Books, Bread, and Coming Back Home with Devon Halliday

Today’s episode features a conversation with author Brandon T. Snider hosted by comics scholar Dr. Valentino Zullo talking about Snider’s Supergirl’s Family Vacation, the Superman Family, Superman himself, superheroes in general, and much more. Cincinnati native Brandon T. Snider is the best-selling author of Supergirl’s Family Vacation; the award-winning The Dark Knight Manual: Tools, Weapons, Vehicles & Documents from the Batcave; and the Reuben Award-winning Rube Goldberg and his Amazing Machines series. Additionally, he’s written books featuring Cartoon Network favorites like Adventure Time and Regular Show, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Black Panther, plus pop culture icons such as Justice League, Star Wars, and The Muppets. He also writes a ton of Mad Libs! His next middle grade series, Monster Middle School, drops in 2027 from Disney-Hyperion. Valentino Zullo has also appeared as a guest on Page Count previously, sharing his insights on Superman’s origins. He is also a board member of the Siegel & Shuster Society which is dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the creation of Superman in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE: For those listening to our episode around its release date, you can meet Brandon T. Snider at Books By The Banks on Saturday, November 14, 2026, held at the Main Library of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Other authors appearing at this super Southwest Ohio book festival who have appeared on Page Count include John Scalzi, Devon Halliday, Jessica Strawser, Jay Kalagayan, and Will Hillenbrand. IN THIS EPISODE Brandon T. Snider official website Supergirl’s Family Vacation (publisher’s site) Superman Returns (Superman Returns (2006) is a Story Sound Book by Brandon T. Snider with art by the late John Paul Leon, a tie-in to the Superman Returns movie mentioned in the conversation) The Superman Family (mentioned in the episode) Lois Lane books mentioned in the episode: Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge (2020) written by Grace Ellis with art by Brittney William Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story (2023) by Sarah Kuhn with art by Arielle Jovellanos A selection of Brandon’s Reading Recommendations: Absolute Wonder Woman Vixen by Stephanie Williams and Khary Randolph Bad Gays by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller (publisher’s site; based on their podcast) Just Another Summer by Tilly & Susan Bridges, illustrated by Giulia Rinaldo (publisher’s site) Brandon’s Cincinnati Sites mentioned in the episode: Joseph-Beth Booksellers Mariemont Theatre Skyline Chili Graeter’s Ice Cream

Devon Halliday, whose debut novel To Stay, To Stay, To Stay goes on sale October 27th, 2026, has worked as a literary agent, editor, essayist, critic, short story writer and educator. Halliday is also a Pushcart Prize winner among receiving other awards. Her work has appeared in online and print publications, including Plowshares and The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and her popular self-titled Substack newsletter has over 6,000 subscribers. This is the second time Halliday has appeared on Page Count, the first being our episode in 2022 on query letter critiques when she was an agent at Transatlantic Agency. The conversation ranges over a number of topics from letting stories become what they want to be and using real life to inform one's writing to the stress of running a bakery and more. Devon Halliday (official website) Devon Halliday (Substack newsletter) To Stay, To Stay, To Stay on McSweeney's website showing the innovative cover design discussed in the episode "Who Are MFA Workshops Really For? Devon Halliday Considers the MFA and Its Discontents" (LitHub, September 16, 2026) Query Critiques with Devon Halliday (Page Count episode from 2022) Athens, Ohio, sites mentioned in the episode: Donkey Coffee and Espresso Casa Nueva Avalanche Pizza Ellis Hall, Ohio University Athens Bread Company

