Book Squad Goals

Whatever you do, don’t go to sleep while listening to this episode…because we’re talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street with special guest Lamar Giles, author of the new novel Ruin Road! We talk about the icon himself Freddy Krueger, horror tropes, potential alternate endings, and how this movie stacks up to other slasher franchises. Then we have a fun and spoiler-free conversation with Lamar about Ruin Road, which is out TODAY! Tune in on October 1 for part two of Eyeball Fall when we discuss The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim. Then join us for another classic horror movie chat when we cover The Silence of the Lambs with special guest J.H. Markert, author of the new horror novel Sleep Tight on 10/15! 

TOC:
30– Welcome Lamar!! Evil Genie Wishes
12:20– Happy 40 years Nightmare on Elm Street!
14:48–Freddy Kruger as a villain
20:49–Horror tropes
34:37–Supernatural horror
40:53–the end of the movie
58:23– final thoughts
1:06:19– talking with Lamar Giles about RUIN ROAD!
1:41:20–what’s on the blog, what’s up next?

YA Book Club about The Getaway by Lamar Giles: https://www.booksquadgoals.com/blog/ya-book-club-the-getaway-by-lamar-giles

YA Book Club about Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles: https://www.booksquadgoals.com/blog/ya-book-club-not-so-pure-and-simple-by-lamar-giles

Pack your bags — we’re off to Europe for a second-chance romance! This week the Book Squad is talking about The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. We discuss romance tropes, ~sexy stuff~, gender dynamics, and food and wine writing. Join us and special guest Lamar Giles, author of Ruin Road, for our next Othersode about Nightmare on Elm Street on September 17th. Then read along for our next Bookpisode about The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monica Kim on October 1st. Don’t forget to leave us a rating and review! 

TOC
:30 – Welcome, pastry talk!
6:30 – Book intro
8:55 – Romance tropes and Kit and Theo as characters
33:50 – Let’s talk about sex, baby
44:02 – Gender and romance
56:55 – Travel
1:05:42 – Ratings
1:12:14 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

Links:
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/casey-mcquiston-the-pairing-queer-love-self-discovery-1235067954/

Did you think our hatred of It Ends With Us ended with our hatepisode on the book? Think again. This week, girlfriend of the pod Angela Ferraguto joins us for a discussion of the brand new film adapation of Colleen Hoover's novel — and by discussion, we mostly mean a list of complaints. Plus, Angela offers her expert opinion re: flowers and the city of Boston, where everything is better. If you have any feedback, even if its hateful, feel free to email us at [email protected]. Stay tuned for our next bookpisode on 9/3 when we'll be discussing The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, and stay extra tuned for our next othersode on 9/17 where we will be joined by the amazing Lamar Giles to talk about his new book, Ruin Road (oh, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, only 40 years late).

TOC
:30 – Welcome, Ang!
5:23 – Colleen Hoover names are out of control
12:08 – Movie intro
12:45 – Changes between book and movie
26:40 – The cringiest moment
39:00 – Marketing
53:40 – What happened on set?
1:16:06 – Boston corner
1:26:37 – Ratings
1:28:57 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

Join Emily, Susan, and special returning guest Janet for a discussion of Angie Kim’s second novel, Happiness Falls! We talk about the mystery plot, the role of communication and understanding, whether you can quantify happiness, and how we feel about the ending. Then we get into some listener feedback and continue our feud over whether Kennedy from Come and Get It is actually evil or pretty ok. Go see It Ends with Us and be a hater with us for our next Othersode on August 20. Then read along for our next Bookpisode about The Pairing by Casey McQuiston on September 3. Wanna weigh in on the Kennedy debate? Got other feedback? Send it all to [email protected]!

Pick your astrological enemy because it’s time to fight them in this high school gymnasium! JK, but we are discussing Bottoms (2023) with special guest Susie Dumond! After talking about the film, we chat with Susie about her new novel, Looking for a Sign. She gives us some great insights into her process, and we get to talk about astrology and dating apps too! Susie’s book is out now, so go get it! Join us and special guest Janet Dale on August 6 for our next Bookpisode on Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. Then go hate-watch It Ends With Us for our next Othersode/Hatepisode on August 20th! Hit us with your listener feedback at [email protected] or DM us on social media!

TOC:
:30 – Welcome, Susie! 
8:30 – Movie Intro
9:21 – Comedy and tone
14:30 – The Fight Club of it all
21:00 – Gender and characterization, fave characters
28:11 – How Bottoms upends norms towards gay youth
37:00 – Favorite line or scene
40:57 – Susie thinks about the signs in Bottoms
43:36 – Interview with Susie Dumond about her new book Looking for a Sign!
1:15:04 – Live listener feedback on Come and Get It! 
1:21:22 – What’s up next?

Is your credit card tingling? That’s because this week we’re talking about A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon. Join the squad for a discussion about the magical rules of this book, climate change as a villain, magical girl romance hopes, and how the book pushes against magical girl type. Then we get into some listener feedback about Come and Get It. (Do you have feedback? Send it to us!) Get ready for our next Othersode on 7/23 where Susie Dumond, author of Looking for a Sign, will join us to talk about Bottoms. Then read along for our next Bookpisode about Happiness Falls by Angie Kim on 8/6. 

