UNspoiled! Book Club!

Hey everyone! I'm here with a surprise bit of book coverage with my favorite pair of boy reviewers, Craig and Andrew from Overdue! You can check out their show here! https://overduepodcast.com/This episode, we talk about the YA novel Eragon, in which the plot is so derivative that we use the wrong names by accident several times. Craig is much more on board than Andrew and I were, but I am fairly certain I was the most cranky out of everyone. And I think that should be celebrated. If you'd like to join our Discord and get in on some of the convo, check it out here! Non-patrons welcome! https://discord.gg/rEF2KfZxfV

Hey there, you gorgeous creatures! I'm here with the final episode of UNspoiled! Book Club, and I'm delighted to be wrapping things up with the wonderful gents from Overdue, Craig and Andrew. If you'd like to listen to more of them (and you should, they're great) you can find them at www.overduepodcast.com This episode we're talking about James And The Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, and man I forgot how fucking bananas this book is. I don't know why I didn't remember almost anything, but the Cloud Men and the landing in Manhattan were nowhere in my mind, and there was only the barest flicker of recognition at the literal ticker-tape parade at the end. All I remembered were the aunts, and they deserve it. Thank you all so much for listening, and for supporting the show. I can't wait to see you all on the Spoil Me! feed, if you're looking to scratch that Book Club itch!

Thanks so much to Candace for agreeing to cover this absolutely bananas book with me. I cannot emphasize enough how unlike anything I've read this book is in terms of its scope and tone. While there are certain things it has in common with His Dark Materials, it's far more adult, dark, and feminist. I hope you enjoy the coverage, and I will see you in late October with James And The Giant Peach!

Hey there, lovely people! RoShawn was super sick but bravely met with me for this episode anyway, and I'm so glad. I loved this book, and I can't believe that I hadn't read it already considering all of the boxes it ticked in my "favorite things" column: talking animals, Edwardian clothing, english countryside, cozy homes, funny low-stakes hijinks. It's got it all!This is a book I see myself going back to time and again, and I was really glad that RoShawn liked it too. Don't miss me and Candace on August 31st at 2PM CST, when we will be covering Imajica!

I just want to warn you all that about 5 minutes from the end of this episode, tragedy strikes and RoShawn's internet goes down. She wound up being without internet for almost three hours, and thankfull got it back just in time to record UNsober with me that evening. This book was a rough one. I can see the appeal, and the way RoShawn talks about her connections with some of the folktales before discovering this books totally makes sense for how it connected with her as a kid. But for me, I was just not into it. I tried. Lord knows, I tried. But it made for a good discussion anyhow.Thank you all so much for listening, and I will see you again soon with a new episode!

Thank you so much to Bitches for joining me on this episode, and bearing with me while I work out some very tough personal shit that came up as a result of this book hitting on some really familiar and uncomfortable themes. If you haven't read this book, you're doing yourself a disservice. It's not just about personal experiences of characters whom we get to know and care about (in most cases, anyway), but also about the role that the United States played in bringing down a nation of black people and keeping them down throughout their attempts to take back control. It's really important information, conveyed in a way that feels much less preachy than you'd ever expect. I just loved this book. It's famous for a reason. It's gorgeously written. I just can't recommend it enough. READ IT.

Hey there lovelies! Miles and I are here to talk about Childhood favorite A Wrinkle In Time, a book we had both loved but not revisited for at least a decade. How did it hold up? In truth, it held up GREAT. There's shockingly few problematic elements for a book written when this was and under the particular scrutiny that our generation is prone to use when examining works of fiction. The story is even more chilling for us as adults coming at this work from the lens of capitalism instead of communism, and Miles and I both were moved by it in totally new ways upon this reread. Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you all again next month with The Poisonwood Bible!

Sooooooo funny story about this one. I got the audiobook AND the kindle version, but relied on the audiobook because I had a packed week and it was easier to listen while I took care of chores and housework. UNFORTUNATELY, it turns out that the version I listened to was abridged, and this fact was not included in the title nor was there even a full-length version available at all to alert me of the danger. So. I apologize. That's two book club episodes now where I've dropped the ball and I'm smarting a little from it. I really did like what I heard of this book, and I'm deeply sad that they robbed me of a full experience. I wish I knew why! Thank you to Jaime for commissioning this one, and I will see you all in a couple of weeks with Where The Red Fern Grows!

Hey folks! So, unfortunately I had a bit of a hiccup with the person who was supposed to guest-host this episode. They had a personal emergency and forgot to let me know they wouldn't be available, so I was sitting in front on my camera with Crowdcast turned on when I found out. I decided to go on and record by my lonesome, and I think it still went pretty well. This book was a little less whimsical than I expected, because there were actually pretty hardcore stakes; if the little boy didn't stop the cook or help the Clocks escape, they would all die. All of them! And what's surprising is that we don't actually get any confirmation that they're okay at the end. We don't SEE them escape, we just have to take the word of the woman who is telling the story. Not only that, but the cook doesn't get any comeuppance for being pretty much terrible! As a kid I think that would have bothered me a lot, but frankly as an adult I was like, "Well that's how it goes." Anyway, I liked this book and it was kind of weird and I'm low-key interested in reading the sequels. Thanks to everyone who hung out with me at the Crowdcast, and make sure to pick up the book for next month's Childhood Favorite, Where The Red Fern Grows!