Tag Archives: podcast

by renata | November 7, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 61 – The Bridges of Madison County

Kait, Renata, and their guest Lyette read the Fifty Shades of Grey of the 90s, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. Like Fifty Shades, this book reminded us that women need men (or lizard people) to teach them about their sexualities, and also that men are garbage. Listen now to learn about bridges, antique cameras, and the worst possible inheritance your mom could leave you!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: ‘Bridges of Madison County’ Brings Iowa to Broadway

A Big Year for ‘Bridges’

“This is Not My Beautiful House” by Kim France

Dar Williams – Iowa

Adventure Cats

Candy pairing: Kait says a chocolate rose, Lyette says Necco wafers, Renata says applesauce souffle.

Coming up next: Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders.

* Worst Bestsellers is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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by renata | October 10, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 59 – A is for Alibi

Our friend Sarah came back to discuss A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton! A turns out to be for an Adequate mystery, an Awkward romance, and an Awful way to learn the alphabet, all wrapped up into one series. This episode is perfect for listening to on long stake-outs or drives to seedy motels. Listen now to hear us struggle to discuss something we didn’t hate!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Sue Grafton spreads the ‘W’ word

Candy pairing: Kait says her parents’ candy dish, Renata says milk chocolate Dove Promises, Sarah says spearmint starlights.

Coming up next: Dark World: Into the Shadows with the Lead Investigator of The Ghost Adventures Crew by Zak Bagans.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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Tagged as A is for Alibi, Kinsey Milhone, podcast, Sue Grafton

by renata | September 26, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 58 – Eclipse

It’s been two years since our very first episode, when Caroline of Fantastic Fangirls read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer with us! (And one year since we read New Moon!) And now we’ve added Danielle to our crew to play the Worst Bestsellers drinking game discuss the third book in the saga, Eclipse. Even though not that much happens in this book, and there are barely any Civil War vampire scenes, we couldn’t stop talking about it, and we hope you enjoy listening to it! Thanks to all our Best Listeners for two great years!

Readers advisory: Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Special note: We’ve launched our Patreon! Please check it out for information on how to support us.

Footnotes: Another Look at Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight

American Indians in Children’s Literature on Twilight

Sucking The Quileute Dry

Truth Versus Twilight

Running With The Wolves: A Racialicious Reading of Twilight

Worst Bestsellers Drinking Game

Candy pairing: Caroline says Nerds, Danielle says Pop Tarts, Kait says Mike and Ikes, Renata says Twizzlers.

Coming up next: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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Tagged as Eclipse, podcast, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

by renata | September 12, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 57 – The Selection

Kait, Renata, and their guest Sophi received special hand-delivered invitations to discuss The Selection by Kiera Cass. Imagine a combination of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, but then throw that combination in the trash and read a J. Crew catalog instead, and that’s The Selection. The worldbuilding and characters make no sense, and yet somehow…we loved it even more than Prince Maxon of Illea loves America Singer? We can’t explain it, but we all accepted this rose, and we hope you will too.

Readers advisory: Here.

Special note: Please take a short survey about our potential Patreon account!

Footnotes: The Selection caste system

The Selection map

Rose Buddies podcast

The Selection CW promo

Yes, The CW Passed on The Selection

Candy pairing: Kait says a fancy lollipop, Renata says cotton candy, Sophi says rock candy.

Coming up next: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (and the return of the Worst Bestsellers Drinking Game!)

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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by renata | August 29, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 56 – Angels Watching Over Me

Out of the sadness cave and into the pediatric hospital, Renata has returned to join Kait and Eryn for the final book of Flashback Summer, Angels Watching Over Me by Lurlene McDaniel. We went back to a time before WebMD and The Fault in Our Stars, back when tweens had to cry over a romance between an English girl who doesn’t know she has cancer and an Amish boy who doesn’t know what candy bars are. We also learned about the dangers of spider bites. PSA: if you can’t find your Kleenex, maybe an angel stole it?

Readers advisory: Here.

Special note: Please take a short survey about our potential Patreon account!

Footnotes: Everything Hurts: A Slurlene McDaniel Review

I Was Obsessed With YA Cancer Novels Long Before The Fault In Our Stars

Lifted Up By Angels plot summary

Until Angels Close My Eyes plot summary

Lurlene McDaniel Fanfiction

Candy pairing: Eryn says buckeyes, Kait says vinegar candy, Renata says Milky Ways.

Coming up next: The Selection by Kiera Cass.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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by Kait | August 15, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 55 – Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys

The Hardy Boys and the Secret of Sigma Seven

Kait, Becca, and their guests Anna of Bellwether Friends and Holly of TopatoCo continue Flashback Summer by trying to solve the mystery of the missing entertainment after slogging through Nancy Drew and the Ghost of Craven Cove and The Hardy Boys and the Secret of Sigma Seven. Will they discover why they read so many of these books as kids? Will they uncover the secret to why these series are so long-lasting? Will they deduce the three basic personality types of all teenagers in series mystery books? (Spoiler alert: no, no, yes.)

