Infinite TBR

In our second bonus episode, Smack and Gabi continue their discussion surrounding the Green Creek saga by TJ Klune.  Topics include some hot tea re: the publishing industry, some common werewolf tropes that were not adequately explained during Gabi’s insane Green Creek tangent of the previous bonus episode, a recap of Brothersong (the final book in the quartet), and a couple of essential plot points that Gabi remembers very suddenly mid-sentence.  We’re also not 100% sure what year it is.

Other werewolf books of note mentioned in passing that we think everyone should read include Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and The Devourers by Indra Das.

Smack and Gabi continue their recap of their Book Hols with the rest of their recent reads and coverage of their (first) Barnes & Noble Pre-Order Sale Extravaganza.  Gabi belatedly learns a well-known Supernatural trope and bemoans a missed opportunity for a character's Enemies-to-BFFs relationship with a big bad evil serpent.  Smack explains the best friend prop and describes how to get good translator recommendations when reading classics.  Both reiterate their goal to make 2022 the Year of Indulgences and Rereads.

Main books discussed include:

In our first bonus episode, Gabi goes off on an incredible tangent in which she narrates to a very patient Smack the happenings of the first three Greek Creek books by TJ Klune, which she purchased during the Book Haulidays described in the previous full episode.

Smack and Gabi ring out 2021 with a round-up of their Book Hols from the end of the year and set some 2022 goals.  Gabi did a not insignificant amount of stress-shopping while Smack (somehow?!) didn’t receive a single book during the holidays.  We celebrate the accomplishment of our 2021 book/page count goals and review the highs and lows throughout the year.  For 2022, we decide to skip insane book/page count goals in favor of making it the Year of Indulgences and Rereads.  Gabi’s supplemental goal is to get through her Smack Shelf, while Smack’s supplemental goal is to keep Gabi from accomplishing that goal.  We also start discussing our recent reads (to be continued!).

Smack and Gabi continue with their Sirens (a conference dedicated to examining gender and fantasy literature) catch-up by playing a tier-ranking of the 2021 Sirens Reading Challenge.  The Reading Challenge last year consisted of 25 main books which could be replaced by a selection from a supplemental list of 25 if any of the main books had been read in advance of the challenge.  Both full lists can be found at:

https://www.sirensconference.org/connect/readingchallenge.html

And our custom tier-ranking game (filled only with selections which at least one of us read) can be found at:

https://tiermaker.com/create/sirens-reading-challenge-2021-1334416

Smack and Gabi reconvene in the new year to catch-up on the final quarter of 2021 starting with a review of their experiences at Sirens, a conference dedicated to examining gender and fantasy literature.  In this episode, they itemize their very reasonable book hauls (Gabi walked away from the auction with a tote bag stuffed full of books, while Smack scored some long-anticipated novels at the Sirens bookstore), chat about their favorite conference sessions, and celebrate Gabi’s murder mystery win, all while taking only a minor detour to rant about a recent read.

Books discussed include:

Smack and Gabi compete to find out who read the best combination of books for the Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo by having random PvP fights between their books.  Books pitted against each other in this episode (part two of two) include:

Smack and Gabi compete to find out who read the best combination of books for the Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo by having random PvP fights between their books.  Books pitted against each other in this episode (part one of two) include:

After a bunch of trilogies, Smack and Gabi recover from book trauma, discuss savvy heroines, and critique French-inspired worldbuilding. Main books discussed include: