Once again, we’ve managed to sneak in a few good books this year! Here are our favorite books we read in 2023 (regardless of publication year. Long live backlist titles!)
Footnotes: Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2023 (featuring Renata’s picks for middle grade and YA!)
Coming up next: A January hiatus. Happy New Year! We’ll see you in February!
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We finished our adventures with the Time Traveler’s Wife but decided to linger in the 2000s for awhile longer. Friend of the Show (and the Internet’s Best Friend) Margaret H. Willison joined us to discuss Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman In Me. Listen to this episode instead of listening to the music of Justin Timberlake!
Content warning: This book contains abuse, abortion, disordered eating, and all the other stuff you’d assume.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: “Miss American Dream” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
Coming up next: Bests of 2023.
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Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading The Woman In Me by Britney Spears. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth!
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We held our annual Patreon Choice poll and our Beloved Patrons chose to send us back in time to 2003 with The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Since the book is prominently set in Chicago, we were #blessed to be joined by prominent Chicagoan Ashley to unpack the Jeremy Bearimy of it all. Please do not listen to this episode while having sex with your future wife for the first time.
Content warning: Sketchy time travel age/consent issues, death of a partner, miscarriages.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: “Popular Titles are Vanishing from HBO Max After Merger” by Eric Deggans.
The Time Traveler’s Wife: Reception
Audrey Niffenegger Tweet about The Other Husband
Legends of Tomorrow – Swan Thong
Coming up next: The Woman in Me by Britney Spears.
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Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth!
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A cautionary tale: too many people complained about this book online so we were dumped into an arena and forced to publicly defend it to the death. Mackenzi Lee, author of many Best Bestselling books including The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Winter Soldier: Cold Front, has returned to the podcast to get to talk about a book we all actually enjoyed: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. The Capitol has mandated that all citizens listen to this episode, so please comply with their decree.
Content warning: Hunger Games.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: “Hunger Games prequel: untangling the controversy over The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” by Kayleigh Dray
Coming up next: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
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Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth! Continue reading
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Spooky season is here, so we were joined by Lily Sparks, author of the Teen Killers Club trilogy (including the latest book, Teen Killers at Large) and the upcoming The Merciless King of Moore High. We got witchy with the Owens women in Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. This episode will bring all the cats to the schoolyard!
Announcement: Join us in our Discord server on Monday, October 30th at 8:30pm Eastern Time for a live watch of the Practical Magic movie! (It’s currently streaming on Hulu.)
Content warning: Light mention of death of parents, domestic violence, and death of a boyfriend.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks.
Episode 122 – A Discovery Of Witches
Coming up next: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
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Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth!
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We just wrapped up Banned Books Week in the USA, a time to celebrate our freedom to read and also to speak up about book challenges! We were joined by Jen and Dan, the hosts of the Banned Camp podcast, where they read banned books to investigate why they were banned. They previously read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is frequently banned and challenged. So together we read the controversial Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, and you know what…maybe we’re challenging it. No, like, we’re not going to call for it to be removed from libraries or anything, just like…are you sure you want to read it? Listen to this episode on your next train ride to Maycomb.
Content warning: Discussion of racism (though we 100% guarantee we do not say the n-word aloud on the podcast, although it is in the text of the book itself), sexual assault, and death of a sibling.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: Unite Against Book Bans
“How to Fight Book Bans and Challenges” by Kelly Jensen
“Banned Spotlight: To Kill a Mockingbird” by Betsy Gomez
Coming up next: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.
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