UNspoiled! Book Club!

Cackle, featuring OVERDUE!

Hey friends! The UNspoiled! Book Club feed is mostly dead except for the very special time of year when Overdue has me on as a guest! Join us as we talk about Cackle by Rachel Harrison, and let me know what you think if you've read the book!

Vampire Diaries, Book 1 with Overdue!

Greetings my ghouls and goblins, it's time for the spooky seasonal read with the boys from Overdue! Their delightful podcast (about the books that you've been meaning to read) invites me on in or around Spooktober to talk about a book they've been thinking of covering, and I was delighted to get to read an installment from yet another goofy teen vampire series. Was the book good? No. Was it fun? Also no. Well, a little, in parts. But was recording fun? You bet your spooky ass it was. Than...

Eragon

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'...

Eragon (with Overdue!)

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'...

James And The Giant Peach (with Overdue!)

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 Cl...

Imajica

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!

The Wind In The Willows

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 Can...

Watership Down

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 ...

The Poisonwood Bible

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 ...

A Wrinkle In Time

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 ...

Quick Announcement!

White Oleander

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...

The Borrowers

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...

The Time Traveler's Wife

Hey all you lovely people! I am finally here with the episode for this month's Book Club, and Jaime is going to talk about it with me! The Time Traveler's Wife falls under the heading of "books I had heard of a million times but had no interest in" and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it despite my crotchetiness. Niffenegger comes up with a really wild idea for this book: what if time travel wasn't something you needed equipment to complete, but also something that you couldn't control? Henry...

Little Women

Many thanks to Jaime for joining me for this episode of UNspoiled! Book Club: Childhood Favorites! I'm personally excited about revisiting this book, and I was able to zero in on a really good audiobook version which I was going to link to, but now Audible says isn't available. :( It was Kate Reading, in case it comes back! This book wasn't an easy one for Jaime who usually doesn't warm to period novels very well, but she found some things really resonated with her. We both found it sort of ...

Crazy Rich Asians

Hey everyone! Candace joined me for this episode, and this time around I actually did watch the film that came out based on the book before recording, so there's going to be some references to that in this episode. Forgive me! I have to confess that while Candace and I talk about a lot of different issues we had with this book, I still had a great time listening to the audiobook. If you have the inclination, I highly recommend it. I don't know if I would have had the same reaction to the sto...

Little House In The Big Woods

Hey everyone! It's time for the next Childhood Favorite, this month hosted by Gena Radcliffe fof Kill BY Kill Podcast! Gena, like me, loved these books as a child, and unlike me, went on to become a fan of the TV show as well. I only saw a few minutes of one ep and decided it was not for me, and you won't believe what Gena tells me happens in the final episode (unless you've seen it in which case, whaaaaaat were they thinking???). I was a little worried about this reread, but it turns out ...

Children Of Blood And Bone

Hey everyone! Candace and I are here to discuss Children Of Blood And Bone, an epic fantasy novel that centers a black woman and is in a country populated by black people. It's really unusual and really emotional and I highly recommend it. The story follows Zelie, a young woman born of meji parents with magical ability, who all lost their abilities for unknown reasons and have had to live as slaves and scapegoats in the country of Orisha. Amari, a princess belonging to the non-magical race o...

Childhood Favorites- The Enchanted Castle

Hello, my good people! It's time for one of my personal childhood faves, The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit! Candace wasn't as enraptured with it as I was, but that's okay. I suppose eventually I may forgive her. When I think about British children's literature, this is what I think of. And informal third-person with occasional breaks in the 4th wall (so to speak) where the author addresses the reader directly, coupled with a small group of kids and some wacky adventures involving different...

Sharp Objects

RoShawn and I have a LOT to say about this disturbing, gripping, haunting book. We both really felt spoken to by the focus of the story on mother-daughter relationships, and the slow build of mystery and upsetting details is really really effective. This is a marked departure from the pulpy, humorous sort of story the Flynn wrote with Gone Girl; Sharp Objects is like a nightmare that you can't make yourself look away from. Thank you so much to everyone who recommended this book, and I will s...

Bridge To Terabithia

Alright folks. We didn't like this book. There, I said it. I just wanted to warn you in case you are very attached to this book and have a lot of loving nostalgia around it, because I figure that even something if I know is problematic but I loved it as a child, I wouldn't particularly want to listen to it get shredded to bits by folks who just discovered it. But that's pretty much what Rachel and I do, so be forewarned. Between the misogyny, fatphobia, manic-pixie-dreamgirl troping, fridg...

The Last Wish

It's the final episode of the main UNspoiled! Book Club list for 2018, and in this episode RoShawn and I discuss Andrezej Sapkowski's The Last Wish, the first book in The Witcher series. RoShawn and I liked the mythology and stories in this book, but we had a big problem with the structure and the way the whole thing was presented. We both listened to the audiobook, which was probably part of the problem, but frankly I'm not totally convinced this would have worked that much better for me if...

Childhood Favorites: The Phantom Tollbooth

Many thanks to Erin Ayers from Over The Tabletop (which you can find out about here : https://overthetabletoppodcast.libsyn.com/) for joining me on this episode of Childhood Favorites! The Phantom Tollbooth was a book that so many people wanted to join me for, and I can really see why. It's a very unusual book that seems to combine elements of the over-the-top style of Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss with some pretty intense elements that I would assign to a more Neil Gaiman type mind. I'm so so...

The Martian

Listeners, Jaime and I are coming at you with an episode on Andy Weir's The Martian, a book which decided that people really wanted to know every last detail about potato farming on Mars. And you know what? That book was RIGHT. Seriously, long-time fans know that I'm super interested in the boring minutiae that goes into fictional worlds and projects, and The Martian delivers on that pedantic crap in spades and I AM HERE FOR IT. It's rather gratifying to know that this book appealed to so ma...

Childhood Favorites: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

Hey there, you wonderful people! I'm here with Carey Anne Farrell, the author of the just-released Forward March, and co-host of the podcast You Can Go Your Own YA. Check out her book here! https://amzn.to/2SLfYyD You can find the site for her podcast here goyourownya.com and she even has a music site here! https://careyfarrell.bandcamp.com/ This was a particularly fun one to read because while I have read it several times as a child, I haven't revisited it in a long time, and so much has ch...

Dead Until Dark

First of all, if you all are interested in checking out this book (and if you're looking for something fun, sexy, and fluffy, you should), here is the link to buy it! It's super cheap as a Kindle book but if you can do the audiobook I recommend it. https://amzn.to/2CKxMoJ Dead Until Dark is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, and there's a reason why it got made into a smash hit series by HBO. The heroine is sharp and funny and yet flawed, the men are hot and s...

Childhood Favorites- Redwall

This episode I have a very special guest who has been a fan of UNspoiled! from the early days of the show's inception, and who went on to host her own show! Please welcome Amanda Campbell, host of CasterQuest! You can find out more about her show here! http://casterquest.com/ This episode we talk about one of those old faves that you look back on and can't really believe is a children's book. I had totally forgotten how violent this book is, and while I'm not saying I regret reading it or tha...

The Dead Zone

I'm revisiting Mr. Stephen King yet again this month, and covering The Dead Zone with Alan Kingsley, my trusty sidekick from Hannibal, Justified, and True Detective. This is one of those cases in which I really enjoyed the book, but I just feel there was a little too much of it. The middle section where Johnny is in his coma is drawn out quite a lot, and while it succeeds in getting the point across of how difficult waiting is, and how uncertain and bleak everything seemed, I think we as the...

Book Club- Johnny Tremain

I'm delighted to be recording with Craig and Andrew from Overdue Podcast again! This was a lot of fun to do because Johnny Tremain was a book with a lot of issues in it that were strangely relevant to today's political landscape, and while I think the Overdue boys tend to shy away from getting too political sometimes, I SURE DON'T! Eventually Andrew joins me on my soapbox and it's pretty great. But there's way more to talk about here than just politics. There's an overall message about Johnn...

Book Club- Neverwhere

Hello, me hearties! Make yourself a nice cup of tea and mind the gap, because Miles and I are here to talk to you about Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman. Art Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/algesiras/art/Neverwhere-Characters-373759105 I'm so glad that this book was fun to read, because after not liking a couple books in a row, I was a little worried when I saw that Neil Gaiman was the next author on the list. Not to say that I don't like his writing, but overall I haven't been quite as impress...

