The Worst Bestsellers

We’re getting back to nature with this Flashback Summer episode. Walt McGough , playwright, professional dungeon master , and Duartensian janitor, joined us in the Canadian wilderness to discuss Hatchet by Gary Paulsen . Make sure to download a copy of this episode for your emergency Go Bag! Readers advisory:  Here. Footnotes:  Episode #200 (featuring Walt DMing our D&D game set in the l...

We’re kicking off this year’s Flashback Summer with a trip back to the early 90s, when Kait and her brother Brendan were reading the big X-Men X-Over event: Phalanx Covenant . If you were wondering if Wolverine is in this one: oh yeah, bub! Make sure to check your device for techno-organic viruses before listening! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  During the episode recording we m...

Well, howdy! We read Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business by Dolly Parton and we enjoyed it more than a drag queen enjoys Dolly’s wardrobe. Listen to this episode on your way to your 9-5 job! Bonus photos: Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Dolly Parton’s America podcast How Did This Get Made? Episode #97 – Rhinestone “Dolly Parton Talks Supporting Black Lives Ma...

Celebrity Memoir May is here! We don’t know a lot about the show One Tree Hill, but we love vampires and cults so we thought that qualified us to read Dinner For Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show While Also In An Actual Cult!  by Bethany Joy Lenz . Listen to this episode while preparing a nice Italian dinner for vampires. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Reddit post guessing who’s...

Snow lands on top! Haymitch lands in the arena! And we were once again #blessed to get Mackenzi Lee , author of many books including Winter Soldier: Cold Front and her upcoming adult debut Lady Like , to join us! We read Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins . and, spoiler alert: it’s a Best Bestseller. We’re spoiling the heck out of this book and we do all recommend reading it if...

  Hey, remember that bitch that had two dragons? She survived year one of murder school and she’s back for more! Our friend Laura joined us to read Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros . Listen to this episode while you chase your next McGuffin! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode 238 – Fourth Wing Coming up next:  Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.

Some of you might be on spring break, but for us? Class is in session at Vampire Academy . We read Richelle Mead’s series launch with Sarah Elizabeth Gallagher ( @SarahElizabeth_Talks ) vampire video queen and and author of the upcoming book Why We Love (and Hate) Twilight . Join as we discuss vampire royalty and pray for a cure for Sandovsky Syndrome. Content warning:  Self harm. Readers ad...

  Did you ever read Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women and think to yourself, “This Jo/Amy/Laurie love triangle is so played out. Why aren’t any of the March sisters horny for Laurie’s grandfather?” If so, you might be Porter Grand, the co-author of Little Women and Werewolves. We were thrilled to be joined by Kathleen Gros ( @kagcomix ), cartoonist a...

To conclude Nora Roberts Month, we read Birthright , a novel that is not about Israel. It’s about the Cullen Family and their long lost Baby Jessica! Heidi and Emily of the Romancing the Shelf podcast joined us to dig deep into the archaeological mysteries of this novel. Listen to this episode while driving around in your car that someone graffiti’d “Doctor Bitch” onto! Rea...

Dragon Fever has been sweeping the nation, and Our Lady Nora Roberts has been infected. Our reigning Nora Roberts expert Christine Ricketts , author of The Ship , has returned to discuss The Awakening (Book #1 of the Dragon Heart Legacy) with us. Listen to this on your next dragon ride! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Guide to Irish Names and Terms in The Awakening Full English Breakfast vs...

(Shania Twain voice): Looks like we made it! As 2024–our tenth year of podcasting–draws to a close, we are once again taking a moment to discuss some good books! These are our favorite books we read this year (regardless of publication date). Maybe you’ll find some good recommendations here to start your 2025 reading year strong! Coming up next:  A January hiatus. Happy New Year!...

Oh, how the worm turns! We read Dune by Frank Herbert , mostly as a Christmas present to returning guest Anna ( @lcarslibrarian ) but perhaps also a gift to you, the listener? Please keep in mind: we haven’t watched the movies and we  don’t know how these names are pronounced, and if you are mean to us about that you  will face our gom jabbars! (Or is it goms jabbar?) Anyway, listen to...

