Between the Shelves

To coincide with the release of the hit new game Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth , our resident Final Fantasy "amateur experts" explore the history of the iconic franchise and why it remains the king of RPGs 37 years later. 01:26 - Why celebrate Final Fantasy? 03:07 - What makes a Final Fantasy game so unique? 09:54 - History of Final Fantasy (1987-1994) 17:35 - Final Fantasy VII , the game tha...

Kristina and Alex chat about what they're currently into! 00:46 - Monster 04:29 - Dredge 08:19 - Fargo: Season 5 12:36 - Fantasy High 15:54 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org ! For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast .

The Oscar Review Crew shares their post-Oscar thoughts and designs their perfect Academy Awards show. 01:04 - Introduction & Oscar Picks Winner 04:34 - Opening Monologue & Hosting 09:04 - Favorite Presenters 23:20 - Winners, Losers and Surprises 40:56 - Designing the Perfect Oscars ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org ! For our show notes, v...

Between the Shelves' Oscar Review Crew reunites to celebrate the 96th Academy Awards! Alex, Sean, Rachel and Maria discuss this year's biggest snubs and surprises and share their personal Best Picture nominees. 02:16 - Best Picture category 21:14 - Snubs 44:43 - 2023 Movie Disappointments 52:22 - 2023 Movie Surprises 59:55 - Personal Best Picture Nominees ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or...

To celebrate International Pokémon Day, Alex and Kristina discuss how the niche Game Boy game grew into the world's biggest franchise and share their personal journey's to becoming Pokémon Masters. 00:53 - Introduction 03:18 - History of Pokémon 15:11 - Cultural Impact 19:54 - First Experiences 33:09 - Pokémon Concierge review ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at al...

Tory, Kristina and Meg chat about what they're into! 00:46 - The Traitors (Peacock) 04:45 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 07:32 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood 10:27 - RuPaul's Drag Race 12:14 - Independent Bookstores ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org ! For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast .

Special guest host Tory chats with Kristina and Meg about romance books and it's many alluring subgenres! 01:04 - Hallmarks of romance 03:23 - First flings 10:34 - Romantasy 17:04 - Urban Fantasy 21:44 - Romance Manga 28:12 - Sports Romance 34:25 - Historical Romance 43:42 - Contemporary Romance & Fan Fiction 53:50 - AI does romance ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know...

Tory and Derek ("A Bite Of" podcast) join Alex to talk about what they're into! Mentioned in this episode: 00:42 - Big Brother (CBS) 05:16 - Past Lives 10:02 - One Piece (Netflix) 15:57 - Superfan (CBS) 19:23 - Rosemary Joaquin 20:50 - Queen Herby ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org ! For this (and all) show notes, visit sayvillelibrary...

Tory and Alex are joined by special guest Derek ("A Bite Of" podcast) on a deep dive of the music phenomena that is K-POP! Tory and Derek also share their top 5 K-Pop tracks, so don't miss! 02:27 - What is K-Pop? 05:00 - K-Pop vs. Western Pop 13:21 - How did you get into K-Pop? 17:08 - K-Pop Fandom 24:46 - K-Pop Mania 29:09 - International Appeal 35:29 - "Not Shy" by Itzy 38:05...

Alex is joined by Melissa and Steph to talk about what they're into! Mentioned in this episode: 00:38 - Steam Deck repair & The Makery 03:30 - Old Nickelodeon Shows 05:58 - Class of '07 08:09 - Good Trouble 09:54 - Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford 15:32 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary....

[WARNING! This episode contains explicit language.] Between the Shelves celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with our tribute its best era, the '90s. Alex, Melissa and Steph play some of their favorite '90s hip-hop tracks and talk about what makes this decade rap's greatest. 00:48 - Why's '90s Hip-Hop? 05:58 - A Tribe Called Quest 10:23 - Mary J Blige 13:17 - Kris Kross 15:14 - Big L...

In our final "Best of 2023" episode, Jenn, Marianne, and Peter join Alex to discuss their favorite books, TV shows and albums of the year! 01:23 - North Woods by Daniel Mason 08:22 - How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair 14:23 - The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman 20:17 - Neom by Lavie Tidhar 23:30 - Nobody Needs to Know by Pidgeon Pagonis 29:33 - Telemarketers 35:59 - The Bear 40:38 -...

Kristina and Tory join Alex to share their favorite books, TV shows, music and video game of 2023! 00:59 - Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux 05:23 - The Reunion by Kayla Olson 09:06 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow 11:56 - Wellness by Nathan Hill 17:18 - American Fiction 23:19 - Our Flag Means Death 29:09 - The Continental 35:55 - So Much (for) Stardust...

Tim, Lizzie and Sam join Alex to discuss their favorite books, albums, and TV shows of the year! 01:48 - The Golden Age, Book II by Roxanne Moreil & Cyril Pedrosa 05:14 - In Limbo by Deborah Lee 06:54 - The He-Man Effect by Brian "Box" Brown 07:43 - Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 10:18 - Paris : The Memoir by Paris Hilton 15:08 - Scavengers Reign 21:04 - Scott Pilgrim Takes...

