-Gang All-Stars By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America By Clint Smith Meditations By Marcus Aurelius Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success By Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton By John McPhee The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir By Samantha Power An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s By Doris Kearns Goodwin The Gift of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are By Brené Brown And for additional titles by Brené Brown https://brenebrown.com/books-audio A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York By Anjelica Huston Watch Me: A Memoir By Anjelica Huston Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace By Gordon MacKenzie The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters By Priya Parker Democracy for Kids Reading List https://seventy.org/youth-civics/democracy-for-kids/reading-list/70-children-s-books-from-c70 https://seventy.org/youth-civics/democracy-for-kids/reading-list The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels By Jon Meacham Calm the Chaos: A Fail-Proof Road Map for Parenting Even the Most Challenging Kids By Dayna Abraham How to Stop Losing your Sh*t with Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent By Carla Naumburg The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind By Daniel J. Siegel M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson

7. 

   28 Jul 2025

   Trailer: Among Books

   Among Books is a passion project about reading and more. The show brings the spirit of Kouvenda — a Greek word for chat, talk, conversation — front and center. With a focus on reading, guests discuss various books and share aspects of their lives in conversations that unfold from the lighthearted to the profound and everything in between. Produced and hosted by Stephanie Marudas of Kouvenda Media and mixed by Brad Linder, Among Books is recorded in person at the cozy Hilltop Books in Northwest Philadelphia. Show notes for each episode include a related reading list. https://www.kouvendamedia.com/ https://hilltopbooks.org/

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.