Punch Up your TBR with These Fists Break Bricks

September 13, 2021 Mary

These Fists Break Bricks, the new nonfiction title from Grady Hendrix and Chris Poggiali, does more than talk about the rise of kung fu in pop culture. Instead of portraying the martial arts genre as something foreign to American readers, Hendrix and Poggiali posit that kung fu–and by extension the myriad films that spawned from the nation’s fascination with it–has a complex history that weaves martial arts from countries like China, Japan, and Korea with the desperate yearning of the American dream.

YA Book Club: The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

September 10, 2021 Mary & Emily

Mary: Hello and welcome back to YA Book Club! Today we’re talking about The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky. The novel follows Rachel Chavez, who starts school atan exclusive prep school, only to fall in with a group of horror-loving teens called The Mary Shelley Club. Soon, Rachel discovers that things with the club aren’t as they seem, and her own terrifying ordeal begins. Be warned that from here on out, there will be spoilers for the novel!

BSG #58: Artificial Friends / Klara and the Sun with Wizzy, AKA SailorMoonWisdom

September 7, 2021 The Squad

Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!

A Definitive Ranking of Book-Shaped Gravestones in Green-Wood Cemetery

September 5, 2021 Diana Flatto

Arthur Tappan Pierson (March 6, 1837-June 3, 1911)

Green-Wood cemetery is many things: the eternal resting place for over 570,000 people, an arboretum, a Revolutionary War battle site, a bird sanctuary, an art and performance venue, a community space, and, I would argue, a library. One popular gravestone motif over the course of Green-Wood’s 183 year history is the form of a book, usually symbolizing the bible or the Book of Life. Whether or not the religious background is of interest to contemporary visitors, many of these grave markers are endearing sculptural works and landmarks for bibliophiles amidst the cemetery’s angels, obelisks, and nondescript headstones. Check out a book or two, ranked here based on style, content, and my completely non-objective opinions.

Halfway Through Wheel of Time and Feeling Fine

August 27, 2021 Mary

Hi, everyone. How are you? Hanging in there? On my end, I’ve been in a massive reading slump. Sure, I’ve kept up with my podcast reading, and read an additional book here or there (like Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch), but it’s been hard to muster up the mental energy to do much more than watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Deciphering Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

August 25, 2021 Mary & Emily

Mary: Well, pals, do we have a doozy for you today. Emily and I are here to talk about Nightbitch, the new novel by Rachel Yoder. Nightbitch follows an unnamed mother as she slowly descends into madness (or is it madness?). As she comes to terms with what it means to be a mother, Nightbitch grapples with her increasingly doglike nature, her isolation from others, and her growing urges to embrace her animalistic nature.

Othersode #57: Distracted by Dev Patel / The Green Knight (with The Maniculum)

August 23, 2021 The Squad

Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!

Susan's #PodSquad: Something Was Wrong

August 22, 2021 Susan

Our listeners know we love a scam. Last summer when I was in search of some new scammy content, I stumbled upon Something Was Wrong in Stitcher. At the time, the show was already several seasons in, but I’d seen some buzz for season one in reviews, so I started at the beginning. What I found was better than just a scam story; I found an empathetic storyteller centering victims of abuse, control, and manipulation. Something Was Wrong is riveting in its subject matter, but more importantly, it’s bringing attention to some really crucial issues.

Five Times Armond from The White Lotus Made Me Say "What the Fuck"

August 21, 2021 Kelli McAdams

There are so, so many takes about The White Lotus on the internet right now that I did ask myself if I should even bother writing about it. In case you haven’t watched it and aren’t on Twitter: the show, created entirely by Mike White, follows the events over the course of six days at The White Lotus resort in Hawaii. From the show’s first moments, we know that by the end, someone will be dead. The White Lotus is exploring a lot of ideas, and while there is a lot of debate about whether it can be a successful satire of white privilege and a condemnation of colonialism while also centering its white characters… that is not what I’m going to be talking about in this blog post. No, I’m here to talk about Armond.

(Spoilers for The White Lotus to follow. Big ones.)

Gossip Girl S1E6: Parentsite

August 19, 2021 Kelli & Emily

Hey, Upper Eastsiders. Gossip Girl here. Back for one last hurrah before we take a short hiatus from following the highs, lows, and outright disasters of Manhattan’s young, beautiful, and filthy rich teens. Will I be back for more later? That’s one secret I’ll never tell. Because I don’t know if Kelli and Emily will want to recap after this episode.

Kelli: This week, HBO has delivered yet another episode that I would describe as “fine.” Was this the worst episode of the season? No. Was it the best? Also no. Did it feel like a mid-season finale? Hardly. Maybe the CW set my expectations too high, but I expect a mid-season Gossip Girl finale to be full of high stakes and drama, and to end on a cliffhanger. This… was not that.

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