Research shows that people usually choose books based on factors such as author reputation, recommendations from friends, book reviews, and, embarrassingly, even based on a book’s cover art.

But The Page 1 Challenge turns all that upside down. In each episode we select a book and read just Page 1 to you. We don’t tell you upfront the author or title. And of course, you can’t see the cover art.

Can Page 1, on its own, be captivating enough to make you want to read the book? That’s the Challenge!

Oh, and don’t worry, we do identify the book at the end of each episode.

So, is it fair to judge a book only by its first page? Oh, heck no! But it sure is fun! And who knows - you might discover the start of some wonderful stories here.

Our episodes are short – each is only about 4 minutes. Think of it as a little piece of podcast pie, like a dessert after a meal of your favorite long-form podcasts. Who doesn’t love dessert?