Your faithful podcasters decided that they’ve been nice all year, so they get to read a fun holiday romance novel as a treat! Returning guest Helena Greer , author of the Carrigan’s Christmasland series , joined us to make the Yuletide gay with The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky . Listen to this episode while baking cookies for Santa! (Who is real, and really gay!) Readers adviso...

  On occasion, listeners have suggested Uglies by Scott Westerfeld as a Flashback Summer title, but since we’re all Crumblies here, we were full adults when this contemporary classic YA dystopian novel was released.  Our book club hostess/cult leader Grace joined us to discuss this book that some of us think deserves Best Bestseller status. Listen to this episode while waiting for your...

  Our Beloved Patrons voted for us to read Lessons in Chemistry  by Bonnie Garmus . We invited a woman in STEM, returning guest Sarah , to join us for this episode. Pour yourself a travel cup of C 8 H 10 N 4 O 2 and listen to this episode while walking your dog (who is so well-behaved they don’t need a leash, of course). Content warnings:  Sexual assault. Readers advisory:  Here . Footn...

  Hold onto your tampons: we read Carrie by Stephen King . Our friend Nicole returned to the podcast to read this classic horror novel that’s even bloodier than Gerald’s Game . Listen to this episode while honing your telekinetic powers! Content warnings:  Religious extremism, child abuse, death of children Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode 41 – Gerald’s Ga...

It’s spooky season, and what could be scarier than heterosexual werewolf knotting erotica? The fact that we both might have…liked it? Eek! We read Bride by Ali Hazelwood and we still aren’t sure exactly how we felt about it. Listen to this episode while you give blood. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Episode 201 – The Love Hypothesis How Omegaverse Came to Dominate Fa...

Thanks to Porter Square Books for hosting our 250th Anniversary live show! And thanks to everyone who turned out in person or for the livestream! If you missed it, or just want to relive it without all that pesky visual input, here’s the audio-only version of that episode. Meredith Goldstein (the Boston Globe’s Love Letters columnist, author of books including Things That Grow , and Ho...

  We’ve come so far from our first episode, and yet we’re still talking about teen vampires with Carrie . Unfortunately, we’re still out of Stephenie Meyer content so we had to read Crush  by Tracy Wolff . If the cliffhanger ending of Crave left you wondering how Grace was going to turn back into a human after getting stuck as a gargoyle…well, this won’t help. Th...

  Hot Evelyn Summer comes to a bewildering conclusion with The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle  by Stuart Turton . We were joined by writer and standup comedian Laura Merli (@passiveabrasive) to discuss this time loop locked room mystery. Fun fact: the American publisher added a 1/2 death to make this title less similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Listen to this episode after watc...

Don’t cry because Flashback Summer is over; smile because Hot Evelyn Summer is beginning! Returning bisexual icon Margaret H. Willison (1/3 of Two Bossy Dames , don’t check the math) joined us to discuss The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid . We had a great time unpacking Evelyn’s wardrobe (which is much more substantial than her frame narrative). If you liste...

  Hold on to your sock wine, because we’re ending this year’s Flashback Summer with a real rager! We were joined by Courtney Summers , author of I’m The Girl and other rad books, to discuss Stacey and the Bad Girls (Baby-Sitters Club #87) by Ann M. Martin . Listen to this episode on your way to the big U4Me concert! Readers advisory:  Here . Announcement: RSVP for our live s...

By popular demand, we took Flashback Summer to the land of Tortall. Rebecca Kim Wells , author of Briar Girls and other great queer fantasy books, joined us to discuss Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce . Put on your purple contact lenses and listen to this episode while you study the blade. Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Tamora Pierce name pronunciation Tamora Pierce’s stat...

We were digging through some boxes in our totally not-haunted attic and found Stoneword s by Pam Conrad . It seemed like a chill Flashback Summer vibe, so we had our friend KL join us to discuss it. Be careful not to play this episode around your secret ghost friend–they might get jealous! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  Pam Conrad’s obituary . Coming up next:  Alanna: The First...

  Flashback summer, eh? Ann Foster of Vulgar History joined us to read No Coins, Please , an early work by the venerable Canadian author Gordon Korman. Listen to this episode while driving cross-country with a van full of chaotic tweens! Readers advisory:  Here . Footnotes:  About Gordon Korman Coming up next:  Stonewords by Pam Conrad .