Okay, so I might not be late to Stardew Valley per se, but when it was originally released in 2016, I didn’t give it its proper due. Sure, I played it a little, made it through a year or so, but I didn’t fully come to appreciate the joys of life in Pelican Town until recently. Until my digital world was the only one I could visit.
Read moreAnti-Racist Bachelor Alum You Should Be Following
Rachel Lindsay
Image: Noel Vasquez, Getty Images
The Bachelor franchise has been embroiled in accusations of racism in recent weeks. Calls for season 25 frontrunner Rachael Kirkconnell to address her history of racially insensitive Instagram activity led to an explosive interview between Chris Harrison and former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay that has many viewers and Bachelor Nation alumni calling for ABC to fire Harrison. If you’re a regular viewer of the Bachelor, you know that discussion of the show’s racism is not new. Yesterday, current Bachelor Matt James made a statement condemning the show’s failure to address this issue for years.
Read moreBSG #51: It's Our Podcast and We'll Cry if We Want to / Transcendent Kingdom
BSG #51: It's Our Podcast and We'll Cry if We Want to / Transcendent Kingdom
Get your tissues ready. In this episode, the Squad discusses Yaa Gyasi's novel Transcendent Kingdom. Join us as we chat about mental health, depression, addiction, grief, racism, religion, and, yes, we do cry it out a little bit. You're welcome to join the trust circle and cry along with us. We're all friends here. Don't forget to join us for our next Othersode where we'll be talking about the film Nomadland, and we'll also interview Nicole Glover about her debut novel The Conductors. Read along with us for our next Bookpisode, too. We'll be chatting about When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole! Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. We love you!
Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, there are ways to get help. Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Lifeline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or Text “HELLO” to 741741. The Crisis Text hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the U.S.
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Read moreBehind Her Eyes: Is An Adaptation Only As Good As Its Source Material?
Is the book always better than the movie/tv adaptation? There are a few exceptions to this rule. And obviously everyone is going to have their own opinions about this. Personally, I think the Hunger Games movies are better than the mediocre books. Fight Club the movie is also much better than the book. From my experience, when a book is really great, it can be a difficult feat attempting to improve upon it for the screen (be that screen big or small). And when a book is great, sometimes adaptations feel too beholden to the sacred source material.
So then it seems like, surprisingly, maybe the most promising adaptations are the ones that come from source material that is either not so great or even… bad? Which is maybe why I was so interested in watching Netflix’s adaptation of Sarah Pinborough’s novel Behind Her Eyes. I read the book shortly after it was released in 2017, and well, it was kind of a mess. Enjoyable, but ultimately ridiculous. What would a six-episode Netflix series be able to do with this material? I was curious to find out.
Spoilers to follow!
Read moreThe Bachelor S25E7: I'm a Long-Term Investment
Image: Craig Sjodin, ABC
Susan: Once again, before we get into the recap, we must address the updated foolery going on in Bachelor Nation. In the time since last week’s recap, Chris Harrison issued a statement announcing that he will be “stepping aside for a period of time.” From what we can tell, this means he won’t be hosting this season’s After the Final Rose special, but it’s unclear what it means after this season. It appears his Instagram account has since been deactivated or deleted. Here is his full statement:
Read moreTodd's Fantasy Series Corner Part 2
Photo by Mapmakermedici
Hello all. I am back with some more fantasy series (?) to recommend (or not), but before I jump into all that I want to do a quick catch-up of the series that I mentioned last time (besides the ones I quit reading).
Read moreThe Bachelor S25E6: Weak Bitch Energy
Credit: Craig Sjodin, ABC
We start where we left off last week, which seems like a given, but it’s actually not. Remember two weeks ago, we ended in the middle of a group date. And then when we came back last week, we just started in the middle of some power walking like group dates and group date roses don’t even matter. But no, ABC is honoring my sanity this week, and we’re starting where we left off, which is with MJ talking over Jessenia about how she represents PEACE and LOVE. “My actions speak louder than words,” MJ says. “I lead by example,” she says again. And again, I have to stress that these words don’t inherently MEAN anything. What actions are you speaking of, MJ? Who are you leading? What is your example?
Read moreYA Book Club: This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey
For February’s YA Book Club pick, we talk about This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey. We’ve waited on this one for a long time, so let’s just jump right in.
Emily: This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey is one I’ve been excited to talk about for some time, but we decided to wait for a bit to cover it because the publication date got pushed back. Thanks, Covid. But it’s finally out, and we’re both ready to tell everyone our thoughts! Woo! Thanks to Quirk Books for the advanced copies of this book. These opinions are our own. Oh, one more disclaimer: this book is hard to discuss without spoilers, so spoilers are coming.
Mary: The novel follows Jess, a teenage girl living the 90s dream. She’s got it all: posters of Scott Wolf on her wall, lots of YM magazines, two best friends, and a big choice on her hands. Two boys—yes, two!—want to date Jess. One is friend Tyler, who she accidentally bonked in the head with a ball in 4th grade, and the other is Patrick, the popular soccer star at Swickley high. Jess’s friends keep pressuring her to give Patrick a chance, but why? Jess just doesn’t get it.
Read moreSaint Maud: Psychological with a Pinch of Horror
Have you been excited about seeing Saint Maud? So have we! And it feels like we’ve been waiting forever. But the movie is finally out, friends, and Mary and Emily are here with their thoughts. Please be warned: spoilers to follow.
Emily: This movie is one Mary and I have been looking forward to seeing for some time, so we’re excited to finally get to chat about it. Saint Maud is the feature directorial debut of Rose Glass, who wrote and directed this movie. The story is a character study in a lot of ways. It follows Maud, a young woman who has recently converted to Roman Catholicism, although the religion she practices takes on a lot of qualities that are unique to her and have nothing to do with the Catholic church, which is something I’d love to dive into more.
Read moreOthersode #50: The Women Tell All / Our 100th Episode!
Othersode #50: The Women Tell All / Our 100th Episode!
It’s our 100th episode! Our hundredpisode! Our hundo-sode! Join us as we look back on our favorite books, movies and TV shows we’ve covered—as well as our least favorite things (because we do love to hate on stuff from time to time). We also listen to a few clips of our favorite moments and memories from the past four years and read some listener feedback about their favorite show topics. As always, we catch up with what’s on the Book Squad Blog, including TV recaps, movie reviews, and a new installment of Queer Girl Book Club! Read along with us for our next Bookpisode on Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi on 2/22, and watch Nomadland for our next Othersode on 3/8! Thanks for being with us for 100 episodes! Here’s to hundreds more!
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