Tales In Our Times

Hello, beautiful readers. This week we talk about the ways in which different narratives are adapted. In a world with so many forms of media available, it’s interesting to see how some narratives are brought from one medium to another. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: How The Boogeyman Became a Poet...

Hello, readers! We are back with another episode, this time all about the ways in which writers use magic. It’s such a keystone metaphor, it feels very interesting to us! Alright, I’m lying; this is a George episode. But Mum enjoyed herself, swear! See below for books mentioned. Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: Word Poem by Nicki...

Hello again, our friends! Please join us for this incredible discussion with our friend and family member, Annmarie Lockhart. We talk about poetry and all the ways in which verse can open our minds. It’s a fantastic discussion, I sincerely became smarter for it. Hope you enjoy, and see below for a list of books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de...

Hello, readers! It’s been so long! We’re so happy to be back with a few episodes we recorded earlier last year, and soon will be back with some new episodes, huzzah! This episode we get a little judgmental; we look over an updated Top 100 list and George runs his mouth (que sorpresa). It’s fun to chat a bit of trash! Hope you enjoy, and please see below for books mentioned. Intro song Bookmark and...

Rawwwwwr! It’s an episode about big bloomin’ lizards! Mum’s a huge dino fan, so we thought we’d look at some of the best narratives that include them, and what they’re helpful for. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyan If Beale Street Could Talk by James B...

Hello, again! We’re fresh off of George’s wedding, finally back to weekly posting, first off with our episode on Dystopian Narratives! A dystopia is…well, we probably don’t need to describe it to our listeners in the US, but there’s a rich vein of books and stories written in dystopian society settings, whether you think of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games , Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale ,...

We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to interview friend and excellent librarian, Amelia Zimmerman!!! We talk to her about the need for third places, the ways that librarians work to provide valuable resources to their communities, and generally just have a laugh about the books we love. Thanks so much to Amelia for coming and hanging out with us, she’s the best. See below for books menti...

In this week’s episode, we take an excursion through the work of one of our literary heroes: the excellent Terry Pratchett! The nerds talk about his beginning and evolution into the wizard of the Discworld that he became. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffrey Passin...

Give it to me; ONE TIME! And then never again. That’s what we’re talking about today, those authors who crushed the assignment so completely that they simply could not touch that record again. We don’t want this to seem like a list of “one-trick ponies”—this is a celebration. Come and have a giggle at how poorly we misremember titles from beloved authors like Harper Lee and JD Salinger. See below...

Ooh, flippin’ ‘eck. It’s gettin’ dark in ‘ere. Today the nerds talk about the dark night of the soul! We discuss the ways in which depressing narratives can secretly be liberating, and we highlight some of our absolute faves. See below for books mentioned. Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: Toska by Alina Polyskava Prophet Song by...

Hello, dear listener! Today’s episode is our first Author Highlight episode. We told you we’d be trying new things in the second season, and this is one! The nerds take a dive into the writing of China Miéville and come up with recommendations based on where to start if you’re looking to get into him. We think he’s dope, and we think you will, too! See below for books mentioned. Intro song Bookmar...

FINALLY. WE RISE FROM THE GRAVE. Hey all. Sorry for the wait. One of us had to move house, and it really ballsed up our scheduling. Here’s an episode a day for the rest of the week to make up for it. First on the list is our chat about gift-giving narratives. We both love getting and giving presents, and we thought it was interesting to examine the way that we tell stories about what they mean. Se...

The nerds are back again with another proper late review of one of the events we went to. We took a moment at the top of the episode to remember the poet Refaat Alareer, killed by the war in Gaza. May he rest in peace. See below for books mentioned. Books Mentioned: King Lear by William Shakespeare A Master of Djinn and Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield A Chris...

In this episode, the nerds talk about their expectations leading into the Rare Book Fair in Philadelphia, hosted by the fine folks over at Fine Book Fairs! We’re posting these as a duo, so look forward to our reflections on the event in the next episode. See below for books mentioned, and the socials of the folks mentioned!

On this episode, George and Janet review the fallacies surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. We give a super late status update on the Booker Prize (congratulations in the present, Mr Lynch!), unpack some of the narratives surrounding Thanksgiving, and take a look at some good alternative options for honest narratives of the history. George does way too much of an uwu voice, and we try our best to...

In their second episode of the second season, George and Janet review another holiday narrative: Bonfire Night. We review the history of the man who sparked the holiday, and some book options to introduce those of us who are unfamiliar. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: The Sentence Is Death by Antho...

We’re back from a brief hiatus with our second season! Janet and George change it up for this season, discussing the recipe for a perfect Halloween story. However, they remain consistent with the time delay between current events and their episode topics. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: Musicophili...

For our last episode of what we’re dubbing Season 1, Janet and George take a look back over their favorite bits so far. Mainly, it’s another chance for us to talk about how much we love Carmen Maria Machado. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audio editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: The Flight From the Enchanter by Iris Murdoch Out of Bounds...

In this episode, Janet and George are joined by their second guest ever, a member of their family: Becky! She comes in to chat with us about one of Janet’s most-read genres, Young Adult fiction. We look over the history of YA and reflect on what purpose it serves in the literary canon. Hope you enjoy this one, as we had a very enjoyable (silly) time. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookm...

In this episode, Janet walks us through an art movement that influenced her during her childhood: kitchen sink realism. Join in as we walk through the history of kitchen sink paintings, the inspiration taken from the similar ash can movement in the US, and the ways that people have always spoken up about societies that don’t provide for their needs. This was such an interesting episode to record,...

In today’s phenomenal episode, we play host to our first guest, writer and comedy genius Stevie King, as she walks us through her love of comic book narratives. We do a light exploration of comic history, and dive into what it is that makes them so enjoyable to some of us. George gets some facts about Green Lantern hilariously wrong (it’s Guy Gardner, not Kyle, dummy! [also Sinestro does not have...

Alternatively known as queer literature, our topic for this week’s episode is LGBTQ+ stories! It is as timely as ever to appreciate the beautiful stories that are born within the queer community, and it’s one of George’s favorite type of narrative to read. Apologies for some of the audio oddness, George had a mix-up with their microphone. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and audi...

This week’s episode takes us to the American South, where Janet walks us through the origin and proliferation of the Southern Noir genre. Listen in to learn what makes a noir genre specific, and how the South developed such a substantial foothold in this particular canon. See below for Books Mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned:...

In the first episode out of the book fest hurrah, George and Janet take a look into the wondrous world of picture books. We examine their history, why they’re an important and HIGHLY necessary tool in teaching literacy, and which ones we like the best. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentioned: Wise Blood by Flanne...

Janet and George are back from the LOC reading fezzy. Did they get a good story or did they come away not giving a book? Episode 13 finds our narrative nerds with lots to say about their field trip, including several shouts out to the lovely people who made it so grand. See below for books mentioned! Intro song Bookmark and editing by Quatroizer . Logo art by Gabriel de Mello . Books Mentione...