Our guest this episode is New York Times bestselling science fiction author and Hugo award winner John Scalzi. Scalzi's work includes the Old Man's War series, the Lock In universe, the Interdependency series, and stand-alone novels like Redshirts, The Kaiju Preservation Society, Starter Villain, and When the Moon Hits Your Eye. His nonfiction work has included The Rough Guide to the Universe and Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded. His blog, Whatever, having started in 1998 and still usually updated daily, makes it one of the longest-running personal sites on the Web. His newest novel, Monsters of Ohio, is set in Darke County, Ohio, where Scalzi has lived with his family since 2001. The book will be released on November 3, 2026. The conversation ranged over numerous topics, including living in rural Ohio, the intersection of humor and horror, the process of adapting books to the screen, the business and craft of writing, getting the science in science fiction right, the status of Pluto as a planet, and much more. Featured image is an excerpt of the cover of Monsters of Ohio by artist Michael Koelsch. In This Episode Whatever (John Scalzi's official website) Books and Other Projects by John Scalzi (from Whatever) John Scalzi's namesake asteroid: 52692 Johnscalzi - "John Michael Scalzi (b. 1969) is an American science fiction writer. His humorous and heartfelt works speak to the deeply personal impacts of global social issues, encouraging laughter at the absurdity of existence and deep thought about affecting change in our world." (from its entry in the Small-Body Database)

The Ohio Center for the Book presented Ohio authors Aubrey Hirsch and Virginia Konchan in conversation "On Genre, Gender, and More" at Literary Cleveland's Inkubator Writing Conference in September 2026. Held at Cleveland Public Library, Inkubator is the largest free writing conference in the country and continues to grow every year. Their conversation touched on adult topics and includes adult language, so listener discretion is advised. Aubrey Hirsch is the author of Graphic Rage: Comics on Gender, Justice, and Life as a Woman in America, and the story collection, Why We Never Talk About Sugar. Her stories, essays, and comics have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, Time, The Nib, Black Warrior Review, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere.  Virginia Konchan is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Requiem, and the short story collection Anatomical Gift. Her publications include poems in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The Atlantic, essays and criticisms in the Boston Review and American Poetry Review, and her translations from French in The Brooklyn Rail, Asymptote and Circumference, and fiction in Story Quarterly, Joyland, and Memorious. In This Episode Aubrey Hirsch: Stories. Essays. Comics (official website) Graphic Rage with Aubrey Hirsch (Substack) Virginia Konchan (official website) Inkubator Writing Conference (official website)

Kortney Morrow is the Program Director of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, the nation's only juried literary prize dedicated to honoring authors that are writing about race and diversity. The Awards were created in Cleveland and sponsored by the Saturday Review from their founding in the 1930s to 1963. At that time, Ohio became home to the Awards with the Cleveland Foundation taking over administration of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Morrow herself is also a poet, arts advocate, and organizational strategist with over ten years of experience advocating for literacy and the literary arts. Morrow talks with Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator Don Boozer about her work, the history of the Awards, how they're chosen, the unique venue where the Awards Ceremony is now held, and much more. In This Episode Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (official website) Announcement of the 2026 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards finalists (Cleveland Foundation, March 3, 2026) 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners examine race amid complex times (Ideastream Public Media, April 10, 2025) Why One of America’s most important literary awards calls Cleveland home (Signal Cleveland, Sept. 1, 2026) Kortney Morrow (official website)  

In this episode, Page Count welcomes Suzanne Walker, Center for the Book Program Manager at the Library of Congress. The conversation with Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator, Don Boozer, highlights the National Book Festival, the signature event of the year for the affiliate Center for the Book network. Suzanne and Don talk about what goes into planning the National Book Festival, what attendees experience there, and the activities that the Centers for the Book take part in while in Washington, DC. They also discuss The Source, one of the newest "attractions" at the Library of Congress. Suzanne also recounts her history with libraries and the Centers for the Book, first in Indiana and now in Washington, DC. The official Center for the Book website (Library of Congress) Affiliate Centers for the Book (Library of Congress) The Source at the Library of Congress Library of Congress National Book Festival Videos from the 2026 National Book Festival and prior years as well The Center for the Book is a State of Mind with Guy Lamolinara (2024 Page Count episode with Suzanne Walker's predecessor at the Library of Congress Center for the Book) Escaping the Drawer with Sammy and Annisha (2022 Page Count episode featuring Suzanne Walker as Manager of the Indiana Center for the Book and "Sammy the Toucan")

