Ana Opishinski
As a child Ana loved reading books so much that one time in 6th grade while she was re-reading the Harry Potter series for the umpteenth time, she had to put her book in "book jail" because she wasn't paying attention in class. Throughout middle school, she always tried to read over 100 books each academic year so that she could go to the ice cream social they held as a reward. In college she managed to read the entirety of the novel Dune in her first semester while also studying ancient history. In grad school, most of her time was spent reading academic books and papers, but she and Sam always managed to read a book aloud to each other, especially while on car trips. This was actually her secret way of getting him to read some of her favorites so they could talk about them and bond over them.
In the same year she finished her master's degree in archaeology, Ana challenged herself to read 50 books. This was the first time in a long time that she picked to read books outside of the fantasy or mystery genres. A lot of those books were pretty good but they really reminded her how much she loves fantasy books and that is what inspired her to start this podcast!
Sam Furman
Sam wasn't always the biggest reader growing up, because he had dyslexia and went to extra reading classes before and after school. Despite all that extra time in class, he still enjoyed books such as Eragon, the Transall Saga, and the Pendragon series. When he met Ana she heavily hinted that he should read the Harry Potter series before they took a trip to London - she couldn't believe he had only seen the movies and was in his mid-twenties! He almost made it as he literally finished The Deathly Hallows on their return flight to the States.
​
Later she helped rekindle his spark for reading by reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings out loud to him while they drove from Massachusetts to the Florida Keys one year for spring break. Since then, they've read many books and series together, and have started one of Sam's favorite things: "coffee and cookie time" each night to read and have snacks in bed.