David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, which originally aired from 1990-1991, is a weird time. I first watched the series in 2011, when I’d just graduated college and was about to embark on a grad school journey while living in a tiny studio apartment that didn’t have a kitchen. I felt isolated then because I couldn’t have anyone over (this is funny to think about now, as we’re all self-isolating), so I spent hours upon hours blasting through TV shows I’d never seen that everyone loves. After Arrested Development, I moved on to Twin Peaks, and the captivating weirdness of small town life hooked me immediately.
Read moreBSG #41: I See Dead People / Ninth House / Interview with Veronica Roth
BSG #41: I See Dead People / Ninth House / Interview with Veronica Roth
Come behind the Veil with us as we discuss Leigh Bardugo’s novel Ninth House. We talk about fantasy and mystery, class and privilege, trauma and more in Bardugo’s first novel for adults. Then we have a special interview with Veronica Roth, author of Chosen Ones and the Divergent series. Next, we dig into some listener feedback from some throwback BSG reads and fill you in on what’s on the #BookSquadBlog. Our next #Othersode (June 1) will be filled with crime – watch Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children on HBO with us for our discussion of this case. Plus, we have another author interview with Mary Kay McBrayer, author of America’s First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster. Then, our next #Bookpisode on June 15 will cover Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett! Read along with us and send your feedback to thesquad@booksquadgoals.com!
Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!
Read moreListen to Your Heart E5: We're Far From The Shallow Now
Emily: Hi everyone. Apologies for getting this recap to you late. I know it feels like it’s been ages since this episode happened, but actually it was just last Monday. COVID-19 time is weird, isn’t it? Anyway, we’re very sorry, but we’re here now. And better late than never, right? I’m going to let Mary take it away.
Mary: As usual, everyone is hanging out and living their lives until Chris Harrison shows up. Chris starts out calm, asking Bri and Chris how they feel after saying they love each other the night before.
Emily: You can tell Chris and Bri are truly in love because they’re both wearing purple now. Matching shades of purple. That’s the kind of synchronicity that only comes about when you have true, open hearts.
Mary: Chris says, “You can only like someone so long.” This seems like a bold statement, and I’m curious how long they’ve actually been filming at this point. I’m a slow turtle in relationships, I think, but also I’m not sure I’d say I love someone after like, a week or two.
Emily: This is The Bachelor world. So you should at least be “falling in love” after two dates.
Read moreRewatching The Tudors: A Royal Quarantine Distraction
During the first week of stay-at-home time, I settled in to watch some Netflix and found that the number one trending show was something called Pandemic, to which I said “Hell nah.” I needed a real distraction—something in a time and place where the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t happening. Enter: The Tudors, a historical fiction series that aired on Showtime from 2007 – 2010 about King Henry VIII and his six wives.
Read moreSurvivor S40 Finale Recap: It All Boils Down to This
No, Jeff, we will not be seeing you in Los Angeles for the finale.
We finally made it! And so there is no suspense throughout this post: yes, Mary did win our family Survivor Fantasy league, and she will be treated to a dinner out on the rest of us...at an appropriate time. Still, we have more to talk about! Is Tony the GOAT? Is Michele a goat? Did Ben basically just give up, and how do we feel about him now? What about Natalie? She was there! And Lacina (which is how we should all refer to her from now on)! And why didn’t Jeff play the entirety of the Winners at War theme song? Can you hear the people sing, Jeff? Ya better be ready...they’re coming...for you! Let’s get into it!
Read moreThe Erlking, Over the Garden Wall, and Kindness in the Face of Death
Wirt, Greg, and their trusty frog
Fairy tales are part of the world’s vocabulary, with tales of various types spreading from continent to continent. There’s a Chinese version of “Cinderella,” for example, and an Italian version of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Something about the home-away-home structure of fairy tales is written into our brains as children and continues to stick with us as we grow up. Each semester when I teach a unit on fairy tales, college students are shocked to realize (or re-learn, maybe) that the tales that seemed so innocent when they were children are filled with death, ruin, and depravity. Those parts--the truly dark parts of fairy tales--always get glossed over in the Disney versions.
Read moreLittle Fires Everywhere: A Conversation About the Series Part I
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! Since motherhood and what it means to be a mother are central themes in the miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, today seemed like a good day to bring this conversation to you. In the first part of Janet and Emily’s conversation, they focus on two of the mothers (Mia and Elena), their families, and some of the differences between the book and the miniseries.
Spoilers for the book and the show to follow.
Read moreFive Absolutely Terrible Films I've Watched While Social Distancing
Still from Pretty Little Stalker (2018)
One of my favorite pastimes is watching terrible movies with friends. I find it more fun than watching good movies with friends, because when I’m watching a good movie, I actually want to pay attention to it, which seems a little counterintuitive when I’m with a group of people I want to engage with. This preference has really crystallized for me during this pandemic, where contact with most of my social circle is limited to the digital realm. When my friends and I get together over Houseparty, we don’t want to watch anything important that we have to pay close attention to, but we also don’t want to sit around and talk about how scary the world is and how miserable we are. All we want, really, is to watch awful movies and provide each other with running commentary about how awful they are.
So, here are five absolutely fucking terrible movies I’ve watched with friends while social distancing — all of which are available to stream on Netflix right now, if you’re feeling masochistic. I’m going to include some comments from my friends about some of these films, starting with this quote from my friend Allan, who was present for all five viewings: “All of these movies are so utterly forgettable that I originally asked to be excluded from this article as I had no recollection of having watched any of them.” In contrast, my friend Kelly, who watched only 15 minutes of one of these movies with us, said of the experience: “I don’t anything anymore.” That turned out to be a typo, but it resonates with me anyway.
Read moreSurvivor S40: e13 "The Penultimate Step of the War"
Well, we’re here, the quote unquote “penultimate step of the war.” I gotta say, it feels like this war has been about to start for most of the season, but here we are yet again. In our fantasy league, Mary is still winning, and Todd is still in second place, but here in the real game, the player that nobody picked, Tony (along with Wendell), is still in the game and is still making moves, and he seems to be in a pretty good position moving into this final, although that could all change depending on who comes back from the Edge. Without further ado, let’s break down what happened last night.
Read moreListen to Your Heart E4: Nice Guys Finish Last
Mary: Welcome back for more loud kissing and petty arguments. It all starts...right now!
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