If you're listening to this episode near its release date, I want to encourage you to check out the National Book Festival coming this Saturday, August 22. We'll be gathering with the other affiliate Centers for the Book in Washington, DC. In addition to all our booths celebrating our states' and territories' literary heritage and Great Reads from Great Places selections, there will be over 80 featured authors at the Festival with many of those panels being livestreamed and recorded. Find out more at loc.gov/bookfest. For this episode, Page Count welcomes a special guest host, Jen Jumba, Manager of the Popular Department at Cleveland Public Library, home of the Ohio Center for the Book. Jen has a wealth of library experience including in marketing and in readers advisory; is an adjunct faculty member of the Library Information Science department at San Jose State University; and has moderated author panels for Library Journal. Jen also hosts her own podcast, Storied Account, "where writers share their craft," available wherever you listen to podcasts. Jen was in conversation with the author of our 2026 Great Reads from Great Places Adult Selection, The Musical Mozinskis by Susan Petrone which tells the story of a family of gifted (in more ways that one) musicians who go on to have their own musical television variety show in the 1970s with the ups and downs and family struggles that entails. Susan Petrone is also the author of the The Heebie-Jeebie Girl, The Super Ladies, Throw Like a Woman, and A Body at Rest, which won a bronze medal for regional fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards. The Super Ladies was a General Fiction finalist in Foreword Reviews’ 2018 Book of the Year Awards. Petrone's short fiction has been published by Glimmer Train, Muse, Conclave, Cleveland Review, and Whiskey Island. Her short story “Monster Jones Wants to Creep You Out” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her non-fiction has appeared in CoolCleveland, Belt magazine, and ESPN.com. She is also one of the co-founders and a former president of Literary Cleveland. IN THIS EPISODE Storied Account (Jen Jumba's podcast) National Book Festival (including links to streaming videos for authors) SusanPetrone.com: Susan Petrone's official website Cleveland Reads: An Upcoming Book About a Musical Family (An interview with Susan Petrone by Leon Bibb of WKYC) Tiger Beat (Wikipedia article) The Gene Carroll Show (News 5 Cleveland video) Chuck Berry doing a version of the "duck walk" in a 1956 performance (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame video)

For this episode Page Count welcomes a special guest host, Annisha Jeffries. Annisha is the Youth & Community Outreach Manager at Cleveland Public Library, the home of the Ohio Center for the Book. She has extensive expertise in children’s literature, including having served as chair of the Caldecott Committee and the Norman A. Sugarman Children’s Biography Award. She’s also the host of her own podcast, Reading in the Middle, dedicated to exploring middle-grade books. Annisha was in conversation with the author and illustrator of our 2026 Great Reads from Great Places Young Readers selection. Great Reads from Great Places are titles chosen by each of the 56 affiliate Centers for the Book around the country to represent their state or territory at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. This year’s festival takes place Saturday, August 22. We’ll link to information about the Festival in our Show Notes. This year’s pick for young readers is Once a Wasteland: From Toxic Dump to National Park written by Diane Muldrow and illustrated by Amy Jindra Hodgson. Diane Muldrow is the author of the New York Times-bestselling Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book series and a prolific author of children’s books. Her picture book We Planted a Tree was a 2010 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best selection. She is a retired children’s book editor and a proud Ohio University graduate. She learned early that natural surroundings aren’t to be taken for granted, and that people can make a difference in their communities. Diane has visited national parks all over the country and the world. IN THIS EPISODE Reading in the Middle podcast (blog) Diane Muldrow (official webpage) Amy Jindra Hodgson (official webpage) Once a Wasteland: From Toxic Dump to National Park (publisher's webpage) Announcement of the 2026 Great Reads from Great Places (Ohio Center for the Book) Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Nature & Science (webpage) Provides links to databases of the plants and animals that call the National Park home. US Environmental Protection Agency: Superfund (webpage) Learn more about the Superfund program and search for Superfund sites "where you live" LibraryThing List of the Great Reads from Great Places (2002-2025)

