Elated Geek- Pop Culture Fandoms and Local Discoveries that Spark Joy

July brought Bookopoly, and nobody predicted how that would go. Laney and Marshall are no longer giving out stars, but they are dishing out best books you need to beat as soon as your shelf clears!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

If you're interested in more, see Laney at @ZaineyLaney on Instagram and TikTok, or Marshall @theonetruehazard on TikTok

Top 5 (Laney)

1. Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

2. This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron

3. The Couple at No 9 by Claire Douglas

4. Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

5. The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Bonus: Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

Top 5 (Marshall)

1. Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf

2. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

3. The Counsellors by Jessica Goodman

4. Fence vol1 by C.S. Pacat, W/ Art by Johanna the Mad

5. Zelda: Creating a Champion

Marshall and Laney go over the Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag. Sixteen Questions about books, the book community, and bookish internet, and the year is only half over!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? [Email us]()!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

If you're interested in more, see Laney at @ZaineyLaney on Instagram and TikTok, or Marshall @theonetruehazard on TikTok

--Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Best book you’ve read so far in 2022.

Best sequel you've read so far in 2022.

Favourite re-read.

Genre you've been loving/reading the most.

New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Biggest disappointment.

Biggest surprise.

Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Newest favourite character.

Book that made you cry.

Book that made you happy.

Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

Favourite video or post you've done so far this year.

Favourite book community members.

Laney and Marshall are back with more excellent books for you to read!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? [Email us]()!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Top 5 (Laney)

1. Happily Ever Island by Crystal Cestari (5)

2 Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia (5)

3. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentil (4.5)

4. The Counselors  by Jessica Goodman (4)

5. Things We Do In the Dark by Jennifer Hillier (4)

Bonus: Radical Love by Zachary Levi

Bonus: Hide by Kiersten White

Top 5 (Marshall)

1. 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

2. Forging Silver Into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

3. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

4. Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

5. Among Us: A Traitor in Space by Laura Riviere

February is a month of love, but it's also a month of finding some awesome reads you'll love! Marshall and Laney list off some books you might just want to pick up!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? [Email us]()!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Top 5 (Laney)

1. LOVELESS by Alice Osman (5)

2.  The One True Me and You by Remi K England (4.5)

3.  The Night Shift by Alex Finlay (4.5) 

4. Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie (4)

5. These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant (4)

Top 5 (Marshall)

1. The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward

2. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosmiano

3. Defy The Night by Brigid Kemmerer

4. Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

5. Ace of Spades by Fearidah Abikelyimide

Laney and Marshall run down reads from the first month of the new year, and the books this time around are all over the place! Sorry about the delay, but this has been a weird year already!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? [Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Top 5 (Laney)

1. Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

2. Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner

3. When You get the Chance by Emma Lord

4. This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel

5.The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

Bonus: Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

Top 5 (Marshall)

1. Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeny

2. A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

3. Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher

4. The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis

5. The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis

Well, some virus managed to run through the offices of Elated Geek, but now or never we always say! Or is that our nanny? Anyways, get ready for our favorite reads of December, as well as a rundown of all the best books of 2021! It's a lot of books!

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Top 5 of 2021 (Laney)

1. Defy The Night by Brigid Kemmerer

2. This Poison Heart by Kaylynn Bayron

3. Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

4. The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

5. A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

Bonus: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead (4.5)

Top 5 of 2021(Marshall)

1. Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

4. As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

5. Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Bonus (from Marsh): Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Top 5 of Dec (Laney)

1. A History of Wild Places by Shea Earnshaw

2. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

3. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

4. The holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

5. The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

Top 5 of Dec (Marshall)

1. The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

2. The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

3. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

4. Star Wars High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland

5. The World of the Dark Crystal by Brian Froud

A new year is already upon us, and as we let the dumpster fire that is 2021 burn to embers, we use its light to look ahead... And to read by. What are Laney and Marshall looking forward to reading in the year of Twenty-Twenty-Also?

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? [Email us]([email protected])!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to [Ko-Fi](https://ko-fi.com/elatedgeek)!

January

4 - Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins 

4 - Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

18 - Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

February

1 - Finlay Donovan Knock's Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

8 - Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P Manansala

8 - the Office BFF's by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

22 - The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

March

1 - Sundial by Catriona Ward 

1 - The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV

15 - The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James

15 - The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

15 - Nine Lives by Peter Swanson 

29 - Four Aunties and A Wedding by Jesse Q Sutanto

April

5 - The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

5 - In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power

19 - Watch Out For Her by Samantha M Bailey (not in podcast)

26 - The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

26 - An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fischer

May 

3 - I Kissed Sarah Wheeler by Casey McQuistan

3 - Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

3 - Book Lovers by Emily Henry

3 - Family of Liars by E Lockhart

3 - Heroic Hearts by Jim Butcher (Anthology)

17 - My Summer Darlings by May Cobb

17 - Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

31 - Rivals by Katharine Mcgee (american Royals 3)

June

21 - This Wicked Fate by Kaylynn Byron

28 - The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

July

12 - How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

12 - The It Girl by Ruth Ware

19 - Things we Do in the Dark by Jennifer HIllier

21 - The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

26 - The Last To Vanish by Megan Moranda

August

30 - Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

30 - The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

30 - Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus

September

27 - The Ballad of Never After  by Stephanie Garber

2023

Untitled - Samantha Downing

Goodreads rings in the new year with an awards ceremony for books from 2021. The people pick the winners, but which champions deserve their title? Marshall and Laney discuss the top picks for last year and see what they feel.

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Goodreads 2021 Winners

FICTION: Beautiful World Where are you - Sally Rooney

MYSTERY/THRILLER: The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave

HISTORICAL FICTION: Malibu rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid

FANTASY: A Court of Silver Flames - Sarah J Maas

ROMANCE: People we Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry

SCIENCE FICTION: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

HORROR: Final Girls Support Group - Grady Hendrix

HUMOR: Broken - Jenny Lawson

NONFICTION: Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

MEMOIRS/AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY: Empire of Pain - Patrick Radden Keiffe

GRAPHIC NOVEL: Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe

POETRY: The Hill We Climb - Amanda Gorman

DEBUT: The Spanish Love Deception - Elena Armas

YA FICTION: Firekeeper's Daughter - Angeline Boulley

YA FANTASY: Rule of Wolves - Leigh Bardugo

MIDDLE GRADE: Daughter of the Deep - Rick Riordan

The second half of our deep dive into the 1994 classic Little Women, now with discussions of transcendentalism, a coming out party, and a discussion of how much this movie changed people's opinions.

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Can't Fight The Merch!

The Pickwick Society Meeting

Some Books Are So Familiar

November is always a crazy time in the Elated Geek studio, but somehow we managed to read twenty-four books together! There are some intriguing twists in this episode, as sequelitis strikes and giants get toppled.

For updates, visit @elatedgeek on Instagram, @elatedgeektweets on Twitter, or our website at www.elatedgeek.com

Found some joy and want to share? Email us!

Wanna buy us a coffee? Head to Ko-Fi!

Top 5 (Laney)

1. Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike- Lymide 

2. The Rules Of Magic by Alice Hoffman 

3. The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

4. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

5. Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

Honorable Mention: Rebel Homemaker by Drew Barrymore

Top 5 (Marshall)

1. As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson

2. Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

3. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

4. The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

5. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik