Book Dumb

In this episode, the hosts discuss the second part of Hanya Yanagihara's highly anticipated 2022 release, To Paradise. This episode is full of spoilers for the first part and second part of the book (Book One, "Washington Square" and Book Two, "Lipo-Wao-Nahele,"). They share some updates on their plan moving forward handling this book.

(*Huge apologies for any disruptive background noise! We did our best to navigate recording around some major construction happening and didn't want to skip *another* week. We did our best to edit it out.)

In this episode, August and Kendra share a number of their favorite television adaptations of books, as well as some that they would like to watch and/or read.

TV shows listed in this episode:

Sharp objects

Good Omens

Game of Thrones

Sherlock

Station Eleven

Alias Grace

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

Handmaid’s Tale

Honorable mentions:

American Gods

Hannibal

North and South

Haunting of Hill House

Queen’s Gambit

Mindhunter

Shadow & Bone

Little House on the Prairie

To watch/read:

Brideshead Revisited

The Leftovers

Normal People

Little Fires Everywhere

Lovecraft Country

Watchmen

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Firekeeper’s Daughter

Final Girls Support Group

Ninth House

People mentioned:

jessdekkerreads on Instagram

In this episode, the hosts discuss the first part of Hanya Yanagihara's highly anticipated 2022 release, To Paradise. This episode is full of spoilers for just the first part ("Washington Square"). Stay tuned for further discussion in the coming weeks!

In this episode, the hosts discuss film adaptations of books--the good, the bad, and everything in-between.

Films discussed in the episode:

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Macbeth (2015)

Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Mystic River (2003)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Anna Karenina (2012)

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Gone Girl (2014)

Practical Magic (1998)

Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)

Ella Enchanted (2004)

The Girl on the Train (2016)

The Devil All the Time (2020)

New Moon (2009)

North & South (2004)

A Single Man (2009)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

The Great Gatsby (1974 & 2013)

Carol (2015)

Emma (2020)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Maurice (1987)

Howard's End (1992)

Little Women (2019)

In this episode, the hosts share the winners of their reading bracket. They do this by choosing a favorite book from each month of 2021 and pit each month against each other. The books knock each other out one by one, until there is a clear winner. August and Kendra have both fiction and nonfiction brackets. And, believe it or not, some of their picks are different from the top 5 of 2021 due to the nature of the bracket knockouts. This episode is completely spoiler-free.

Happy New Year, all! In this episode, the hosts share the books they loved the most this year. In total, they discuss 10 books in total and the episode is completely spoiler-free.

Books mentioned in the episode:

Comfort Me with Apples by Cathrynne M. Valente (2021)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (2019)

A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris (2021)

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (1995)

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (2021)

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (2021)

Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones (1985)

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval 2018)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (2019)

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (2021)

Stoner by John Williams (1965)

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (1977)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller (2019)

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate (2020)

Maurice by E.M. Forster (1971)

Passing by Nella Larson (1929)

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015)

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (2014)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (2021)

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

In this episode, the hosts review the TBRs they created for 2021 and reflect on how well they did sticking to their goals. This episode is completely spoiler-free. Tune in to see which books they read, which ones they're looking forward to getting to in 2022, and which books have been dropped from their TBRs completely.

In this spoiler-free episode, the hosts talk about the 5 books that disappointed (or enraged) them the most this year. Remember, everyone likes different things! These are just the books that they didn't like this year :)

Books mentioned in the episode:

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (2021)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018)

The Roanoke Girls Amy Engel (2018)

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (2017)

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn (2018)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morena Garcia (2020)

The Collective by Alison Gaylin (2021)

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet (1983)

Bossypants by Tina Fey (2011)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. (2021)

In this episode, the hosts share some gift recommendations for the upcoming holiday season. They'll give brief synopses (spoiler-free) and context for why they chose each book for that category. Wishing you all a happy and safe holiday season!

Books mentioned in the episode:

Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (2021)

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2001)

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2001)

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate (2019)

Educated by Tara Westover (2018)

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson (2019)

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb (2019)

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (2021)

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (2019)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon (2003)

The Midnight Library by Mat Haig (2020)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (1990)

These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home by Bayo Akomolafe (2019)

Passing & Quicksand by Nella Larson (1929 & 1928)

Stoner by John Williams (1965)

Writers & Lovers by Lily King (2020)

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (2021)

Circe by Madeline Miller (2019)

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara (2022)

The Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (2021)

In this episode, the hosts discuss the classic children's horror story, "The Girl with the Green Ribbon" alongside Machado's retelling of it, "The Husband Stitch". This episode contains spoilers for both stories.

Stories mentioned in the episode:

"The Girl with the Green Ribbon" by Alvin Schwartz from In a Dark, Dark Room (1984)

"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado from Her Body & Other Parties (2014)

"My Body, Herself" by Carmen Maria Machado (2020)