On this week's menu: Carole talks up a cheeky British answer to the annual "Ten Best Books" lists. Maybe you'd like to submit your Ten Best Literary Clunkers of the decade? If you're still feeling grumpy and you hate Christmas shopping, you'll get a laugh from a humorous essay called "Stuff" by Canadian podcaster and FM radio "Blues Mama" Sonia Brock. As for good reads, Carole plugs one of the best books she's read in a while: WIlliam Trevor's new novel, "Love and Summer." To submit your published work or to get in touch, go to Carole's website at www.carolegiangrande.com or the WORDS TO GO PODCAST page on Facebook.

This week's podcast features a short story by Canadian writer Devon Code, along with some good news from Carole: her novella A Gardener on the Moon will be published next spring by Quattro Books. So what's a novella anyway? If these skinny little books are so great, why don't we see big piles of them on the front table in our local big-box bookstore? Carole tells you her view, and also includes a list of great classic novellas to get you started. For info on submitting your published stories and your reading picks, visit Carole's website at www.carolegiangrande.com, where you'll also find links to the WORDS TO GO PODCAST Facebook page.

It's holiday time for some of our listeners — Thanksgiving week in the U.S. — and the mailbox is empty, so Carole offers some holiday programming of her own: a reading of an entire story (also her own) called "Love and The Gentle Art of Flying." It's from her collection Missing Persons, and if you've ever wondered why some people are obsessed with airplanes and flying, this surreal little venture will do nothing whatsoever to enlighten you. It might make you smile, though. Relax and enjoy!

Carole comments on the fall book prize season in Canada, and promises listeners to pop a bottle of champagne "on air" if she ever gets lucky enough to win something. Our featured story this week is "Getting Wood," by American writer Ann Pancake, who writes with a keen ear for Appalachian speech. Carole checks out two good novels she almost overlooked, and invites you to submit your published work and your book picks. Go to the show's Facebook page (WORDS TO GO PODCAST), read submission guidelines, leave your posts and become a fan.

Podcast #1 - Carole invites you to submit your published stories, then intros herself by talking about her life as a binge-reader, radio-rocker and broadcast journalist, a pretty good background for a book-and podcast combo. This episode's featured short story is "Where You Live Now," by Canadian writer Mary Swan. Relax and listen. Carole follows up with a few oldies she's just read - stories by the surrealist writer Bruno Schulz and four novellas by Edith Wharton. What are you reading? She'll tell you how to let our listeners know.