Get ready for a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking journey with "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien. In this episode of Between the Covers, Jay and Stacey unpack the emotional weight and physical burdens carried by a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War. But it’s not just a war story—this book blends truth and fiction in ways that’ll keep you turning pages. It’s about memory, survival, and the things that stay with us long after the battle is over. Join us as we dig into why this novel made the list of the 100 most lovable books and why it’s an unforgettable must-read.

Links

JayRuud.com

StaceyMargaretJones.com

Amazon

https://a.co/d/2MRNdd8

https://a.co/d/3bPVBMG

Encircle Publications

https://encirclepub.com/encircle-author/jay-ruud/

Creators Publishing

https://www.creators.com/books/mr-catherine

BIOS

Jay Ruud is a retired professor of English at the University of Central Arkansas, now devoting much of his time to fiction writing. He earned a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and taught college literature courses for 40 years. He chaired the English department at the University of Central Arkansas for 13 years, prior to which he was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern State University in South Dakota. He published scholarly books on Chaucer, Dante, and Tolkien, and has retold the traditional legend of King Arthur for modern readers as a series of Merlin Mysteries. He is currently in the midst of a series of Robin Hood mysteries, the most recent of which, Treasure of Sherwood, has just been published by Encircle Press.

Stacey Margaret Jones is an Arkansas writer, whose novel MR. CATHERINE was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer New Horizons Debut Novel Award. She's also a Pushcart-Prize-nominated poet, essayist and literature and creative writing instructor. She lives with her husband author Jay Ruud and their four literarily named dogs, Gwenhyfar, Lavinia, Gareth and Sylvia. You can find her on Instagram at @sharkushka and TikTok at @normfluencers.