Readers advisory: Here.

Special note: Please take a short survey about our potential Patreon account!

Footnotes: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys YouTube Playlist

Nancy Drew TV Show Not Happening Because It’s ‘Too Female’

Hardy Boys Online

A Nancy Drew Ghostwriter on the Art of Being “Carolyn Keene” and the Evolution of Nancy Drew in a More Feminist Age

15 Mysterious Facts About the Hardy Boys

Nancy Drew in Starlight

The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the Secret Ghostwriters of Children’s Fiction

Nancy Drew by Kate Beaton: 1 2 3 4 5

The Original Ghostwriter Behind Nancy Drew Was One of The Most Interesting YA Writers of All Time

Candy pairing: Kait says old-timey penny candy, Becca says Three Musketeers, Anna says Twix and Bit O’ Honey, Holly says candy buttons.

Coming up next: Angels to Watch Over Me by Lurlene McDaniel.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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Tagged as Carolyn Keene, Flashback Summer, franklin dixon, nancy drew, podcast, the hardy boys

by renata | July 4, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 52 – Animorphs #1

Kait, Renata, and their guest Priscilla (@Priscellie) read Animorphs #1: The Invasion by K. A. Applegate. As the first entry in our Flashback Summer, we revisited our favorite teens who can turn into animals, and also the one teen who is a bird. Renata and Priscilla reminisced fondly about reading the series as youths, while Kait found the entire premise of human children turning into animals to fight aliens to be questionable, for some reason. What better way to spend the 4th of July than by turning into a bald eagle and celebrating your independence from our Yeerk oppressors? (N/B.: if you are not from the USA, you may turn into a different bird of your choice.)

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: The Toast: The Animorphs

Scientific Questions About Animorphs

Scholastic To Give Animorphs New Life

K. A. Applegate’s Reddit AMA

Animorphs on TV Tropes

The Time Renata Met Katherine Applegate

Candy pairing: Kait says Raven’s Revenge, Priscilla says gluten-free churros, Renata says Cinnabon.

Coming up next: Baby-Sitters Club #56: Keep Out, Claudia! by Ann M. Martin.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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Tagged as Animorphs, K. A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate, podcast

by renata | June 20, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 51 – Lone Wolf

Kait, Renata, and their guests Malia and Meagan read Lone Wolf by the mistress of twist endings, Jodi Picoult! This episode starts with the revelation that “Picoult” is pronounced like “pekoe” and only gets more shocking from there. Actually, a lot of the twists aren’t really that surprising, but we are still reeling from the revelation that the man who left his family to live with a pack of wolves for 2 years cheated on his wife with a human woman, rather than a wolf like we thought. If you have internet access in your wolf den, listen to this episode now! (If not: learn how to decode the wolves’ complex language of howls if you want to survive.)

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Jodi Picoult name pronunciation

The Moth: Man and Beast by Alan Rabinowitz

Snopes: Le-a

Snopes: Polished Off

Candy pairing: Kait says scavenged trail mix, Malia says Pop Rocks and soda, Meagan says assorted chocolates with mystery filling, Renata says movie theater popcorn.

Coming up next: Animorphs #1: The Invasion by K. A. Applegate.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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by renata | June 6, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 50 – X-Men 3: The Last Stand

It’s our 50th episode! We celebrated with our favorite thing: talking about X-Men with Caroline from Fantastic Fangirls and Panels. Unfortunately, this means we had to read the novelization of our least favorite X-Men movie: X-Men: The Last Stand by Chris Claremont. It’s a movie whose convoluted plot was not aided by having been novelized in the style of a very long 80s comic speech bubble. Hey–is Cyclops in this? Oh well, thanks for joining us for 50 episodes, bubs!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Rogue Gets In Trouble by Kate Beaton

Jesse Hamm’s “Tetched” Rogue series

X-Men: The Last Stand Rifftrax

Candy pairing: Caroline says Beemans gum, Kait says your favorite candy after a recipe change, Renata says a marshmallow roasted by the flames of the Phoenix force.

Coming up next: Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult.

(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)

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Tagged as Chris Claremont, podcast, X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand, X3

by renata | May 23, 2016 · 12:01 pm

Episode 49 – X-Men: X-Cutioner’s Song

X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song by Scott Lobdell et al

Kait, Renata, and their guest Megan (of Academic Inquiry Into Popular Culture) read X-Men: X-Cutioner’s Song by Scott Lobdell, Peter David & Fabian Nicieza, with art by Brandon Peterson, Jae Lee, Andy Kubert, & Greg Capullo. It’s an X-citing Peak 90s comics crossover event, featuring an overload of X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, and X-tra tight Spandex. Come for the incomprehensible Apocolypse-tic time travel space clone adventures, stay because Renata’s Gambit voice has awakened something inside of you, cherie.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: X-Cutioner’s Song story arc

Setting Up Your First Pull List

Dramatic Reading Panels: (click to embiggen)