TOC:
0:30–Welcome! And icebreaker
8:42–Book intro
11:46–How this book subverts genre
21:00–Monster of the week v. bigger issues
31:15–Magical girl romance
33:26–evil magical girls
39:15–ratings and graphic design corner
44:45–Listener feedback!
46:29–What’s up next?

Links:
It’s Never Too Late to Be a Magical Girl! – https://bookriot.com/read-this-book-july-5-2024/
The Evolution of the Magical Girl in Manga and Anime - https://bookriot.com/evolution-of-the-magical-girl/

It’s Mary’s Big Baby Bonanza! And we’re celebrating with unhinged presentations on niche topics followed by baby gifts! Come party with us and learn about everything from US presidents to Vampire Potter fanfic to phantom jellyfish, and a bunch of other random things along the way. Join us on July 9th for a Bookpisode on A Magical Girl Retires by Seolyeon Park. Then get ready for a special Othersode featuring Susie Dumond, author of Looking for a Sign on July 23rd. Don’t forget to leave us a rating and review!

TOC: 
:30 – Welcome! And welcome special guest Todd!
9:00 – Todd, President Two Truths and a Lie
20:00 – Emily, Sailor Moon
31:09 – Susan, Women’s Tennis is Better
42:00 – Kelli, My Immortal
57:00 – Mary, Things I Google at 3AM
1:22:07 – Presents for baby!
1:34:30 – Listener Feedback! 
1:36:00 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

We’re going back to college to talk about Come and Get It by Kiley Reid! There’s a lot to cover in the book, and issues of race, classism, and plain old mean girl behavior all come up. Plus, learn about the Squad’s weird and wonderful college jobs! Considering how much buzz Kiley Reid received for her first novel, Such a Fun Age, you won’t want to miss the talk about her latest work. Does it hold up like the first novel? Come and get it! 

And tune into our next episode for a very special episode celebrating Mary and Todd’s soon-to-be baby! The Squad will present short presentations on their favorite special topics, joined by baby daddy Todd! 

Next Othersode: Mary’s Big Baby Bonanza! Special Presentations feat. Todd
Next episode: A Magical Girl Retires by Seolyeon Park

TOC:
:30 – Welcome!
10:59 – Book Intro
12:34 – What is up with this low Goodreads rating?
21:36 – If “nothing happens,” why did this book feel so fast paced?
25:00 – The characters, and especially Kennedy
46:52 – Agatha
1:04:28 – Money
1:11:00 – Race
1:16:26 – Target
1:21:10 – Ratings!
1:25:00 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

Special guest Paul Tremblay (author of The Cabin at the End of the World, Survivor Song, and the forthcoming Horror Movie) joins the Squad to talk about one of our favorite underrated horror films, The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2017). We talk about the movie’s unique take on possession, the performances, the (somewhat controversial?) ending, and the dangers of having Spring Break in February. Then we chat with Paul about his new novel, Horror Movie! Don’t worry – there are no spoilers in this interview, so you can listen before you read it. And we DO recommend you read it because we all loved it. You don’t want to miss this fun conversation! Our next Bookpisode will be about Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (June 11), and our next Othersode is a very special pre-maternity leave/baby shower episode where Mary gets to pick an unhinged thing for us all to talk about (June 25)! Please consider supporting us on Patreon and leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! And pre-order Horror Movie, on sale June 11th.

TOC:
:30 – Welcome, Paul! And icebreaker
13:00 – Movie intro
14:32 – What makes this possession story special?
20:30 – Performances
32:38 – The ending and how it has been interpreted
41:31 – Overall thoughts on the movie…and why were they going on break in February?
51:00 – Paul talks all things Horror Movie! (Spoiler free!) 
1:34:34 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

Links
Unfriended episode: https://www.booksquadgoals.com/blog/othersode-14-unfriended
House of the Devil episode: https://www.booksquadgoals.com/blog/pizza-is-satanic-clay-mcleod-chapman
Emily's original review of The Blackcoat's Daughter: https://www.booksquadgoals.com/blog/10-weeks-of-spooktober-the-blackcoats-daughter-week-7-of-10?rq=blackcoat
Vulture 'ending explained': https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/blackcoats-daughter-ending.html

Spend ten days with us as we become fluent in the language of literary criticism! For our discussion of Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s debut novel The Centre, the squad breaks our usual form and starts with the ending first. From there, we share our thoughts on the book’s main character, its ideas about translation, the role classism plays in the story, and, crucially, blowjobs (just blowjobs in general, not the role classism plays in blowjobs). Be sure to tune in for our next episode on May 28th when we’ll be joined by the incredible Paul Tremblay for a chat about overlooked horror films including The Blackcoat’s Daughter and an interview about his phenomenal new book, Horror Movie. Then, read along for our next bookpisode on June 11th, when we’ll discuss Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. Send your feedback to [email protected], subscribe to us on Patreon, and follow us on social @booksquadgoals!

TOC:
:30 – Welcome!
6:12 – Book intro
10:29 – Immediately talking about the ending
27:28 – Let’s talk about Anisa
31:48 – BJ corner
40:25 – Class stuff
53:21 – Thoughts on translation
1:08:00 – Ratings!
1:11:59 – A statement about Palestine
1:14:39 – What’s on the blog? What’s up next?

Links:  
All the Books: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-the-books/id993284374?mt=2 
Jewish Voice for Peace: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ 
@PalestinianYouthMovement: https://www.instagram.com/palestinianyouthmovement/ https://palestinianyouthmovement.com/