This week, we are sharing an historic conversation among Ohio comic book royalty: Prolific, award-winning creators Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko. The conversation was moderated by Mike Sangiacomo, one of the Founders of the Siegel and Shuster Society. Recorded live on July 11, 2026, at the Cleveland Public Library as part of the weekend-long Icons Fest held in conjunction with the Icons in Ink: The Jewish Comics Experience exhibit at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (on display until August 23, 2026). Growing up together in Northeast Ohio, Bendis and Andreyko first teamed up as friends to create the true crime comic book series Torso, the story of the "Torso Murders" in Cleveland in the 1930s when Eliot Ness was the city’s Safety Director. Their wide-ranging conversation included stories about their early collaboration and the on-going challenge of bringing Torso to the screen, their storied careers in the comic book and entertainment industries, and Cleveland Public Library's role in Bendis's decision to go to DC to write for Superman. Brian Michael Bendis was born in Cleveland, took classes at Cleveland Institute of Art, and did work for several Cleveland-area newspapers and magazines in his early career. He has co-created characters like Miles Morales, Jessica Jones, and dozens of others that populate the Marvel, DC and all-new original universes. He is a New York Times bestseller and has won numerous awards for his work, including multiple Eisner Awards and a Peabody for Jessica Jones. Bendis was Executive Producer of the Academy Award winning hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Bendis’ fabled move to DC Entertainment after nearly two decades at Marvel made international headlines, making his DC debut in the landmark Action Comics 1000. Bendis continues to be a prolific creator, producer, Marc Andreyko grew up in Mentor, graduated from Mentor High School, and co-created the character Kate Spencer/Manhunter for DC and was the original writer on Wonder Woman ’77. He has written comics for Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, and Marvel. Michael Sangiacomo is a long-time writer of articles on Superman and the comics industry for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 2006, he penned an article that urged Cleveland to embrace the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and this led to the creation of the Siegel and Shuster Society of which he was a founding board member. Sangiacomo has also taught comic book history at Case Western Reserve University and is a comics writer himself. In This Episode: Brian Michael Bendis Jinxworld: Brian Michael Bendis (official site) The Peabody Awards ceremony where Bendis was called “the original hero” for his creation of Jessica Jones ‘I’d Have Been a Fool Not to Try Everything’: PW Talks with Brian Michael Bendis (Publishers Weekly, 2026) Marc Andreyko DC Comics Press Release for Love Is Love (2016) Marc Andreyko talks comic anthology Love Is Love (Entertainment Weekly, 2017) Supergirl & Superman Unite Against Krypton’s Killers (ScreenRant.com, 2019) Michael Sangiacomo Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman (Smithsonian Magazine, 2010) Cleveland Torso Murders The Torso Killer: Cleveland’s Lingering Mystery from Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Torso Murders (aka The Kingsbury Run Murders) from the Cleveland Police Museum Torso Murders from Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Siegel and Shuster Society (including information about the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Superman Plaza) Telling Lies in America (film by writer Joe Eszterhas (who also grew up in Ohio) mentioned in the conversation) Underexposed! The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made by Joshua Hall (find in a library) mentioned in the conversation and including David Fincher’s Ness based on Torso.

This week, we're highlighting children's authors from past Page Count episodes in recognition of that energizing and exhausting tradition of the Summer Reading Club. In our introduction, we look at Ohio's role in the beginnings of the "Summer Reading Club" in the 1890s and then talk about some of our past episodes on children's book authors and illustrators. Our featured "Backlist Pick" episode is our 2022 conversation with Tracy Subisak, the author and illustrator of Jenny Mei is Sad, our Great Reads from Great Places youth selection for that year. Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.