Kristina and Alex review season 1 of Ahsoka and chat about some other things they're currently into, like ghost stories, suplexing trains, and exploring the strange stories behind America's favorite theme park. 00:39 - Ahsoka review 17:27 - Works of Junji Ito 21:39 - Final Fantasy VI 27:57 - Ghostland by Colin Dickey 33:04 - Defunctland & Yesterworld ~~~~~ Have a question, comment or t...

In honor of Life Day, the cherished Wookiee holiday, Kristina and Alex celebrate by thoroughly examining the galactic disaster that is the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. 00:33 - Setting the Life Day table 07:58 - Meet the Wookiees 12:16 - A New Low 17:05 - We need to talk about Itchy 22:45 - "The Story of the Faithful Wookiee" 28:41 - A New New Low 31:23 - Bea Arthur is canon 38:00 - So w...

Alex goes out in the field to document our third annual Sayville Fan Fest! 00:45 - It begins... 01:43 - Staff check-in 03:48 - Tabletop & Board Game Expo 06:45 - Children's floor 08:23 - Tom Duffy workshop 08:53 - Staff check-in 11:16 - American Airpower Museum Band 14:29 - Photographer Sean 16:13 - I LUG NY 19:58 - The Midnight Tavern 22:42 - Big Al's Retro Machines 25:23 - Toy MiniNa...

Alex, Steph and Rachel continue their rating of every single hand-drawn Disney film! In part two, they cover: 02:04 - The Great Mouse Detective 04:35 - Oliver & Company 07:28 - The Little Mermaid 10:07 - The Rescuers Down Under 11:07 - Beauty and the Beast 13:17 - Aladdin 16:26 - The Lion King 17:55 - Pocahontas 20:30 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame 22:35 - Hercules 24:54 - Mulan 27:08 - Tarzan...

On this very special two-part episode, Alex, Steph and Rachel celebrate 100 years of Disney by rating every single Disney hand-drawn film! In part one, they cover: 02:09 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 03:54 - Pinocchio 06:39 - Fantasia 09:26 - Dumbo 10:45 - Bambi 11:23 - Cinderella 12:09 - Alice in Wonderland 13:53 - Peter Pan 14:49 - The Lady and the Tramp 15:45 - Sleeping Beauty 17:37 - One H...

In part 2 of our "Horror-ween Challenge," Peter and Alex discuss their picks in 12 more horror movie categories. Part 2's categories include: 00:55 - Kids Horror movies 06:19 - Slasher movies 09:01 - Psychological Horror movies 15:02 - Yuppie Nightmare / Home Invasion movies 19:41 - Foreign Horror movies 23:06 - Inanimate Object Horror movies 27:26 - Comedy Horror movies 30:24 - Found...

In this extra spooky episode, Alex and Peter discuss our first ever "Horror-ween Challenge" and pick their favorites for the first 13 of 25 horror movie categories. Part 1's categories include: 02:11 - Horror movie set on Long Island 06:30 - Vampire movie 09:50 - Zombie movie 13:28 - Folk Horror movie 17:21 - Wes Craven movie 20:43 - John Carpenter movie 26:55 - Horror movie from a ser...

Jenn and Marianne join Alex to talk about what they're into! Discussed in this episode: 00:48 - Pulpergeist 02:01 - Tom Lake by Ann Pratchett & Our Town 07:33 - The Talk by Darrin Bell 09:39 - Heartstopper 12:03 - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 14:02 - Endeavour (PBS) 15:07 - Unforgotten (PBS) 15:49 - Marriage! 16:08 - Alicia Keys' Hell's Kitchen 17:26 - Upcoming Horr...

On this special Banned Books Week episode, Alex is joined by Library Director Jenn and the Head of Teen Services Marianne on a dive deep into book bans and the challenges in curating a collection that reflects our diverse community. 01:18 - Banned Book stats 06:06 - Challenge as a conversation 11:08 - Book challenge process 18:29 - Collection development 30:19 - What do we lose when we ban a book?...

Kristina and Tim join Alex to discuss their favorite "indie" video games. Then, we give our review of the new hit indie roleplaying game Sea of Stars! 00:36 - What makes a game "indie?" 09:19 - Hades 12:25 - Outer Wilds 16:10 - Cave Story 18:01 - Braid 21:53 - Chained Echoes 24:26 - A Short Hike 25:53 - Super Meat Boy 28:26 - Dear Esther 31:50 - Oxenfree 35:12 - Undertale 37:40 - W...

Kristina, Tim and Alex celebrate Hobbit Day (Sept 22nd) by discussing the classic book that started it all. Then, they go “back again” to review The Hobbit’s less-than-stellar movie adaptations! 02:06 - Who should read The Hobbit? 12:19 - What makes it a classic? 17:30 - Non Sequiturs 21:00 - Final thoughts on the book 24:15 - Making of The Hobbit (1977) 28:49 - The Hobbit (1977) Review 42:02 - Cl...