The Worst Bestsellers

  Flashback Summer is getting mildly spooky! We read The Celery Stalks at Midnigh t by  James Howe with Sara Farizan , author of several books of varying spookiness levels including the upcoming The Last Resort: Ghost Light . While listening to your episode, please keep an eye on your pets to make sure they don’t get into any chocolate! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode #126...

Flashback Summer continues as we journey 400 Turns into the past with Dragonflight  by Anne McCaffrey . Paul from the That Aged Well podcast joined us to discuss the oft-requested Dragonriders of Pern series. Listen to this episode while you weave a beautiful tapestry of flamethrowers. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Mahna Mahna Coming up next:  The Celery Stalks at Midnigh t by James Howe.

  Flashback Summer is kicking off with a Code Green: LEPrecon alert! We read Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer with our returning guest Mackenzi Lee , author of of many books including Teela: Daughter of Eternos . If this book is Die Hard with fairies, then this episode is technically a Christmas special. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Artemis Fowl on Wikipedia Coming up next: Dragonflight b...

  The whole internet has been talking about Adult Braces by Lindy West , so we decided to join the conversation. And who better to join us than Friend of the Show Margaret H. Willison ( @MrsFridayNext )? You can find Margaret at Culture Study and you can find us in Key West, petting Ernest Hemingway’s polydactyl cats. Listen now to find out our legally binding ruling on whether or not L...

  May the 4th be with you! (If you’re listening to this on the day it comes out! If not: may the Force be with you.) In honor of this faux Star Wars holiday, we read Shadows of the Empire  by Steve Perry . We were joined by writer and Star Wars enthusiast Nanci Schwartz to discuss this story that’s more than a video game and less than a movie. Many Bothans died to bring you this e...

We’re crawling out of our coffins and we’re doing just fine. We were joined by Rebecca Mahoney , author of Thrall , to discuss The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice . Please do not play this episode in the presence of Akasha, Queen of the Damned–the audio waves will only agitate her. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Thrall Book Launch event at Porter Square Books on April 24th Epi...

  Two of the greatest minds of our generation, Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan, have joined forces to give the world this extremely mid book: Remain.   Fortunately, we were joined by the delightful Annie Cardi , author of Winter White , for a walk to remember through Cape Cod, led by a beautiful ghost whose purpose on earth is to teach an entitled man how to do basic chores. Listen to...

  We conclude our arbitrary celebration of Canada Month with a playoff episode that went into overtime. Yes: we read Heated Rivalry  by Rachel Reid . We needed two guests to handle a title of this magnitude, so we were joined by fangirl in STEM Sarah and authentic Canadian/Canadien Kathleen Gros , author and artist of several books including Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort O...

This March, Worst Bestsellers is celebrating our neighbor to the north with our first ever Canada Month. We’re kicking it off by talking to Canadian treasure Ann Foster (host of Vulgar History , author of Rebel of the Regency:  The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain’s Queen Without a Crown ) about another Canadian treasure: Bear  by Marian Engel . This book walked so tha...

This podcast ain’t big enough for two guests, but we were fortunate enough to squeeze in both Heidi and Emily from Romancing the Shelf for another round of Nora Roberts Month. This time, we went back in time with one of Nora’s rare historical romances: Lawless. So saddle up, pardner, and get ready for a trip to the Wild West! Listen to this podcast while traveling to the nearest town f...

If you’ve been watching us with binoculars, waiting for the podcast to return: well, here we are! (But you already knew that, didn’t you? Because you saw it coming with your binoculars.) Anyway, Christine Ricketts , author of The Ship and Nora Roberts expert, joined us for this year’s Nora Roberts Month to discuss The Collector . It’s the story of a housesitter/voyeur who p...

Another year has come and (almost) gone, and we’ve once again managed to read some good books. Let us tell you about them! Coming up next:  A January hiatus. Happy New Year! We’ll see you in February! Kait’s Top 5 Best 5.) The Woods all Black by Lee Mandelo 4.) Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng by Kylie Lee Baker 3.) The Drowning House by Cherie Priest 2.) Direct Descendant by Tanya H...

