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BSG #60: Big on Goodreads / Detransition Baby / Interview with SJ Sindu

November 1, 2021 The Squad

BSG #60: Big on Goodreads / Detransition Baby / Interview with SJ Sindu

You’ve heard of a love triangle, but what about a parenthood triangle? Join the Book Squad for our discussion of Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. We talk about the complicated relationships between the characters, the connection between trans women and divorced cis women, and why people on Goodreads found this book “shocking.” After that, Kelli interviews SJ Sindu, author of the new novel Blue-Skinned Gods. Tune in on November 15th for our next Othersode with special guest Gabriella Saab, author of The Last Checkmate. Read along with us for our next Bookpisode on Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller, and check your feeds on November 29th for that episode!

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

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In 4-Podcast Tags Books, Interviews
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YA Book Club: Mercury Boys

October 30, 2021 Mary & Emily

Cover was awesome, though.

Come travel back in time with YA Book Club as we discuss Mercury Boys by Chandra Prasad. The book follows Saskia, who just moved to a new state with her dad and is settling into a new school. She reflects that she hasn’t really had many genuine friends during her life, and she’s excited to become close with Lila, who seems very cool and level headed IMO. Lila works at a college library, where she has access to all sorts of archival daguerreotypes.

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In Blog Tags Young Adult Lit, Emily posts, Mary posts
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Dune Was Fine

October 27, 2021 Mary

(HBOMax)

I watched the new Dune adaptation, directed by Denis Villeneuve. It was fine. This isn’t as much of a review as it is me trying to unpack what I like about Dune, both as a novel and a film. I’ll say up front that if you like sci-fi at all, you might as well go see Dune, or at least watch it on HBO Max at home. However, it wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be.

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In Blog Tags Reviews, Movies, Mary posts, Science fiction
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The Wild Ride of The Way Down

October 20, 2021 Susan

The culty content keeps coming with HBO's The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, a new docuseries that investigates the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, and its strange leader. The "church" evolves from a weight loss-focused workshop to an evangelical Christian spinoff to an full-fledged cult. The Way Down traces the rise and fall of Gwen Shamblin, the cult's body-obsessed leader, as she transforms Remnant Fellowship into the dangerous high-control group that it still is today. Some spoilers for The Way Down to follow.

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In Blog Tags Susan posts, Documentaries, Reviews, Cults
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Othersode #59: Is This Based On a Book? / Nine Perfect Strangers (The Show!) with Tirzah Price

October 18, 2021 The Squad

Othersode #59: Is This Based On a Book? / Nine Perfect Strangers (The Show!) with Tirzah Price

Microdose your smoothie and come along for a peaceful journey through the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel by Liane Moriarty. Returning guest Tirzah Price (author of Pride and Premeditation) joins us for a wild discussion of how this TV adaptation holds up, what’s missing from the book, what the show is saying about body image, grief, and drugs, and, of course, Manny Jacinto. Join us on November 1 for our next Bookpisode on Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, plus an interview with SJ Sindu, author of Blue-Skinned Gods. Then Gabriella Saab, author of The Last Checkmate will guest on our next Othersode—stay tuned for the topic! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. Send any and all thoughts on Nine Perfect Strangers or any of our other episodes to thesquad@booksquadgoals.com!

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

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In 4-Podcast Tags Literature, Books, Television
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Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman...

October 13, 2021 Kelli & Mary

Mary: Hello and welcome to HALLOWEEN SEASON, the most marvelous time of the year. Kelli I saw Candyman, the 2021 film directed by Nia DaCosta, and here we are to talk about it.

I’ll go ahead and say, as we have said on the podcast many times, we are just white women trying to be good allies, but please take our conversation with a healthy dose of salt. Obviously we should always listen to BIPOC communities on issues concerning race FIRST. With that out of the way, let’s talk Candyman.

Do you hate bees more or less after this film?

(Spoilers for Candyman to follow)

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In Blog Tags Mary posts, Kelli posts, Horror, Movies
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BSG #59: A Fun Guy / Sorrowland with Leah Rachel von Essen / Interview with Catriona Ward

October 11, 2021 The Squad
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BSG #59: A Fun Guy / Sorrowland with Leah Rachel von Essen / Interview with Catriona Ward

Come into the woods with the Book Squad and special guest Leah Rachel von Essen to discuss Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. We talk about the book’s pacing, Vern’s characterization, gender identity and sexuality, the mistreatment of Black people by white America, and of course, mushrooms. Next, Emily interviews Catriona Ward, author of the novel The Last House on Needless Street. You don’t want to miss this fun interview! After that, we dig into some listener feedback on Klara and the Sun, Harrow the Ninth (the sequel to Gideon the Ninth), and The Final Girl Support Group. Join us and Tirzah Price for our next Othersode on the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, on October 18th. Read along for our next Bookpisode on November 1 when we discuss Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. Send feedback to thesquad@booksquad.com or DM us on Instagram!

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

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In 4-Podcast Tags Books, Science fiction
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Queer Girl Book Club: You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

October 6, 2021 Kelli & Emily
This bookshelf exists too much

This bookshelf exists too much

Kelli: Hello and welcome back to Queer Girl Book Club! I’m your host, Kelli. Just kidding, this is a blog post.

This month we’re talking about You Exist Too Much, the debut novel by Zaina Arafat. The story follows a Palestinian-American young woman as she navigates her twenties. Our narrator is never named, which I only noticed about halfway through the book. I thought to myself, ‘what’s her name again?’ and then flipped through for a while before I realized she didn’t have one. I was surprised, I guess because I felt like I knew her so well already. So I guess a good way to start this discussion is to ask: how did you feel about the narrator?

(Spoilers to follow)

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In Blog Tags Queer Girl Book Club, LGBTQ, Books, Emily posts, Kelli posts
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Othersode #58: Courteney Cox's Bangs / Scream with Grady Hendrix

September 20, 2021 The Squad
scream.jpg

Othersode #58: Courteney Cox's Bangs / Scream with Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix returns to the podcast to talk about the Scream franchise and his new novel, The Final Girl Support Group! We talk about our favorite final girls (and how Sidney stacks up), how Scream revolutionized the slasher genre in the 1990s, how the sequels compare to each other, and why Gale’s hair goes rogue in 2 and 3. Plus, Grady shares a SUPER FUN FACT about Scream 2 that blows all of our minds. Then we ask Grady about The Final Girl Support Group and learn how the book came to be and what he has coming up in the future! Read along with us for our next Bookpisode on Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon, featuring special guest Leah Rachel von Essen, and stick around for an interview with Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street. Catch up on Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu for our next Othersode on October 11th!

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

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In 4-Podcast Tags Movies, Horror, Literature, Books
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This Is A Negative Review Of The Film Annette

September 18, 2021 Kelli
Not pictured: Baby Fucking Annette (images via Amazon Studios)

Not pictured: Baby Fucking Annette (images via Amazon Studios)

You may have first heard about the film Annette during the surge of headlines coming out of the Cannes film festival, which were most commonly some variation of “Annette: The New Musical Where Adam Driver Sings While Performing Oral Sex on Marion Cotillard.” I understand that this is a huge selling point for many people, but the focus on this scene has left a lot of people in the dark re: the actual facts of this motion picture, like the part where the titular Annette is an infant played by the scariest puppet you will ever lay eyes on. This review is not a part of BSG’s annual series of horror films leading up to Halloween, but reader, it might as well be.

Annette is the latest from director Leos Carax, and has been receiving rave reviews from critics and cinephiles alike. I’m actually surprised that it isn’t more divisive, given how utterly bizarre it is, but the film stands at a respectable 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. As one of Annette’s brave detractors, I know that I will be taking some heat for my open disdain, but I will tell you this: one of my closest friends has already accused me of disliking the film because I am jealous of Baby Annette’s success as a child star—a success I never managed to achieve despite my best efforts and years of voice lessons—so please take this entire review with a grain of salt. As it stands, I am a little bit jealous of Baby Annette.

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In Blog Tags Movies
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Happy Wedding Day to Mary and Todd! We love you both and can’t wait to watch you tie the knot today! @thefavoritenpc @tadasborne #MaryToddLincoln
On next Monday’s #othersode, we’re taking a deep dive into the history of racism in our country. Read along with us (or listen for free on Spotify!) for our discussion of Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. Episode drops 6/29! ?
We’re dedicating our next #Othersode to talking about a very important subject. Read along with us for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. Episode drops 6/29! 📸: @onegirlreading
Happy Juneteenth! Help lift up Black voices and support Black-owned businesses this week by buying books by Black authors from Black-owned bookstores! (These shops all have online ordering!)📚 Want to share some other Black-owned bookstores? Tell us
Hey, Goalies! Murray and the Squad would like to encourage you to buy books by Black authors this week! Pictured are some of Murray’s top picks (courtesy of @avidbookshop!), but we’d love to hear more of your favorite books by Black autho
Happy New Episode Day! Check out our discussion of Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett — plus a special interview with Erica Boyce, author of Lost at Sea! Available wherever you get your podcasts!

made with love by emily, kelli, mary, and susan. <3 thanks to Katelyn Elaine Photography for our group photos.

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