Cracked Spines

Competitions aren't about who wins or loses, which is something you only write if you lost the competition. Sarah and Amelia sorted through their horrendously overdue library books and competed to finish their book(s) first. Who won? Well, again, it's just about reading books that you normally wouldn't and also it wasn't really  a competition and also let's do a rematch right now, okay, right now Amelia I can do it this time. 

Content Warning: Discussions of cancer. 

Books discussed: 

• Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall
• Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America by Kate Pickert
• The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell
• The Last Story of Mina Lee: A Novel by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

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During lockdown, we took advantage of all our free time to better ourselves. Just kidding! We worked our way through Karl Urban's entire filmography with a thirst that would make more sense if either of us were attracted to him. A diversion in our podcast about books to talk about everything but books as we discuss (confess) our real passions of last year. Featuring: oops it's Supernatural again, our household Bloodborne argument, Amelia's most medieval hobby, Sarah's legitimate concern about Amelia's relationship to her plants, and truly only the most glancing acknowledgement of the events of the year that made us seek refuge in online drawing comedy videos. 

(Fun fact! Since recording, Amelia has gotten her first vaccine shot!) 

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Will no one protect the semi-organic killing construct? This week we read The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells in preparation for the release of Fugitive Telemetry. Folks, we love Murderbot! And we're not afraid to say it! Multiple times, in increasingly ear-piercing decibels, thus undercutting the fact that we literally recorded this in a blanket fort to try and get better audio! Whoops! Also including inefficient title critique, aro/ace/agender representation, and Sarah's refusal to leave a nice comment on Murderbot's Sanctuary Moon fanfiction. She's a monster. 

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One benefit of living in a society beset by plague: lots of extra time for reading. In this episode we talk through all we read this year, from life-affirming Pulitzer-winners to lesbian romance. Yes, we talk about Supernatural. No, we don't want this either. 

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Yes, we are still a book podcast, no, this has nothing to do with books at all, but y'all? We have got to talk about the CW television show, Supernatural. Sarah and Amelia take a humiliating dive into their history with Supernatural in light of the show's finale (was it always this bad? yes but also no but also absolutely yes) and explore the hottest conspiracy theory since Johnlock. Sarah explains her history with the show in a way where if Amelia had murdered her half-way through, any court in the land would consider it a mercy.  Amelia confesses to writing sexy shower twister fanfic and owns up to nothing else. This is, we have to say, not a great episode for Sarah's dignity.  There was truly no peace when we were done. 

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Welcome to Cracked Spines, where every book is an orc lesbian regency romance novel, that's our thing now. In terms of the emerging OLRR genre, Charlotte Rogan's The Lifeboat tragically fails the Shagrat test (in that no two orcs never speak to each other about something other than eating flesh); however, seeing as it is a novel about a bunch of women trapped in an over-capacity life boat and reflecting on God, Survival, and The Sea, it passes pretty much every other test your podcast hosts could care about.

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Two shipwrecks, one island, God’s little social experiment. In 1864, two separate vessels wrecked on two separate sides of Auckland Island. One group of survivors built a house, started night classes, and served four-course meals of sea lion. The other was down for cannibalism pretty much from the get-go. This week we read Island of the Lost by Joan Druett, the true story of one of the most fascinating maritime disasters in history, and a parable of why being super into crafts will probably save your life one day.

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This week, we tackle the father of shipwreck narratives, Robinson Crusoe, and boy! Oh boy! Whatever your expectations for this book were, scale them down. Then make them a little lower. Discussion points include: the centrality of the slave trade to the plot of this novel, Robinson Crusoe's one moment of acceptance of other cultures, and why God keeps punishing him. Featuring a side trip into the novel Foe by J.M. Coetzee and the life and times of Robinson Crusoe's inspiration, Alexander Selkirk who is MUCH COOLER THAN CRUSOE. BY A LOT. HEY @ DANIEL DAFOE, YOUR NOVEL DIDN'T NEED A NEW PROTAGONIST YA DINGUS. (Originally uploaded 10/21/2019)

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“We can’t keep talking about Javert,” we say, and then talk about nothing else for 30 minutes. That’s right, it’s another Les Mis episode. We know, we’re sorry. Sarah flew across the country so we could drive across the state and finally, for the first time, see the live production. Featuring the all-new take that Marius is good actually, and the classic take that Jean Valjean is the hottest character in literary existence, especially when you put him in leather pants.

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What does it mean to be a woman? Well firstly, how big are your flesh-shredding mandibles? This week, your hosts read Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, and dig into questions of gender, violence, oppression, and proboscises.

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