Lit Lit

Andy and Dani escape an assassination attempt. We started our Summer Series! Do we like it? We don’t know yet. Do we trust the author? Um, we’ll get back to you. Is there any smut? No. No there is not. Did we forget to make predictions and now have to drink double? Yes. Yes, we do. Chronicles of the Bitch Queen by K.S. Villoso

Andy and Dani ask friendship questions. Once again we find out that Andy and Dani are, in fact, "Not Really Strangers." Does Andy give off drummer energy? More importantly, we come up with a band name… A.P.BR… and then Dani descends into branding madness.

Andy and Dani go to Paris. Dani gets all English Major-y and Andy does too? Could this be one of the best books ever written? Absolutely. Will this book take a lot of emotional bandwidth? Most definitely. Is this book worth reading? 100 times, yes.  Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Andy and Dani FINALLY talk about how old Andy is. It’s Andy’s Bday Little Lit which means he gets to talk about anything he wants, and you know what this man wanted to talk about… that’s right the age difference between him and Dani.

Andy and Dani take a trip down memory lane. A long, long, long time ago Andy was in his 20’s and he really liked a book, so we read it. Does it still hold up? Is Andy more hipstery than he thinks? Can you tell who wrote this description? Oh ya, and happy birthday, Andy. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Andy and Dani discuss dates. Dani allows herself to be completely dragged through the dirt as she attempts to accurately date MAJOR events in world history. Does she do better than she thinks she will? Does Andy destroy Dani’s hopes for ever being called smart again?

Andy and Dani talk generational trauma? Is this the best book we’ve read this year? Maybe… Does this book have a SUPER happy ending? Maybe… Do we believe in characters being good and bad and complex? Never.  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Andy and Dani talk about books for young people. But first, let’s talk about fidgets. Andy and Dani get heated about what YA and NA books are. Andy will not be fooled by these naming conventions. What do 13-year-olds care about nowadays… we’ll never know.

Andy and Dani go back to high school. Join the world of YA or NA or whatever you want to say. Never trust the hot hockey player… unless he says, “Trust me. I’m a good guy.” Also don’t trust your half-brother’s Mom. Also absolutely DO NOT trust any Dad. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Andy and Dani visit Arrakis. Dani is hardcore gaslit by Dune… and maybe Andy. Christopher Walken can only play Christopher Walken. Side stuff comes across better in books than in movies. How long would this movie be without all the desert shots? These costumes are amazing and yes the movie is awesome.

Andy and Dani talk about octopuses. Are high-concept sci-fi books better for conversations? A lot is going on here…. What has 8 legs and MURDERS people? When does AI become human? And why is there so much edging?  The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

Andy and Dani talk about the Pitts. What is the best chain restaurant? Did Dani have the best sandwich of her life? How many dad jokes are too many? Obviously, the coolest thing about Pittsburgh is… the aviary. And Andy is NOT special.

Andy and Dani talk about time travel, and is everything a simulation? What would you do if a time traveler told you to leave everything and go home… Well, Andy would need some serious proof… and Dani would need absolutely nothing.

Andy and Dani play an April Fools' joke that completely and utterly backfires. Why did we decide to read the third book in this series? We don’t know… Did we enjoy it? No. Will we read the other books eventually? Unfortunately, yes.  Entwined with You by Sylvia Day

Andy and Dani talk about GoT. Reading these books in a fever dream. Is the Hodor storyline worth it? GoT got Dani out of her English major book slump. What if Jon Snow ends up being a bad guy in the books… ooooo ahhhh. 

Andy and Dani cast A Gentleman in Moscow. Dani gets one of the cast members right and she’s certainly proud. We’re definitely breaking the actor budget for this one… Who has the better cast? Which character did they choose the same person for? And who is actually casted for the show?

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Andy and Dani get some etiquette training. Dani has to look up what words mean so many times, Andy has BIG issues with aristocracy… is he actually a prince? Don’t miss Andy’s alternate ending and what if the Count was played by Tom Cruise.

Andy and Dani share what they really think of each other. Dani forces Andy to play the card game We’re Not Really Strangers and they find out they are in fact not really strangers. Basically Dani just wants Andy to say nice things about her… but does it work?

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary  Andy and Dani talk about falling in love with your roommate. Do these people ever take a day off of work?  Was this book about a very cute love story? Yes. Did we end up talking about abusive ex for nearly 80% of the episode? Also, yes. But we PROMISE this book is lovely and cute!

Andy, Dani and Jason talk about their relationships with religion. Some of this stuff is absolutely crazy… no really, like how did these things happen. Creation stories are wild, what is a cult checklist, and communion crackers are pretty tasty.  If you want to support Jason, which you should, head over to his site to purchase Hell Is a World Without You. Jason Kirk Book Site: https://www.jasonkir...

Hell Is a World Without You by Jason Kirk Andy and Dani very professionally interview Jason Kirk, author of Hell Is a World Without You . Note that this episode is full of spoilers, but you should listen anyway because we also get to ask Jason a ton of cool questions like “how many surprises did you have writing this?” and “what was a scene that didn’t make the final edit but you loved.” Also how...

Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee Andy and Dani finish the series. How did Andy make the right predictions? Can the last book in a trilogy ever be the best? These character arcs are NEXT level, ummm this Tar guy is killing it… literally, missed opportunities, and please don’t give either of us jade.

Andy and Dani rank all the series they’ve read from favorite to least favorite. Don’t worry Shadow and Bone is DEFINITELY number 1. Did Andy admit that he likes Blood and Ash? And where did Green Bones Saga place?

Andy and Dani try to talk about ensemble characters. Do we get immediately derailed from our topic, yes. Do we find our way back to the topic, kinda? Do we then get even more off topic after that, you bet we do! And Boba Fett is hot dammit!

Jade War by Fonda Lee Andy and Dani walk into a jade war. We really messed up on some of these predictions, the way time works in this series is wild, there is some SHADY stuff going down, Daddy Hilo, how many more predictions can we mess up?