Infinite TBR

In part two of three of their 3rd Annual Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo Showdown Throwdown, Smack and Gabi settle in with some wine to continue playing two games.  One is the typical showdown throwdown which we all know and love.  The other is Rock, Paper, Scissors for what should be an impartial tie-breaker but which is somehow…not.  This month’s match-up features hard horror limits (mushrooms!), sci-fi portal fantasy time shenanigan takes on Arthurian legend, sassy magical cats, voyeuristic houses, and a fun, definitely 100% accurate history sidebar with Smack about Elizabethan England.  Come back in January for part three to see who wins!

The titles showdowned throwdowned in this episode include:

Smack and Gabi face off in their 3rd Annual Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo Showdown Throwdown (etc., etc.)!!  Smack is the defending champion in this contest to find out who had the more enjoyable summer bingo experience.  So far this year, Gabi, the underdog, is helped along by Rock, Paper, Scissors tie-breakers, at which she is inexplicably talented.  P.S. Readers interested in Alexandra Vasti’s Halifax Hellions series can only get free access to them until the end of November 2023 so sign-up for her newsletter here ASAP!

In this part one of (probably) two, the books showdowned throwdowned in this episode include:

Smack and Gabi pre-game our third annual Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo Throwdown Showdown by going over some noteworthy (for better or for worse) recent reads that will not appear during Throwdown Showdown.  These include a surprisingly consumable nonfiction read, a fun sci-fi romp, different flavors of murder mysteries, and two very excellent graphic novels.  In the background, we also had some creative fun playing with toy figurines and carefully separating the pages of books with painted edges courtesy of Smack, so check out our Instagram to fully appreciate the shenanigans we get up to off-camera!

Books discussed this episode include:

Smack and Gabi cover a lot of ground, briefly recapping the (long-past) Book Crawl and highlighting recent reads.  Smack has mostly been indulging in romantic paranormal novels (mostly) set in the interwar period and has started quite a variety of books ranging from non-fiction writing research to the truly bizarre.  Gabi has been delighting in an excellent adventure romp with very fun character dynamics and great anxiety and grey-ace rep.  We also discuss a good middle-grade series that’s also sometimes jarringly sad, some great graphic novels, and a series we’ve both read that’s perfect for pandemics and vacations!

Book discussed in this episode include:

Smack and Gabi are celebrating ITBR's 2nd Anni-birthday by inviting you (our precious listeners) to email ([email protected]) or follow & DM us on Instagram (@infinitetbrpodcast) with your favorite book of this year OR the name of a book that we recommended that you enjoyed.  Lucky participants will be chosen to win an Infinite TBR Podcast acrylic pin until we run out!  We spent our Anni-birthday attending the local North Park Book Fair and spend this episode regaling our listeners with our many accidental acquisitions.

Book hauled in this episode include:

Smack and Gabi interview debut author Christina Marie (C.M.) Alongi about her ongoing and upcoming works. Blackwing, her fantasy novella series that starts with To Kill a Necromancer, is about a paladin and a necromancer becoming reluctant BFFs to save a world inspired by ancient Greek and Roman mythology and has four volumes out as of the release of this episode. Her debut sci-fi novel Citadel, due to be released June 20th, is about a nonverbal autistic woman who finds herself at the center of a conflict between humans and "demons" (telepathic, telekinetic wolves with wings) on an alien planet. We discuss favorite characters, favorite scenes, killing characters, inspirations, future plans, and we finish off by asking Chris about all the ways she approaches her own infinite TBR.

You can find C.M. Alongi at:

Her Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Smack and Gabi go over their best (and not so best) recent reads, most of which will be coming or going from the Smack Shelf (a shelf in Gabi’s apartment that contains all the loans from Smack).  The incomers are all surprisingly good YA reads while the outgoing books include three powerhouses - a perfect fairy-tale-esque novella, an incredible Malaysian-American ghost story, and a sci-fi novel with maybe the best multiverse worldbuilding we’ve ever seen.  Other fun recent reads cover a paladin and necromancer begrudgingly becoming friends, a cat astronaut desperately trying to eat pizza, a Holmes-ian mystery with plenty of pining, and a Navy captain (who is definitely not a pirate) trying to deal with sea dragons (and pirates).

Book discussed in this episode include:

A few months ago Smack went on an insane 626-page journey with the Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox and then dragged Gabi along for the wild ride. This episode starts with an older recording of Smack's spoiler-free summary to entice Gabi, followed by our fuller exploration of the nitty-gritties that made the Absolute Book so absolutely bonkers. The best part was the saltwater crocodile.

Smack and Gabi reconvene after Gabi’s (second) bout of COVID and Smack’s adventure dog-sitting in Oregon, during which she got lost in Powell’s (which, we establish, is what the entire state of Oregon is for) and drove in the snow for the first time, but mostly got to curl up with the pups, enjoy the green gloom of the Pacific Northwest, and read. We discuss our hoard of recent acquisitions, including the ongoing presents from our past selves, courtesy of Barnes & Noble’s problematic preorder sales. We have a lot to look forward to: witches, spooky woods, real-life plagues, zombies, 18th century broad-shouldered secret agents, xianxia-inspired adventures, reluctant un-retirees, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, pirates, and more!

In this bonus episode, Smack goes on her own "Green Creek rant" (i.e., full of spoilers!) about the Elder Races series of paranormal romances by Thea Harrison.  Despite occasional appealing features that kept her reading through four novels and four novellas she finally found the fortitude to DNF, but not before accumulating a host of thoughts and frustrations to share with the masses.  May she be an inspiration to us all.