CHILDHOOD FAVORITES: Charlotte's Web

Hey there, lovely listeners! Welcome to the first installment in the Childhood Favorites sub-feed of the Book Club! I'm super excited to be doing my first show with guest Rachel Rosing, who is one of the hilarious co-hosts of Beckett To The Future: A Quantum Leap Podcast. You can find out more about her show here! https://www.beckettfuturepod.com/ This was such a good book, you guys. There is some annoying stuff that we really noticed reading it as grown women, don't get me wrong. Charlotte ...

Book Club- Eleanor & Park

Well this was the most lively Book Club episode in a while! Eleanor & Park was a book that I fully expected to dislike, based on the tone of some reactions I got when I said I would be covering it, and on some random commentary here and there on social media. However (and maybe it's just because I was coming off a couple of books I really didn't like very much) I actually enjoyed this book! Candace, my cohost, did not. The episode actually turned out to be really interesting because Can...

The Atrocity Archives

Alright, Patrons, please tell me what I ever did to you? Because this is 2 books in a row now that I didn't really like at all, and the blame lies squarely with YOU, my "friends"! Okay that's not entirely fair, because I didn't hate The Atrocity Archives the way that I hated most of A Dirty Job, but I'm not a huge fan. It's not something that I would pick up again, or recommend, and Krista (who generously agreed to cohost again after the disaster last month) liked it even less than I did. ...

RIP to 'A Dirty Job'

Hey everyone. Bad news is, we lost the episode due to some miscommunications on my part. On the plus side, I really didn't like this book and I feel no urge to make time to re-record it. So here's a short blurb on why I feel the way I do, and I will see you all next month with The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross, which you can buy here! https://amzn.to/2IpUSmU

The Book Thief

I'm here with the next installment of the UNspoiled! Book Club, and this time it's Jaime Smith joining me to talk about The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. This is a book from a unique perspective, to say the least, and it's understandable why it's grown as acclaimed as it has. However, I have to be honest. I didn't love this book. Don't get me wrong, it's a really captivating idea and overall I found the plot to be interesting, as well as the peeks at how ordinary Germans who weren't in dange...

Jurassic Park

My main takeaway after reading this book was a sense of surprise at how much of the book was virtually unchanged for the movie, and how much that worked on-screen, while being impressed at the detail of story aspects that wouldn't have been interesting on-screen at all. Basically, if you asked me whether the book or the movie was better, I wouldn't be able to answer because I feel that they were each perfectly suited to the medium in which the story was being told. For the movie, you can glos...

Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race

In which RoShawn and I discuss white fragility and the realities of racism.

The Wee Free Men

My apologies for the lateness on this post! I had some sound issues and then my site got hacked, so I had it posted to Patreon but forget to schedule it for release on iTunes! I hope you can forgive me. And I hope you enjoy the show!

Howl's Moving Castle

In which Candace and Natasha discuss this delightful bit of fantasy wrapped in a ribbon of interesting ladies and overdramatic men.

The Haunting Of Hill House

A classic haunted house story, this one got a divided opinion from hosts Natasha and Money!

Bag Of Bones (w/Overdue!)

In which the gentlemen from Overdue join me in reading a spooky Steven King novel!

Rebecca

In this book, I think I would rather deal with an actual ghost than Mrs. Danvers. Haven't read the book yet? Get it here! http://amzn.to/2wD8gfl Or get next month's book, 'Bag Of Bones' by Stephen King, here! http://amzn.to/2ezIX5v

The Girl With All The Gifts

The world as we know it is gone, and one little girl must overcome her bloodlust to remake it.

Night Circus

In this book, a fabulously detailed, beautifully crafted universe seems to be welcoming Natasha like an old friend.

Dune

In which Natasha and Liz discuss the classic SciFi novel, and Liz loves it with all her heart and Natasha tries desperately to understand.

The Kite Runner

Krista and I discuss this beautiful and tragic novel and the way it stomped all over our hearts.

Ready Player One

Yay! Something fun!

Winter's Bone

In which Alan and I discuss the surprisingly feminist and wonderfully focused novel, which I simply loved.

Blindness

In which Chris and Natasha really didn't enjoy this book at all.

Gone Girl

Jaime and I discuss a book that made me question everything I know about myself.