Your Custom Text Here
Lil Nas X released a music video on March 25, 2021 that changed the world.
Okay, maybe it didn’t change the world, but it did get people talking, and it definitely incensed a huge chunk of America. For those not in the know, I live in Mississippi, which doesn’t have the best history when it comes to supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
BSG #53: I Don't Fantasize About Capitalism / Make Up Break Up with Tirzah Price
Join the Squad and special guest Tirzah Price to chat about Make Up Break Up, the first novel for adults by Lily Menon! We discuss the romance, the characters, and of course, the fancy apps the love interests each created. Next we talk to Tirzah about her debut YA novel, Pride and Premeditation. She tells us about the inspiration for the series, the writing process, and what to look for in upcoming books! Then we get into some listener feedback for When No One is Watching and catch up with what’s on the Book Squad Blog, including new installments of YA Book Club and Queer Girl Book Club, as well as TV and podcast reviews. Join us and special guest Clay McLeod Chapman on May 3rd for our discussion of House of the Devil (2009) and Clay’s new novel, Whisper Down the Lane. Read along with us for our next Bookpisode on Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo on May 17th. Send your feedback to thesquad@booksquadgoals.com or hit us up on social media!
Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!
Read more
Mary: *sigh* Here we go.
Lost in the Never Woods is the second published novel by Aiden Thomas, the author of Cemetery Boys, but it was the first one they wrote. The story follows Wendy Darling (yes, that Wendy Darling) as she teams up with Peter Pan (yes, that Peter Pan) to help solve the mystery of why neighborhood kids are going missing. Wendy also hopes to find out what happened to her younger brothers, who disappeared years ago.
Full disclosure: we read this book because of two main reasons. First, we’ve heard so many good things about Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys and wanted to check out their work. Second, we both got an Advanced Listening Copy from Libro.fm (whoop whoop!), and thought it might be a nice fit for YA Book Club. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with this book. It was a lot.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.
Read more
For the past week, I haven’t been able to shut up about Maintenance Phase, a podcast that decodes and debunks everything related to wellness and weight loss. The podcast, hosted by Michael Hobbes (You’re Wrong About) and Aubrey Gordon (Your Fat Friend, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat), examines everything from anti-fat bias to Weight Watchers to Dr. Oz to diet pills, and I guarantee that every episode contains information you’ve never heard before. Here are some of the reasons you should check out Maintenance Phase. Get ready to learn, unlearn, and gasp out loud when you listen.
Read more
Revolutionary Girl Utena probably feels familiar to many viewers. The 1997 anime features a magical girl, campy baddies, and plenty of friendship. The premise of Utena sounds an awful lot like Sailor Moon, and with good reason. Kunihiko Ikuhara, one of the series directors for Sailor Moon, wanted the freedom to craft the anime he wanted to see in the world, so he left Sailor Moon, teamed up with manga artist Chiho Saito, and the rest is history.
Read more
Othersode #52: Cultpisode / The Project / Interview with Sarah Edmondson
Things get culty in this BSG #Othersode! Join us for our discussion of The Project by Courtney Summers and a special author interview with Sarah Edmondson (HBO’s The Vow) about her book, Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life. Read along with us for our next #Bookpisode on Lily Menon’s novel Make Up Break Up, featuring special guest Tirzah Price, author of the new novel Pride and Premeditation (April 19th). Then come get scared with us on our next #Othersode when we talk about House of the Devil (2009) with Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Whisper Down the Lane, a new novel inspired by the McMartin Preschool trials and the Satanic Panic (May 3rd). Please leave us a rating and review on Apple podcasts, and subscribe so our episodes hit your feed right away!
Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!
Read more
Kelli: Welcome back to Queer Girl Book Club! This time we read They Never Learn by Layne Fargo, a thriller which follows two women at the same university and their adventures in punishing bad men, namely those accused of sexual assault. So, let this serve as a content warning for the following topics: sexual assault, rape, abuse, suicide, and murder (does murder need a CW?).
Anyway, now that we’ve covered that: Emily, what made you choose this book?
Spoilers to follow!
Read more
We’d like to think Netflix’s Deadly Illusions was one elaborate April Fool’s joke, but since it wasn’t—since it is an actual movie that got made—we’re here to review it.
Emily: So word on the street was there was a new thriller in town on Netflix. And it was #1 on the charts. And it was terrible. So you know I had to check that out. Yes, we're talking about DEADLY ILLUSIONS, the groundbreaking thriller starring Kristin Davis and Kelsey Grammer's daughter. I'm sure he's really proud. When I say this movie is groundbreaking, I just mean I have never seen a movie quite like this before. Even going into it knowing it was going to be bad, I really had no idea just how bad it was going to get.
(Spoilers ahead. You’re welcome.)
Read more
via HBO
Allen v. Farrow is a four-part documentary series on HBO which covers the abuse allegations against Woody Allen by Dylan Farrow, his adopted daughter, who was seven years old at the time. The allegations and subsequent custody trial were highly-publicized when they took place in the 1990s, but Allen was never formally charged because experts were concerned that a trial re: abuse allegations would be too traumatizing for Dylan. Thus, Allen has continued to enjoy great success in Hollywood. This documentary aims, in part, to correct that.
Read more
Mary: Hello, and welcome to YA Book Club! This month we’re reading Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, who has a PhD in Oceanography and is definitely an author to keep your eye on. She seems very cool.
If you haven’t seen this book in person, please run out and find a hard copy because the cover and art throughout is gorgeous! Elatsoe follows Ellie, a Lipan Apache, who is tasked by her recently murdered cousin to solve the mystery of his death. There’s a twist to this mystery, though. Ellie knows who killed him but she doesn't know why.
made with love by emily, kelli, mary, and susan. <3 thanks to Katelyn Elaine Photography for our group photos.