Lit Lit

Andy and Dani get real for a bit. I (Dani) live in South Minneapolis, and I wanted to use this time to talk about what's going on here. Andy and I discuss the insanity of this reality, and also give some ideas on what you can do in your area to support your neighbors who need it. Of course, activism looks different to everyone and we encourage you to do what you feel safest and most comfortable doing.

Helpful Resources:

Find your local ACLU: aclu.org/affiliatesKnow your rights when encountering ICE: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/

Join your neighborhood FB group or board

Volunteer at local foodbanks

Get trained in rapid response (these trainings are generally free and sometimes virtual)

Carry a whistle

Ways to support Minnesota

https://www.miracmn.com/

https://mnicom.org/

Amplify content coming out of Minnesota: comment, share, repost ICE violence AND show how peaceful our protests are

Look for vigils and protests in solidarity with Minnesota in your are and attend

New year, new series, same jokes.
Andy and Dani kick off their New Year Series with The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy and we’re pretty into it! Feelings? Pretty good! Vibes? Solid! Elephants for Andy? Tragically insufficient.

We get into whether chapter-by-chapter POVs work for this story and for us in general. Plus: bold (possibly delusional) predictions for Book 2 that we will almost certainly get wrong.

Welcome to 2026, welcome to the trilogy, and welcome to more Lit Lit.

Andy and Dani talk books... obviously. Somehow… against all odds… Andy and Dani have basically the same Top 3 Books of 2025. Growth? Taste? A shared brain cell? We may never know.

We break down our overlapping favorites, celebrate the rare moment of agreement, and still find a way to bring up Morning Glory Milking Farm. Plus, a few shoutouts to books we read outside of Lit Lit, because we do occasionally consume media responsibly.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

Andy and Dani head to the pantomime and have a perfectly mediocre time. If you love a long, self-congratulatory holiday email about how thriving your family, marriage, career, and dog are, this book is for you. If you’re normal, you may find yourself asking why you’re supposed to care that a bad man was murdered and shoved into a stage prop. Happy early Christmas — we’re putting this episode out early as a little gift.

Andy and Dani look back at their favorite things from 2025, from music to movies and everything that had nothing to do with books. We recap the vibes, the wins, and the things that made the year… not terrible, surprisingly. Spoiler alert: Dani’s year was objectively better. Not because she wrote this. Because it’s facts.

The Running Man by Stephen King

Andy and Dani go for a jog. Just kidding, absolutely not. This week we tackle The Running Man and ask the hard questions: who actually liked this book, and why are you hiding? We unpack the what-was-the-point energy, the truly wild amount of racism, and Stephen King’s deep, unsettling commitment to extremely detailed bodily harm. Seriously, we get it. The guts were out.

Andy and Dani dive into the biggest letdowns pop culture has ever thrown at us. What TV shows nose-dived straight into disappointment? What “literary masterpieces” were actually just big words on tiny pages pretending to be deep? And which movies crushed our hopes, dreams, and maybe our will to live? Grab a drink... we’re naming names.

Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta

Andy and Dani inspect some holes.... no. No. No. This is all wrong... Did Andy just say he likes this book? Like did he just rank this in this top 5 for the year? Or is he just REALLY into minotaurs?

Andy and Dani celebrate! How will you observe Dani's birthday? We're observing by solving riddles! Were we able to get any of them right? No! Are we really this dumb? Sure are!

Havoc by Christopher Bollen

Andy and Dani spend some time in Egypt. Ok... what's worse: Annoying kids or creepy old ladies? It's a pretty close call but one options kills WAY more people...