  You may be thinking that you haven’t heard of The Company of Vengeful Crows by Lana Pecherczyk , and that’s fair. But perhaps you’ve heard of Plastic Girl vs Dangerous Crow Boy ? Well, that’s this. We were joined by writer , podcaster , and corvid enthusiast Margaret H. Willison to discuss this truly wild shifter romance. If you happen to be listening to this episode...

Get in losers, we’re going All The Way to the River .  We read Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book with guest Jack Lawler of Work. Retire. Die, The Daily Friday , and The Daily Friday podcast . If you’ve heard anything about this book, you’re probably wondering:  did this lady try to kill her wife or what? Well, you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out! Readers ad...

  Move over, Rhonda Byrne. The Secret is old news. We were joined by Dr. Sarah Bay , a woman in STEM and our Dan Brown correspondent, to read The Secret of Secrets  by Dan Brown . Thanks (?) to our Beloved Patrons for choosing this title as this year’s Patreon Choice read! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode 27 – Inferno R2-D2 of Prague Dale of Norway The Legend of the G...

  Are you guys looking for a n absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist? Well, great news: we read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden . Even greater news: we were joined by Rax King , author of Tacky and Sloppy, and cohost of the Low Culture Boil podcast ! Listen to this episode while you clean your house–or better yet, while someone else cleans your house. Re...

Hullo, chums! After we…liked (we’re pretty sure) reading Bride last year, we decided to check out the sequel, Mate  by Ali Hazelwood. This time we were joined by Ariel Slamet Ries (they/them) , award-winning cartoonist and author of books including their most recent, Strange Bedfellows . Did we ask Ariel to do this episode just because we thought it would be funny to have an Australian...

Are you perhaps looking for a perfectly pleasant podcast? Well, unfortunately, we read Darkly Dreaming Dexter  by Jeff Lindsay . We were joined by artist , poet , and Kait’s roommate KL (they/them) to unpack all of Dexter’s astonishingly awkward alliteration. Listen to this episode while arranging your Barbie crime scene dioramas. Readers advisory:  Here. Footnotes:  “Surprise, M...

  We’ve been doing this podcast for eleven years, and to celebrate we made our very first guest Carrie keep reading the Crave series. Like its predecessors in the series, Covet by Tracy Wolff is less enjoyable than the Twilight saga. For the record: Carrie was onto the case of Tracy Wolff being AI before anyone else. Thank you all for joining us over the last 11 years! We love you all,...

Hey girl! Stay sexy good and don’t read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder  by Holly Jackson . We made Anna read it with us, so you don’t have to. Listen to this episode while you wait in the panini queue. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  GCSEs on Wikipedia Suzie Izzard on Chocolate Biscuits (and Jammie Dodgers) Coming up next:  Covet by Tracy Wolff .

Well, we couldn’t keep running from James Patterson for ever. Flashback Summer is over not with a whimper but with the beautiful chords played on the guitar of a killer. We were joined by Dolly Parton fan Grace to discuss Run, Rose, Run  by Dolly Parton and James Patterson . Play this episode during your next truckjacking. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode #265 – My Life an...

  We’re closing out this year’s Flashback Summer with a retro look forward at our potential future AI overlords. Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM  by Ellen MacGregor & Dora Pantell . If you’ve never heard of Miss Pickerell, don’t worry–we hadn’t either. (She’s out of print!) Fortunately, our guest, Dr. Liz W. Faber (they/them) , is the world’s f...

Hold on to your butts, and, more importantly, your crystal cutters! We read Crystal Singer  by Anne McCaffrey . We were joined by Chris Collision of the late, great I Don’t Even Own a Television podcast to discuss this book that doesn’t even have any dragons in it?! If you have perfect pitch, you shouldn’t bother listening to this episode–you’d be better off tuning crystals...

Flashback Summer continues even in parallel universes! Comics editor Jennifer M. Smith joined us to discuss Search for Senna (Everworld #1) by K. A. Applegate . We’re traveling back to a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought Norse mythology to the American mainstream. Listen to this episode while browsing your local Borders bookstore. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode...

Don’t Panic! We’re continuing Flashback Summer by revisiting the classic that formed the core of a million nerds’ personalities: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  by Douglas Adams . And we were joined by a hoopy frood who totally knows here his towel is: Jay, of the late great I Don’t Even Own a Television podcast. So long and thanks for all the pods! Readers advisory: ...